Model of the month March 2025
Of technology and domination...
The Junkers Ju 160
From original to model
An independent part of the collections of the Hannover-Laatzen Aviation Museum are the more than 1,000 scale models, primarily of the international standards 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32.
Such true-to-original miniatures allow viewers of museum technology history to gain an ‘overview’, not only of the individual exhibit (sometimes even as the only possibility of a real three-dimensional display if there is no surviving original), but also of lines of development in aircraft construction by means of possible sequencing and juxtaposition. Sometimes they even close gaps in the presentation of the originals. The quality of their craftsmanship alone is a pleasure to behold.
Today we are presenting a passenger aeroplane in our ‘Model of the Month’: The Junkers Ju 160, a high-speed airliner from Dessau, the last construction under the direction of Prof Hugo Junkers. The Aviation Museum is presenting the type in 1/72 scale in its model showcases in Hall 1, opposite a faithful replica of the Junkers F 13, and in Hall 2 an original centre section of the Ju 52/3m fuselage.
The model:
Kits of the Ju 160 are still rare today. Our 1/72 scale miniature is made by Modellbaustudio Rhein-Ruhr in Essen and is a resin kit. Built by Siegfried Fricke as prototype A-0 in the colours of LUFTHANSA in 1934, the model is on display in the 1930s showcase in Hall 1 - between the beginning of world air traffic and the Spanish Civil War.
The original
On 30 January 1934, the first of a total of 46 examples of this German high-speed aircraft for a crew of 2 and up to 6 passengers flew. Developed from the Junkers Type 60, the Ju 160 was the first Junkers design to be built entirely of smooth sheet metal and the last to be built under the personal supervision of the company founder. Retractable undercarriage, swept leading edges of the wings and countersunk rivets and attachments ensured that the top speed was almost the same as that of the Heinkel He 70 ‘Blitz’, which was a year older and was the world's fastest commercial aircraft at 350 km/h at the end of 1932. Externally, the Ju 160 with its radial engine was much more similar to the common prototype, the American Lockheed 9 ‘Orion’, but Ernst Heinkel's team around the Günter twins was more innovative and the Heinkel 70 was the bigger success.
2nd place...
The He 70 was and remained the record holder and flagship of German aircraft design and LUFTHANSA, while the Ju 160 ‘only’ played „second fiddle“, completing a respectable 3.5 million kilometres in scheduled service, but was considered a ‘problematic aircraft to fly’ after several air accidents during its time in service between 1935 and ‘39. At the beginning of the war, all Ju 160s were transferred to the Luftwaffe, which decommissioned them in 1941.
However, in addition to its pure performance characteristics, the type remains historically remarkable in two respects: Firstly, it stands for the abandonment of corrugated duraluminium for the panelling, which as ‘corrugated sheet metal’ from the Junkers F 13 was until then synonymous with Junkers aircraft and guaranteed high stability and operational safety, but limited the speed. Smooth, streamlined surfaces, retractable undercarriage and half-shell construction were the future of air travel, and the Ju 160 was a pioneer in this respect.
And secondly, the Ju 160 marks the politically enforced end of the design work of aviation pioneer Hugo Junkers. With the establishment of the Nazi regime, the disenfranchisement and expropriation of political opponents began - this also affected Professor Junkers, researcher and inventor, entrepreneur, aviation pioneer and representative of an internationally orientated, left-liberal upper middle class, declared opponent of National Socialist doctrine.
Technology and rule
Impending insolvencies of parts of the Junkers group of companies and concerns about the sale of expertise and factories abroad were the reason for setting an example and at the same time gaining the regime's control over one of the world's most important aircraft factories and various pioneering patents. Hugo Junkers died as a broken man just one year after the cold takeover, including personal defamation and a dictated departure from the factories he had founded. However, after his life's work of building a world-connecting air transport system with civil aircraft types, his companies became an equally important armaments manufacturer under the remaining management team.
Data sheet Ju 160:
Cantilever low-wing monoplane in smooth sheet metal construction with retractable landing gear. Length 12.30 m, wingspan 14.30 m, empty weight 2,180 kg, take-off weight: 3,550 kg, cruising speed 315 km/h with a range of 1,100 km. Propulsion: 1 x BMW 132A with 660 hp (further development of the US Pratt & Whitney Hornet) Crew: 2, passengers: 6.
Step inside!
Have we managed to arouse your curiosity? In our aviation museum on Ulmer Strasse opposite the Hanover exhibition centre, you can experience over 40 original and faithful replicas of gliders, sports and military aircraft, just as many engines and turbines, uniforms and equipment, vehicles and a model exhibition comprising more than 1,000 exhibits.
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Kontakt zum Autor der Modell-des-Monats-Reihe können Sie hier aufnehmen: Autor-MdM