Der Grosse Dessauer:

The Ju 90 was a development of the 4-engined Ju 89 - interestingly enough, a conversion of a bomber into a transport.  Usually, it was the other way around in Germany, i.e. Focke-Wulf 200.  Later in it’s development cycle, the Ju90 was developed and re-militarized into the Ju290.

The Ju90 was tested with several different engines before finally put in small scale production.  It was comparable to the large American un-pressurized airliners of the period.

Among the more interesting sidelights to this story were potential orders with the South African Airways that never came to fruition; and the two Ju90 with Iraqi insignia, in order to fly personnel and equipment to Iraq.

The Book:

The all German text is divided into the following chapters, excuse my crude German translation skills:

1.        Personalien/Personnel: Background bios about Hugo Junkers and the aircraft designer Dipl.-Ing. Ernst Zindel

2.        Evolution – Die Stetige Entwicklung der Junkers-Verkehrflugzeuge/Evolution – The Constant Development of Junkers Transport Aircraft:  History of the early Junkers transports including the F13, G24, Ju52 and Ju86

3.        Kriegsvogel-Strategische Bomber/Warbird – Strategic Bomber: Background history of the Ju89 Bomber with comparisons to the Dornier Do19 and XB-16, XB-17, and XB-19.

4.        Die Wandlung – Vom Raubvogel zur Taube/ Transformation - From Bird of Prey to Dove: Description of the prototype ‘versuchs’ aircraft.

5.        Neue Dimensionen im Luftverkehr/New Dimensions in Transport Aircraft: Comparisons of the Fw200, and the trend towards larger, higher flying pressurized aircraft such as Fw300, EF100; and comparisons with comtemporary foreign transports – DH86, DH91, AW27, Short S32, Fokker F.XXXVI, SM74, Dewoitine D.338, DC-4E, DC-4, Boeing 307.

6.        In Serie – Die Fertigung der Ju90/Series Production of the Ju90:  Work Numbers 1-10

7.        Die Technik der Ju-90 Z-2/Technical Description of Ju90-Z-2; this chapter takes up 1/3 of the book and describes the structure, cockpit, cabin, heating system, aerodynamic controls, wing structure, undercarriage, engines, fuel system, hydraulics and electrics.  There are two pages on the Ju90 converted to the Ju290 with the lower loading door/ramp.

8.        Airliner – Die Ju90 im Dienst der Lufthansa/Airliner – The Ju90 in Lufthansa service.

9.        Die Ju90 im Modell/Ju90 Model:  Basically a good description of the Ju90 vacuformed kit from Airmodel.

Unlike Bernard & Graefe’s more scholarly hard bound series (some of which are translated into English and republished by Schiffer publishing), ‘Vom Original zum Modell’ strike a balance between photos, text, graphics and general history.  Important for a modeling reference.

As far as photos and technical documentation go, this volume approximates the level that the Ginter series attain.  To reinforce the analogy, the last chapter addresses the modeler’s choices, which in this case is the Airmodel vacuform.

The photographic resolution and reproduction is top notch.  The photos of the Ju90V1 in particular show the of the natural metal skin gradations to good effect.

The only short fall I could cite is that of language.  Even with the preponderance of photos, there is still a sizable quantity of German text describing the Ju90 in the context of it’s time and it’s contemporaries.  An interesting story, no doubt; perhaps B&G or Schiffer would consider English versions of the series?  Bitte?

Conclusion/Comments:

I purchased my copy from card model specialists, Scheuer & Strüver in Hamburg, Germany.  I do not know of a Bernard & Graefe Verlag distributor in America. 

Be forewarned that Scheuer & Strüver charges 25 Euro for shipping to America.  It doesn’t seem to matter whether one book or several are ordered.  As a result, I tend to have one large order from S&S once a year to limit shipping costs. Their website has an English version which makes ordering easy.

With that caveat in mind, I would recommend this book to technofiles and modelers.

Scheuer & Strüver in Hamburg: http://www.moduni.de/

 Bernard & Graefe Verlag website: http://www.aviatic.de/bg/index.html

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