The third new book in the 'Black Cross' series is the Ju-90. What makes this such an unusual book is that it is basically the story of a pre-WWII airliner. Yes, once war was declared, it was inevitable that the aircraft would be heisted for service in the military, but basically, the Ju-90 was not a warbird and all of the production run were built as airliners.

It was Germany's first truly modern airliner with a sleek, all metal airframe and powered by efficient BMW radial engines. It had true trans-Atlantic capabilities, though that had to be done with a cabin full of fuel instead of paying passengers!

The Ju-90 was a follow-on development of the Ju-89 strategic bomber, the third Ju-89 prototype actually being developed into the Ju-90 once the bomber program was cancelled following the death of Gen. Weaver, its main proponents.

In all, save prototypes, eleven aircraft were used Lufthansa, two for South African Airways (never delivered), one built for Denmark and five others used for various tests and then used by the Luftwaffe. One crashed while in Lufthansa service in 1938. The airframe was then militarized to be come the Ju-290.

In addition to the history of the Ju-90, a great deal of other information on similar aircraft is provided. This includes the Ju-89 and Do-19 strategic bombers and the FW-200 Condor. There are also comparisons between the Ju-90 and other airliners such as the DC-4E, Boeing 307 and the later DC-4/C-54. Also included is a modeling section with a build review of the Airmodel 1/72 Ju-90 vacuform kit, the only kit done of this large aircraft.

As with other books in the Black Cross series, this one is superbly written and full of excellent photographs of all phases of the Ju-90's development, construction and airline usage. Histories of each of the Lufthansa operated aircraft is also provided making for a well rounded history and a book that I can highly recommend.

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