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thumb The Junkers G.38 was a large German four-engined transport aircraft which first flew in 1929.〔EADS〕 Two prototypes were constructed in Germany. Both aircraft flew as a commercial transport within Europe in the years leading up to World War II. During the 1930s, the design was licensed to Mitsubishi, which constructed and flew a total of six aircraft, in a military bomber/transport configuration, designated Ki-20.〔Schnaedelbach〕 The G.38 carried a crew of seven. Onboard mechanics were able to service the engines in flight〔 due to the G.38's blended wing design which provided access to all four power plants. ==Design and development== Structurally the G38 conformed to standard Junkers' practice, with a multi-tubular spar cantilever wing covered, like the rest of the aircraft in stressed, corrugated duraluminium. The biplane tail, found in other large aircraft of the time was intended to reduce rudder forces; initially there were three rudders with only a central fixed fin. The undercarriage was fixed, with double tandem main wheels that were initially enclosed in very large spats. The wing had the usual Junkers "double wing" form, the name referring to the full span movable flaps which served also as ailerons in the outer part. The first Junkers prototype—3301 and marked as D-2000—first flew on 6 November 1929 with four diesel engines: two L55 12-cylinder V-motors and two 294 kW L8 6-cylinder inline motors with combined power rating of 1470 kW (1971 hp).〔Junkers〕 The Reich Air Ministry purchased the D-2000 for demonstration flights,〔G38 Special, translated: "ten hour flight with press on board over Germany; a round Europe flight to eleven capitals and showing the airplane to prominent business people and politicians"〕 and took delivery on 27 March 1930. In flight tests, the G.38 set four world records including speed, distance and duration for airplanes lifting a 5000 kg payload.〔 On 2 May 1930 Lufthansa put the D-2000 into commercial service for both scheduled and chartered flights. On 2 February 1931 the Leipzig-based Junkers' yard re-engined the D-2000 with two L8 and two L88 motors giving a total power rating of 1764 kW (2366 hp) and increasing passenger capacity from 13 to 19.〔 The G.38, during its early life, was the largest land plane in the world.〔 Passenger accommodation was sumptuous by today's standards and was meant to rival that found on the competing Zeppelin service offered by DELAG. The plane was unique in that passengers were seated in the wings, which were 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) thick at the root.〔 There were also two seats in the extreme nose. The leading edge of each wing was fitted with sloping windscreens giving these passengers the forward-facing view〔 usually available only to pilots. There were three 11-seater cabins, plus smoking cabins and wash rooms. In design terms the G-38 foreshadowed the Blended Wing Body design currently being developed by both NASA and Boeing as an alternative to traditional tube and wing aircraft configurations. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Junkers G.38」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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