Ju 288 C

Ju 288 C

Ju 288 C

Germany

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.0	6.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Bomber

Frontline bomber

Purchase:4 880

Show in game

Description

The Ju 288 C is a premium rank IV German bomber with a battle rating of 6.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea". It has no relation of the Ju 88, Ju 188, or Ju 388 despite the "88" in its name.

The Ju 288 C was designed as a Schnellbomber (fast bomber) with the purpose to replace the current Junkers Ju 88 bombers in service. Though a potent bomber in its own right, the Ju 88 suffered what ended up being crippling features such as a relatively small internal bomb bay requiring extra ordnance to be ferried on external hardpoints which ultimately increased the aircraft's drag coefficient, resulting in less efficient flight characteristics.

Though a contest was held to choose the next generation of medium schnellbombers, the RLM had already determined the Junkers Ju 288 C was the clear winner and even let Focke-Wulf, Dornier and Henschel continue to pursue their prototypes in vain. Out of the gate what caught the eye of the RLM was that the Ju 288 C was to be slightly larger than the Ju 88, the new prototype contained a pressurized cabin allowing for higher altitude flying, faster speeds, further range, excellent defensive capabilities and a much larger bomb payload. Such hope was put into this aircraft that it was slated to replace all bombers within the Luftwaffe inventory.

Though the aircraft itself was a huge success, the engines and landing gear ended up crippling the development of the aircraft resulting in only a handful of prototypes being built with a few being hurriedly outfitted with defensive weapons and used as a reconnaissance bomber. One interesting feature of this aircraft is the usage of remote-controlled gun turrets much like those found in the American P-61 and A-26 strike-fighter/attackers. The guns operated outside of the pressurized cockpit and allowed them to be placed in areas which more efficiently defensively protected this aircraft. Any fighter aircraft attempting to tail this bomber will receive a rude awakening when their aircraft is all of the sudden full of holes, the engine has quit, fluids are leaking, and the ground is approaching at an extremely quick rate showing no sign of stopping!

The key for the Ju 288 C to be a Schnellbomber is to actually deliver its payload to a target and for an aircraft its size and speed, it can deliver up to an amazing 3,600 kg (8,000 lb) payload, easily enough to put a serious dent in the enemy's bases or anti-aircraft vehicles and tanks. Smaller payloads can also include up to 36 x 50 kg (110 lb) bombs which can be very effective when it comes to carpet bombing columns of vehicles or taking out anti-aircraft artillery and other vehicles and pillboxes scattered around the map. Payloads such as this can provide area denial to airfields in matches where aircraft need to land to capture the point.

Speed, agility and payload make this bomber a great choice to aid your team in making short work of enemy targets while providing a faster and more difficult target to take out compared to contemporaries such as the lumbering B-24, Tu-2 and the P.108B bombers.

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Max speed

at 6 000 m630 km/h

Turn time30 s

Max altitude11 000 m

Engine2 х Daimler-Benz DB-610

TypeInline

Cooling systemWater

Take-off weight22 t

For those pilots who have flown many slow and heavy bombers just to get a decent payload to the target will be thoroughly refreshed when getting behind the controls of the Ju 288 C. Quickly apparent is the speed of this bomber. As its type suggests, Schnellbomber, this aircraft is fast, topping out just over 600 kph (375 mph) and agile enough to manoeuvre when attacked as not to be a "sitting duck" like many of the larger contemporary bombers such as the American B-24 and the Italian P.108B which are easily 120 kph (75 mph) slower and much less agile making for a tempting target even for the least experienced fighter pilot to attempt to eliminate.

For many aircraft, speed is life, but speed for this Schnellbomber not only is life but what gets the ordnance to the target. The Ju 288 C does have a pressurized cabin which allows the aircraft to fly at higher altitudes where it can bomb bases with accuracy with 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) bombs, but this bomber is also very capable at flying lower altitudes and even terrain hugging where it can release up to 36 x 50 kg bombs on unsuspecting vehicles before they have a chance to scatter or hardened anti-aircraft structures filling the sky with flak. The Ju 288 C also has the ability to operate as a dive bomber given that it has dive brakes in the wings which will help slow its speed and maintain its heading during a dive to ensure a relatively smooth bombing run, after bombs have been dropped, the aircraft can retract the flaps and power up and move onto the next target.

There's usually 2 ways to play Ju 288 C: stay high or dive. Most people play Ju 288 C dive and take as many bases for themselves. When diving, try to watch your IAS and keep it at around 400 mph, don't go over that speed. The second way to play is stay high, when staying high, you will see enemy bombers that you can hunt with your superior fire power. When bomber hunting, try to get next to them, match their speed, and gun the hell out of them. Usually bomber hunting will cause you to sustain some damage.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	607	591	11000	32.0	33.0	8.5	8.5	1,500
Upgraded	655	630		29.5	30.7	14.9	11.4

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	✓	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
675	310	480	480	280	~9	~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 370	< 360	< 450	> 715

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
5,700 m	2,520 hp	2,797 hp

Survivability and armour

Crew4 people

Speed of destruction

Structural675 km/h

Gear310 km/h

• 10 mm steel - Pilot's headrests
• 8 mm steel - Pilot's seats
• 8 mm steel - cockpit floor

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB1 865

RB7 127

SB10 407

Crew training10 000

Experts320 000

Aces1 100

Research Aces1 050 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 110 / 220 / 550 %

2 × 172 / 172 / 172 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Radiator Compressor Wings repair Engine Engine injection	Airframe Cover	mg131_turret_belt_pack SC 250 Flamm C 250 mg15120_turret_belt_pack SC 500 Flamm C 500 mg131_turret_new_gun SC 1000 mg15120_turret_new_gun SC 1800 SC 2500

Armaments

Suspended armament

List of setups (8)

Setup 136 x 50 kg SC50JA bomb

Setup 28 x 250 kg SC250JA bomb

Setup 33 x 500 kg SC500K bomb

Setup 42 x 1000 kg SC1000L2 bomb

Setup 52 x 1800 kg SC1800B bomb

Setup 62 x 2500 kg SB2500 bomb

Setup 78 x Flam C 250 incendiary bomb

Setup 83 x Flam C 500 incendiary bomb

The Ju 288 C can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 36 x 50 kg SC50JA bombs (1,800 kg total)
• 8 x 250 kg SC250JA bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 3 x 500 kg SC500K bombs (1,500 kg total)
• 2 x 1,000 kg SC1000L2 bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 2 x 1,800 kg SC1800B bombs (3,600 kg total)

Defensive armament

Turret20 mm MG 151 cannon

Ammunition600 rounds

Fire rate750 shots/min

3 х Turret2 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun

Ammunition2000 rounds

Fire rate900 shots/min

The Ju 288 C is defended by:

• 1 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, tail turret (600 rpg)
• 2 x 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, chin turret (500 rpg = 1,000 total)
• 2 x 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, dorsal turret (500 rpg = 1,000 total)
• 2 x 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, ventral turret (500 rpg = 1,000 total)

Usage in battles

Combat tactics

As a bomber, you spawn at a higher altitude, where you can use this advantage to dive to the base you want to destroy. However, do not exceed 640 km/h (400 mph)! A good idea for more savvy pilots would be to use the Manual Engine Control to turn off automatic radiators and fully open them, allowing you near unlimited WEP without overheating and letting you keep as much altitude as possible for a possible emergency dive away from enemy fighters.

Most maps have 3 bases that spawn at the start of the battle and once they are destroyed, the airfield becomes a target. These are described as "single HP" bases. Some maps have been reworked and now consist of 4 bases that respawn once they are destroyed, while the airfield never becomes a target. These are described as "double HP" bases, because they require more TNT to destroy than the old bases. As payload, always take the 1,800 kg SC-1800 bombs. You can destroy single HP bases with just one of these bombs and double HP bases with 2 bombs.

Thanks to the speed gained during the dive run, it will be easy enough to get back to your airfields to reload your bombs without encountering a fighter on the first run. If you have a good team, capable of keeping the enemy fighters occupied, land at the closest airfield to quickly rearm your bombs for another run.

On the way, if you meet enemy planes, try and identify the enemy aircraft. If it is faster or you are unable to get past him, turn away and let him face your full rear defensive armament. If he is slower, and you are able to get past him, you can possibly keep flying as long as you keep watch for any incoming fire. In general however, you will want to face away from any incoming enemy to make use of both your extreme speed to outrun them or your good defensive armament to shoot them down.

If the enemy behind you dives to pick up speed you should also dive slightly at 5-10 degrees to gain your own speed whilst keeping him behind you.

Be careful to keep the enemy within the 20 mm engagement angle, as the 2 bottom mounted 15 mm guns don't usually do enough damage to down an enemy plane whilst the 20 mm only requires a few good hits to kill.

Enemies worth noting

Priority targets, and planes to keep a keen eye on, would be:

• Cannon armed F4U Corsairs that can easily kill you and especially the french F4U-7 which can and will spam SNEB rockets at you
• The F-82 twin mustang with its numerous fast firing .50s that can easily set you on fire with an all API-T laser
• The Tempest MK V which can easily catch you and has 4 20 mm cannons
• The various American attackers that may seem slow and usually stick to ground attack but can and will wreck you if you are not careful
• The especially dangerous S.O.8000 Narval with its 6 MG-151 20 mm cannons with shells that can tear you to tiny pieces and its very fast engine that allows it to easily catch up with you no matter how fast you go.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Auto control available	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very good speed for the rank, can often reach bases before fighters can intercept.
• 20 mm cannon in the tail is effective if you can get on target
• Excellent ordnance options.
• Very good manoeuvrability for a bomber.
• Can defend itself from attacks from all angles (no blind spot), except for directly above and to the front.
• Has air brakes, makes landing easier.
• Can take a beating fairly well.
• Commonly puts out fires before structure failure, although it may end with eventually fatal coolant leaks.

Cons:

• Engines tend to overheat quickly without MEC.
• Pilot can be easily knocked out due to the absence of armour at the front of the cockpit.
• Gunner also easily knocked out, resulting in being unable to fight back.
• Rudders and elevators are extremely fragile and can be disabled or destroyed by just a few cannon rounds.
• Losing your rudder or elevator control means losing control of the aircraft.
• Even though your plane has a 20 mm tail gunner, it is absolutely important to have good aim just in case planes with cannons (like F4U-4B, Tempests, Narvals, etc) come behind you.
• Aircraft catches fire easily as it carries 10 self sealing fuel tanks that are poorly covered.
• 13 mm turrets don't do much damage.
• Lack of coordination between allied Ju 288 C, especially in single HP maps, can lead to inefficient bombing runs.
• Cannot sustain level flight with one engine despite their power. Losing one engine is a death sentence.
• Leaking any coolant is a slow death, as you require all coolant to be intact to keep the engines from overheating, and once one overheats you slowly lose speed and altitude.

History

In 1939, the Junkers company began work on a new bomber that was supposed to replace the Ju 88 bombers in service at the time. The new aircraft had to surpass the predecessor across all parameters. The plan was to fit the upcoming model with new, more powerful engines, significantly boost the firepower of the defensive armament, and, of course, increase the payload. The first prototypes took to the skies when the Jumo 222A/B engines, which the aircraft were supposed to be equipped with, had not been installed yet. Instead, the BMW engines were used. Extensive work began on the experimental models of the new series, which received the designation Ju 288, with the aim of enhancing the bomber's characteristics. This explains why the first eight prototypes were significantly different from one another.

In 1942 the Ministry of Aviation made a ruling to include a fourth member in the aircraft crew, which demanded changes to be made to the build of the cockpit. Vehicles of the second-generation prototype series with the letter "B" in their designation had their wingspan increased and their defensive armament changed. The Jumo 222A/B engines still required more work to be done and thus weren't installed on the Ju 288Bs. The Ju 288Cs, the third-generation prototypes of the series, were fitted with the Daimler Benz DB 605 engines, requiring the nacelles to be changed. Furthermore, the wingspan of the aircraft was increased even more and the defensive armament received another modification – this time, a lower rear turret was added. The Ju 288C's first test flights began in the spring of 1943. Junkers even prepared three versions of the new bomber build for serial production, each with a unique armament set. However, in June, the engineering department notified the aircraft manufacturer to discontinue work on the Ju 288 due to a lack of resources required to produce the new aircraft. Tests on the Ju 288 continued right up to 1944 – the aircraft even went on a number of combat flights. However, in the end the bomber was never approved for serial production.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Ju 288 C from live.warthunder.com.

Images

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Videos

Ju 288C - Nerfed? Yes! Useless? Heck No!!! - Napalmratte

Ju-288 Schnell bomber with 1,800 kg bombs - Phlydaily

Premium Review: Ju 288C - The Ultimate SchnellBomber! - Jengar

See also

Related development

• Junkers Ju 88

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era*

• Tupolev Tu-2
• Yokosuka P1Y Ginga

External links

• [Devblog] Ju 288C
• Official data sheet - more details about the performance

Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke Aktiengesellschaft)
Fighters	Ju 88 C-6 · Ju 388 J
Strike Aircraft
Ju 87	Ju 87 G-1 · Ju 87 G-2
Bombers	Ju 88 A-1 · Ju 88 A-4 · Ju 188 A-2 · Ju 288 C
Ju 87	Ju 87 B-2 · Ju 87 D-3 · Ju 87 D-5 · Ju 87 R-2 · Ju 87 R-2 Libya
Export	▄Ju 87 D-3 · ▄Ju 87 R-2 · ▄Ju 88 A-4