Ju 188 - why not?

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

The Ju 88 S might also be a significant factor. It's notable in Luftwaffe reports of bomber operations (via ULTRA) that the Ju 88 and Ju 88 S are listed separately when numbers of sorties are given.

That suggests to me that the S was seen as something different from the long-serving A-model, almost as a type in its own right.

According to I./KG66 crews, the stripped down Ju 88 S-1 with GM-1 installation was a life insurance while flying operations against Britain during Unternehmen Steinbock. With GM-1 turned on, performance was approaching that of the Mosquito: A max speed of 610 km/hr at 11583 m. To give an idea how that felt: Read F/O E.R. Hedgecoe's Combat Report of 4/5 January 1944, when he tried for 25 minutes to chase a German plane flying at 29,000 ft and taking violent evasive action , to no avail...

But again, the S-1 had those precious BMW801 (G-2) engines... Maybe that's why so few were built..

Regards,

Marcel