Manufacturer: Trumpeter
Scale: 1/144
Additional parts: parts from a 1/72 scale Airfix He 177
Model build: Oct - Dec 2012
Luftwaffe Junkers EF-132T1-6
Trumpeter
1/144
1/144
Amerikabomber
0:00
Made with Suno
Iron Birds from the Azores
Captain Hans Schmidt gripped the control yoke of the Junkers EF-132T1-6, his knuckles white. Below him, the churning Atlantic stretched towards the horizon, a carpet of grey under the dawn sky. Despite the familiar rumble of the Jumo engines, a knot of unease tightened in his gut. Today's target: New York City.
"Schmidt," the calm voice of his navigator, Wilhelm, crackled through the intercom. "Radar picks up no Allied fighters. You have a clear run."
Relief washed over Hans momentarily. The bulky drop tank hanging under their belly drastically reduced maneuverability, making them sitting ducks for interceptors. The EF-132, a phantom born from the ashes of the war, was a marvel of engineering – a two-engined jet bomber capable of outrunning anything the Americans had. But it was a fragile marvel, one that couldn't afford a fight.
Their approach was unorthodox. Instead of a straight shot across the Atlantic, they had flown a wide arc south, skirting commercial shipping lanes to avoid detection. With New York City looming closer, the outline of skyscrapers cutting through the misty dawn, a nervous energy crackled through the crew.
Suddenly, the klaxon screamed. "Enemy fighters!" Wilhelm's voice was laced with panic. Hans cursed under his breath. Radar had missed a patrol. Two sleek P-51 Mustangs emerged from the cloud cover, their shark-like noses aimed at the lumbering bomber.
"Drop the tank!" Hans barked. The cumbersome fuel pod fell away, the bomber shuddering as it shed the weight. The Mustangs, surprised by the sudden maneuver, overshot. Hans pushed the engines to their limit, the roar deafening even through the soundproofed cockpit.
A white-knuckled dogfight ensued. The Mustangs, nimble and responsive, hung on their tail like angry hornets. Hans weaved and dipped, the EF-132 straining under the strain. Tracers from the .50 caliber machine guns danced around them, spitting fire and leaving jagged holes in the wings.
Just as it seemed like the Mustangs would get a clear shot, a hail of flak erupted from the approaching coastline, thrown up by desperate American defenses. One of the Mustangs faltered, spiraling down in a plume of smoke. The remaining fighter hesitated, its pilot unsure whether to press the attack.
That hesitation was all Hans needed. He lined up the EF-132 on its target, the iconic silhouette of the Empire State Building framed in the bombsight. With a heavy heart, Hans released the triggers. Two Hs-393 rockets roared out of their underbelly, leaving a trail of orange fire.
An agonizing silence followed. Then, the ground erupted in a massive orange inferno. The shockwave buffeted the EF-132, a testament to the devastating power they carried.
No time to revel in the destruction. Hans turned the battered bomber south, praying they could outrun any further pursuit. As the coastline of the United States shrank behind them, a heavy weight settled on his crew. They had delivered their payload, but with it, they had awakened a sleeping giant. The war, it seemed, wasn't quite over.
Introduction:
At the end of WW2, several jet aircraft projects were under construction in Germany. Among those was the Junkers EF-132. A four engined long range jet bomber. A wooden mock-up was already build but the end of the war prevented further development. After the war, the Soviets were very interested in the development made at Junkers in Dessau. Under their command, some of the projects were slowly continued until most of the personal was "invited" to mode to Russia and to work there. Some of the projects, like the development based on the Ju 287, led to prototype aircraft that were flown in the Soviet Union, partly of former German test pilots.
Although the EF-132 was quite advanced, this project was not developed into a flying prototype. However, the research work influenced the construction of the first generation of Soviet Jet Bombers like the My-4 or Tu-16
The Plane:
As those Russian bombers were influenced by the German designs, the idea for this aircraft was to use a Tu-16 as an advanced Junkers bomber.
In early 1942, Germany occupied the Azores islands to use it as a base for long range sea reconnaissance aircraft and to be able to fly attack runs on the American East coast. With several "Amerikabomber" projects ongoing, like the Me 264 or the Ta-400, those piston engine aircraft lacked the speed to escape the growing number of American defence fighters. Therefore, Junkers advanced the EF-132 model into the EF-132T1-6.
Equipped with two Jumo-160 jet engines, this aircraft was able to outrun all piston driven fighter aircraft.
The Ju EF-132T1-6 was first flown in March 1945 and put into small scale production shortly after this. Construction was made decentralized in segments: The centre section with wings and engines was produced in Dessau (where the final assembly too place), the cockpit section was build in Ascherleben while the tail in Magdeburg.
By late summer of 1945, eight of them were stationed on the Azores and were used to do fast hit&run attacks on ports of the American east coast.
As tests with in-flight refuelling did not succeed very well, the ER-132T1-6 was equipped with a huge drop tank which allowed the aircraft to reach targets as far as Chicago. Although the bomber could use conventional bombs, it was mostly equipped with two Hs-393 rocket propelled bombs. Those were enlarged versions of the Hs-293 which was successfully used in the Med against allied shipping. The Hs-393 could carry 3 times the bomb load of a Hs-293.
The plane was build using a Trumpeteer 1:144 scale Tu-16, which is a quite good model. The model is more or less build OOB, the only additions are the drop tank and the HS-393 bombs. The drop tank is from the spare box, while the HS-393 are some HS-293 from an 1:72 scale Airfix He 177 kit, so its no surprise that those HS-393 are double sized HS-293s... 
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