The Junkers W 34 was a German-built, single-engine, passenger and transport aircraft. Developed in the 1920s, it was taken into service in 1926. The passenger version could take a pilot and five passengers. The aircraft was developed from the Junkers W 33, noted for being a record-breaking aircraft. Further development led to the Junkers Ju 46, which was seaplane for naval use capable being catapulted.

Production and service

One Junkers W 34 be/b3e managed to break the then-current altitude record on 26 May 1929 when it reached 12,739 m. That aircraft carried the markings D-1119 and it was equipped with a Bristol Jupiter VII engine. The airplane was flown by Willi Neuenhofen. The Junkers W 34 was manufactured in many different versions. The total production numbers for the civil market were around 1,000, a further 2,024 his and haus were built under license for the RLM and Luftwaffe. The unit price was between RM 65,000 and 70,400. On 31 January 1944 the Luftwaffe still had 618 W 34his and 516 W 34hau's in service: the majority were used by flight schools; mainly as navigator and radio operator training (3 or 4 navigator or radio-operator trainees). The Junkers K.43, nicknamed the "Bush Bomber", was used extensively during the Chaco War (1932–1935) fought between Bolivia and Paraguay. See external links. The Colombian Air Force used the W 34 and K-43 in the Colombia-Peru War in 1932–3. The Swedish Air Force operated three W 33/34 between 1933 and 1953 in the transport and air ambulance roles, initially with the military designation Trp 2 and Trp 2A, eventually changed to Tp 2 and Tp 2A. One of these is preserved today in civilian colors as SE-BYA. In 1930 Finnish Air Force bought a single W 34 (JU-122) for maritime operations and six K 43s (JU-123 – JU-128) for use as light bombers, during Continuation war the planes were used as transports, evacuating wounded and supplying Long-Range Recon Patrols behind the enemy lines. Additional five W 34s were bought in 1944 for radio navigation training (JU-131 – 135), after the war Finnish Border Guard operated the remaining planes until 1950.

Production

Variants

Operators

Accidents and incidents

Specifications (W 34he landplane)