Junkers Ju 52

The Junkers Ju 52/3m also known as simply the Ju 52 (nicknamed Tante Ju= Auntie Ju and Iron Anne) was a transport and bomber airplane used by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) before and during WW2 and a passenger plane throughout the world. It is recognizable by it's tri-motor configuration and it's boxy frame.

Description
The Ju 52 was powered by three BMW 132T Radial Engines, German modifications of the Prat & Whitney Hornet, with export models equipped with British Pratt & Whitney Wasp and Bristol Pegasus engines. The engines were placed on the wings and the nose of the aircraft, creating it's distinctive shape. It required a crew of three--pilot, co-pilot and radio operator--and could transport a total of 18 armed troops or 12 liter patients. In military service, it was armed with two MG-15 7.92mm machine guns and one MG-131 13mm machine gun with a total bomb-carrying capacity of 1,000 pounds.

History
Originally, it was configured to be a single-engine transport under the name Ju 52/1m powered by either a BMW or Junkers liquid-cooled engine. This version, first introduced in 1931, was similar to a smaller transport plane called the W33. It came in several configurations, capable of carrying up to 3 tons and had a maximum weight of eight tons. It was capable of flying on wheels, skids or floats. In Canadian service, the Ju 52/1m earned the nickname "Flying Boxcar" thanks to it's distinctively boxy shape.

However, despite this versatility, the single-motored airplane was considered underpowered. After seven prototypes had been completed, the Ju 52 was from then-on built with three engines. This three engine model was known as the Ju 52/3m. This improved performance and carrying capacity.

Originally, it was used as a passenger aircraft under Lufthansa. It could carry 17 passengers and fly from Berlin to Rome in eight hours.

It was first used by the Luftwaffe and Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española--the air force of the Spanish Franco-State--during the later stages of the Spanish Civil War and participated in the infamous bombing attack on Guernica. Later, they also bombed targets and transported cargo during the Invasion of Poland. The plane would then be primarily used as a transport plane after the introduction of more specialized craft such as the Heinkel He 111 and Ju 88. In this role, one of it's most famous deployments was during the Invasion of Crete, where they transported Fallschirmjaeger troops during the airborne assault.

However, the Ju 52 was also poorly armed and slow. Without effective fighter-escort, the planes were easy targets for allied fighters and anti-aircraft ground fire. This became a significant issue during the evacuations of Stalingrad and North Africa. One graphic example was the "Palm Sunday Massacre", where 24 aircraft were shot down by Allied fighters and a further 35 staggered back to Sicily where they crash-landed.

Ju 52 aircraft were produced from 1932-1945. After the war, many examples of the Ju 52 continued to be flown by a variety of both national armies, civilian air-liners and private owners.

In Game
In Call of Duty: Finest Hour, the player is tasked with destroying many of these aircraft during Operation Little Saturn, blowing them up in both their hangars and as they attempt to escape the air-base by the player's T-34.