Junkers Ju 390

The Junkers Ju 390 was a German long-range derivative of the Ju 290, intended as a heavy transport, maritime patrol aircraft and long-range bomber, and one of the designs submitted for the abortive Amerikabomber project alongside the Me 264, the Focke-Wulf Ta 400 and the Heinkel He 277. It was made by adding an extra pair of inner-wing segments and a new fuselage section, lengthening the aircraft to 31 m. The first prototype, V1, was rebuilt from a Ju 90 airframe and made its maiden flight on 20 October 1943 with six BMW 801E radial engines, performing well enough that early in 1944 the Air Ministry ordered six more prototypes and 20 production Ju 390A-1 aircraft. None of these had been built when the project was cancelled in mid-1944 along with Ju 290 production, and the V2 was never built. Claims of a flight toward New York have been examined in later research and disputed.