Junkers Ju 46

The Junkers Ju 46 was a German shipborne, catapult-launched seaplane derived from the W 34 and built for the pre-war Luft Hansa mail service over the Atlantic Ocean. It was a strengthened W 34 modified for catapult launches and almost identical to it apart from a revised vertical tail with a broader-chord rudder, which improved control at the low speed of a launch. The first production models were delivered in 1932 and replaced the Heinkel He 58 in pioneering ship-to-shore mail flights. The aircraft were based on the liners Bremen and Europa of Norddeutscher Lloyd, each bearing its ship's name and painted bright red so that rescue planes could spot them. Compressed-air catapults accelerated the 3,200 kg aircraft to 110 km/h in just 20 m, and the launch about 1,200 km from the destination let the mail arrive some 24 hours ahead of the ship, flying to New York westbound and to Southampton eastbound, in the summer months from April 1932. Five aircraft were supplied according to rebuilt civil registers, though other sources claim four, and two later flew with the Brazilian airline Syndicato Condor.