Getting toward the end of a 1/48 Revell Ju-52. The kit calls for placing a part they call a "generator" on the upper left side. It looks a big flashlight with a prop on it: can be seen near the round antenna on this pic:



Problem is that there's no real attachment point for the part. There are a blizzard of photos of Ju-52s - war photos, museum planes and completed models. Only a handful of them show this part on the plane at all. I'd certainly leave it off if it's some kind of option. Anyone know what this gizmo did on the aircraft and if it would have been found somewhere on wartime JU-52?

Eric

Many aircraft of the day had wind driven generators to power certain equipment they carried. In this case it's likely the radios. Perhaps this particular aircraft was a command post which needed more radios than the usual fit? If you're worried about not having a mounting point, you could drill holes and pin it in place with wire.

I have just acquired an Italeri 1/72 Ju 52 and it too has a wind generator for both of the options- an air ambulance and a transporter on the Russian front 1942-43.

Pinning it in place is a good idea - the instructions call for filing down a short section of corrugations and just gluing the part on.

Update - the wind generator was definitely for the radio equipment

Follow this link
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=196203

The generator is mentioned in the last post at the bottom of the page.

Someone on Finescale belives that the radio equipment was upgraded later in the war. Someone else suggested that the generator might have been removed when not in flight - sounds a little unlikely to me. But what I don't understand is existence of large numbers of both wartime photos and professionally done line drawings that show the plane lacking the apparatus: some of the photos are very clear. (Among models on the major boards only the one I showed has it mounted. Brett Green did a lovely Tante but no generator and he's not alone.) Indeed, it's considerably harder to find a photo that shows the device deployed than one with it present. Possibility that the thing might have been mounted at different positions on individual aircraft?
Eric

Hi Eric

There are some useful shots showing mostly "with", but one "without" HERE.

All the best

Rowan

Included is one of the photos I did find with. Note that these pics are all from Crete which would be consistent with the theory that later transports had upgraded radios. In the thread referenced above, it was noted that because the LW aircraft carried different types of radios, they couldn't communicate with each other. It would not be illogical that the type found in the bombers was put in or even retrofitted. I believe most post-1940 Ju-52s were built in France - it certainly would be a logical move. I'm building this thing for a 1944 group build. I'll probably try to drill the thing (it will require my smallest drill and thinnest wire) and install it - if it doesn't look right, off it goes.

Thanks everyone.
Eric

I have read that the generator and batteries powered the radio but only when the engines were running. On the ground the radio equipment might not have worked if the batteries had less than full charge.

I would think that this would have been remedied somehow.

Or maybe, the wind generators were only needed for long range communication.

I don't know anything about 1930's electronics, but during war times in general there are faster than normal advances in technology.