AA36704 -- Junkers Ju88A-6 - PN+MT, KG 54, Rzym, Wlochy, 1943

Probably no other aircraft in history has been developed in so many forms for so many purposes - except, perhaps, for the De Havilland Mosquito.

Flown long before World War II as a civil prototype, after a frantic design process led by two temporarily hired Americans well-versed in modern stressed-skin construction, the first Ju 88s were transformed into the heavier, slower and more capacious A-1 bombers which were just entering service as World War II began. The formidable bomb load and generally good performance were offset by inadequate defensive armament, and in the A-4 the span was increased, the bomb load and gun power substantially augmented and a basis laid for diverse further development.