Introduction
Before examining the famous claims that the Junkers Ju 390 reached Manchuria, Japan and the United States, it is worth considering a lesser-known story that may provide the key to understanding all of the aircraft’s legends. Unlike the alleged flight to Manchuria, Japan or New York, the story of a Ju 390 flight to South Africa originates from a named source: Junkers chief test pilot Hans-Joachim Pancherz.
In 1969, Pancherz reportedly claimed that he had flown a Ju 390 from Germany to Cape Town and back during the war. According to his account, the flight was undertaken as a long-range test mission and was supported by Junkers Ju 290 aircraft acting as aerial tankers. If true, the flight would represent one of the most remarkable aviation achievements of the Second World War. The problem is that virtually all evidence for the mission rests upon Pancherz’s recollection more than twenty years after the war.
The Aircraft
We know that the Junkers Ju 390 was one of the largest aircraft developed by Germany during the war. Derived from the four-engined Junkers Ju 290, the design added an extra wing section and two additional engines, creating a six-engined aircraft intended for ultra-long-range transport, maritime reconnaissance, and potentially strategic bombing missions.
Only two prototypes were constructed, and the programme never progressed to large-scale production. Nevertheless, the aircraft’s projected range generated considerable interest, particularly among those seeking a means of reaching targets far beyond the reach of conventional Luftwaffe aircraft.
Pancherz’s Account
In September 1969, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph published an article discussing long-range German bomber projects. The article included a remarkable statement attributed to Pancherz. According to his account, a Ju 390 undertook a flight from Germany to Cape Town and back in early 1944. The mission was described as a proving flight intended to demonstrate the aircraft’s extreme range.
More significantly, Pancherz claimed that the operation was supported by aerial refuelling from Ju 290 aircraft. If accurate, this would place the flight among the earliest examples of long-range military aerial refuelling operations ever conducted. The claim immediately attracted attention because it appeared to demonstrate that Germany possessed both the aircraft and the techniques necessary for truly intercontinental operations.
Was Aerial Refuelling Possible?
Contrary to popular belief, aerial refuelling was not unknown during the Second World War. Various nations experimented with the concept during the inter-war period, and German engineers investigated several methods of extending aircraft range with the image above demonstrating just one.
There is evidence that long-range variants of the Ju 290 were studied with refuelling operations in mind, and Germany certainly recognised the strategic advantages such a capability could provide. However, there is a significant difference between conducting experimental refuelling trials and routinely supporting a six-engined aircraft on a round-trip flight to South Africa.
No detailed operational records describing such a mission have yet been discovered.
The Allied-Controlled Airspace Problem
Even if the Ju 390 possessed sufficient range to reach South Africa, geography presented another challenge. A flight from Germany to Cape Town could not take place in a strategic vacuum.
By early 1944, much of the Atlantic was under Allied surveillance. Allied naval forces operated throughout the ocean, while British-controlled territories extended along large portions of the African coastline. Radar stations, air patrols, shipping routes, and signals intelligence networks all increased the likelihood of detection.
A lone aircraft might, under favourable circumstances, avoid interception by operating far from established shipping lanes and coastal patrols. The situation becomes considerably more complicated if Pancherz’s claim of aerial refuelling is accepted.
A successful refuelling operation would require at least one Ju 290 tanker, and potentially several. The aircraft would need to navigate to a predetermined rendezvous point, maintain contact, transfer fuel, and then return safely to base. Such operations increase exposure considerably.
Instead of a single aircraft making a long-distance flight, multiple large aircraft would be operating over vast distances with little margin for error. A mechanical failure, navigational mistake, or Allied sighting could compromise the entire mission.
The farther south the flight progressed, the greater the risks became. Although large areas of the South Atlantic remained sparsely patrolled compared with the North Atlantic, Allied control of South African ports and airfields meant that any aircraft approaching the Cape region would be operating near enemy territory.
This does not prove that the flight did not occur. However, it illustrates that the challenge was not merely one of fuel and range. Any successful mission would also have required extraordinary operational security and a considerable degree of luck.
The Distance Problem
The geography involved is substantial, a direct route from central Germany to Cape Town measures approximately 9,500 Kilometers one way. A return journey would therefore exceed 19,000 Kilometers before allowing for navigation, weather diversions, climb profiles, and fuel reserves. Such distances would challenge even modern transport aircraft without careful planning.
Pancherz’s explanation was that aerial refuelling solved the problem. In theory, this is entirely plausible. In practice, it raises additional questions. How many tanker aircraft were involved? Where did the refuelling occur? What procedures were used? Who participated? These are precisely the kinds of details that historians would expect to find documented somewhere within surviving records.
If Pancherz’s account is accurate, the greatest achievement may not have been the distance flown, but the ability of a Ju 390 and its supporting Ju 290 tankers to traverse thousands of Kilometers of ocean during 1944 without attracting Allied attention or leaving any documentary trace.
The Missing Evidence
This is where the story becomes difficult.
For an operation of this scale, historians would normally expect to find at least some of the following:
- Test reports.
- Engineering assessments.
- Fuel calculations.
- Flight plans.
- Maintenance records.
- Aircrew reports.
- Official correspondence.
- Post-flight evaluations.
To date, no such documentation has emerged.
Even more significantly, no independent witness has come forward with a corroborating account of the mission. As a result, the Cape Town flight remains dependent upon a single source. That source is certainly important. Pancherz was not a casual observer. He was deeply involved with the Ju 390 programme and flew numerous Junkers test aircraft during the war. However, testimony alone is rarely sufficient to establish an extraordinary historical claim.
Why the Story Matters
Whether the Cape Town flight occurred may ultimately be less important than what the story represents. It introduces a theme that will recur throughout the history of the Ju 390. Again and again we encounter claims that appear technically possible. Again and again we find aircraft whose performance seems capable of supporting those claims. Yet when researchers search for contemporary records, the documentary trail often disappears.
The result is a curious historical landscape where possibility and proof are not always the same thing.
The Foundation of Later Legends
The alleged Cape Town flight is significant because it predates the better-known claims concerning New York, South America, Japan, and other distant destinations. If Pancherz’s account is accurate, then the Ju 390 demonstrated capabilities far beyond those normally associated with Luftwaffe operations.
If the account is mistaken, exaggerated, or misunderstood, then many later stories may rest upon an unreliable foundation. Either way, the Cape Town claim deserves careful examination because it forms the first chapter in the wider mystery of Germany’s largest wartime aircraft.
Coming Next
Having examined the Cape Town story, we can now turn to some of the more popular Ju 390 legends, the claims that a German aircraft flew to within visual range of New York and returned safely to Europe in the next post.
Like the Cape Town story, it remains a claim that is technically intriguing, widely repeated, and fiercely debated.