Many improved models were made before and during World War 2. The main production model was the Ju.52/3mg7e, with advances such like autopilot, enlarged doors to the cabin and other general enhancements. It was configured to serve as a pure transport aircraft, capable of carrying up to 18 fully-equipped troops. Defensive weaponry consisted on a dorsal-mounted 13mm MG 131 and two sideways mounted 7.9mm MG 15 machine guns. Further models were improved in many different ways, such as revised glazing, newer engines, reinforced undercarriage, and increased take-off weight.
The Ju.52 had a low cantilever wing , whose mid section was built into the fuselage, shaping its underside. It was formed around four pairs of circular cross-section duraluminium spars with a corrugated surface that provided torsional stiffening. A thin control surface, with its outer section acting as the aileron, while the inner section functioned as a flap. These sections ran along the whole trailing edge of each wing panel, well split from it. The inner flap section lowered the stalling speed and the arrangement was known as the "Doppelflügel" ("Double wing in German).
Outer sections operated diferentially as ailerons, projecting slightly beyond the wingtips with control horns. The strutted horizontal stabiliser featured horn-balanced elevators which projected and showed a significant gap between them and the stabiliser itself, which could be adjusted in-flight. All stabiliser surfaces were corrugated too.
The Ju.52/3m featured an unusual, for the time, corrugated skin made out of duraluminium, pioneered by Junkers during World War 1. The purpose of the corrugation was to strengthen the whole structure over a smoother approach. The fuselage was of rectangular section with a domed decking, comprising a tubular steel tube that was completely covered by the corrugated metal skin. A port-sided passenger door was placed just aft the wings, which also acted as a loading hatch for freight, with the lower half acting as a platform to ease cargo movements. The cabin was lined with numerous windows stretching forward to the pilots' cockpit. The main undercarriage was fixed and divided, with some of them with wheel fairings, while others not, as many crew decided to remove them to ease maintenance duties. A fixed tailskid, or tailwheel in later models, was also used. Some aircraft were fitted with floats of skis instead of wheels.
The type saw action as a bomber for the last time during World War 2 during the Invasion of Poland, as the type took part in the bombing campaign against Warsaw in September 1939, during the course of which only two Ju.52/3m bombers were lost. After the end of the Spanish Civil War, no further bomber versions were made and the Luftwaffe relied on the type entirely for transport and paratroop drops.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Warsaw_in_World_War_II
3. Osprey - Combat Aircraft 120 - Ju 52/3m Bomber and Transport units 1936-1941
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