Ju 52 Transporter KG zbV 1 - ebay photo find #382

Crash-landed Ju 52 of KG z.b.V 1 with the Berlin bear as Geschwaderwappen (black on a yellow background). While there seems to be an issue with the starboard motor, the tarpaulin-shrouded engine is a good indication that this machine will be soon returned to service..

" ..eine Ju 52 fliegt nicht alleine..."  Possibly here en route to North Africa via Sicily "1Z+HV" according to the seller. Looks more like Russia. In his memoir (see below) Ju 52 pilot Horst Dinter relates that he flew resupply sorties to Rommel's DAK via Greece and Crete..and the Ju 52 has none of the yellow 'Balkans' scheme. Also is probably coded "1Z+HU".

The best view of the cockpit MG mount that I've been able to locate. An image from Dinter's book. About 18 months ago I was asked for a view of this part by the 'researcher' from a well-known local model kit company. To the disappointment of the guys in our model club, said researcher (hi Luke!)  has subsequently left the company. His replacement has yet to put in an appearance. (not that I particularly want him to...)

SS Fallschirmjäger Btl. 500 Drvar May 1944, "Rösselsprung" - ebay photo find #380

 

 "Rösselsprung" was a failed German airborne and ground operation aimed at capturing or killing the Yugoslav Partisan leader Marshal Josip Broz ('Tito') in the Bosnian town of Drvar. Launched on 25 May 1944, the 'airborne' part of the assault was carried out by the SS-FJ battalion 500 - some 340 paratroopers were transported on board 34 DFS 230 gliders, the remainder of the battalion jumping from TG 4 Ju 52 Transporter. Meanwhile the town of Drvar was also bombed by the Luftwaffe. The gliders were towed by Hs 126 and Ju 87 tugs. A number of these images appeared in subsequent German newpaper reports - almost certainly taken by PK Berichter. In the end the operation was a failure - the area was well-defended by strong partisan forces while German intelligence regarding Tito's exact location was faulty. 

This was the image of victory that was publicized. These F-J paras show off their trophies including the flags of the Allied Mission. The rifle of the man in the middle has a grenade launcher on its muzzle.

Junkers 52 g8e (See) of Seetransportstaffel 2

A Junkers 52 g8e (See) in Norway in 1944. This machine probably belonged to Seetransportstaffel 2 and was likely coded 8A+FK, only the individual letter of the aircraft, the F, is repeated under the wings. The large cargo door and the small access door to the cockpit are one of the identifying characteristics of this version. The Ju 52 g8e (See) could get airborne in 53 seconds over a distance of 845 metres but took 21 minutes (!) to reach an altitude of 3,000 metres. Here ground crew personnel are seen removing the essential tarpaulins protecting the Junkers from the rigours of the Norwegian climate. The aircraft is being loaded and prepared for the next flight. The rear of the aircraft is secured to a small boat, which will probably help in maneuvering the aircraft so that it can be placed more easily in its take-off axis. On the left a man is wearing a lifejacket while on the right another man is undoing the mooring lines of the Ju 52. Seetransportstaffel 2 was formed in October 1943 at the Norwegian base of Trondheim-Hommelvik, where it remained until its surrender in May 1945. Throughout this difficult late-war period the unit's mechanics accomplished the feat of maintaining on almost permanent availability around ten of the complement of Ju 52s equipping the Seetransportstaffel 2, thus allowing it to operate right up to the very end of the war....

via Greg Almeras

new reissue from Italeri due soon - Ju 52/3m

 

due soon from Italeri. See the link below for a Tony O'Toole build of this kit..

Also on this blog;

Building the Italeri Ju 52 as the 450 RAAF transport hack 'Libyan Clipper' 

Junkers Ju 52 'Where Eagles Dare'

Ju 52 Transporter at the Kent Battle of Britain museum, Hawkinge, 21 January 2023

..barely two months ago the RAF Museum's CASA 352 (basically a Spanish-built Junkers Ju 52/3M) was looking immaculate in its hangar at Cosford in its pre-WW II British Airways livery, painted to represent G-AFAP of British Airways Ltd circa. 1939. Now transported half-way across the country it is literally in pieces in the car park at the Hawkinge Battle of Britain museum awaiting a re-spray in a 'spurious' Battle of Britain 'scheme'. Although no transport Gruppen had undergone preparation for the 'planned' Operation Sea Lion, KGzbV1 and KGzbV2 were apparently primed to move to France, should the invasion become a possibility. The team at Hawkinge have around ten weeks to strip the machine down and repaint it prior to the opening of the museum for the summer season.  Not to mention lay some concrete for an outside 'dispersal'. Note the shot of the fuel tanks in the wing - volunteers on duty on Saturday mentioned that these had to be drained prior to the move from Cosford as there was still fuel in the tanks following the tri-motor's flight into Cosford some 30-odd years ago! Smaller parts including cowls, BMW radials, ailerons etc are already in the hangar at the Hawkinge museum where it was planned to apply the first coat of paint on Saturday.

 

Also on this blog; 

 An interview with Jan Forsgren, author of the Fonthill Media title " The Junkers Ju 52 Story "

Le Junkers Ju 52, de la Lufthansa à la Luftwaffe - Alméras, Grégory LeLa Presse - book review

Junkers F-13 replicas and real examples - RIMOWA first flight - Rückkehr einer Legende – das weltweit erste Passagierflugzeug

F13 taking off from Tempelhof on March 7, 1923 with the Weimar Reichs President Friedrich Ebert on board - Flugzeugreise des Reichspräsidenten zur Leipziger Messe am 7. März 1923 - Start des Flugzeuges mit dem Reichspräsidenten auf dem Tempelhofer Feld. F 13 fy D-190 of Lloyd Ostflug then Junkers Luftverkehrs AG. 

..and nearly one hundred years later..

Back in 2019 the Czech city of Zlín restored and re-opened its memorial to the town's most famous entrepreneur - Tomáš Bata. His footwear business - one of Czechoslovakia's leading exporters - brought prosperity and renown to Zlin. Why is this of interest for aviation enthusiasts? Tomáš Bata was a promoter of Czech aviation and owned and flew a Junkers F13. He made business flights in F13 D-1608 until he and his pilot were killed in a crash on July 12, 1932. A full-size replica of his machine was constructed for the restored museum - it is notable for having been created entirely with a 3D printer! Visitors can marvel at the replica in the new building. 

A number of other replicas of the F13 have been built over recent years. A replica F 13a stood on the apron of the Hugo Junkers hangar at Mönchengladbach Airport for a while and since 2017, a replica of the F 13 has been on display at the Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin. There is another reproduction in the Junkers Museum Dessau and, since 2019 an F-13 simulator that has been in operation. The Rimowa company built two flying replicas in Switzerland. HB-RIM flew for the first time in 2016 from Dübendorf Airport and HB-RIA followed three years later. 

" ..The project to bring back the Junkers F13 reached an eagerly awaited pinnacle on 15 September, 2016: the official first flight of the replica took place in Dübendorf, Switzerland, almost 100 years after the launch of the ‘mother of all commercial aircraft’. With the take-off, what was constructed under the project name ‘RIMOWA F13’ became a veritable Junkers F13, thereby extending the legacy of the visionary professor Hugo Junkers..."
(Variants of the F13 were built using Mercedes, BMW, Junkers, and Armstrong Siddeley Puma liquid-cooled inline engines, and Gnome-Rhône Jupiter and Pratt and Whitney Hornet air-cooled radial engines. The variants were mostly distinguished by a two letter code, the first letter signifying the airframe and the second the engine eg, Junkers L5-engined variants all had the second letter -e, so type -fe was the long fuselage -f airframe with a L5 engine).
" ..Sie haben die Fliegerei revolutioniert: die weltbekannte „Tante JU“ und die vergessene F13, die „Urmutter“ aller Verkehrsflugzeuge. Im Jahr 1919 begründete die weltweit erste Gesamtmetallmaschine mit dem markanten Riffelblech die moderne Passagierluftfahrt. Bis in die 60er Jahre verband die F13 Menschen und Kontinente. Anfang 2013 erwecken die Mitarbeiter bei Kaelin Aero Technologies, im deutschen Schwarzwald, die Ikone der Luftfahrt zu neuem Leben. Flugzeugstrukturbauer Dominik Kälin rekonstruiert aus dem Material, mit dem Hugo Junkers seine Flugzeuge und Paul Morszeck seine berühmten Rillen-Koffer baute, die F13. Dominik Kälin, Flugzeugstrukturbauer, Kaelin Aero Technologies: „Es ist eigentlich ein physikalisches Grundprinzip, was der Herr Junkers damals genutzt hat und auch der Vater von Dieter Morszeck. Die waren clever. Cleverer als die anderen...“

"..They revolutionised aviation: the world-famous "Auntie Ju" and the forgotten F13, the original "mother" of all commercial aircraft. In 1919, the world's first all-metal aircraft constructed with its distinctive corrugated aluminium alloy (duralumin) sheet established modern passenger aviation. Up until the 1960s, the F13 connected people and continents. In early 2013, the employees at Kaelin Aero Technologies, in the German Black Forest, brought the icon of aviation back to life. Aerostructures engineer Dominik Kälin  built  his F13 from the same metal sheet material that Hugo Junkers used to build his aircraft and Paul Morszeck (Rimova kuggage) his famous grooved suitcases. Dominik Kälin, Kaelin Aero Technologies: "It's actually a basic physical principle that Mr Junkers used back then and also Dieter Morszeck's father. They were clever. Cleverer than the others..."

"...Rückkehr einer Legende – das weltweit erste Passagierflugzeug – die JUNKERS F13 hebt wieder ab. Seit fast 3 Jahren produziert ah-tv eine Dokumentation über den Nachbau der „Mutter“ aller Verkehrsflugzeuge. Kurz vor der Weltpremiere des Erstflugs am 15. September 2016, haben wir den wohl einzigen noch lebenden F13 Zeitzeugen getroffen. Hans-Walter Bender erzählt uns exklusiv von seinem unvergesslichen Erlebnis, als er 1929 als 6jähriger Junge mit seiner Mutter Charlotte einen an einem Rundflug mit der JUNKERS F13 teilnahm. Seine persönlichen Erinnerungen werden wieder lebendig durch historische Filmaufnahmen, (Quelle: Archiv Bernd Junkers) Fotos und das original Flugticket von damals..."

An interview with Hans-Walter Bender - perhaps the last person still alive to have flown in the Junkers F 13 which he did as a six-year old in September 1929..

 

There are still five original F13s in the world, one in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, one in the Musée de l'Air in Paris, and examples in the museums in Stockholm and Budapest. The fifth W.Nr. 2050, built in 1930, stood for a long time in the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg and came to Germany in September 2005. Restored in Hungary, it has been in the Deutsches Technik Museum in Berlin since 2020.

Below; the Junkers F 13 at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm via Jan Forsgren

Also on this blog;

An interview with Jan Forsgren, Fonthill author

New Fonthill Fieseler Storch book from Jan Forsgren 

Eduard Junkers Ju 52 'Airliner' 1:144 kit in "Where Eagles Dare" scheme custom decals - Luftwaffe models

Model and model photos and custom-made decals via Jasonb13

" ..I have wanted to do this scheme for a while and picked up the Eduard Ju 52 'Airliner' kit in 1:144 scale in December 2017 and finally started it late last year. I got the decals custom made but they got lost in the Christmas post so had to be re-sent, so I only got it finished a couple of days ago.

It's a decent kit, but I had some fit issues, especially with the windows section, as the two strips for the windows are clear (both the windows themselves and the surrounding area) so it's hard to get them flush with the plastic fuselage sides. I also had some issues with the method I tried to use to do the camo, so all in all this isn't as 'smooth' a build as I would have liked! As to the camo scheme (see diagram of camo finish below) I'm pretty sure that it is finished overall white from what I can see from freezing the DVD and also pics online of the Swiss aircraft used. I think it looks like the movie aircraft - and I'm happy enough to have a model of such an iconic aircraft on the shelf - and from such an iconic film!...."

Kit: Eduard Ju-52 'Airliner'
Scale: 1:144
Paint & Weathering: Airbrushed with One Shot Mig Primer and Revell Aqua Colours, Weathered with Oils.
Extras: Bedlam Creations Custom Decals for 'Where Eagles Dare' scheme.

".. the decals were done by Bedlam Creations (https://www.bedlamcreations.com/custom-waterslide-decals/) and the option I went with was the 'Thermal Resin ALPS' 2" x 3" which cost $10 + Shipping. Obviously, depending on the size of the decal sheets you want, it could cost more. I found them very helpful, and even though the original sheet was lost in the post, they reprinted and re-shipped free of charge..."

Below - a single click to view here. The final chase scene from the film "Where Eagles Dare" featuring the all-white Swiss Air Force Junkers Ju 52 rented for the filming. This machine is better known as Ju Air HB-HOT which sadly crashed on 4 August 2018 in Switzerland with the loss of all onboard. The Ju 52 was still in Swiss AF service at the time of filming "Where Eagles Dare" - note the over-painted Swiss AF roundels on the lower wing surfaces! Note too the ex-Swiss AF T-6s masquerading as Messerschmitts in the clip. Starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood of course. Filmed on location at Aigen i. Ennstal (military) airfield, Austria.

.

Also on this blog - building the Italeri 72nd scale Ju 52 as the 450 RAAF hack 'Libyan Clipper'
https://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2018/05/building-italeri-ju-52-as-450-raaf.html

Ostfront Junkers Ju 52 Feldflugplatz Nachschub - #ebay photo find #298

Ostfront Junkers Ju 52 Feldflugplatz Nachschub  - some 'atmospheric' views of  a Ju 52 resupply operation somewhere in the East.

Building the Italeri Ju 52 as the 450 RAAF transport hack 'Libyan Clipper' using the Ju 52 Xtradecal set

Building the Italeri Ju 52 as the 'Libyan Clipper' operated as a squadron hack by 450 Sq RAAF

Via Tony O'Toole; " I`ve wanted to make a model of this one for years, with its odd titles on either side of the fuselage and now that it has appeared on a recent Xtradecal sheet,....I finally can! .."

According to the ADF Serials website; " This Luftwaffe transport Junkers Ju 52/3m was captured intact by the Australian forces at Ain-El Gazala, Libya, repainted with Royal Australian Air Force roundels and nicknamed "Libyan Clipper". The aircraft was used by 450 Squadron RAAF to transport mail, food supplies and small items from Cairo and back to the front line, doing two or three trips each week. Lord Casey, Governor General of Australia, came in this aircraft to see the men of the squadron. 1943. "

see Tony's comments on the accuracy of the Xtradecal decals 

"personally I wouldn`t bother with the Xtradecals sheet. The only part of it that I used was the Libyan Clipper titles and only the one above the windows went on unmodified,....... the one on the left side was too big, the wrong style and doesn`t fit the area that it should and the letters needed to be cut in half to narrow them down as best I could! Probably better to hand paint the titles or get them custom made from the available photos. Remember that there were other captured Ju 52`s too and the SAAF had a squadron of them plying between the Union and N.Africa.."

. posted by Doug Norrie on TOCH in 2015

"...below are dates for the 'Clipper' as recorded by 450 Sqn RAAF from diaries, logbooks and the ORB, arriving and leaving Gambut, Libya. I have no knowledge that it was 450's aircraft but it was used for ferrying the pilots to Cairo on leave and bringing back beer, developed photographs etc for the sqn in 1942. It was not piloted by the sqn. It mainly flew from Gambut Main to Cairo and back when 239 Wing was there from Feb. to June 1942. After that it is not recorded.

17 Feb. 1942: Arrived at Gambut Main with German prisoners aboard and refuelled by the sqn's ground staff.
23 March 1942: To Gambut Main from Cairo with items for sqn.
6 April 1942: Arrived at Gambut Main.
12 April 1942: Sgt. T.E.N. Crouch (450 Sqn) flew as second pilot to P/O Pearson in the JU 52 ‘Libyan Clipper’ on a flight from Gambut to Cairo on leave. (Courtesy Crouch logbook) (P/O, or Sgt Pearson was being rested from operations from 238 Sqn RAF and became the regular pilot for the 'Libyan Clipper' taking persons on leave)
27 April 1942: Duke of Gloucester and AVM Coningham arrived to visit 239 Wing's sqns at Gambut No.1 Sat.
18 May 1942: Mr R.G. Casey, the newly appointed British Minister of State in the Middle East arrived at Gambut No.1 Sat. to visit 239 Wing.

No other dates after that.

12 April 1942 gives the pilot's name as Pearson.
Could be Sgt P. Pearson RAFVR from 238 Sqn RAF in 1941 and/or P/O P. Pearson RAFVR from 80 Sqn RAF, KIA 29/5/1942. Both sqns with Hurricanes as per Shores et al in 'Mediterranean Air War' Vols 1 and 2.

Butler/'War Prizes' has serial No. as possibly HK919...."

Model by Tony O'Toole