Rebooting a classic
The Junkers A50 Junior comes full circle
Nobody knew it then, but 2019 was to mark a hiatus. The pandemic closed Aero Friedrichshafen, the German aircraft convention, and many other events worldwide for two consecutive years. When Aero finally opened its doors to exhibitors and spectators alike this year, the big question was—what happened in the meantime?
In 2019, I enthusiastically reported on the Junkers F 13, in my mind one of the most beautiful aircraft ever. I wanted to know where it was now.
“It’s sitting right there, and the modern jets and pistons parade right past her, the mother of all airplanes,” chuckled Bernd Junkers, grandson of founder Hugo Junkers, when I met him at the booth. He is not involved in the current company.
Turns out, Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG used the two-year break well. On the exhibit floor stands the A50 Junior, a European “ultralight” in tandem configuration. The design is based on the original, the first all-metal sport aircraft from 1929. It was designed as an “aircraft for the people”—affordable and easy to fly. Alas, the depression put those plans on hold. However, the aircraft was famously piloted by Marga von Etzdorf, the first woman to fly for an airline (DHL, later Lufthansa). In 1931, she took the A50 on a record-breaking flight from Berlin to Tokyo.
This taildragger is decidedly retro with its corrugated metal airframe, open cockpit, and spoked, bicycle-style landing gear. True to modern times, future owners can spec out their aircraft. There are six colors to choose from for the exterior paint job, and six colors for the interior leathers, as well as choices for some exterior details like the cockpit coaming.
