AAt the AERO air show in Friedrichshafen, this announcement is an absolute sensation: the legendary Junkers Ju52 from the 1930s is to be built again as a new aircraft. Designed in Switzerland, the three-engine aircraft will be rebuilt as a passenger aircraft. This became known during a media talk on Tuesday, one day before the official opening of AERO.
Manufacturer of the Ju52 New Generation is the Swiss Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG from Widnau on Lake Constance. Its boss is the German entrepreneur and aviation enthusiast Dieter Morszeck, until 2017 CEO and owner of the Rimowa suitcase factory in Cologne. His aviation company already has some experience with new buildings from former Junkers classics. This is how the replica of the six-seater Junkers F13 from 1919 is newly created in a small series. In addition, since this year the two-seater Junior has also been produced, an ultra-light aircraft as a replica of the Junkers Junior A50 from 1929. All machines have in common the corrugated iron construction made of duralumin, which is characteristic of Junkers aircraft.
The team is aware that a newly launched Ju52 passenger aircraft only has a chance on the market if it can be operated at competitive costs. Therefore, no more maintenance-intensive and thirsty radial engines are planned for the new edition. Instead, the future Ju52 will fly with brand new V12 engines from the German aircraft engine manufacturer Red Aircraft. These diesel engines with 550 hp, produced in Adenau in Rhineland-Palatinate, need significantly less fuel than the older radial engines and, unlike them, can use the kerosene available at all airports.
Still retro on the outside, state-of-the-art on the inside: The Ju52 is to have the advantages of the latest avionics systems, with screens and autopilot.
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Image: Uwe Stohrer
Of course, Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG wants and has to bring the cockpit of the retro airliner up to the technological level of the 21st century if it is to have a chance on the market. For the first time in the history of the classic, state-of-the-art avionics with screens and an autopilot, presumably from the US manufacturer Garmin, are installed to relieve the crew.
The Ju52 New Generation is flown as an airliner for 14 passengers by two commercial pilots. The machine should come onto the market after approval, which is not expected before 2025/26. Even a cargo version is being considered.
The icon of yesteryear: The old “Aunt Ju” in 2006 on a sightseeing flight over Hamburg on the occasion of her 80th birthday.
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Image: dpa
Like the Junkers F13 and the A50 Junior, the complete metal structure of the new Ju52 could possibly be produced by the experienced aircraft manufacturer Kaelin Aero Technologies in Oberndorf, Baden-Württemberg. In addition, Junkers GmbH has just been established in the Black Forest. Final assembly and delivery could then probably take place at the Junkers company site at the Swiss Bodensee airport in St.Gallen-Altenrhein.
After the flight operations of the legendary Ju52 D-AQUI of the Lufthansa Berlin Foundation came to an end in Germany more than two years ago, there is no longer any “Aunt Ju” for passenger flight operations in Europe. The Junkers Ju52 was created in 1932 as a cargo or passenger aircraft. It became a legend due to its universal applicability, robustness and short take-off and landing distances on unpaved runways. A total of almost 5,000 examples were built under license, of which only two are currently airworthy worldwide.