Junkers Ju.52/3m more European and British users

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German passenger and cargo airplane that was used all around the globe by both air forces and airways from the 1930s to the 1950s and, in some cases, even beyond. In this post we're covering the following users:

• United Kingdom: Although not used by the Royal Air Force, the Ju.52/3m saw service in the United Kingdom as it served with the following airlines:
• British Airways Ltd.: In 1936 and 1937 three Ju.52/3m were operated by this airline together with some other types, to operate various night mail contracts to Lille in France and Cologne and Hannover, in Germany. 
• British European Airways/Railway Air Services: In November 1946 British European Airways (BEA) opened its first aerial link between London Croydon airport and Belfast Sydenham airport via Liverpool. This line was served by ex-Luftwaffe Ju.52/3m and was operated by another airline called Railway Air Services on behalf of BEA. The next month Sydenham was replaced by Nutts Corner, also in Northern Ireland, and the Ju.52/3m (which received the nickname of "Jupiters" by their British pilots) were replaced with Douglas Dakota cargo and passenger aircraft. 
• British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC): According to Wikipedia the BOAC had one or more Ju.52/3m in inventory, however, we couldn't find any graphical evidence, so it was decided not to drawn an hypothetical version.
  
  
• Estonia: In 1939 the Estonian A/S Ago (the Estonian national airline back in the 1930s - not to be confused with the German aircraft manufacturer AGO Flugzeugwerke) ordered two Ju.52/3mg3gce passenger planes in 1939. The first one arrived in Estonia on 5th October 1939, piloted by the Estonian pilot Peeter Olt, and the second one was delivered on 19th October. 
  When the Soviets occupied the Baltic States in June 1940, both were assigned to Aeroflot, the Soviet national airline, however, they remained parked at Jägala airport, in Estonia, until February 1941 when they were taken back to Riga. Later they were assigned to some special squadron of the VVS (Soviet Air Force) in Moscow, where, apparently were not employed for the remaining of the war.
• Finland: In 1936, with the completion of Helsinki's and Turku's airports, Finland's national airway back then, Aero Oy, sought for larger passenger airplanes. That's when three Ju.52/3m were bought with an additional one being bought later. At the outbreak of the Winter War in late November 1939, any civilian aerial operation from Helsinki was deemed as too risky, so Aero Oy ceased operations, but they were resumed when this conflict terminated in March 1940. It seems that during peace negotiations, in June 1940, one Ju.52 was shot down over the Gulf of Riga by two Soviet Tupolev SB-2 bombers. 
  During the Continuation War, the company kept regular flights to Stockholm, Tallinn and Berlin, among other destinations until the outbreak of the Lapland War in September 1944. Overall the Ju.52/3m served with Aero Oy (which, by the way, was the forerunner of Finnair) until 1948 when they were replaced by more modern types.

Sources:

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnair (translated)

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnair

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Ltd

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways

6. http://www.militaar.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=28659 (translated)

Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard - Part one

The Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard was a powerful and fast biplane fighter that was developed for the Royal Air Force, but as the World War I ended, its mass production was cancelled. No more than 400 of them were produced and most of them were exported.
After the Great War, Belgium bought at least two of them to equip their Aviation Militaire (Military Aviation). They tested it at the Evere airfield but it was rejected for service.
The airplane was among of the few that founded the Bolivian Cuerpo de Aviación (Bolivian Aviation Corps) as nine of them served there from 1925 until 1929 when they were replaced by more modern types, most probably the Curtiss Hawk IA.
With its native users, only 57 of them were put into service with the Royal Air Force, but they weren't put into operational use. In the inmediate postwar, two of them were used as high speed transports during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and some others served in the Central Flying School. As the post-war RAF didn't want the type, it never served as a fighter.
The Finnish Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Corps) bought a single airplane for testing purposes in April 1923 with 14 more of them being purchased in 1927. They initally served in the Maalentsoskadeer Ut until 1929 and since they served as trainers in the Kauhava School of Aviation until 1939. Nowadays, the Aviation Museum of Central Finland has the only remaining one in exhibition.

Sources:
1. http://www.belgian-wings.be/Webpages/Navigator/Belgian_Aviation_History/BAFAircraft/Bafallaircraft_1919_1945.htm
2. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/americas/bolivia/Bolivia-af-CMA.htm
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsyde_Buzzard
4. https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsyde_F.4_Buzzard (translated)