Junkers Ju.52/3m. Part one

 

The Junkers Ju.52/2m was similar to the company's previous W.33, albeit larger. It was designed in 1930 by aeronautical engineer Ernst Zindel  and his team at Junkers factory in Dessau. According to some authors, it was drawn directly upon the Junkers J.I, world's first all-metal aeroplane.

The first prototype was flown on 13th October 1930, under the designation of Ju.52/ba. It was initially powered by a single Junkers-built liquid-cooled V-12 engine which could generate up to 800 hp of power. During the long prototype testing stage, it was re-engined with the BMW IV engine which delivered up to 755 hp of power. The second prototype, denominated Ju.52de, had an increased wingspan and, although it was powered by the BMW IV at first, soon it was replaced with the 750 hp Armstrong Siddeley Leopard which the company bought from British stocks. Consequently, the prototype was renamed as the Ju.52di. This machine was re-engined again with the 750 hp Junkers Jumo 204 and received the denomination of Ju.52do. The third prototype, designated as Ju.52ce, featured an strengthened structure, a modified leading edge and could be fitted with both wheeled and float undercarriages.

In May 1931, during one of test flights, Ju.52cai, one of the prototypes, crashed and was written off. While all those initial prototypes were powered by a single engine, Junkers decided to develop the Ju.52 into a trimotor, and so, the Ju.52/3m (drei motoren - three engines) started development process, being powered by an arrangement of three radial engines. By mid-1930s the Ju.52/3mce and Ju.52/3fe were the two primary production variants, both powered by the BMW 132 radial engine. 

In 1934 work commenced on a militarised model, named Ju.52/3mg3e on behalf of the, back then, secret Luftwaffe. This model could work as a medium bomber and be equipped with two defensive gun turrets if needed, with a crew of four. Between the years 1934 and 1935 a total of 450 Ju.52/3mg3e were delivered to the clandestine Luftwaffe.

In May 1932 Lufthansa, Germany's main airline, took delivery of its first Ju.52/3m. The type was heavily employed by Lufthansa, which covered both Berlin-Rome and Berlin-London routes with the Ju.52/3m as it could complete the first one in just 8 hours, quite a respectable time for the time. Lufthansa's Ju.52 fleet numbered 231 machines at its peak, before World War 2, as it was flown in various routes in Europe, Asia and South America.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52

2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft in Action 186 - Junkers Ju.52 in Action

Junkers Ju.52, various American users

 

Preliminary note: This post will be the last one before our mid-winter break. See you back in March!

The Junkers Ju.52 is a German cargo plane that was designed by Ernst Zindel and manufactured by aviation company Junkers. 

It was in production between 1931 and 1952 and, with more than 4.000 aircraft manufactured, the type was exported to various countries all around the globe, among them, the following ones:

• Brazil: The Brazilian airline, "Viaçao Aerea Rio Grandese" (Aerial Aviation of Rio Grande) bought one Ju.52/3m in 1937 which arrived in 1938. It was named "Mauá" and was restricted to aerial routes inside the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, although the aircraft had capacity for longer routes. This was done because it only flew when the airplane was fully booked. This machine, registered as "PP-VAL" had its capacity increased from 17 to 21 passengers. After a tragic accident close to the city of Porto Alegre where 6 people died on 28th February 1942, the aircraft was declared beyond repair and was written off.
  Another Brazilian operators of the type were :
• Aeronorte: An airline located in Sao Luis, at the state of Maranhao, North-Eastern Brazil which operated one Ju.52/3m rented from VASP -Viaçao Aerea Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo Aerial Aviation- from 1950 until 1951.
• Syndicato Condor/Cruzeiro do Sul: The main Brazilian operator of the Ju.52. Being a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa for South America, this airline had 16 Ju.52/3m bought between 1934 and 1939. The Ju.52/3m was the main workhorse of the company until 1943 when it was converted into Cruzeiro do Sul and the Ju.52/3m were gradually replaced by American Douglas DC-3 transport planes. However, the Ju.52/3m were still serving some routes in 1945 as some of them were equipped with floats in the Amazonian region. 
  They all were either sold to other companies or countries (like Argentina) or scrapped.
• Viaçao Aerea Sao Paulo: This Sao-Paulo based airline had at least two Ju.52/3m in service during the early 1940s. Further details about them are unknown, however one of them was rented to Aeronorte in 1950.
• Canada: Canadian Airways bought the sixth Ju.52 built. This machine, unlike most of the other Ju.52/3m, was powered by a single four-propelled engine, a Rolls Royce Buzzard. It was bought in 1931 and that time it was the largest aircraft present in Canada and could operate on either floats or skis.
  Nicknamed as "The Flying Boxcar" it proved to be an excellent cargo airplane as it could carry loads no other aircraft of the time could thanks, partially to its large roof hatch. 
  In 1942 Canadian Pacific Airlines took over all of Canadian Airways flying stock and in 1947 it was commissioned out of service and sold to a junk dealer which tore it piece by piece with its fuselage ending as a child's playhouse in Winnipeg. Thankfully it was recovered and it's nowadays exposed at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.
• Colombia: In 1932 the Colombian Army was in war against Peru over the Leticia Region of the Amazon region. It was then when, in order to reinforce the Colombian Military Aviation with bombers that, the Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aéreo (SCADTA - Colombo-German Air Transport Society) bought three which were assigned to commercial flights in the newly created company. When the Leticia Incident (AKA the Colombo-Peruvian War) was waged in September 1932, the three Ju.52/3mde (an ad-hoc version equipped with floats and additional defensive dorsal machine gun hatches) of SCADTA were requisitioned by the Military Aviation which were employed as bombers operating from rivers and lakes as the Colombian Amazon jungle lacked suitable airfields. This became the first operational use of the Ju.52 as a bomber. 
  Shortly after the war, additional three Ju.52/3m were acquired which arrived by ship on 5th July 1933 and were sent straight to the Military Aviation. 
  After the conflict, in 1933, the Junkers were based in the town of Puerto Salgar, at the district of Cundinamarca. One Ju.52/3m registered with the number of "625" was assigned as the personal transport of Colombian president Enrique Olaya Herrera and, on 24th October 1933, it was employed by General Luis Acevedo to fly to Manaus, in Brazil, to sign peace with Peru. 
  One of them crashed on 14th January 1936 killing all its passengers, making this unfortunate event the only fatal accident of a Colombian Ju.52. 
  The Ju.52 was employed as the main transport of the Colombian Military Aviation and, just like Argentina, it was the first aircraft that Colombian paratroopers used for their first airdrops during a manoeuvres that took place at the Base Aérea in Madrid, in Cundinamarca district, on 13th May 1947. Three years after, as more advanced and modern types were bought, the Ju.52 was written off and, given its historical importance, one is exhibited nowadays at the Colombian Air Force's Museum.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Airways

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

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

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

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varig

7.https://www.varig-airlines.com/en/junkersju52.htm

8. https://royalaviationmuseum.com/junkers-ju-52-cf-arm/

9. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19420228-1

10. https://www.fac.mil.co/museo/el-veterano-junkers-ju-52-primer-avion-presidencial-de-colombia-1 (translated)