In the spring of 2016 one of the most revolutionary aircraft in aviation history will take to the skies for the first time in more than 60 years.
The Junkers F13 was the world’s first all-metal transport aircraft, designed just after World War I by German aviation entrepreneur and businessman Hugo Junkers.
Using the ground-breaking aluminum alloy Duralumin, the F13’s low-wing monoplane cantilever design and metal fuselage turned heads in 1919, the era of fabric-and-wood biplanes and triplanes.
Its sleek style anticipated the lines of the modern airliner.
Heated passenger cabin
The F13 featured another innovation that made it a favorite among airlines all around the world: an enclosed heated passenger cabin that held up to four passengers in relative comfort — for the standards of the time, at least.
The pilots had to make do with an open cockpit — normal procedure at the time — since they relied entirely on visual navigation to get to their destination.
The F13 was so popular that, despite the abundance of cheap former military aircraft in the years immediately after the war, Junkers carved a significant market share for its new model in the burgeoning airline industry.
By the mid-1920s no less than 40% of commercial air routes globally were serviced by F13s.
Hugo Junkers even created his own airline, Junkers Luftverkehr, that would later merge into German flag carrier Lufthansa, in order to promote and sell the F13.
Return of the F13
The last commercial F13 retired in Brazil in 1951.
Now the vintage plane is back, thanks to a collaboration between Cologne-based luxury luggage-makers RIMOWA and Swiss airline company Ju-Air.
Like Junkers, RIMOWA were pioneers in the use of Duralumin, and their products still feature a signature corrugated outer shell, reminiscent of the airliners of the 1920s and 1930s.
The idea of bringing this marvel of early aircraft manufacturing back to the skies came up in 2009 when Germany’s Association of Friends of Historical Aircraft (Verein der Freunde historischer Luftfahrzeuge) was forced to ground its historic Ju52 airplane.
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