january 2016 AH 7OPPOSITE: (TOP) LOGAN RIELY/
THE GAZETTE
; (BOTTOM) NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF WORLD WAR II AVIATION; ABOVE RIGHT: RIMOWAuntil it was stripped and
scrapped in 1944, and after
the war it was bulldozed
with several P-47Ds into a
large pit at Dreger Field, a
ÅOP\MZ\ZIV[XWZ\JI[MQV
Finschhafen, east of Lae
(where Amelia Earhart had
UILMPMZTI[\\ISMWٺQV
July 1937).
In 1999 an Australian
group uncovered what was
left of White 33, and in 2002
the remains were delivered to
collector Jim Slattery for
ZM\]ZV\WÆQOP\Ja?M[\8IK
Restorations, in Colorado
Springs, Colo. The job
turned into the most compre-
hensive P-38 restoration ever
done, with features not even
present on the famous Glacier
Girl, and it has produced one
WNWVTa\_WÆaQVO8 [_Q\P
working turbochargers. It is
also the earliest and most his-
toric P-38 ever restored, and
shop co-owner William
Klaers admits that “It’s prob-
ably the hardest project
WestPac has ever done.”
In a fortunate coincidence,
100-year-old Colorado
Springs AAF veteran Frank
Royal recently met Klaers
IVL\WTLPQUPM¼LÆW_V
8 [QV\PM8IKQÅK)[\PMa
talked, it came to light that
Royal had been one of the
ÅZ[\\WÆa?PQ\M[QVKM
he was the 27-year-old com-
mander of the squadron
to which it had been deliv-
ered. Royal, who visited the
WestPac shop last summer as
the restoration was nearing
completion, recalled, “The
ÅZ[\\QUM1\WWSWٺM^MZa-
thing worked perfectly.”
Stephan WilkinsonAir Quotes
“I ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT
THE HELICOPTER WOULD
BE AN OUTSTANDING
VEHICLE FOR THE GREATEST
VARIETY OF LIFE-SAVING
MISSIONS AND NOW, NEAR
THE CLOSE OF MY LIFE, I
HAVE THE SATISFACTION
OF KNOWING THIS HAS
PROVED TO BE TRUE.”(^) –IGOR SIKORSKY, IN HIS LAST LETTER
A
century ago, on January 18, 1916, the Junkers J.
made its first flight, revolutionizing aeronautics
with its all-metal construction and cantilever wings
requiring no external bracing. After World War I
ended, Junkers and his chief designer, Otto Reuter,
made history again on June 25, 1919, with the first flight
of the F.13. With pilot and copilot seated side by side in
a semi-open cockpit and four passengers in an enclosed
cabin behind them, it was the world’s first all-metal
commercial airplane. Of 330 built, 110 were operated
in Germany and the rest by air transport companies
throughout North and South America, Eastern Europe,
China, Japan, the Dutch East Indies and Australia.
Five F.13s survive in museums, but none are in flyable
condition. In July 2015, however, a faithful reproduc-
tion, built by a joint collaboration of Rimowa, a German
luggage manufacturer, and Swiss JU-AIR, was publicly
displayed at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s
AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. Constructed using 3-D
scans of an F.13 at the Musée de l’Air et l’Espace at le
Bourget, France, as reference, and skinned in corru-
gated duraluminum similar to that used by Rimowa in its
light but rugged traveling cases, the repro F.13 differs
from its ancestors primarily in its engine, a 450-hp Pratt
& Whitney R-985 radial with Hamilton Standard prop,
originally mounted on a few F.13s for proposed export
to the United States. The only other major modifications
were made to comply with current safety standards.
The Rimowa Junkers is slated to make its first test
flights in March 2016 and is expected to be certified for
manufacture and sale in May. For a projected asking
price of $2.2 million, you can have a historic flying run-
about for six.
Jon Guttman
heavy metal
pioneer
junkers replica
Rimowa plans to make
Pratt & Whitney engines
standard in its updated
version of the F.13.