The Junkers F 13 was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was an advanced

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. 322 planes of the type were manufactured, an exceptionally large number for a commercial airliner of the era, and were operated all over the globe. It was in production for thirteen years and in commercial service for more than thirty.

Design and development

The F 13 was a very advanced aircraft when built, an aerodynamically clean all-metal low-wing cantilever (without external bracing) monoplane. Even later in the 1920s, it and other Junkers types were unusual as unbraced monoplanes in a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

age, with only

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

's designs of comparable modernity. It was the world's first all-metal passenger aircraft and Junkers' first commercial aircraft. The designation letter F stood for ''Flugzeug'', aircraft; it was the first Junkers aeroplane to use this system. Earlier Junkers notation labelled it J 13. Russian-built aircraft used the designation Ju 13. Like all Junkers duralumin-structured designs, from the 1918 J 7 to the 1932 Ju 46, (some 35 models), it used an

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

alloy (

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

) structure entirely covered with Junkers' characteristic corrugated and stressed duralumin skin. Internally, the wing was built up on nine circular cross-section duralumin

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

s with transverse bracing. All control surfaces were horn balanced. Behind the single engine was a semi-enclosed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

for the crew, roofed but without side glazing. There was an enclosed and heated cabin for four passengers with windows and doors in the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

sides. Passenger seats were fitted with

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...

s, unusual for the time. The F 13 used a fixed conventional split

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

with a rear skid, though some variants landed on floats or on skis. The F 13 first flew on 25 June 1919, powered by a 127 kW (170 hp) Mercedes D IIIa inline upright water-cooled engine. The first production machines had a wing of greater span and area and had the more powerful 140 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa upright inline water-cooled motor. Many variants were built using Mercedes, BMW, Junkers, and

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following ...

Puma liquid-cooled inline engines, and

Gnome-Rhône Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments tur ...

and

Pratt & Whitney Hornet The Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet was a widely used American aircraft engine. Developed by Pratt & Whitney, 2,944 were produced from 1926 through 1942. It first flew in 1927. It was a single-row, 9-cylinder air-cooled radial design. Displacemen ...

air-cooled

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

s. The variants were mostly distinguished by a two letter code, the first letter signifying the

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...

and the second the engine. Junkers L5-engined variants all had the second letter -e, so type -fe was the long fuselage -f airframe with a L5 engine.

Operational history

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00007, Berlin, Start eines Junkers-Flugzeuges

Any manufacturer of civil aircraft immediately after

was faced with competition from the very large numbers of surplus warplanes that might be cheaply converted – for example, the DH.9C. German manufacturers had further problems with the restrictions imposed by the Inter-Allied Aeronautical Commission of Control, which banned the production of warplanes and of any aircraft in the period of 1921–2. Junkers picked up orders abroad in 1919 in Austria, Poland and the USA and, in the following years with

SCADTA Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transportes Aéreos german: Deutsch-Kolumbianische Luftverkehrsgesellschaft), or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline in Latin America, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCA ...

(Colombia) and the

United States Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postmas ...

. John Larsen Aircraft in the USA purchased a production licence, their machines being designated JL-6. In 1922 there were sales in England, France Italy and Japan. In Bolivia, LAB's first airplane was a Junkers F-13; first flight took off from Cochabamba on September 23, 1925. Junkers set up its own airline – Junkers Luftverkehr AG in 1921 – to encourage the acquisition of the F 13 by German airlines which was flying 60 of them by 1923. They also established a branch of this airline in Iran. Other marketing techniques were used, providing F 13s on cheap leases and free loans, with such effect that some 16 operators across Europe were flying them. When Junkers Luftverkehr merged into

Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and th ...

in 1926, 9.5 million miles had been flown by them. ''Luft Hansa'' itself bought 55 aircraft and in 1928 were using them on 43 domestic routes. Even in 1937, their F 13s were flying over 50 flights per week on four routes. They were finally withdrawn in 1938. Most of the F 13s produced before completion of the marque in 1932 were built at Junkers German base at

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

. During the difficult 1921–3 period production was transferred to Junkers plants at Danzig and

Reval Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ''m ...

. In 1922–3,

Hugo Junkers Hugo Junkers (3 February 1859 – 3 February 1935) was a German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and Mo ...

signed a contract with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to produce the aircraft in a Soviet factory at Fili near Moscow which became known as "Plant no. 22". Some of these aircraft served Soviet airlines and some the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. There were some other military users. The

Colombian Air Force , "We are the Force" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Colombian Air Force Hymn , mascot = Capitan Paz , anniversaries = 8 November , ...

used the F 13 (and the related W.33, W.34 and K.43) as bombers in the

Colombia–Peru War The Colombia–Peru War, also called the Leticia War, was a short-lived armed conflict between Colombia and Peru over territory in the Amazon rainforest that lasted from September 1, 1932 to May 24, 1933. In the end, an agreement was reached to d ...

in 1932–3. The

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

flew F 13s converted into

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s until the January 28 Incident in 1932, when they were destroyed by the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese along with the Shanghai Aircraft Factory. The Turkish Flying Forces flew a few. A feature that made the F 13 popular internationally was the ease with which its landing gear could be converted to floats. During the formative years of commercial aviation, bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, seas and oceans were more abundant than landing strips and civil airports in many parts of the world, so

seaplanes A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

were commonplace and even, in some places, more useful than regular aircraft. Aside from the obvious addition of floats, little modification was needed for this conversion; however, the different configuration could cause issues with directional control, and so some models had their

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

extended to compensate for this. From their introduction in 1919, commercial F 13s were in service for more than thirty years; the last commercial F 13 was retired in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1951.

Back in Production 2009-2019

A German-Swiss project to build a reconstruction of the F 13 was launched in 2009; the first flight was in September 2016. The reconstruction is equipped with radio and a transponder, and uses a 1930s

Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a displacement of ; initial versions produced , ...

engine, but is otherwise as close as possible to the original. Additional reconstructions are to be sold for $2.5 million apiece. Junkers Flugzeugwerke (SD303) has resurrected the Junkers F 13 as an all-new airplane to honor Hugo Junkers’ achievements. The company completed the aircraft in 2016 and it is at EBACE commemorating the type's maiden flight 100 years ago. The model is available for purchase, and three others like it are currently under construction. Work was in progress on the second and third aircraft during 2019, with airframe number two's maiden flight planned for early that summer.

Variants

;F 13: first prototype, smaller wings (span 14.47 m/47 ft 5.75 in, area 38.9 m² /419 ft²) and less powerful engine 127 kW (170 hp) Mercedes D IIIa inline) than production models. ;F 13a: first production aircraft with 140 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa engine. ;F 13ba, ca, da, fa: all with the 149 kW (200 hp) Junkers L2 upright inline water-cooled engine and a series of structural modifications. The fa variant was about 1 m (3 ft) longer. ;F 13be, ce, de, fe: as the above but all with 230 kW (310 hp) Junkers L5 upright inline water-cooled engines. ;F 13dle, fle, ge, he, ke: variants with the Junkers L5 above. ;F 13bi, ci, di, fi,: as ca to fa but all with the 186 kW (250 hp) BMW IV engine. ;F 13co, fo, ko: with the 230 kW (310 hp) BMW Va engine. ;Junkers-Larsen JL-6:American version of the F 13 built by Junkers-Larsen. Eight built. ;Junkers-Larsen JL-12:Ground-attack derivative of the Junkers-Larsen JL-6, with 300 kW (400 hp)

Liberty L-12 The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized Marinisation (also m ...

engine, armored, and armed with a downward-pointing battery of 30

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Stat ...

s. ;Rimowa Junkers F 13 :Modern replica first flown 15 September 2016. With the approval of the Junkers heirs, Rimowa Junkers was renamed ''Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG'', and moved to

Altenrhein Thal is a village and municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides the village of Thal itself, the municipality also includes the villages of Altenrhein, Buechen, Buriet and Sta ...

. Their models have modern features, like more and better instruments, while the outward appearance is the one of a Junkers-Larsen JL-6.

Operators

; *

Afghan Air Force The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was e ...

acquired four aircraft from 1924 through 1928. ; *

Argentine Air Force "Argentine Wings" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 August (anniversary) 1 May (Baptism of fire during the Falklands War) , equipment = 139 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = * Operation Independence * Operation Soberanía * Falklan ...

- three aircraft ; *

Austrian Air Force (1927-1938) The Austrian Air Force (german: Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte, , Austrian Air Combat Force) is a component part of the Austrian Armed Forces. History The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious A ...

* Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG (ÖLAG) started flying with F 13 and operated 24 aircraft0 ; *

SNETA The ''Syndicat national d'Etude des Transports Aériens'' ("National Union of Study of Aerial Transport"), known by its acronym SNETA, was a Belgian airline which operated from 1919 to 1923 in order to pioneer commercial aviation in Belgium. In 1923 ...

; *

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano S.A.M. (abbreviated LAB and internationally known as LAB Airlines), was the flag carrier and principal airline of Bolivia from 1925 until it ceased operations in 2010. Before its demise it was headquartered in Cochabamba ...

received the first F 13 as a gift from the German community on the occasion of the centennial of Bolivian independence. ; * Syndicato Condor - Serviços Aéreos Condor *

Varig VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went ...

; *

Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...

Bunavad Bunavad (Bulgarian: Бунавадъ; Българско народно въздухоплавателно акционерно дружество) (Bunavad: the Bulgarian National Aeronautical Public Equity Company) was the first national airl ...

operated two aircraft between 1927 and 1928. ; *

Chilean Air Force "With full speed to the stars" , colours = Indigo White , colours_label = , march = Alte Kameraden , mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March ...

; ;: *

Avianca Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under ...

Colombian Air Force , "We are the Force" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Colombian Air Force Hymn , mascot = Capitan Paz , anniversaries = 8 November , ...

;

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

Danziger Luftpost Danziger, being related to Danzig (disambiguation), Danzig (Gdańsk, Poland), may refer to: Danzig/Gdansk, Poland * Danziger bay, southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea * ''Danziger Deutsch'', Danzig German, Northeastern German dialects spoken in Gda ...

* Lloyd Ostflug ; *

Aeronaut Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifie ...

operated F 13 between 1922 and 1927. ; H%C3%A4t%C3%A4laskun_tehnyt_Aero_Oy-n_lentokone_Junkers_D335_T%C3%B6%C3%B6l%C3%B6n_tavara-aseman_luona

* Aero Airways * Kauhajoki Flying Club *

Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; fi, Ilmavoimat, , Air forces; sv, Flygvapnet, , Air weapon) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of Finnis ...

Finnish Border Guard The Finnish Border Guard (; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. It is a military organisation, subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior in administrative issues and to the President of Finland in issue ...

; ; *'' Junkers Luftverkehr'', primary user until merger with

Deutscher Aero Lloyd Deutscher is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alma Deutscher, British musician and composer * Drafi Deutscher, German singer and composer *Guy Deutscher (linguist) *Guy Deutscher (physicist) *Isaac Deutscher, British jo ...

into Deutsche Luft Hansa *''

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and th ...

'' operated about 110 aircraft, a large part taken over from Junkers Luftverkehr ; *Aero R.T. operated six aircraft between 1923 and 1927. *

Aeroexpress Rt. Aeroexpress Ltd. (russian: ООО "Аэроэкспресс") is the operator of airport rail link services in Russia. It is founded in 2005 and is owned by Russian Railways (50%), TransGroup AS (25%), Iskander Makhmudov (17.5%), and Andrei Bok ...

(1923−1930) *Royal

Hungarian Air Force The Hungarian Air Force ( hu, Magyar Légierő), is the air force branch of the Military of Hungary, Hungarian Defence Forces. The task of the current Hungarian Air Force is primarily defensive purposes. The flying units of the air force are or ...

; *

Air Iceland The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

operated three aircraft between 1928 and 1931. ; *

Imperial Iranian Air Force The history of the Iranian Air Force, currently known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, can be divided into two phases—before the Islamic Revolution, and after it. Imperial era The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was a branch ...

; ; ; *'' Latvijas Gaisa Satiksmes Akciju Sabiedriba'' - national airline, operated three aircraft in 1922-1925. ; *

Lithuanian Air Force The Lithuanian Air Force or LAF ( lt, Lietuvos karinės oro pajėgos, abbreviated as ''LK KOP'') is the military aviation branch of the Lithuanian armed forces. It is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units ...

for a short period operated single aircraft, which crash-landed in Lithuania after illegally passing its border in 1919. *

Mexican Air Force The Mexican Air Force (FAM; es, Fuerza Aérea Mexicana) is the primary aerial warfare service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and depends on the National Defense Secretariat ( SEDENA). The objective of ...

; * Mongolian People's Army Air Force operated three aircraft between 1925 and 1931. ; * Aero-Targ leased six aircraft from

in 1921. *

Aerolloyd Aerolot (until 1925 Aerolloyd) was a Polish airline. Created in 1922, it was the first regular airline in Poland. Throughout its existence, the airline attained a 100 percent safety record. Nationalised in 1928, it became the core of LOT Polish ...

(later renamed

Aerolot Aerolot (until 1925 Aerolloyd) was a Polish airline. Created in 1922, it was the first regular airline in Poland. Throughout its existence, the airline attained a 100 percent safety record. Nationalised in 1928, it became the core of LOT Polish ...

) operated 16 aircraft between 1922 and 1929. *

LOT Polish Airlines LOT Polish Airlines, legally incorporated as Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. (, ''flight''), is the flag carrier of Poland. Established in 1928, LOT was a founding member of IATA and remains one of the world's oldest airlines in operation. Wit ...

took over 15 remaining aircraft from

and operated them between 1929 and 1936. ; *'' Serviços Aéreos Portugueses'' operated one aircraft between 1929 and 1931. ; *

Royal Romanian Air Force The Air Force branch of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the (ARR), or the Romanian Royal Aeronautics, though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply ...

; *

Deruluft Deruluft (, or Deruluft) was a joint German-Soviet airline, established on 11 November 1921.Allaz, Camille. ''History of Air Cargo and Airmail from the 18th Century''.Christopher Foyle Publishing, 2005. p. 139. Deruluft opened its first permanen ...

Aviaarktika Aviaarktika was a Soviet airline which started operations on 1 September 1930 and was absorbed by Aeroflot on 3 January 1960. History Aviaarktika was the flying branch of the Department of Polar Aviation of Glavsevmorput. Its first head was Ma ...

operated several aircraft. *

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

; *

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. Founded in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and operated a hub-and-spoke network, serving ten destin ...

operated four aircraft obtained from Union Airways. *

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

; * Union Aérea Española UAE * Fuerzas Aéreas * Cruz Roja Española ; *

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

* Aktiebolaget Aerotransport ; *

Ad Astra Aero Ad Astra Aero (Latin for "to the stars air") was a Swiss airline based at Zürichhorn in Zürich. Early years Initiated by Oskar Bider and Fritz Rihner, in July 1919 the "Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Lufttourismus" (literally: Swiss ...

operated at least four F 13s (registered CH-91/92/93/94) between 1919 and probably 1930. ; *

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known t ...

operated three aircraft between 1925 and 1933. *

Turkish Air Post Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

operated two ex-military aircraft between 1933 and 1938. * General Command of Mapping (Turkey) operated one ex-air force aircraft (serial no: 882) equipped with aerial photo system from 1933 to 1938. ; *Civil register lists five F 13s during the 1930s ; *

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 1 September 1920, a Junkers-Larsen JL-6 caught fire and crashed in Morristown, NJ. Max Miller, the United States Air Mail Service's first pilot was at the controls and, along with his mechanic/crewman, Gustav Reierson, perished. They managed to eject all nine mail bags before the plane hit the ground. * On 8 June 1924, a SCADTA F 13, registration A13, stalled and crashed into a tree on takeoff from Barranquilla, Colombia, killing all five on board. * On 10 March 1926, a Latvijas Gaisa Satiksmes F 13, c/n 579, registration No. B-LATA, operating for

Aero O/Y Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and internationa ...

, crashed on approach to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. No fatalities were registered. * On 22 March 1925, a

Zakavia Zakavia (Transcaucasian Society of Air Transport, russian: Закавиа, Закавказское общество воздушных сообщений) was an airline in Georgia and later in Azerbaijan, formed in 1923 and ceased in 1929. Zakavia ...

F 13, registration R-RECA, crashed on takeoff from

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, killing all five on board. This crash is particularly famous because three high ranking Soviet officials died in the crash.

Solomon Mogilevsky Solomon Grigorevich Mogilevsky (russian: Соломо́н Григо́рьевич Могиле́вский; 1885 – March 22, 1925) headed the Soviet Union, Soviet foreign intelligence service, the ''INO'' of the State Political Directorate, GPU ...

, Alexander Myasnikov, and Georgi Aterbekov who were flying to meet Trotsky who was in convalescence in

Sukhum Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

. * On 24 July 1926, a Deutsche Luft Hansa F 13, registration D-272, crashed at Juist, Germany due to weather, killing all four on board. * On 3 September 1926, a SCADTA F 13, registration A-10, collided with cloud-obscured terrain between Honda and La Victoria, Colombia. The two crew and two passengers were injured, and the aircraft was a total loss. * On 27 July 1927, a Deutsche Luft Hansa F 13, registration D-206, crashed at Amöneburg, Germany after attempting an emergency landing due to engine failure, killing all five on board. * On 26 May 1928 at 08:15, a Deutsche Lufthansa Junkers F 13, registration D-583, crashed at Hahnenberg, Radevormwald, Germany due to pilot error, killing three of five on board. * On 21 July 1930, a Croydon-based Walcot Air Line F 13, registration G-AAZK,

crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...

at Meopham, near Gravesend, Kent, due to structural failure, killing all six on board including its second pilot, Lt Col George L P Henderson, a pilot with considerable skill and war-time experience. * On 12 July 1932, Czech industrialist Tomáš Baťa died, together with pilot Jindrich Broucek, when his Junkers J13, registration D-1608 crashed after taking off in heavy fog. * On 2 November 1932 a Deutsche Luft Hansa F 13, registration D-724, crashed at Echterpfuhl, Germany due to wing separation, killing all five on board. * On 9 October 1935, an Aero O/Y F 13, registration OH-ALI, crashed into the Gulf of Finland in fog, killing all six on board.

Survivors

;Aircraft on display *Reserve collection Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, Le Bourget, Paris, France *

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

Munich, Germany *

Transport Museum of Budapest The Magyar Műszaki és Közlekedési Múzeum ("Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum"), still often referred to with its former name, Közlekedési Múzeum ("Transportation Museum"), is a museum in Budapest, Hungary. It is one of Europe' ...

, Hungary *''SE-AAC'', ex-''D-343'',

Tekniska museet The Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology ( sv, Tekniska museet) is a Swedish museum in Stockholm. It is Sweden’s largest museum of technology, and has a national charter to be responsible for preserving the Swedish cultural herit ...

, Stockholm, Sweden *

Tomas Bata Memorial Tomas Bata Memorial ( cs, Památník Tomáše Bati) is functionalist building in Zlín, Czech Republic built in 1933. The Memorial was designed by the Czech architect František Lydie Gahura. History Tomas Bata Memorial is the most impressive ...

, Zlín, Czech Republic Junker F 13 wreck DTMB

;In storage or under restoration *

Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin (German Museum of Technology) in Berlin, Germany is a museum of science and technology, and exhibits a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The museum's main emphasis originally was on rail transport, but today it also features e ...

, Germany

Specifications (F 13)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Andersson, Lennart. "Chinese 'Junks': Junkers Aircraft Exports to China 1925-1940". ''Air Enthusiast'', No. 55, Autumn 1994, pp. 2–7. * * Andersson, Lennart. "Talkback". ''

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...

'', No. 18, April – July 1982. p. 80. . * * Dulaitis, David D. "Talkback". ''

'', No. 18, April – July 1982. pp. 79–80. . * * * Gerdessen, F. "Estonian Air Power 1918 – 1945". ''

'', No. 18, April – July 1982. pp. 61–76. . * * Guest, Carl-Fredrick. "Talkback". ''

'', No. 18, April – July 1982. pp. 78–79. . * *

External links

Junkers F13
on the Hugo Junkers Homepage.

{{Authority control 1910s German airliners F 13 Aircraft first flown in 1919