Aviation is a relatively young industry, so a centennial is definitely something out of the ordinary, but with a first flight on June 25th 1919, the Junkers F 13 gives us exactly that! Being the Jetheadz we are, we sometimes forget people's birthdays, but an old aircraft surely gets our anttention ;) and so we made this video to celebrate the 100th birthday of the first all-metal transport aircraft in history!
What you see flying in the video is an F 13, but by the time we publish the video, it's not even close to being 10 years old, let alone 100! It's a replica and it's one we're really grateful for, because of the more than 300 F 13s Junkers produced, only 5 are left today, none of which is in an airworthy condition, so it's only thanks to some enthusiasts from Germany and Switzerland that we can see the old lady in the air! Despite the incredible amounts of money and effort they needed to put into the project, they created something that's not adequately described as a copy. They tracked down all the blueprints they could get and since that wasn't enough they laser-scanned an original F 13 to build what we consider a 'new original' rather than a mere replica.
Of course, you can't build a plane today as they did 100 years ago! So the replica has a rather modern Pratt & Whitney engine and a tail wheel instead of the original's skid, which gives it the ground maneuverability that's needed on today's airfields. But all in all, it's a real F 13 that gives us an idea of what it was like to see the new Junkers plane take-off 100 years ago!
More information on the F 13 replica: junkers-f13.com/junkers-f13-relaunch-e
Images used in the video, but not owned by us:
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BMA_B707-300_G-BFLE_at_BHX_(15949413377).jpg
License: CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Concorde.planview.arp.jpg
License: Public Domain
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-00007,_Berlin,_Start_eines_Junkers-Flugzeuges.jpg
License: CC BY-SA 3.0 DE (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Junkers_f.13.jpg
License: Public Domain
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1919-10-10_JunkersF13_Kabine.jpg
License: Public Domain
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-00006,_Leipziger_Messe,_Friedrich_Ebert.jpg
License: CC BY-SA 3.0 de (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Junkers_F13_in_Tehran.jpg
License: Public Domain
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FVMF.003785.jpg
License: CC0 1.0 (creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
Original File: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Junkers_f13.jpg
License: Public Domain
Music:
"Keep Dreaming" by Topher Mohr and Alex Elena (from YouTube's Audio Library)
"In the Field" by Audionautix (Jason Shaw@ audionautix.com)
Original File: audionautix.com/Music/InTheField.mp3
License: CC BY 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US), audionautix.com/Saved/CCrelease.jpg
