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Junkers A50 Junior

The Junkers A50 was a German sports plane of the 1930s, it was used as a trainer by many Air Forces over the globe, it was also called the A50 Junior.

The Junkers A50 was the first sportsplane designed by Hermann Pohlmann in Junkers works.

It had the same modern all-metal construction, covered with corrugated duralumin sheet, as larger Junkers passenger planes. 

The first flight of the A50 took place on 13 February 1929.

It was followed by further four prototypes, in order to test different engines.

Junkers expected to produce 5,000 aircraft, but stopped after manufacturing only 69, of which only 50 were sold.

The high prices probably inhibited sales.

Apart from Germany, they were used in several other countries, and some were used by airlines.

The purchase price in 1930 in the United Kingdom was between £840 or £885.

Starting from the A50ce variant, the wings could be folded for easier transport.

Three German A50 took part in the Challenge international touring plane competition in July 1929, taking 11th place (A50be, pilot Waldemar Roeder) and 17th place.

Three A50 took part also in the Challenge 1930 next year, taking 15th (A50ce, pilot Johann Risztics), 27th and 29th places.

In June 1930 a series of eight FAI world records for altitude, range and average speed were set on a floatplane variant of A50 with the Armstrong Siddeley 59 kW (79 hp) engine.

In 1931 Marga von Etzdorf flew an A50 solo from Berlin to Tokyo, the first woman to do so.

Metal construction sports plane, conventional in layout, with low cantilever wings, stressed corrugated duralumin covered.

Two-spar wings were folding rearwards or could be detached.

Crew of two, sitting in tandem in separate open cockpits (if it flew without a passenger, one cockpit could be closed with a cover).

Two-blade propeller.

Conventional fixed split axle mainwheel landing gear, with a rear skid.

Due to their construction, the A50 were durable aircraft and they lasted long in service.

The last plane was used in the 1960s in Finland.

Variants

A50 

Armstrong Siddeley Genet 59 kW (79 hp) radial engine

A50ba 

Walter Vega 63 kW (84 hp) radial engine (one built)

A50be 

Armstrong Siddeley Genet 59 kW (79 hp) engine

A50ce 

Armstrong Siddeley Genet II 63 kW (84 hp) engine or for export Genet Major I 74 kW, folding wings

A50ci 

Siemens-Halske Sh 13, 65 kW (87 hp) radial engine, folding wings. Originally designed to be mass-produced as a “Volksflugzeug”.

A50fe 

Armstrong Siddeley Genet II, 63 kW (84 hp) engine, modified airframe, folding wings

KXJ1

A single Junkers A-50 supplied to the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for evaluation.

Specifications

Length

7.12 m (23 ft 4 in)

Wingspan

10 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height

2.39 m (7 ft 10 in)

Wing area

13.7 m2 (147 sq ft)

Empty weight

340 kg (750 lb)

Gross weight

590 kg (1,301 lb)

Fuel capacity

95 l (25 US gal; 21 imp gal)

Powerplant

1 × Armstrong Siddeley Genet II,

5-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine,

65 kW (87 hp)

Propellers

2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed

164 km/h (102 mph, 89 kn)

Cruise speed

140 km/h (87 mph, 76 kn) on 60% power

Landing speed

75 km/h (47 mph; 40 kn)

Range

600 km (370 mi, 320 nmi)

Endurance

5 hours

Service ceiling

4,200 m (13,800 ft)

Time to altitude

3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 21 minutes

Take-off run (over 8 m (26 ft)-high gate)

250 m (820 ft)

Landing run (over 8 m (26 ft)-high gate)

187 m (614 ft).

 

 

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