Junkers Ju 52/3m floatplane, Luftwaffe

(composite picture based on Italeri 1/72 scale kit boxtop artwork)

Junkers Ju 52/3m OO-AGW of Sabena

Actually, this is one of my 1/72nd scale models which I constructed in a previous life. When my photography hobby took over in terms of importance, I started making model pictures in true-life (well, more or less) settings.

Junkers Ju 52/3m under restoration at Duxford

(pictures supplied by Stef De Wit)

Junkers Ju 52/3m, owned by the AELR museum of Brussels, Belgium

The AELR museum acquired a Ju 52/3m in Portugal, back in the late seventies. Initial plans to have the aircraft restored to airworthy condition by the Sabena Old-timers fell through when it was discovered that the wings were irrepairably corroded. The aircraft was subsequently stored until some ex-Belgian Air Force technicians were found to perform a static restoration. The wings were rendered completely useless by now, but luckily another set was obtained and a magnificent restoration was the result.

The cockpit of the AELR Ju 52/3m proves the workmanship that has gone into the restoration process.

Whereas most Portuguese Ju 52's were made in Spain, the AELR example is a genuine German production aircraft. Its early military history is testified by the gun mounting brackets in the rear fuselage, covered nowadays by a blanking plate.