This particular Junkers Ju 52 has a very interesting history. She started life as D-AQUI for Lufthansa in April 1936. After only three months, she was transferred/loaned to Norway’s Det Norske Luftfartselskap airline, to replace a Norwegian Ju 52, that had suffered badly from a crash landing. In 1957 she was sold to Ecuador, where she was used for passenger and freight service until 1962. Due to spare parts problems for the still original (!) BMW engines, she was then parked after 26 years of service at an airport near Quito.

There she was detected in 1969 by an American airplane enthusiast Lester F. Weaver from Polo, Illinois. He spent the next six months to bring the plane back to flying conditions and flew her on Nov. 22 1970 all the way from Quito to Dixon, Illinois. As he encountered problems with further needed repairs and the registration of the Junkers, the plane was finally sold again in 1974 to another plane enthusiast, American writer Martin Caidin, who flew the plane to Titusville, Florida, where it was to receive a substantial restoration. During this process it was also pragmatically decided to not overhaul but replace the ageing BMW 132 engines with Pratt&Whitney 1340 S H1G Wasp engines. It is interesting that the predecessor to this engine, the Hornet, was part of the first engine equipment for the Junkers Ju 52 / 3m in the early 1930s. The Hornet was the sample engine for the BMW 132 and was manufactured under license by BMW.

In order to meet FAA requirements, Caidin had a hydraulic and braking system installed from a Curtiss C46. At the end of 1976, the modernization and repair completed and the FAA granted Caidin the N52JU certification. Caidin named the aircraft "Iron Annie", with which the aircraft was to be seen at numerous air shows in the USA over the next eight years.

In 1984 Lufthansa pilots discovered the aircraft. They convinced the airline's executive board to bring the plane back to Germany to present it on Lufthansa's 60th anniversary in 1986. The transfer flight lasted sixteen days, with stops in Greenland and Iceland.

 

It was restored again at Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel. Since 1986 it has been used for sightseeing flights with Lufthansa pilots in the cockpit at various locations in Germany and Norway every summer and overhauled at Lufthansa Technik in the winter months. One of the pilots I once met, he usually flies A 380s and was every time thrilled, when he was scheduled to fly the Ju 52.

In the early 1990s, the aircraft received Hamilton three-bladed propellers in order to meet increasing noise reduction requirements. Investments were also made in modern on-board electronics in order to be able to meet the requirements of today’s passenger air traffic. With the aim of keeping the aircraft airworthy for another 20 years, since 2015 large parts of the wing structure were replaced at Lufthansa Technik. This lasted until May 13, 2017. At that time, the sixteen-seat D-AQUI had 21,000 flight hours behind it.

Unfortunately, its operations had to be terminated prematurely in August 2018 due to severe structural deficiencies that were detected during another overhaul. Lufthansa technicians estimated that repairs could only be carried out with an extensive and very costly reengineering of large parts of the fuselage. They also said that due to the age of the plane, more such findings were to be expected in the future. After hearing this and taking also into account the tragic accident of HB-HOT in Switzerland, the Lufthansa board decided in April 2019 to end the D-AQUI operation. Since 1986, “Iron Annie” or “Auntie Ju” had a total of 11,500 accident-free flight hours for Lufthansa since 1986.

She now resides at the airport of Paderborn, where a sponsoring association for vintage planes maintains her. Incidentally that airport is also home of Aerosoft. I guess that D-AQUI with its modern instrumentation will be the basis for the upcoming Asobo/MS Ju 52. I still use also in MSFS my old FS9 JU 52, once developed by Oliver Fischer. I have used her in FS9, FSX, P3D and now in MSFS. Even once the new one is around, I don’t think I will ever uninstall this one.

Our flight today starts near Koblenz, from there we fly south along the Rhine river. This was also one of the last flights of D-AQUI in 2018. The first two pictures show the Lufthansa Ju 52 in real life in 2017 flying along the Rhine river. 

 

 

 

Here you can clearly see the FS9 origin, but all the gauges work

 

 

The “Deutsche Eck” (German Corner) is the name of a headland in Koblenz, where the Mosel river joins the Rhine. Named after a local commandry of the Teutonic Order (Deutscher Orden), it became known for a monumental equestrian statue of William I, first German Emperor, erected in 1897 in appreciation for his role in the unification of Germany.

 

 

On our way to the “Katz Castle”, we pass the nice village St. Goarshausen

 

The Katz Castle was first built around 1371 by Count William II of Katzenelnbogen. It was bombarded in 1806 by Napoleon and rebuilt in 1896–98. It is now privately owned, and not open for visitors

 

 

 

On this small island in the middle of the Rhine is another castle, built in 1326, but not existing in MSFS. I’m sure, it will soon be available as an add-on

 

 

Thanks for viewing

Edited September 12, 20214 yr by bernd1151

Excellent shots!

Wonderful post. Really appreciated the background information on the plane, plus the detailed "guided tour" along the river. That first picture...the real life aerial one...is beautiful.

John

Edited September 12, 20214 yr by John F

Love the tour guide type of stuff, great shots.  I'm guessing you'll be first in line to "upgrade" when the Asobo version comes?

Fantastic story, great shots and another destination to put on my list. Thanks for the research! I am waiting for a DC-3, but the JU-52 is very tempting.

Beautiful scenery and aircraft. As the Germans are singing "Warum ist es denn am Rhein so schön ..."  (Why is it so beautiful at the Rhine ..).

MSFS really shines 👍

***Wonderful Set***

Many thanks gents for your kind comments

Great report ( outstanding ) and fine pics 👍 !

Just lovly we get this plane soon into MSFS - cant wait..

cheers 😉

One of your best posts, Bernd, really enjoyed all aspects of it...wonderful story, actors, and pictures...!!

Your comments are much appreciated, pmplayer and P_7878