Junkers F 13
The Junkers F 13 was essentially the first aircraft to anticipate the onset of ‘modern’ air transport: a no wing struts, all metal, low wing, monoplane. The metal construction made it sturdier and less vulnerable to damage than the wood-and-fabric biplanes of its competitors. The metal was especially critical in resisting heat and humidity in tropical countries.
The F 13 first flew in 1919, and soon established Junkers in a position of global air transport dominance that his firm would not relinquish until the mid-1930s with the arrival of the Douglas and Boeing models. Unlike postwar transport airplanes that were modified from military types (i.e. Vickers Vimy, Farman Goliath), the F 13 was designed to carry passengers in an enclosed cabin, with four cushioned seats had seat belts, and the cabin was lighted and had picture windows. 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 in 1951. 322 were built, there are five known survivors:
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