Junkers F 13

Passengers and crew posing in front of an uncharacteristically nondescript Junkers F 13 passenger transport. Unfortunately, the aircraft's registration is not visible, and even the relatively common and usually prominent airline or manufacturer's logo on the side of the black cowling is missing. The photo was taken at an unknown date and at an unknown location, but the cloche hats worn by the female passengers and the attire of the pilots likely place the scene in the late 1920s or early 1930s.

Making its maiden flight on 25 June 1919, the Junkers F 13 was the world's first all-metal passenger transport, building on Hugo Junkers' previous pioneering experience in all-metal aircraft construction. Four passengers and two crew constituted the F 13's normal maximum operational capacity. The aircraft was fitted with both upholstered and wicker seats, and the cabin featured tentative early luxuries such as internal lighting and heating.

Note aircraft's corrugated duralumin skin, laminated wooden propeller, boarding step below cabin door, pitot tube below cockpit, and mast-mounted venturi tube above fuselage. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)