Mono-Wing and a Prayer

Professor Hugo Junkers was one of the great revolutionaries in the history of aviation development.  Junkers became a professor of mechanical engineering at Aachen University in 1897, where he remained until 1912, after having invented and patented gas engines, heaters, and a calorie meter among other inventions. He went full-time into aeronautical work in 1912 at age 50, when he became convinced that the future of aviation lay in the development of all-metal aircraft of advanced design, such as flying wings.  Unfortunately for Junkers, two years later war broke out and the only way he could obtain the necessary funding for his work was to develop warplanes, a task he personally hated.

In 1915, Junkers created the world’s first practical all-metal aircraft design, the Junkers J.1, known as the “Blechesel” (Sheetmetal Donkey), which first flew in January 1916.  This was eventually developed into an armored ground attack airplane that was virtually impervious to ground fire when it appeared during the great 1918 Offensive.

In 1917, Junkers began work on the J.7, an all-aluminum single-seater known as the J.7, which first flew in September 1917.  With the success of the J.I, he also designed the Cl.I, a two-seat fighter and ground attack aircraft quite similar to the J.7 in the overall look. The J.7 and its more developed version, the J.9, first appeared in public at the Second Fighter Competition in June 1918.  The design was stunningly revolutionary, representing as it did the future of aircraft design. Incorporating a lightweight corrugated aluminum skin over a metal structure, the airplanes were free of all drag inducing struts and rigging wires.  One can consider it amazing that aviation development had come this far in only 15 years since the first flight of the Wright Brothers.

Unfortunately, fighter pilots are generally a conservative lot, who have had to be dragged kicking and screaming and fighting every inch into each new development of fighter aviation since the first gun was put on an airplane.  The ace pilots assigned to test the new designs at the competition saw the J.9 as heavy,its low wing design restricted downward visibility.  They were far more favorably disposed to Fokker’s far less revolutionary E.V parasol monoplane, though Bruno Loerzer and Herman Goering saw potential benefits from the design and recommended using it to attack balloons.

Powered by a 180 h.p. BMW engine, the J.9 had a performance of 119 m.p.h. maximum speed, and a service ceiling of 19,685 feet.  While it was not as maneuverable as a biplane, its speed and performance in the vertical plane made it superior to any biplane if the pilot was using the proper tactics.  Idflieg saw the design’s potential and ordered 40 as the Junkers D.I.

Unfortunately, Hugo Junkers had no concept of “mass production,” since he had been essentially conducting experiments with one-off designs since he founded his company.  Idflieg had prevailed on him to join forces with Anthony Fokker, who did understand modern production techniques, and an affiliate company, Junkers-Fokker, was formed in August specifically for the production of the J.I, and then the D.I following the Second Fighter Competition, while Junkers worked with Linke-Hoffman – who had extensive experience in construction of metal airships – to produce the two-seat Cl.I ground attack aircraft. 

In the four months between the receipt of the order and the end of the war, only Junkers produced 15 D.Is, while Junkers-Fokker managed to produce 13 more, and 12 more were produced by the time the Allies ordered the cessation of all aircraft production in Germany in 1919.  Only -7on the front by late October, where they were to equip the Marine Feldjastas in Belgium.

None are known to have participated in combat.  After the war, when Gotthard Sachsenberg and Theo Osterkamp formed a Freikorps based on the old Feldjastas to assist the new Baltic republics in their battle against the Bolsheviks in 1919.  Sachsenberg commented that the D.I was the best choice for the constantly adverse weather conditions since its metal structure was not affected by rain and dampness the way fabric-covered wooden structures were. As to what the D.Is specifically accomplished in these battles, little is known since there is still almost no documentation on any of the fighting in that period.

During the First World War, there were only two truly radical advances in aircraft technology: the invention of the gun synchronizer, and the development of all-metal aircraft designs. The further development of fighter aviation was determined by these two events, though it would be another 16 years before all other designers finally agreed that Junkers had pointed the direction with his D.I in 1918.  After the war, Hugo Junkers used his experience with the J.I, the D.I and the Cl.I to create modern low-wing all-metal aircraft beginning with the F.1 and continuing through the Ju-52, that set the standard for modern aircraft.

Head in the Clouds; Thoughts.

Being that I’m primarily an armor modeler, these winged things are a bit outside of my comfort zone.  But that is the beauty of doing something like this….it reminds me of why I enjoy modeling in the first place.  Doing something that takes a bit of time and thought, stretches my skills and process, and the bottom line is just a blast to do!  Such is the case with this Junkers D.1 from Wingnut Wings.  I’d watched fromthe sidelines as all of these wonderful looking kits were being built, heard the rave reviews and finally decided to check it out for myself.  All I can say is that building these kits are pure bliss.  

I’ve enjoyed learning about the aircraft just as much as the build, and so I decided to allow myself a little extra long prolog describing the development and history this aircraft to be the main body of the text. I would imagine that the build photos speak for themselves? 

I found in building my first WNW kit is exactly what I had hoped, a beautifully engineered and produced kit (with wonderful instructions) that allows even a newbie such as myself to pull off something respectful.  Since I am a newbie at these WW1 wings, I purposefully chose the Junkers D.1 for its lack of rigging (scared the hell out of me!).  What I found in building this first kit that I began to get the courage and enthusiasm to try and tackle some of the more complicated kits (ie, those with rigging), which I’ll do in short order.

I found that the biggest difference between building armor and building these wings were the many sub-sections.  We all know that when finishing armor that it is basically sequential, build then paint, most (if not all) of the components are assembled and in place.  With these wings, the process is building and finishing a number of smaller sub-assemblies (ie cockpit, engine).  In the beginning, I was out of rhythm with this type of process, but as I relaxed and grew into the project I began to enjoy the fact that I was slowing down and making small “jewel” subassemblies.  I learned to take my time painting the seat, take my time painting the interior struts, take my time in painting all the different types of surfaces.  Damn, it was fun.