Hofmann, Angelika Als das Auto fliegen lerne. Die Geschichte der Junkers F 13

In this book, the author, a proven expert in aviation history, tells the fascinating success story of the world's first all-metal aircraft, the Junkers F 13. Hofmann also provides insights into the technical development, but the focus of her exciting work is on the people who drove the worldwide triumphal march of the F 13, who experienced adventures, suffered setbacks and crashes - and above all made the sensational successes of the small metal aircraft possible.

The history of the F 13, which is rounded off in the book with numerous photos, is also the history of aviation in the 1920s. And the idealistic background is not neglected either, since the aircraft was supposed to be a new means of connecting peoples, as Hugo Junkers put it. New Year's Eve 1918 was not only the eve of a new year - the day also catapulted mankind into a new era. On this day, the young engineer Otto Reuter designed the world's first airworthy commercial aircraft made entirely of metal for the Dessau entrepreneur Hugo Junkers. When the aircraft took to the skies for the first time a few months later and soon also set a new world altitude record, it was tantamount to a revolution in the history of mankind - the foundation stone had been laid for modern air transport, for a new dimension of locomotion. Today, more than 4 billion passengers a year fly in aeroplanes, all of which can be traced back to the small all-metal aircraft that Reuter designed at that time under the guidance of Junkers: the F 13. Soon, this F 13, which could be used in all climatic zones of the world and for a variety of occasions, was by far the most flown aircraft on the world's air routes. Even Albert Einstein was enthusiastic and was inspired to general thoughts about flying by his first flight in the F 13. The F 13 was also the original model from which the legendary Ju 52 was developed a few years later.