Junkers-Larsen JL-6 (F13)

On 25 June 1919, the first F 13 took off on its maiden flight. On 13 September of the same year, the prototype set a new world altitude record with a flight altitude of 6,750 metres. This altitude record also attracted the attention of the US American John Larsen, who wanted to market the new type of aircraft in the United States and even have it built under licence. Initially, Junkers provided two factory machines, the first of which reached American soil by ship on 4 March 1920. Even before shipment, John Larsen had the first aircraft repainted, as the silver-grey seemed too inconspicuous for the planned advertising flights: on the one hand, the nose was painted black, which was later to become the standard for other F 13s as well as later Junkers aircraft; the fuselage and wings were painted green. Secondly, the pennant of the Aero Club of America was attached to the fuselage sides. To disguise the German origin, the aircraft were designated JL-6: "JL" could be read as "Junkers-Larsen" but also as "John Larsen", and the "6" for the number of seats. Despite initial sales successes to the US Armed Forces and the US Postal Service, the adventure on American soil was ended after a short time. Nevertheless, this was only a damper on the worldwide success of the F 13 as a co-founder of commercial aviation.