Any Old Armor? The Junkers J.1 Today

The Junkers J.1 was a remarkable technical pioneer of the armored, toughened ground attack aircraft. In an era when almost all aircraft were wooden frames covered with fabric, crews sitting on basket-weave seats, and no protection to pilot, engine, or most often tragically, fuel tanks, the J.1 was a revolutionary concept. As is well known, the armored ‘tub’ nacelle was echoed in the second world war by the Ilyushin Il.2 (we cover two survivors here, the FHCAM example and the Smithsonian’s here) and in the modern era by the almost unreplaceable A.10 Warthog. The full story of the Junkers J.1 is covered in Adam Estes’ article here.

Only one complete Junkers J.1 survives, though a fuselage has also been refurbished in the twenty-first century and returned to public display. Here we show the details, as well as the history of these two pioneering structures.

At the end of the Great War, for the first time, aircraft became war prizes – joining field guns in many village squares. However some aircraft, representing some of the highest, most advanced technology achieved were gathered by the victors and sent either for testing or examination by the science and technology museums of the era. Two such collection were the ‘Aeronautics Collection’ of the Science Museum in Britain, and the new ‘Aeronautical Museum’ in Canada.

Now in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum’s collection, this Junkers J.1, 586/18, was shipped to Canada from Dieppe, France, postwar aboard the SS Venusia as a war prize. While previous histories simply noted its movements after exhibition as part of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in August 1919, we now know it was regarded as a technological information asset to inform the nascent Canadian aviation industry of how this kind of metal aircraft was built. Some of the damage the aircraft still exhibits today was caused by areas being opened up to explore structural details. Much of the damage, of course was caused by rough handling though its earlier life. As we have covered elsewhere, Junkers aircraft had a notable peacetime interwar career in Canada too.

Built in July 1918 as one of the 227 built, at the Junkers-Fokker-Werke AG factory at Dessau (with the company factory type designation being the confusing J.4) and given construction number 252, it was equipped with a 200hp high compression Mercedes Benz IV, which it still has. Conversely, while it is probable it was equipped with a defensive machine gun on the ring in the rear cockpit, the fitment of any other armament remains unclear. Some of the type had fixed downward firing guns, which proved unsuccessful in combat. The aircraft’s service history currently remains unknown.

Stored after the 1919 exhibition at Camp Borden for the War Museum, it was eventually transferred to the Canadian War Museum, but remained stored, or as noted as “being in the archives” and remained in the War Museum’s ownership until 1969. It was first displayed at Rockcliffe in 1964, and while, then, there were hopes the aircraft might be restored to a more airworthy appearance, museum policies have, rightly, changed. Originality and respecting the original material recognized as paramount. Seen in some of these photographs in the museum’s storage facility, it was brought back onto exhibition in recent years in unrestored – but conserved – condition. It is the only complete Junkers J.I that exists in the world.

The only other known major component of the type is a fuselage which was on display at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Technica in Milan, Italy.  Construction number 308, was built in April 1918, also at Dessau, and is recorded as having been with the Császári és Királyi Légjárócsapatok (Austro-Hungarian Imperial Aviation Troops).

It was allocated to Italy postwar, presumably also as a war prize. Restored in Germany, and returned to its original colors, since 2010, it has been on display at the Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle, near Rome.