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A few places to begin, from the aircraft’s story to the people who fly it.
Meet the aircraft
The Ju 52 began as a civil transport, with the three-engine Ju 52/3m becoming the familiar version. Fixed gear, a thick wing and corrugated skin accompanied airline and extensive military transport service.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗Fine weather turns the day’s work into a lasting memory
Cordes’s recollection of a June 2013 visit to Heringsdorf begins with improving weather on the journey north. After a cold front passed, the wind eased and the view opened out. The crew ate outdoors that evening and watched the lingering northern twilight from the pier. The next day’s sightseeing route followed Usedom and Peenemünde before returning along the coast.
First-person Ju 52 reports on the pilot’s own website. German sightseeing operations in 2011 and 2013; historical flights, not an assertion of current availability.
Claus Cordes · Read more ↗A combined trim-and-flap control
The linked 2022 MSFS 2020 manual illustrates a shared trim/flap wheel. It provides background for the aircraft family; this older document does not establish unchanged MSFS 2024 controls.
JU 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Warbirds · 18 min ·
How to fly the Junkers Ju 52 Airplane - Inside the Cockpit
Cockpit teamwork during a Ju 52 flight, from engine start to grass-strip landing.
Real aircraft · Junkers JU 52
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Junkers JU 52
The Ju 52 began as a civil transport, with the three-engine Ju 52/3m becoming the familiar version. Fixed gear, a thick wing and corrugated skin accompanied airline and extensive military transport service.
Versions differed in engines, equipment and roles. The period cockpit includes a combined trim-and-flap control mechanism described in the simulator documentation.
Junkers JU 52
Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
A restored airframe begins another public flying life
The Lufthansa anniversary report describes D-AQUI returning to flight in 1986 after restoration in Hamburg. Renewed engines and equipment supported later public appearances, while technicians and volunteer crews maintained the aircraft between seasons.
Austrian Wings / Lufthansa · 10,000 flight hours: Lufthansa’s Tante Ju ↗History reported in 2013; subsequent operating status is separate
Development milestones
Designer: Ernst Zindel
First flight: 13 October 1930 (Ju 52/1m); 7 March 1932 (Ju 52/3m)
Wikipedia contributors · Junkers Ju 52 ↗Junkers Ju 52 · family/variant named by the source · Wikipedia revision 1371954372
Pilot accounts
Fine weather turns the day’s work into a lasting memory
Cordes’s recollection of a June 2013 visit to Heringsdorf begins with improving weather on the journey north. After a cold front passed, the wind eased and the view opened out. The crew ate outdoors that evening and watched the lingering northern twilight from the pier.
The next day’s sightseeing route followed Usedom and Peenemünde before returning along the coast. Cordes remembered the conditions as giving both crew and passengers something lasting to take home. An earlier series of flights from Hamburg and Flensburg had left a similar impression: welcoming local aviators, agreeable guests and an aircraft running well.
First-person Ju 52 reports on the pilot’s own website. German sightseeing operations in 2011 and 2013; historical flights, not an assertion of current availability.
Read the full account · Claus Cordes ↗Returning an aircraft to familiar places brings mixed emotions
Bonsmann remembered taking D-AQUI back to Dessau in March 1990 as an especially moving experience. People who had once built aircraft there were able to approach and touch the familiar machine again. For its chief pilot, the landing connected the restored transport with people from its much earlier life.
Berlin-Tempelhof carried memories at both ends of the emotional scale. Bringing the aircraft there in June 1991 was one of the highlights he recalled. The airport’s closure in 2008 was much harder to revisit: after the Ju 52’s late departure, the runway lights went out.
Recollections quoted in a Lufthansa report carried by Austrian Wings in July 2013. D-AQUI after its restoration; the airframe’s 10,000 hours are not Bonsmann’s personal total.
Read the full account · Austrian Wings / Lufthansa ↗A former night-fighter pilot finds an aircraft he loves
Asked about the Ju 52, Axente responded with particular affection. After his night-fighter squadron was disbanded, he moved to heavy transport flying and remembered trips to places including Oradea and Miskolc. The aircraft’s modest pace did not diminish his enjoyment of flying it.
One memory involved returning from Arad to Bucharest with a senior officer beside him. The mountains were hidden by cloud, and the other man became anxious when Axente reached into his jacket. He was only looking for a cigarette; the officer offered to light it for him. Axente told the story while discussing his confidence in instrument flying.
May 2002 interview in Bucharest. Romanian Ju 52 transport service after a late 1944 transfer; other aircraft and wartime allegations in the interview are separate.
Read the full account · WorldWar2.ro ↗New Guinea transport work teaches the value of knowing the weather
Cresswell remembered New Guinea as a fascinating place to fly, but one where local weather knowledge mattered greatly. In his later transport work, he planned around the arrival of rain and cloud rather than assuming that a usable morning would last. Early departures gave him time to deliver stores in the interior and return before afternoon conditions deteriorated.
Elsewhere in the interview, he identified that period as chief-pilot work flying Ju 52s with Bobby Gibbes. It belonged to a restless chapter after leaving the air force, alongside other ventures that took him away from a settled service career.
Australians at War oral history, September 2003. Postwar Ju 52 work with Bobby Gibbes, whose name is rendered “Gibbs” in the transcript; separate from Cresswell’s wartime fighter flying.
Read the full account · Australians at War Film Archive / UNSW ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
Compare simulator versions →MSFS 2024JU 52
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
JU 52
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
MSFS 2020Ju 52
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Ju 52
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 19 m (62 ft) |
| Wingspan | 29 m (96 ft) |
| Height | 5.5 m (18.2 ft) |
| Wing area | 110.50 m² (1,189.4 sq ft) |
| Empty weight | 5,720 kg (12,610 lb) |
| Gross weight | 9,500 kg (20,944 lb) |
| Max takeoff weight | 10,500 kg (23,146 lb) |
| Powerplant | 3 × BMW 132A-3 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines , 510 kW (680 hp) each for take-off (510 kW (690 PS) ) |
| Propellers | 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller |
| Maximum speed | 265.5 km/h (165.0 mph, 143.4 kn) at sea level |
| Cruise speed | 246 km/h (153 mph, 133 kn) maximum continuous at 910 m (3,000 ft) |
| Range | 1,000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi) |
| Service ceiling | 5,900 m (19,360 ft) |
| Rate of climb | 3.9 m/s (770 ft/min) |
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
A combined trim-and-flap controlJU 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The linked 2022 MSFS 2020 manual illustrates a shared trim/flap wheel. It provides background for the aircraft family; this older document does not establish unchanged MSFS 2024 controls.
Legacy documentation · MSFS 2024 package interface remains unverified
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗A clutch chooses between trim and flap adjustmentJu 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The shared wheel adjusts either trim or flaps. The clutch selects its function; the manual explicitly says the other adjustment is unavailable while that function is engaged.
MSFS 2020 manual · page 20
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗The 1939 autopilot keeps a selected headingJu 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The historical cockpit has a heading clutch, heading selector and separate autopilot master and emergency stop. The manual describes course holding only.
MSFS 2020 manual · pages 14–15; no altitude-hold claim
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Some quantity gauges are outside the cockpitJu 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
Oil quantity indications are on each engine. Left and right fuel quantities are indicated on the corresponding outer engines.
MSFS 2020 manual · page 22
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗A throttle stop limits normal lever travelJu 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The Normalgas control distinguishes normal throttle travel from the full-power position beyond the stop. Both cockpit layouts show this control.
MSFS 2020 manual · pages 9,18
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗The two cockpit layouts have different navigation equipmentJu 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The modern layout includes HSI, RMI and DME indications with radios on a pedestal. The 1939 layout has its own course-pointer and heading controls.
MSFS 2020 manual · pages 6–15
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Pilot account
Fine weather turns the day’s work into a lasting memoryFirst-person Ju 52 reports on the pilot’s own website. German sightseeing operations in 2011 and 2013; historical flights, not an assertion of current availability.
Cordes’s recollection of a June 2013 visit to Heringsdorf begins with improving weather on the journey north. After a cold front passed, the wind eased and the view opened out. The crew ate outdoors that evening and watched the lingering northern twilight from the pier. The next day’s sightseeing route followed Usedom and Peenemünde before returning along the coast. Cordes remembered the conditions as giving both crew and passengers something lasting to take home.
Claus Cordes
Claus Cordes · Read the source ↗Returning an aircraft to familiar places brings mixed emotionsRecollections quoted in a Lufthansa report carried by Austrian Wings in July 2013. D-AQUI after its restoration; the airframe’s 10,000 hours are not Bonsmann’s personal total.
Bonsmann remembered taking D-AQUI back to Dessau in March 1990 as an especially moving experience. People who had once built aircraft there were able to approach and touch the familiar machine again. For its chief pilot, the landing connected the restored transport with people from its much earlier life. Berlin-Tempelhof carried memories at both ends of the emotional scale. Bringing the aircraft there in June 1991 was one of the highlights he recalled.
Hennes Bonsmann
Austrian Wings / Lufthansa · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Manual
Junkers Ju-52 ManualMicrosoft / aircraft developers Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manualsMicrosoft / aircraft developersAircraft background
Junkers Ju 52Wikipedia contributors · Research background · Wikipedia revision 1371954372 · retrieved 2026-09-12Resource
MSFS 2024 FAQ and edition aircraft inventoryMicrosoftDeveloper documentation
Local Legends 1: Junkers Ju 52Microsoft Flight Simulator Team · 2021-09-28 · release and package scopeType designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Built-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 1 profile choice
Junkers JU 52
Free and Pro · Revision 1 · Partial review
MSFS 2024 · MSFS 2020
Junkers JU 52: The selected loading accompanies the manually controlled trimotor.
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