Junkers Aircraft revealed the A50 Heritage, a more authentic version of the A50 Junior that company founder Hugo Junkers first flew 95 years ago, on Wednesday at the 2024 Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo. The company unveiled the Rotax-powered A50 Junior at Sun’ n Fun 2023 but, after having to redesign the nose and cowling for the modern piston engine, felt it “was not faithful to the architect’s original form,” according to Junkers marketing manager and company pilot Marshall Haglund.
So the company went back to the drawing board to develop and build the A50 Heritage that is on display this week at the airshow. Haglund said with this corrugated aluminum aircraft “we have meticulously captured the essence of Hugo Junkers’ imaginative and original design,” specifically noting its Scarlett 7U radial engine, authentic two-piece glass windscreens, and analog-gauge panel.
“The A50 Heritage from Junkers Aircraft offers not only a glimpse into the past, but the actual opportunity to relive that fateful day in 1929 when the A50 Junior first took to the air,” he added. “With the unveiling of the Rotax-powered Junkers A50 Junior [last April], there was an immense outpouring of support for the mission we are engaged in—a tradition of reviving legacy aircraft forms that have been forgotten by time and history.”
In fact, Junkers—which also manufactures the Waco line of aircraft—has also resurrected the Waco YMF, Great Lakes 2T Sport Trainer, and Junkers F-13. “All are venerated trademarks that were each painstakingly brought back from the brink of extinction,” Haglund said.