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JUNKERS W33 "BREMEN" IS BACK IN GERMANY

The return trip took place aboard a military transport plane. A C160 Transall of the Luftwaffe picked up the Oldie in the US and delivered it to its Hanseatic home town. Many years ago it had flown across the big pond - under its own steam and in the other direction.

The adventurous journey of the Junkers W33 "Bremen" in April 1928 was very special. Almost a year after Charles Lindbergh's record flight in his "Spirit of St. Louis", the "Bremen" was the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic non-stop in east-west direction - against the prevailing winds. The crew at that time was Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld, the then Press Secretary of the Northern German Lloyd, Hermann Köhl, pilot with the newly founded Deutsche Luft Hansa and the Irish Major James C. Fitzmaurice. They managed the distance in 36 hours. The crew set off from Baldonnel in Ireland and touched down on the Canadian Greenly Island.

After their accomplishment, the crew donated the aircraft to the citizens of New York. Later the eleven-meter long plane, which was entirely made of metal, became an exhibit at the Henry-Ford-Museum in Dearborn. This is where the "Bremen" remained all these years.

Only last year the plane returned to the Hanseatic City, after a campaign was started to return the "Bremen" to Bremen. The US museum loaned the plane to the citizens of Bremen for the 70th anniversary of the record flight.

In the hangars of Lufthansa Flight Training the Oldie was given a complete overhaul. Technicians of the flight training school, co-workers of the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Foundation and volunteers invested over 5,500 hours of work in order to restore the aircraft.

It was not always plain sailing. It was planned that original parts, which had been overhauled and the old instruments were integrated into the single engine passenger aircraft, which had been built in 1927. However, the original plans were nowhere to be found. Two mechanics and the two metal plane constructors, who had been seconded for this job by the flight school, were confronted with unforeseen problems time and time again. It became necessary to change the construction principle and they encountered difficulties in acquiring materials. The "Bremen" will not take to the air again, but it was found to be in surprisingly good condition after spending decades in a museum. The edges of the wings had been destroyed, a new undercarriage had to be made and the surfaces had to be renewed.

This "therapy" took almost 14 months. On 12 June the work was finally completed: Hundreds of guests, among them the "Dessauers", former members of staff and friends of the Junkers plants were present at the celebratory roll-out on the premises of the Lufhansa flight training school. The last 70 years had not left any traces: the restored plane was gleaming in her new splendour. One week after this the "Bremen" presented itself on the market square of the Hanseatic city. Since the beginning of August it can be admired at Bremen Airport.

Before the Oldie is returned in its new splendour to the USA, it will be shown at the EXPO-2000-Special Exhibition "Aviation and Space Flight in Bremen".

From page 26 of FLUG REVUE 10/98