 Junkers Ju 52/3mge W Nr 5670 6309 arriving at the Sabena Old Timers workshop at Zaventem 1990's years
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Junkers Ju 52/3mge W Nr 5670 6309 The
Ju52 of the Museum is one of the original aircraft procured from
Germany in 1937. In Portuguese service the aircraft received in a first
time the N° 109 and served with 2 night bombing squadron. The aircraft
was renumbered N° 209. During World War 2, she moved with her squadron
to the Azores.
After the war, the aircraft was again renumbered 6309 and served from 1958 to 1961 at Ota. At an unknown date, she received the wings of Norwegian origin Ju52. The aircraft was retired with other surviving Ju52’s at Alverca. The aircraft was exchanged for an Alouette II and a Sikorsky H19 and delivered by sea at Zeebrugge in 1985.
The aircraft was transferred to the workshop of the Sabena Old timers with the target to restore her to flying condition. The registration OO-AGU was reserved for the aircraft (OO-AGU was the registration of one of Ju52’s of the Sabena in the year thirties. The SOT started the restoration by rebuilding the central engine and started a world wide hunt for Ju52’s parts. They received some help from South Africa, Canada and Germany but after years they stopped the works on the Ju52 when they concluded the aircraft needed new wings to be back airworthy. Consequently, the aircraft stayed many years outside on the Zaventem airport. Many members of the Friends of the Brussels Air Museum deployed breathless efforts to find a restoration solution for the aircraft.
In 1998, the team leaded by Jean Michotte (who restored the Bolingbroke for the Brussels Museum) negotiated with both the Belgian Air Force and the Museum to obtain the permission to transfer the aircraft to Brustem air base and to continue the restoration operations. In 1999, most of the fuselage was ready and a frantic race started to find missing parts or build newer ones. For examples many panels of the wings were new build from scratch using machine designed and built by the team to press the corrugated aluminium typical to the Ju52 covering. The Jean Michotte team succeed in attracting the support of medias and sponsors (for example the Junkers company).
In June 2001, the miracle happened and the Ju52 was ready for transport to the Museum she reached after a long and meticulously planned trip in September. The aircraft is painted in the colour of a Ju52 as leaving the production plan in the years thirties.
Sources
Les opérations des Junkers 52 au Portugal by Antonio Mimoso e Carvalho and Luis Tavares in Avions 94 & 95 Trusty Tri-motor by John Strout in Air International / August 1974 Iron Annie From Dessau by Eric Brown in Air International / October 1975 Belgian Civil Ju52’s by Michel Suplis in Kit IPMS Belgium Les Junkers 52/3 M de la Sabena by André Vanthemsche in Brussels Air Museum Magazine Le Junkers 52 by Guy Viselé in Carnets de vol Ju52 de Brustem by Yves Duwelz in Contact N°13 18 (see L’aviation coloniale (1940-1941) by Jean-Pierre Sonck in Contact 18 JU-52 by Engenheiro Canongia Lopes in Mais Alto April/May 1999 & June July 1999
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 Junkers Ju 52/3mge W Nr 5670 6309 under restoration with the Sabena Old Timers at Zaventem 1990's years
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The Junkers under the care of the AELR at Brustem | |
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