The Rebirth of a Canadian Junkers

Professor Hugo Junkers‘ company was a highly progressive airplanes‘ manufacturer. For example, as early as the First World War it was already mass-producing all-metal combat airplanes-at a time when wood and fabric still unquestionably dominated other aviation designs.

Professor Hugo Junkers‘ company was

a highly progressive airplanes‘ manufacturer.

For example, as early as the First World War it

was already mass-producing all-metal combat

airplanes-at a time when wood and fabric

still unquestionably dominated other aviation

designs.

This article, however, focuses the post-

war aviation, more precisely, a single-engine

transport airplane that was operated in the

harsh and inhospitable Canadian tundra. Her

factory designation was Junkers F 13gle,

construction number 2050, and she was

registred as CF

-

ALX. She was built at the

beginning of 1930, sold to Canada in May of that

year, and registered there the same month. Her

owner became the Air Land Manufacturing

Company, which used her together with her

sister airplane CF

-

AMX—for the operational

tasks in support of mining activities. Given the

then poorly developed infrastructure of rural

Canada, it is hardly surprising that the airplane

was equipped with floats, allowing it to land on

many local lakes and other waterways. As of

June 1930, the airplane was christened City of

Prince George.

The company operated the airplane for

full three years before it was sold, on May

17th, 1933, to the merchant and farmer Victor

Spencer of Vancouver, Canada, who was also

active in the mineral industry. Likewise the

previous owner, he used her for a similar range

of tasks-not for long though.

Her sudden demise came on Sunday, July

23rd 1933, about 120 kilometers north of Lake

Takla, near Lake McConnell in the province of

British Columbia. After takeoff, the aircraft

lost altitude due to descending air currents,

clipped the treetops, and subsequently made

a forced landing in a rocky terrain. The pilot

was William McCluskey, the flight mechanic

Fred Staines, and there were two passengers

on board. Fortunately, the accident claimed

no lives; all four occupants were only slightly

injured, but the aircraft itself was effectively

a write-off. Despite the remoteness of the

location, some parts of the aircraft were later

salvaged.

After the accident, the wreck laid at the

site for many decades virtually untouched,

until in the summer of 1981 it was recovered

by several enthusiasts and transported to the

storage facilities of the Royal Aviation Museum

of Western Canada (RAMWC) in Winnipeg,

Manitoba.

After many years in storage, in 2006 a loan

and restoration agreement was reached with

the Berlin Technical Museum. This was followed

by the airplane‘s transport aboard a Lufthansa

MD-11 freighter from Chicago to Frankfurt am

Main, from where it was transported on the

ground to Berlin. The cargo airplane was flown

by Captain Claus Cordes, who, incidentally, is

also a pilot of the vintage Junkers airplanes

such as the sport A 50 or the transport Ju 52.

In addition he also flew the Lockheed Super

Constellation.

After several years on display in Berlin, the

Junkers wreck was transported to Hungary,

The Rebirth

of a Canadian Junkers

Petr Uzsák

Photos: Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

REPORT

INFO Eduard22

January 2026