Tante Ju Over The Prairies: The Ju-52 In Saskatchewan

           The Junkers Ju-52 is perhaps best known for its role with the Lufwaffe during the Second World War, flying for a variety of roles and missions on various fronts during the conflict, much like the Douglas C-47 the allies used. From Stalingrad to France and all the way to North Africa, the Ju-52 was there. However before the Ju-52 gained notability for its role as the "Nazi Dakota", the Ju-52 actually ended up in one of the least likely of places- 1930s Saskatchewan. 

          A couple days ago, a pilot friend of mine sent me a couple books and some Canadian Forces Snowbirds memorbillia in the mail. One of the books he sent me is called "Wings Beyond Road's End: Airplanes Over Saskatchewan's North", which goes into the history of flight in the province. Of course given the content I create, I immediately found the book interesting and began previewing pages before diving in. I noticed a very odd photo, and looking at the caption again I learned that I didn't read it wrong. 

          The Ju-52 in Saskatchewan had one operator that I could find, being Canadian Airways, who operated one, tail code "CF-ARM". It was the 6th example ever built by Junkers in Germany. At the time, air mail was the most effective way for early aviators and companies to make money however the Ju-52, from the information I could find, largely operated in the role of ferrying large cargo. It operated alongside a myriad of other odd and equally unique types, including the Stinson Reliant SR7-As, Fairchild 71s, and even the first Noordyun Norseman aircraft. At the time, it was the largest aircraft in Canada. It, along with Canadian Airways, was sold to Canadian Pacific Airlines and continued to fly cargo in the north until 1943 when it was retired and scrapped due to wartime conditions causing a scarcity of spare components. The earliest photo I've found so far is CF-ARM in Saskatoon in 1935. If you look close, you can see it is outfitted with skis- it also operated from standard landing gear and floats, making it not only the largest plane in Canada in the 1930s, but also the largest one to be fitted with either skis or floats.

   This photo actually may raise a few questions to those who aren't familiar with the Ju-52 design history. Where's the port and starboard engines and why is the central engine not the BMW radial that we're familiar with?

As it turns out, and what I just learned a couple days ago, the Ju-52 actually started out life as a single engine airplane and it's that version that saw service in Saskatchewan, which were designated the Ju-52/m1, for its single engine. These aircraft were powered by an in-line liquid cooled BMW VIIaU V-12 liquid cooled engine that drove a large four blade propeller. 

As I was writing this article on an interesting footnote on our aviation history, I actually learned there is a replica here in Canada that represents CF-ARM. This replica was created from a Spanish-built Ju-52 and is housed at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Perhaps eventually if I ever find my way to Winnipeg, I'll make an excuse to create an episode on this uniquely western Canadian "Iron Annie"...