This weekend is the Military Aviation Museum'sBIG annual air show, Warbirds Over The Beach. Today, on Day #2, we had several thousand more guests coming in to see most of our aircraft get airborne.
The planes went up in waves, based on certain themes. This was part of the Luftwaffe collection. The Junkers Ju-52 was Germany's mainstay transport aircraft, the counterpart to the far more capable Douglas C-47 Skytrain used by the Allies.
The Ju-52, nicknamed Iron Annie by its pilots, could carry 17 passengers or 9,000 pounds / 4,100 kg of cargo. It had a range of 620 miles / 1,000 km. Despite having three engines, it was incredibly slow, even when empty (165 mph / 265 kph max speed). This was because of, among other things, the massive fixed landing gear and the non-aerodynamic boxy shape. Its pilots joked that it had a built-in headwind.
I would like to note that, yes, our Ju-52 has a swastika on the tail. We do this for historical accuracy and to remember why WWII was fought. We do not display swastikas to honor, but to recall the evil the world fought to destroy.
