OH-ABB Junkers A50, Helsinki Vantaa Airport, Finland - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

This aircraft is a Junkers A50ce[1] aka "Junkers Junior" powered by an Armstrong Siddley Genet [2] air-cooled, radial engine flown by Finnish aviation pioneer Väinö Bremer (1899-1964). It was first registered in 1931 [10].

Bremer's most famous flight in this aircraft was in 1932 when he flew a solo return trip from Helsinki to Capetown in South Africa[3]

In 1933 Bremer planned to fly the aircraft around the world. His plans were disrupted by the refusal of Russia to allow him to overfly the country on his planned route from Osaka to Alaska via Vladivostok. He still made the trip over Europe and the Middle East to Japan, but the plane had to be shipped across the Pacific to San Fransisco. From there he flew to the US East coast via Canada but the return trans-Atlantic flight was also cancelled. When asked why he planned the trip he replied "Oh, I like to fly, and I do it for the honour of Finland". [4]

He wrote a book about this, entitled "Lentäen yli neljän maanosan" (Flying over Four Continents) [12]

In the post war years Bremer was still flying this aircraft. For example, in 1950 and 1951 he flew it to the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club International Rally, UK. [5]

The aircraft is part of the Finnish Aviation Museum collection. The registration OH-ABB is interesting: The first two letters of the suffix, AB are the initials of Bremer's wife, Astrid Bremer, and the second B signifies that the plane was Bremer's second. [6,12] (Naturally, OH-ABA was his first [10])

Bremer was an interesting character. In the 1920s he was commander of the first Finnish aerobatic formation display team, the "Emperor's Circus Squadron" [7]. He was also an Olympic silver medallist in the Men's Military Ski Patrol at 1924 Winter Olympics at Chamonix and competed in the 1925 Summer Olympics in Paris coming 9th in the Modern Pentathalon[ 8]. In 1940 he commanded F2A-1 Brewsters purchased from the USA [ 9]. He died in an aircrash on Christmas eve 1964 when his Beechcraft Baron aircraft crashed in Kerava while he was approaching Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.[8,11]

It's a shame that none of this information is on display in the airport. Thousands of people walk past this aircraft without ever knowing its history.

References

1. Wikipedia Junkers A50
2. Australian National Aviation Museum Armstrong Siddley Genet engine
3. Helsingin Sanomat 26.8.2001 Finnish aviator Wäinö Bremer solo round trip from Helsinki to Cape Town
4. Montreal Gazette Jul 14, 1933 Finnish Aviator Abandons Flight - refused permission to fly over Russia.
5. Air-Britain Images of OH-ABB
6. Helsinki Airport Junkers flies at gate 28
7. Finnish Air Force From Emperor's Circus Squadron to the Midnight Hawks - the history of Finnish aerobatics.
8. Sports Reference Väinö Bremer
9. Fighter Tactics Academy Brewsters to Finland
10. Golden Years of Aviation Civil Aircraft Register - Finland
11. Wikipedia Finnish civil aircraft accidents (in Finnish)
12. Turun Sanomat 17.9.2003 Article about Bremer (in Finnish)

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Junkers A50 Tail Number: (S/N): OH-ABB Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Helsinki Vantaa Airport gate 28 inside / outside: inside Other Information:: OH-ABB Access restrictions: This is in the departures area of the airport. You must pass through security to enter this area.

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

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