Image: German Junkers Ju 52 in USAAF service 1942

Description: A former German Junkers Ju 52/3m at Howard Field, Panama Canal Zone, in late 1942, in service with the USAAF 20th Transportation Squadron, Sixth Air Force. The aircraft was designated as a C-79 and given the serial 42-52883 while in USAAF service. This Ju 52/3m ge (c/n J5283) had originally been D-AENF. On 1 April 1937, it was transferred to Lufthansa Südamerika for Andes service and named "Aconcagua". It was again transferred to the Brazilian airline Sindicato Condor as PP-CBA on 11 September 1939 and then to Lufthansa Sucursal Peru as OA-HHD on 29 November 1940. Syndicato Condor then leased it to Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aereos (SEDTA) on 25 April 1941, where it was registered as HC-SAD. It was confiscated by Peruvian government on 5 September 1941 and acquired by the USAAF as war prize on 13 May 1942. The aircraft was refitted with Pratt & Whitney R-1690 engines with modified cowlings and 3-bladed propellers. The air-brakes were replaced with hydraulic brakes, a tail wheel was installed instead of the original skid. All instruments and the radio were replaced with U.S. equipment. In December 1943, it was turned over to the U.S. Public Roads Administration in Costa Rica in as TI-60. Further records show that the aircraft was condemned on 20 December 1943 or 7 December 1944.
Title: German Junkers Ju 52 in USAAF service 1942
Credit: USAAF Photo via Hagdedorn, Dan (1995), Alae Supra Canalem: Wings Over the Canal, Turner Publishing, ISBN-10: 1563111535
Author: United States Air Force
Permission: USGOV-PD
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No