Sun 'n Fun 2023 Junkers A50 Junior LSA Debuts

The Junkers A50 Junior was a classic late 1920's metal monoplane that was really one of the first fly-for-fun sport aircraft. Junkers has been revived by the Waco Aircraft Co. and is producing a modernized version of the A50 for the light sport market. AVweb checked out the new model at Sun 'n Fun, where it is making its first appearance in fully approved form.

[zapfanzapfan]

It's a jewel of a plane with a price tag to match 🙂

[michaeldautry]

This is the most exciting thing I have seen in aviation in a really long time! Excellent work y’all

[jkajewski]

That's INCREDIBLE looking, might just be on my list of planes to look at in the future.

[dancahill]

Looked much better with the radial(s). Probably easier to see out of, too.

[zaitcev]

The exhaust blowing into a radiator is an interesting design decision.

[gawebm]

If I had the money... Love the design. Curious how it flys and the stall characteristics with those corrugated wings. Those go against everything I thought I knew about wing design!

[GlideYNRG]

Pity Rotec don't produce a 5 cylinder radial... 😊
Beautiful aircraft.

[johnalbury]

It comes down to what else you can buy for the same amount money. If you just collect planes this might be one to have in the collection. If you want one to fly with 3 fingers on the stick all the time for an economical price go buy an RV12. For around $100, 000.00 you can get a beautiful one that a good builder has just finished. Or one that has 1000 hours on it for $60k to $75K. Cheap to maintain and can't go wrong with 91 octane auto fuel at 4.5 gallons per hour. In the pattern it's more like 3.5 GPH with half the pattern at Idle. Open cockpit is fun for about an hour like somebody else said. And don't kid yourself tail draggers are always squirrelly with winds above 10MPH. Just try to get insurance on one. I'll bet you insurance on that plane at 200K will be 5K and up depending on your experience. However I hope they sell 100s of them. Good for GA!

[sport]

How difficult would a skin repair be after a bird strike or something?

Neat looking plane I hope it is a success

[zosoachilles]

Neat. Though I would have some questions about safety after a noseover on landing or otherwise. No head protection and/or might be a challenge getting out of the pit, especially if the vertical digs in to the ground.

[farmerbobross]

The price pretty much knocks out any thoughts of owning one.

[spinnetti]

they should have put a Rotec on it - especially with that insane price. My uncle had a ride in a Tante Ju....

[brucelanzerotti]

I thought the idea behind LSA was they were supposed to be affordable - $200K can get you a much bigger used full aircraft. Too bad its a very cool air craft, just too damn expensive

[connorwilkinson]

All that work to bring a new plane to market, and they forgot the radial engine, neglected to install retro-style instruments, and gave it a horrible useful load and an typical inflated MSRP...what was the point again? IMO, if you're going to "pay homage" to an older design, it generally detracts from the point to use a completely different configuration of motor and slap modern avionics in the panel. If I want a Rotax with a Garmin G3x I can buy a Czech Sport or a DirectFly, or any other LSA. Its a shame that they missed the mark with this one, the idea had a lot of potential. If they had an option with a Verner or a Rotec and some steam gauges, I would be interested.

[guilhermetomazini]

Vintageness totally ruined by the glass cockpit

[horrido]

Not really liking the spoked wheels. I'd swap those out, asap. Imagine how nice this will look in different colors. Lets hope the people lucky enough to own them take care of them.

[jonathanstein]

Great looking plane, but ridiculously overpriced, as usual. I bought a 50% partnership in a Challenger One yesterday. The aircraft was flown to it's current location a few months ago, with no issues. My initial cost? $860.00. I know it's going to cost me around another $2k to make sure it's airworthy, but I won't be in debt the rest of my life, paying for it.

[WannaBe-bsuid]

Great looking aircraft, but with Verner Radial...Low RPM, Wood Prop, Nostalgic Ride...

[patadams]

Why haven't you pressed the FAA for a copy of the near miss between a Fedex and SWA at Austin, TX? The FAA knew within hours who was in the tower, who was goofing off on a break and who was to blame.

[jyellowhammer]

Did he say 220K? I wouldn't pay 15K for that thing much less 220. I could probably build the thing for 30K out the door. Think about all the different types of aircraft you could buy with 220K. Hell, there are REAL warbirds on Plane Trader that are selling for less. Id much rather have an AD-4 Sky Raider for 155K than that rootie poot little airframe. It doesn't even have a canopy for crying out loud.
I can appreciate the effort it took to build that but damn it man don't insult our intelligence with a price like 220K.