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.

[@jefferyhudson4681]

Ouch !! Where did affordability go ?

[@indridcold8433]

How cute! I love it! It is also fairly priced, for a new aircraft! I want one!

[@galactictomato1434]

Looks fantastic inside and out.

[@ebazerkhairetdinov1089]

Beautiful plane and beautiful work 👍🏻

[@musoseven8218]

Charming aeroplane ✌️👍😊

[@dancahill8555]

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

[@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!

[@jyellowhammer]

Obviously you don't know very much about wing design then.

[@alfredfabulous3640]

Reynoulds....

[@zaitcev0]

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

[@MonostripeZebra]

It is such a beautiful plane

[@argusflugmotor7895]

Why no analog instruments?

[@GlideYNRG]

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

[@aviationnnick]

I want one so bad

[@sigbauer9782]

How many .50cals can I mount in the wings?

[@johnalbury3320]

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!

[@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.

[@jonnie2bad]

it's a death trap for rich hipsters.

[@spinnetti]

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

[@jeffboatright]

Verner might be a better choice. But yes, why not use a modern radial?

[@SkylaneGuy]

@@jeffboatright because the Rotec is double the weight of the Rotax. Kind of a big deal on an LSA.

[@tinolino58]

Rotec is kind of c r a p

[@MrCarGuy]

Reliability

[@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

[@TheOwenMajor]

You're not buying this because it's affordable or useful. That's like crapping on a Shelby Cobra because it has less cargo space then a Camry and costs 10x more.

[@luso7916]

@An Obscure Tenet No, it is actually relevant when an LSA is comparable in price to some high performance certified aircraft. This is an open cockpit two seater that should be priced with that in mind. If their manufacturing process is inefficient to the point where it outprices a Piper Arrow then something is horribly wrong and should be questioned. This problem is exacerbated when people like you handwave every new overpriced LSA because "Oh, you don't work at (company) therefore you wouldn't understand." The point is that it is so overpriced even within it's own class that it compares to certified aircraft and that is completely relevant when the private certified GA market is almost completely made up of used aircraft.

[@michaeldautry]

The price is about right, aviation is for the rich or those who are friends with the rich. If you want to fly cheap, buy something really old with an O-200 or go experimental. Sorry but that’s just the situation today…

[@luso7916]

@@michaeldautry Clearly you have a KZbinr's overdramatic and classist view of aviation. The majority of pilots I know are either normal people or broke. Owning an airplane isn't the pie in the sky fantasy you make it out to be.

[@jyellowhammer]

@@michaeldautry WRONG, I am not at all wealthy but I'm building my own airplane as we speak. In fact, I just came in to take a break from prepping it for paint. Everybody thinks aircraft owners are super well off when actually the opposite it true. It's called love and passion for flying no matter what the sacrifice may be to do it.

[@connorwilkinson1783]

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.

[@luso7916]

At the very least they should make it clear that the buyer can purchase the aircraft with no powerplant, cowl, or instruments. If that is not an option then this whole project is a waste of time and money for all involved. So many LSA projects are wasting their own money as well as over inflating their MSRP by incorporating completely unnecessary gimmicks to what should be a nice entry level aircraft. I have been following this project for a while and despite my initial excitement, I am disappointed with the route they are taking. I only learned now from this video that this project is in part backed by the same people that are behind that new WACO, which could explain the delusional assumptions about the general aviation market.

[@sport2175]

How difficult would a skin repair be after a bird strike or something? Neat looking plane I hope it is a success

[@ImpendingJoker]

Actually not very difficult at all. You get all the support from the skin directly which is why they are stamped like that. It is a simple matter to repair wings like these.

[@WannaBe-bsuid]

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

[@def787]

Mark Felton enters the chat.

[@farmerbobross]

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

[@andrewahern3730]

That’s true of every aircraft

[@horrido666]

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.

[@ThomasSchick]

👍🏻

[@guilhermetomazini5179]

Vintageness totally ruined by the glass cockpit

[@mackkiesel4196]

I think it looks better and is way more functional

[@guilhermetomazini5179]

@@mackkiesel4196 Functionality is not the point of buying a 1920s looking airplane

[@chrishunt1941]

Not a 1928 airplane. It’s a current rendition kf

[@kfekadu55]

Toy for the super rich

[@jonathanstein1783]

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.

[@samkumar3084]

I am Indian jaat good morning 🌄🌄

[@patadams4448]

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.

[@joncox9719]

Is it Aerobatic Rated?

[@luso7916]

I believe something is a little off here. Kaelin Aero GmbH is the company responsible for this aircraft, not WACO Classic as the video suggests. This means some major mistakes on the business side were made. 1: This aircraft clearly has major inefficiencies in production for the price to be so high. 2: Kaelin is a German company and seems to operate with many European expectations of general aviation that leave them poorly prepared for the American market (Rotax, no kit, glass cockpit, overpriced). 3: A partnership with the new WACO Classic company is going to give them a rotten image. WACO is known for nothing other than producing massively overpriced iterations of old aircraft for no other reason than profiting off of nostalgia. This new iteration of the A50 Junior sets an eerie precedent for these overpriced reproductions and makes one wonder if WACO's grubby hands were behind this project from the beginning. Kaelin had better split ties with WACO before the American market kills them. We have too many cheaper aircraft that do their job better. An aircraft like the junior should never cost nearly $200,000. Wonderful and welcome idea. Poorly implemented and marred by yuppie marketing ideas.

[@Blackcloud_Garage]

$200K for an open cockpit light sport! Ouch. That's a NO for me.

[@andrewsmactips]

And… Spoiled by the soulless glass panel.

[@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.

[@vf24renegade23]

Another over priced aircraft with limiting capability. 200 grand and only carrys 370 lbs. Perhaps Harrison Ford will buy one.

[@dragon2knight]

Massively overpriced. Period. Nice plane otherwise...🙄

[@dragon2knight]

@@obscuretenet I do, and I'm keeping it. Lots of great sportplanes at half or less than that poor excuse for a "classic remake". What's that? You want examples? Okay. Try despite having several great radial engines around, they opted for the lousy Rotax instead. So, not only does it not look like the original, they passed up at least trying to make it that way. And they charged WAY too much for the privilege. Being pretty only get's you so far in life.....BIG pass.

[@jeffboatright]

@An Obscure Tenet Costs to the seller are secondary. A luxury product (and most products) are worth what someone will pay. Did the Waco guys do their market research? One assumes they did. I guess we'll see if their predictions work out.🤷‍♂

[@luso7916]

Michael you are absolutely correct regardless of what these keyboard warrior, armchair industrialists say. I'm very tired of these people hand waving every overpriced aircraft just because "you wouldn't understand". It is an LSA aircraft. It uses a Rotax. A stamping process SHOULD reduce costs unless they overengineered the design of the machines used to the point that the benefits are lost. All of these cost saving measures together should make a reasonably priced aircraft. But it doesn't and this should suggest some kind of huge inefficiency or bad decision along the way. I am not a fan of Van's aircraft personally, but what they did get right was making straight forward aircraft with straight forward manufacturing with no gimmicks. Van's is thus wildly successful and their aircraft are priced fairly. Although I shouldn't be surprised that the same people behind that abysmally overpriced excuse for a WACO are also behind another way to scam people for no other reason than nostalgia.

[@dragon2knight]

@@luso7916 Believe me I know this much better than most as I've owned a metal manufacturing business (two in fact) for the last 45 years. I know what it cost to do metal on a large and small scale. Corrugated is cheap, actually very cheap compared to many other forms of metal manufaturing. If they tried to do this in house, they made a huge mistake right there. There are hundreds of shops right here in the US who could have stamped that out for them for so much less money. Going the boutique route that they did was the biggest mistake they made as they'll never recoupe their loss's. I will redo what I said earlier to this: NOSTALGIA will only get you so far, the rest you have to earn. This will be a failure, and it didn't have to be that way.

[@dragon2knight]

@@obscuretenet You really aren't too bright a bulb are ya 😅

[@jonnie2bad]

there are reasons they stopped building planes like this.

[@luso7916]

Give me one reason. The only deal breakers are the rotax and glass cockpit.

[@Stubby0266]

Aviation is another elite group crowd just like politics.

[@silasmarner7586]

Do you need a hug?

[@alanaldpal950]

@@silasmarner7586 Well you can still get into hang gliding for less

[@christheother9088]

@@alanaldpal950 All other forms of flight will fade after you have thermaled a hang glider in the mountains.

[@luso7916]

Maybe pick up shuffle boarding if it's more your speed.

[@gawebm]

I built my own for less than the price of a new Honda civic. Cost about the same in gas per mile. Annual expenses are about the same as a car. Yes, some people in aviation have a lot of money but you could say that about any interest.

[@toadamine]

Pretty cool, but dang, $200k... not that cool... should be under $100k from what i see there... 🤷‍♂️🤏

[@tinolino58]

Dream on 🤣

[@toadamine]

@@tinolino58 a Rotax and some sheet aluminum... were talking Van's level of technology and manufacturing... but not even an enclosed cockpit

[@tinolino58]

@@toadamine yes plus 1000 hours of work

[@toadamine]

@@tinolino58 finished vans are $75-$100k... and not open cockpit which will get really old after about an hour, or when the weather isn't 80 degrees... vans also has a bigger more expensive lycoming... not some Rotax ultralight buzzbox

[@tinolino58]

@@toadamine I didn’t know this 🤣🥳😂😇😉 I fly only 45 years, mostly Cessnas and Mooneys. Currently I design and calculate a large single seat experimental with a Viking 130. Calculated speed 162kts. Large: beceause I am 196cm 🥳