Herpa 019460 Junkers-Larsen JL-6 (F13) H0

On 25 June 1919, the first F 13 took off on its first flight. On 13 September of the same year, the prototype set a new world altitude record with a flight altitude of 6,750 metres. This altitude record also caught the attention of the American John Larsen, who wanted to market the new aircraft in the USA and even have it built under licence. Junkers initially supplied two factory machines, the first of which reached American soil by ship on 4 March 1920. Even before it was shipped, John Larsen had the first aircraft repainted because he found the silver grey too inconspicuous for the planned advertising flights: On one side, the nose was painted black, which would later become the standard for other F 13s and later Junkers aircraft; the fuselage and wings were painted green. On the other side, the Aero Club of America pennant was attached to the sides of the fuselage. To conceal their German origin, the aircraft were referred to as the JL-6: "JL" could be read as "Junkers-Larsen", but also as "John Larsen", and "6" for the number of seats. Despite initial sales successes to the US Armed Forces and the US Postal Service, the adventure on American soil ended after a short time. Nevertheless, this was only a damper on the F 13's global success as a co-founder of commercial aviation.