Junkers K 16
Junkers · Germany · first flew 1921 · airliner
The Junkers K 16 was a small all-metal civil cabin aircraft of 1921 — a high-wing cantilever landplane carrying a pilot in an open cockpit and two passengers in an enclosed cabin.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 8 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Corrugated duralumin skinning over every surface — the unmistakable Junkers washboard
- Open pilot cockpit ahead of a small glazed two-seat cabin
- Thick cantilever high wing with no struts or bracing wires at all, and a small radial on the nose
It looks like a miniature Junkers F 13 and shares the corrugated skin and the open-cockpit/enclosed-cabin split — but the K 16 spans 11 m against the F 13's 17.75 m, and, decisively, carries its wing on TOP of the fuselage where the F 13 is a low-wing aircraft.
Specifications
- The Junkers K 16 has a length of 8 m (26 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 11 m (36 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 145 km/h (90 mph).
- Typical crew: 1 pilot, 2 passengers.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Junkers had succeeded with the four-passenger F 13 and believed there was a market for a smaller machine on a smaller engine; Otto Reuter designed the K 16 ("K" for Kabinenflugzeug) and it first flew on 3 March 1921. Weeks later the Allies halted German aircraft construction outright, so the prototype was dismantled and taken to the Netherlands, stored and further tested with Fokker, and returned to Dessau when the restrictions eased. Series work ran from 1923 to 1925 and 17 were built.
Variants
Successive engines and two wingspans: the K 16 and K 16a used Siemens-Halske Sh 4 and Sh 5 radials, the K 16b family added the Sh 12/Sh 20 and a Czech-built Walter NZ 120 version on a longer wing, and the K 16c took a Bristol Lucifer behind a revised nose.
Where you'll see it
It made its public debut at the 1923 Gothenburg air show, but by the time it could be built in numbers the two-passenger air-taxi niche it was aimed at had evaporated, and most went to private owners for sightseeing, company transport and sport flying. Two were entered in the 1925 Deutsche Rundflug, one finishing second.
Related aircraft
- Junkers T 19
- Junkers A 20
- Junkers F.13
- Junkers H 21
- Caproni Ca.60 Transaereo
- Caudron C.61
- de Havilland DH.15 Gazelle
- Fokker F.III
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