Friedrich Karl von Koenig-Warthausen and the Crazy Baron!

It was a grand sight to see another German aircraft there, a Junkers W33 with its distinctive corrugated metal skin and stylish enclosed cockpit, a far cry from his own flimsy machine. The German pilots greeted each other and marvelled at how, in 1928, they should have met in such a remote place… some 3,300 miles, 5,300 km, from the Fatherland. It is doubtful that the Junkers pilot knew much about the young 22 year old airman with his flimsy little aircraft, but the gaunt and weathered Baron was well known to von Koenig-Warthausen!

The Junkers W33

Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld

Alcock and Brown preparing for their transatlantic flight

Posing in front of the W33 named Bremen

The Bremen damaged but safely across the Atlantic

The flimsy, lightweight Klemm L20B

The Klemm airborne

Baron Freidrich Carl von König-Warthausen

The Baron renamed his aircraft after his countryman Hünefeld

Images under a Creative Commons licence with thanks to Monika Hoerath, Tomas Mellies, MIKAN, The Bundesarchiv, Edward N. Jackson, L’Aéronautique magazine, John Underwood plus images in the Public Domain.