When the huge German Juggers G38 landed in Athens
of our partner, historical researcher Stefanos Milesis
On October 22, 1930, a huge plane, coming from Istanbul, landed at Tatoi airport.
It was a German “Jugers G.38”, an impressive in size and appearance flying structure. Because apart from its extremely large dimensions, a real aerial colossus, it was also distinguished by the strange shape of its wings.
As they perceived the huge plane flying over the roofs of the Athenian houses, they were in real alarm. They left their offices and workplaces and ran into the streets to observe it better.
Before landing in Tatoi, the German giant made three to four passes over the city.
About 15 people were on board the German plane. Among them were the manufacturer Henry Uegers himself, the son of Henry Uegers and Von Fischer representative of the Uegers factories.
The leader of the mission was Dr. Boehm, while the crew consisted of the captain operators, the engineers, the radio operator and other persons of the factory.
Three thousand in one afternoon
Immediately after landing, crowds of people started to the airport to see up close the plane about which they had read so much in the newspapers.
It was estimated that by the afternoon of the flight on the day of his arrival, visitors to the itinerary were approaching three thousand!
In a strange way most of the young young ladies, “representatives of the fairer sex” as the newspapers described.
The entire area around the airport was occupied by cars while the ladies in their colorful challenges gave the impression of a huge secular gathering.
Around the plane a group of sailors kept the crowd at bay. The factory’s Greek representative, Zachariou, saw to it that the plane was allowed to be visited. Then a ladder was placed for the ascent of visitors on its left side.
The descriptions of sensationalism
The journalists of the time, describe the feelings of both the world and themselves, from the viewing and only from the plane, as unique.
“Under its wings,” they write, “up to 500 people can fit. They are so big…”, while others write that this flying medium should be called an “airship”.
The length of the Jugers G.38, according to the data that Zachariou took care to supply to the newspapers, was 44 meters, while the length of its wings exceeded 90 meters. It could travel distances, non-stop, of 3,500 kilometers, carrying a load of 24 tons.
It had 4 engines with a total power of 2000 hp. The specific aircraft that visited Athens in 1930 had a passenger compartment with 12 seats, 4 beds and toilets.
The interior layout was luxurious and included in line: the main passenger cabin and a small compartment with 4 berths. Next was the living room and dining room. In addition, two more spaces served as warehouses for passengers’ luggage and for a toilet.
The bedrooms and the living room were located on the wings and in their upper part, on the roof, they were lit by lamps. There were still areas dedicated exclusively to the control of the aircraft, apart from the cockpit.
Such spaces were intended for the marching officer, radio operator and other auxiliary functions. The engines were supervised in flight by two engineers, who were installed inside the wings. Inside the wings are also luggage compartments and engine rooms.
A third engineer was stationed in the center of the aircraft behind the cockpit, where he checked the instruments for the condition of the engines.
The journey from Istanbul to Athens took four hours.
Yuger would remain in Greece for three days. The day after his arrival, he performed a demonstration flight over Athens with Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos as a passenger. The plane’s next stop was Rome.
Jugers first flight
The Juggers C. 38 flew for the first time in November 1929. On one of its first flights it was tested with a stay in the air of ten hours. But it had to be tested over long distances and in different conditions.
For this, a journey of Yugers over 10 thousand kilometers was planned. The proposal was to attempt a voyage from Berlin to China. But as such a long distance from his base was considered dangerous, a round trip to Europe was planned.
In this the flights from city to city would cumulatively exceed ten thousand kilometers.
Essentially, however, the plane could return to Berlin within a day in case of emergency.
Eleftherios Venizelos a passenger in Yougers
Indeed, the next day, October 23, 1930, at the scheduled time, Eleftherios Venizelos arrived at Tatoi airport with his wife Elena.
Behind him is the deputy minister of aviation Zannas, the minister of foreign affairs, the representative of the factories Yougers Zachariou and all the military leadership of the country.
After first Eleftherios Venizelos inspected the outside of the plane, receiving all the information about its construction, he entered inside accompanied by his wife Elena and the crowd of journalists. He sat in one of the last row of seats towards the back of the plane.
The captain gave the start signal, the ladder went up, the door closed and the flight began.
The Flight of Juggers
Eleftherios Venizelos was a fan of airplanes, he believed in their value not only as a means of transportation but also as a weapon of war. He had tried demonstration flights many times in the past, from the time when the first airplanes made their appearance in Greece.
However, most journalists were receiving the “baptism of the air” for the first time. For this reason, the descriptions in the newspapers border on exaggeration.
“Let’s be clear,” wrote a journalist, “the way of the unknown prevails among us. Protests the instinct, the atavistic voice of millions of our terrestrial ancestors…”.
After moving down the runway, Yougers took a position for take-off in front of the airport’s metal gates. It took off in a cloud of dust and noise that caused the same construction. He found himself in the air with his passengers all bent over the windows to see Athens from above. Of course, the picture that journalists saw at that time was not the same as today.
Lush green olive groves, vineyards, orchards and the only road in the area, the Athens-Tatoiou road, traces its path to the airport. The only road that appeared to be a long straight was Piraeus Avenue.
The episode with Venizelos
The officials immediately after take off, started the observations from the various points they recognized from Athens.
Voices were heard like “Here is the station of Larissa and Peloponnese”, “Here is the dome of Agios Konstantinos, the Metropolis, Syntagma Square…”.
Some people on the ground were seen waving Greek flags as they waited for the plane to take off.
The plane came down, particularly low and already from the area of Thisio it was flying over the roofs of the houses.
The captain’s intention was, on the one hand, to impress the passengers, on the other hand, to facilitate them to admire the passage that the plane would attempt over the Acropolis.
At this point, however, a small episode was created. Eleftherios Venizelos, perceiving from Thisio that the Yuger canceled a flight at a very low altitude above the Acropolis, protested strongly.
Not because he was afraid, but because he considered the low flight particularly dangerous for the safety of the residents and also for the ancient monument that was in danger from the risky handling of the pilots.
He communicated through third parties to the captain to raise the plane higher. At Venizelos’ recommendation the response was immediate and the plane immediately rose to a greater height.
The landing with the paper bags
By passing over the Acropolis the flight was complete. The plane back to Tatoi where it began its descent.
Paper bags had been distributed to the passengers inside, as he had noticed that during the process of being brought in, those who were ignorant of the process were getting nauseous. And indeed one of the passengers writes “A feeling of vertigo takes over us. We all feel the need, momentarily, to make use of the paper bag we were given…”.
The recommendation of Venizelos
Immediately after landing, Eleftherios Venizelos spoke with the Deputy Minister of Aviation, Zanna, from whom he asked for an immediate order to be issued. This would oblige the pilots of the planes not to fly low over the city. He seemed particularly annoyed, stressing that the order that would be issued should be strictly enforced in the future.
Of course, he did not fail to convey to Zachariou his thanks to the company for the welcome and the demonstration flight.
After the official flight, Yugers was scheduled for another flight with passengers and various guests. But as a failure of one of the wheels was noticed, it was decided to take the flight the next day.
(Source of first post photo: www.aircraft.net)
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