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Restoration of Jumo 211 J-1
Published 06.04.2011

The engine will be restored by the Wings Museum in England on behalf of the Norwegian Aviation Museum for our Ju-88 D1 which is currently under restoration. Volunteers of The Wings Museum will completely strip and overhaul the original unit before returning it back to Norway ready to be fitted back into 1203.

The project is expected to take anything from 1-2 years.
Read more: Wings Museum. 

Ju88 tail feathers
January 28th 2011

About a year ago, Ivan started to rebuild the fin and the rudder. He has until now completely dismantled, straightened out the structure and re-riveted the fin. Only missing detail is the top end cover. The rudder is also dismantled and straightened, needing only re-riveting.

Together with the tail planes and elevators now ready in Hungary, we now have all the tail feathers almost done! We have hopes to receive the tail planes as well as the elevators from Hungary sometimes in the month of February.

Ju 88 - ARCTIC BEAUTY!

January 18th 2009
 

December 8th 2009 the Norwegian Aviation Museum received the fuselage of Ju88 D-1 W.No.1203 (4N+EH) from Hungary. The project is a joint project between the Deutsches Teknikmuseum, Berlin and the Norwegian Aviation Museum, Bodø.

The Ju88 was one of two recovered from the Mehamn area in the far north of Norway 2001 and was shipped to the Karl Birczak restoration shop in Hereg, Hungary, February 2004. Here it has been used as pattern for the rebuild of the DTMB`s own Ju88 G-1, still in Hungary.

After use, the fuselage of W.No 1203 was then reassembled, repaired and shipped back to Norway. The task of restoring and installing all the internal details has already begun at NAM, Bodø.

The official hand-over ceremony was held January 17th at Bodø where representatives from DTMB and the workshop were present.

The project of rebuilding the rest of the airplane is continuing at Hereg. Here the tail planes are to be rebuilt as the next step on the way to a complete airplane. The rebuild of the wings are still to be negotiated.

As a part of the total project, an agreement with the aviation museum at Redhill on the restoration of one of the two Jumo 211 engines for W.No. 1203 has been reached. Already this engine was shipped to Redhill beginning of January this year.

The restoration of the internals of the fuselage is expected to last two years depending on manpower and money. This job is to be undertaken by volunteers from the Bodø Aviation Historical Society. (BAHS) Since no agreement on the rebuilding of the wings is reached yet, no exact date can be set for the finishing of the total project.

The fuselage of W.No.1203 is rebuilt to the highest standards, and the NAM. Bodø is very satisfied with the quality of the work done.
 

Junkers Ju88 D-1 W.No, 1203 finally at home!
9th December 2008

Several years of work at Karl Birczak`s restoration facilities in Hereg, Hungary is at an end!

The fuselage of our Ju88 D-1 arrived early Sunday 7^th. of December at the museum. The transport was by truck from Hungary and was performed without accidents of any sorts.

Ju88s in progress
16th October 2007

The two Ju88 fuselages being rebuilt in Hungary is nearing completion. October 5^th a small ceremony celebrating the (near) completion of several years of work took place in Hereg, Hungary.

Due to unforeseen delays in the rebuilding process, two- three weeks of work are still expected on the Norwegian Ju88 before being returned to Norway. Still to be fitted are things like the bottom gondola, bottom tank cover and tail wheel doors together with some minor parts. Upon arrival at Bodø, Norway the Norwegian museum team will then make the Ju88 complete with all internal details. Next planned step on the way to a complete aircraft will be the rebuilding of the tail plane and fin.

The Berlin Ju88 is to be completed with internal details and equipment at Hereg before being transported to Germany.
 

Report from Hereg
25th April 2006

Our Ju88 project is moving forward!

Since last meeting the centre section of the fuselage has been completely dismantled, preserved and partially assembled. At the time of the meeting, the team was doing repairs to the top of the fuselage from where German troops (1943) removed the rubber tank and other valuable equipment.

To further ease the access to the front of this section, the cockpit has been temporarily removed. The cockpit will be permanently attached in the near future. The gondola (bola) in the bottom of the cockpit will then be made. As a pattern for this, the gondola from the Ju88 raised from the bottom of Lake Jonsvannet will be supplied.

The tail end of our Ju88 will then be rebuilt and attached to the front end.
The quality of the work is to the highest standards and we are very satisfied with the end result.
The fuselage will at the time of delivery from Hereg, be painted on the inside of the cockpit area with the correct (Black/Grey RLM 66) colour. This will enable us to start the process of installing internal details as soon as we receive the fuselage.

Meeting in Hungary
January 30 2006

The project has had great progress since last meeting. The restoration agreement was that parts from our D-1 was to be used as a patterns to make new parts for the DTMB`s  G-2 model.

Almost all the cockpit structure of the G-2 was in small pieces and no drawings were available. As a result, a better background material was needed for the G-2`s reconstruction.

This background was found in the use of our D-1 for patterns.

The entire front section of our D-1 has been dismantled so that the parts could be used for patterns. Before dismantling, the fuselage front of the D-1 has been used as a basis for a jig. This jig is again used for the reassembly of both front fuselages. 

The situation in the workshop today is that the G-2 is in the jig. Here the front section will be assembled completely with skins and internal structure. After this, approximately one month from now, the front section of our D-1 model will go into the jig. The same procedure will then apply for this front section, only that here also the section of the fuselage containing the wing mounts will be dismantled.

We have some corrosion in this area and it will be important to have this removed before final assembly. The front of both Ju88`s will be made structurally complete before both tail sections are joined.

Looking at the quality of the work done, we are very satisfied. You always have a balance of keeping as much as possible of the original parts and to do a good preservation. Some of the original parts are of poor quality and needs replacement. If not replaced, their life expectancy will be short, even after restoration. In some places these bad parts will be expensive to replace later.

Our policy is where the handbook says that the damage can be repaired, we will do so according to the manual. If the damage is extensive we will replace the skinning. We will try to have as much as possible of the original joints as possible.

Next meeting is scheduled for last part of April. We are then promised to have the both fuselages in almost a finished state!

The plans now are to have both fuselages ready sometimes this summer.

We are really looking forward to the roll-out ceremony!
 

German/Norwegian cooperation
December 1 2003   

Norwegian Aviation Museum, Bodø (NL) and the Deutsches Teknikmuseum, Berlin (DTMB) has agreed on the restoring of two Junkers Ju88 airplanes. Several years ago a Ju88 G-1 was discovered at the bottom of Plattensee inside Hungary 1996. After recovery this airplane were taken over by DTMB. This Ju88 is planned to be part of the new exhibition in the DTMB-building. However, most of the R/H side wing, the tip of the L/H side wing and major parts for the fuselage were missing.

The DTMB will use the wreckage of 0880797 as spares for the rebuild. The fuselage of 0881203 will be used for patterns. As of now no deal is made for the restoring of the wings for the 0881203.

In return for all this, DTMB will rebuild the fuselage of 0881203. Already all internal components are removed. The internal details are to be restored and put back inside the fuselage upon return. In addition to this DTMB will rebuild a set of wings for NLM´s Messerschmitt Bf109 G-2 project.

It is expected that the two Ju88´s are to leave Bodø before X-mas. The restoring of the two Junkers Ju88´s will take place at the Karl Birczak Restoration shop in Hereg, Hungary.
 

This years recovery expedition of the two Ju88s in the Mehamn area was a great succsess!

The Norwegian Aviation Museum staged a similar expedition two years ago. Then the aim was to recover the engines and one tail section of the two Ju88s. Even if the weather then was marginal, we finally collected everything of what was planned.With the great help from 330 Squadron based at Banak AFB. We soon had the different parts in storage at Bodø.
This year we planned to dismantle the two Ju88s in order to have them airlifted to Mehamn Airport. Again with great help from 330 Squadron.

The expedition started out from Mehamn august 3rd. Accompanying us were two german journalists, Knut and Hans-Christof, covering the event for a german magazine. Altogether 6 other participants were to do the dismantling and preparations for airlifting.

In order to be in position for the dismantling of the two airplanes we first had to travel by boat. The boat (owned by Nordic Safari Wildlife AdventuresAS) brought us safely ashore at Sandfjorden.We put up the base camp down by the seaside. This way we only needed to carry the tools necessary for the dismantling of the first airplane up to the top of the mountain.

The following day we started for the first Ju88. We had some fog at the top of the mountains but this cleared away when we arrived at the site. To help speed up the operations we carried a specially made tool for loosening the nuts for the connection of the wings. When arriving we soon found out that we could not use the tool! The space were too narrow between the nuts and other components connected to the fuselage. Luckily we carried other tools suitable for doing the job. The first wing disconnected relatively fast but the tools sustained damage. After loosening two nuts on the other wing the tools were almost worn out. What to do now??

We still had two more nuts to loosen before we had the job finished. But - did we not hear the sounds of a helicopter??

Sure, a helicopter from 330 Sqdn. arrived. They had scrambled for a rescue operation close by and now they paid us a visit to see if everything went according to plans!
New plans were made and then the helicopter set out for Mehamn Airport. Soon they returned carrying a new tool borrowed from the people working at the airport.

The two remaining nuts came off in a hurry and soon we could return to the base-camp in a good mood.
Down there we collected logs to make a fire. Torgeir was appointed "Grillmaster" and celebrating the succsessful day we felt rather satisfied with what was acheived.

The next day we had about the same type of weather as the other day. We decided to split the team into two groups. One group were to do the preparations necessary for a safe airlifting. The other group were to dismantle the second Ju88 lying further inland from the camp.
Two of the team soon were on their way up on top of the mountain for the first Ju88.
Close to lunchtime the first of the Ju88s was ready for airlifting. At the same time three of the crew set course for the second of the Ju88s. Here they started disconnecting the nuts which held the right hand wing to the fuselage. The nuts were very corroded and soon problems arose disconnecting the bottom nuts. Trying very hard using every trick in the books they finally could disconnect the second wing!

Now the weather had improved and returning to the camp we could now enjoy the splendid wiews of the area in a brilliant sunshine.
Since now everything were done we decided to return to Mehamn. At six o`clock in the evening we again were picked up by the boat. Soon we enjoyed a beer and a pizza at the hotel.

The next morning we had marvellous weather. The Sea-King flown by Capt. Norderval arrived at Mehamn Airport as planned. Before landing, the helicopter flew low over the plateu to check out the weather conditions. They could barely see the Junkers on top of the mountain because of fog!Since the planned for slingload was up to the maximum load allowed, the helicopter had to get rid of some of the crew not necessary for the operations. Also some of the loose equipment were unloaded. Before the helicopter was ready for slingload the fog covered the mountaintop.
The crew decided to at least try to lift parts from the Junkers in the Sandfjorden but only one flight was possible before the helicopter had to return to the airport.

Then very little happened for a long time. We had almost given up the idea of having the rest of the parts down before winter. Mehamn Airport authorities sent an E-mail reminding us of the centersection still present at the airport. The winter was just around the corner and they needed the area for clearing away the snow!

The next day I made a call to tell them that we had delayed the transport because we still had hopes for the rest of the parts to come down.
"You can come now", the answer was. The Sea-King has already flown in three loads of Junkers and they are now out there to pick up the fourth load!!!
Capt. Norderval and his crew had not let us down!

Now the only thing that remained was to repack for the shipment by boat.
Because of other planned arrangements at the museum we could not go to Mehamn until monday, oct. 8th. This allowed for the neccessary planning of the next step in the recovery operation. The four-man crew arrived in the evening. Next day the preparations started for shipment of the parts.
Thanks to super assistance from the employees of the Mehamn Airport we were able to finish the preparations in two days.

Because of the size of the wings the only kind of transportation possible was by boat. The Strand Shipping Company found a suitable ship ("MS Tanto.") and planned to pick up the freight already the 18th. of october. Because of a lot of bad weather the shipping of the two Junkers were delayed by one week. 

Friday october 26th. was a great day for all of us at the museum. Then the two Ju88`s arrived.

The wings and the remains of the fuselage of W.no.0797 is in storage at the Bodø AFB but the front part of the fuselage of W.no.1203 is in the workshop for cleaning and preservation.