Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung upgrades historic aircraft with Sandel avionics

HAMBURG, Germany, 19 Feb. 2015. Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung officials in Hamburg, Germany, worked with Sandel Avionics Inc. authorized dealer Avionik Straubing to upgrade the organization’s “Aunt Ju” Junker Ju 52 historic aircraft with the installation of an avionics package that includes duel Sandel SN4500s, dual SG102s, and dual ST3400s.

Avionik Straubing selected the dual avionics package not only for the superior avionics upgrade, but also for Sandel’s simple and clean look that helps maintain the aircraft panel’s 1930’s mechanical look, officials say.

Built at the Junkers works in Dessau, Lufthansa’s Ju 52 embarked on her maiden flight in 1936. Initially in service with Lufthansa, she then spent almost 20 years alternating between Germany and Norway. 1955 saw her taken out of service in Norway. Too large for a museum in Oslo, she was sold to South America where she was flown in Ecuador from 1957 to 1963. The end of her days now looked imminent. Mustered out to the edge of Quito Airport and exposed to the elements, she fell into oblivion until an American flying enthusiast rescued her in 1969. Later on, spectators were able to admire "Aunt Ju", now known as "Iron Annie", at air shows before being purchased by Lufthansa in 1984 and painstakingly restored.

Sandel Avionics Inc. engineers and manufactures advanced avionics for fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft as well as provide embedded software for OEM applications. Its compact integrated display systems for the military and commercial markets include 3-ATI and 4-ATI retrofit primary displays, Class A & B fixed-wing TAWS and HeliTAWS―the helicopter industry’s only certified panel-mount HTAWS that alerts against wires, terrain, and obstacles, officials say. Sandel is AS9100 and ISO9001 certified.