This hand-painted aircraft rudder dates to 1917 and itself represents the last gasp of the Habsburg Monarchy, replete with its crest in gold over the Austrian tricolor.
The type was first offered to the Imperial German Navy but was rejected. It was, however, accepted by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which operated it from bases on the Adriatic Sea during the Italian Campaign. Many of these were produced under license by UFAG in Budapest. In service, the Austro-Daimler engine caused continuous problems, which the manufacturer attributed to the poor lubricating oil available at the front. Since this situation seemed unlikely to change as the war situation deteriorated for Austria-Hungary, Austro-Daimler simply discontinued production of the engine, meaning that slightly over half the 130 W.13s manufactured were left without a powerplant.
Several examples of the W.13 were captured intact by Italian forces and studied; and one example that survived the war was handed over by Austria to the United States Navy as part of war reparations. This aircraft was shipped back to the Naval Aircraft Factory in the United States, where it was dismantled for study, reassembled, and test flown. It was destroyed by fire in 1922, and the only known associated artifact from this aircraft is the rudder from a different machine (K395) that was among spare parts.
The original listing from 1961 advertising this artifact for sale. Robert Boehme acquired this piece, and it remained in his personal collection until his estate was acquired by Ron Cole in 2022:
The all-original rudder from W.13 K 395 prior to restoration by Ron Cole:
Period photos of W.13s c.1917-1919:
Comments will be approved before showing up.
