… ፀሐይ ታሪካዊውን የመጀመሪያ በረራ ልታደርግ ሞተሯን ስታሞቅ ፋሺስትም ኢትዮጵያን ለመውረር እያሟሟቀ ነበር ….
በቀዳማዊ ኃ/ሥላሴ ዘመነ መንግሥት ከተሞከሩ የሥልጣኔ አብነቶች መካከል አነስተኛ አውሮፕላኖችን በሀገር ውስጥ ለመገጣጠም የተደረገው ሙከራ አንዱ ነው። በኢትዮጵያ የጀርመኑ ጃንከርስ አውሮፕላን ኩባንያ ተወካይ የነበረው የንጉሡ አውሮፕላን አብራሪ Ludwig Weber ይህን ስራ በመስራት ረገድ ትልቁን ሚና ተጫውቷል። ከጣሊያን ወረራ ትንሽ ቀደም ብሎ ሶስት አውሮፕላኖችን በሀገር ውስጥ የመስራት ሥራ ታቅዶ ሥራው ቢጀመርም ማጠናቀቅ የተቻለው ግን አንዷን አውሮፕላን ብቻ ነበር። የዚህም ዋነኛ ምክንያት ፋሺስት ጣሊያን ኢትዮጵያን መውረሯ ነበር።
ልዕልት ፀሐይ
ተገጣጥማ የተጠናቀቀችው አውሮፕላን ባለ 115 የፈረስ ጉልበት ሞተር የተገጠመላት ባለ ሰባት ሲሊንደር ነበረች። ክንፎቿ የተሰሩት ከእንጨት ሲሆን የተቀረው የአውሮፕላኗ ክፍል ብረት ሆኖ መስኮቱ በፕላስቲክ የተሸፈነ ነው፡፡ እቺ በታሪክ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ በኢትዮጵያ ምድር ላይ የተገጣጠመችው አውሮፕላን በኢትዮጵያ መለያ ቀለም በአረንጓዴ ቢጫና ቀይ አሸብርቃ ስያሜዋም በጃንሆይ ልጅ ልዕልት ጸሀይ ስም ጸሀይ ተባለች።
ጸሀይ ታሪካዊውን የመጀመሪያ በረራ ልታደርግ ሞተሯን ስታሞቅ ፋሺስትም ኢትዮጵያን ለመውረር እያሟሟቀ ነበር። ይህ የፋሺስት ወረራ ታዲያ የጸሀይን የበረራ ታሪክ ባጭሩ ሲቀጭ ጸሀይ በአየር ላይ ለመብረር የቻለችው በጠቅላላው ለሰላሳ ሰዓታት ብቻ ነበር። አዲስ አበባ በፋሺስት እጅ ስትወድቅ የጸሀይ መሀንዲስና አብራሪ ዌበር ጸሀይን ቸር ይግጠመን ብሎ ተሰናብቷት ወደ እናት ሀገሩ ጀርመን ተመለሰ። ጸሀይም ተረሳች።
ዘራፊው የፋሺስት መንግሥት ግን ጸሀይን ጥሎ አልጣላትም። ልክ እንደ አክሱም ሀውልት ሁሉ ጸሀይንም ጭኖ ወደ ጣሊያን አጋዛት። ጸሀይ በመጀመሪያ በ Caserta Aeronautical Museum ከዚያም Italian Aviation Museum “the aeroplane of the Negus” ተብላ የምትጎበኝ የቅኚ አገር ቅርስ ሆነች።
▪️በ1940 ዓ.ም በፓሪስ ከተባበሩት መንግሥታት ጋር በተደረሰ የሰላም ስምምነት አንቀጽ 37 መሰረት ማንኛውንም በአምስቱ ዓመታት የወረራ ዘመን ከኢትዮጵያ የዘረፈችውን ቅርስና ንብረት በአስራ ስምንት ወራት ጊዜ ውስጥ ልትመልስ ጣሊያን ቃል ገብታ ነበር። ይሁንና ከግማሽ ምእት ዓመት በላይ ከቆየ በኋላ ነው በዛሬው ዕለት ይህች በኢትዮጵያ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ የተገጣጠመችው አውሮፕላን ጸሀይ የአክሱም እጣ ገጥሟታል።
ጥር 21, 2015 ዓመተ ምህረት በዛሬው ዕለት ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ዓብይ አህመድ በማህበራዊ መገናኛ ገፃቸው “ዛሬ “ፀሐይ” አውሮፕላንን ከጣልያን መንግሥት በይፋ መረከባችንን የምናከብርበት ቀን በመሆኑ ለኢትዮጵያውያን ሁሉ ታላቅ የኩራት ቀን ነው።” ብለዋል። ጠቅላይ ምኒስትሩ አክለውም “የጣልያን ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ጂኦርጂያ ሜሎኔ ላለፈው አንድ አመት የአውሮፕላኑን መመለስ ስራ በማገዛቸው ለማመስገን እፈልጋለሁ።” ሲሉ አመስግነዋል።
የአይሮፕላኗን ታሪክ አስመልክተውም ዶ/ር አብይ “ፀሐይ” እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር በ1935 ዓ.ም በጀርመናዊው ኢንጂነር እና የንጉሱ ፓይለት ሄር ሉድዊግ ዌበር ብሎም በወቅቱ በነበሩ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ባለሞያዎች ትብብር በኢትዮጵያ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ የተሰራ አውሮፕላን ነው” ሲሉ አውስተዋል።
The following is the text of the article I have been given by Ato Makonnen: it represents a chapter in Ethiopia’s pre-war aviation history, as well as a chapter in the history of Ethio-German and Ethio-Italian relations.
The Article
Written by Mr. Ole G, Nordbo, a noted expert on aviation history, it appeared in the prestigious British aviation journal “Air-Britain”, for March-April 1974, and reads as follows:
Ethiopia 1
Ole G. Nordbo
After completely rebuilding a crashed Junkers W 33c in Ethiopia during 1932/3, Herr Ludwig Weber, a German engineer and the Emperor’s pilot, had thoughts of building an aircraft for the embryo [Ethiopian]Air Force.
The need was for an aircraft that could serve as a trainer and at the same time operate in the communications role. Furthermore, it needed to be capable of operating from airfields at about 2,500 m above sea level. A German monoplane known as the A. VII seemed to offer the basis for such an aircraft as it appeared to be fairly simple to produce and was easy to repair and maintain. The Emperor gave his blessing to the idea and Dip. Ing. Wilhelm von Nes agreed to re-design his A. VII for Ethiopian use.
Ethiopia 1
The new model, known as Ethiopia 1, emerged as a two-seat, dual-controlled version which also had a more powerful engine, the 7-cylinder radial Walter Venus 1, which was rated at 115 hp at 1,800 rpm. To improve landing performance, von Nes incorporated flaps which extended from fuselage almost to the ailerons. The fuselage was very similar to the original three-seat A. VII although narrower as the result of the reduction of the side-by-side two-seat cockpit to one for a single occupant. The length was also reduced to 7.32 m.
The design work had been completed by the end of 1934 when work began on the production of parts for three aircraft. In 1935, the assembly of the first one was commenced, the welding of the steel-tube fuselage being carried out by Junkers mechanics while the wings were made under the supervision of a German joiner who had experience of building gliders. Fabric-covered, the aircraft was doped in silver and on both sides of the fuselage it carried the Amharic characters for “Sahai”, meaning “Sun”, which was the name of a princess. The propeller was a wooden one made by Schwartz in Germany.
The First Flight
The first flight took place in December 1935 (Herr Weber also mentioned February 1936) and proved to be most promising. The aircraft was airborne after some 150 m from a runway in hot, thin air, and was easy to handle both on the ground and in the air, with excellent stability about all axes. The controls were nicely harmonized with only small forces required for operation. By means of the flaps the approach could be very steep with a rolling distance on the ground of only 100 m without the use of brakes. It climbed from 2,500 m to 3,500 m in about seven minutes, with a ceiling around 6,000 m. Maximum speed was about 185 kmh, cruising around 150 kmh, and the landing speed was 50 kmh with flaps.
The Ethiopia 1 was not flown extensively, only 30 hours having been recorded when it was left behind in a eucalyptus forest at Jan Meda when Herr Weber departed with his staff in the Junkers on 3 May 1936, only a few days [in fact only two: note, R.P.] before the Italians arrived.
Herr Weber had no idea what happened to the Ethiopia 1 subsequently, but there was some speculation that the Italians had used it, and it was with some excitement that the report on the Italian collection [of aircraft] at Vigna di Valle [Museum] was read. (This report by B. Sclerandi of Ostia Lido/Rome appeared in the IARB Journal No 3/37). The aircraft today is in very good shape, repainted and with new fabric at the tail section only. The museum could not give any background information, however, referring to it only as the ‘Aircraft of the Negus’.
Specifications
Air-Britain member Hans Fogelmann in Germany has supplied all the technical information for the above and has given details of the various A. VIIs, and with his kind permission, they are reproduced here:
A. VII prototype: A three-seater designed by von Nes in Freiburg/Br. in the early 1930s.
A, VII Ethiopia 1: The subject of these notes, designated A. VIIb although this designation was later applied to the third version.
A, VIIb: A three-seater with a Walter Minor in-line engine, built in 1936 in Austria by Meindi.
A, VIIc: A two-seat scaled-down version of the A. VIIb with a 50 hp Zundapp engine, built by a NSFK-puppe at Arade between 1939 and 1945″.
Comment
The above article, by Mr Ole Nordbo, gives a useful account of aeroplane “Ethiopia 1”. The existence of the machine testifies to an important step in Ethiopia’s pre-war attempts at modernisation.
The aeroplane is thus, in its way, comparable to Emperor Tewodros’s famous cannon, at Maqdala, site of the famous battle, and of the Ethiopian monarch’s dramatic suicide, in April 1868. That cannon, which can be seen to this day, illustrates another, earlier, step in the country’s struggle to overcome technological backwardness.
The aeroplane, constructed, as Mr Nordbo says, with the Emperor’s “blessing”, i.e. he doubtless paid for it, has of course no business to be in Italy. Though largely built by Germans, (and not by Italians) the ‘plane is part and parcel of Ethiopian history.
It is a machine in which Ethiopians of the present generation, and future generations can be proud.
The aeroplane’s continued presence in the Italian Aviation Museum is moreover disturbing in view of the fact that it constitutes a direct violation of an international legal document, the Peace Treaty signed between the Italian Government and the United Nations, in 1947.
There can be no doubt about it: the plane should be returned to Ethiopia without delay!
The Italian community in Ethiopia, and Ethiopia’s many friends in Italy, should be demanding the aeroplane’s immediate restitution as an elementary act of justice!
