On 12 December 1915, the aircraft made its brief maiden flight, flown by Leutnant Theodor Mallinckrodt of Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 1 (FEA 1), during which an altitude of almost 3 m (9.8 ft) was reached.

Amongst the earlier pioneers and innovators in the field of aviation was the German engineer and aeronautical designer Hugo Junkers.

Five years later Reissner, with Junkers' help, began construction of his all-metal canard design, which he named the Ente (Duck) which first flew on 7 August 1912.

In 1911, Junkers resigned his professorship to dedicate his efforts to his Dessau-based engine company; he returned to Aachen upon the completion of the wind tunnel.

The majority of aircraft designers were relatively conservative and, save for some isolated examples, no advances were achieved; according to aviation historian Charles Gibbs-Smith, the pioneering work of Hugo Junkers was a notable exception.

[1] Junkers and the Forschungsanstalt, commenced engineering work to realize his concept for the creation of aircraft designs that would dispense with drag-producing exterior bracing.

[5] The rudder was of an "all-flying" design, with no fixed fin and the tail surface structure and covering also consisted of formed sheet steel, much like the wings.

single-seat all-metal fighter design, which was covered with Wilm's duralumin, corrugated as first attempted with the Junkers J 3 airframe exercise of 1916–1917.

The J 1 also relied on steel panels with span-wise corrugations as a structural element hidden under the smooth outer metal covering to increase the wing's strength.

[citation needed] Before the Junkers J 1 could fly, IdFlieg, the Inspektorat der Fliegertruppen, the aviation administration arm of the German Army, required that static load tests be performed on the J 1.

[5] On 12 December 1915, Leutnant Theodor Mallinckrodt of FEA 1 was assigned to taxi and briefly "hop" the J 1, which he managed to do up to almost a 3 m (9.8 ft) altitude.

[citation needed] On 18 January 1916, the second flight for the J 1 was carried out at Döberitz by Gefreiter (Private) Paul Arnold of the FEA 1 unit.

Later that day, after the stabilizer was adjusted to give level flight trim, Leutnant Mallinckrodt performed another attempt, this time reaching a maximum height of 900 m (3,000 ft) from a shorter take-off run.

[citation needed] On 19 January, Mallinckrodt once again took the J 1 up for its only known "high performance" flight test, which consisted of a 7 km (4.3 mi) course and covered altitudes from 200–300 m (660–980 ft).

As a consequence of military interest in Junkers' design, the J 1 was compared to the popular Rumpler C.I two-seat, armed observation biplane during flight testing.

A metal scale display model of the J 1 was built by a group of Junkers' factory workers following its initial flights and was exhibited at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia after the war; its fate is not known.