Thank you to John LaBarre who sent me a copy of the 1979 Sport Aviation biography of Anders J Andersson.
Please visit the Downloads section and look in "Magazines", or click on the picture above.
G-BUCC
Written by Administrator
Monday, 01 February 2010
There has been quite a flood of people registering at this website recently (we have about 300 active participants now), one of whom was Philip Gaze, the proud custodian of G-BUCC, a CASA 1131/Jungmann based on the South coast of England.
Philip said: "I have attached a picture which a very good flying buddy gave me for my recent 60th birthday ...
The picture is inscribed:
In a Jungmann:
One greaser job landing is made up of 50% luck.
Two in a row is down to pure luck.
Three in a row and someone is lying.
Well whatever the landing it is a privilege to own and a joy to fly."
The spectacular paint scheme on Philip's Jungmann was painted by Vintage Fabrics Ltd. You can find pictures of their work here: Vintage Fabrics.
In the movies section of this website there is an entry showing D-EEPK flying over Hohenzollern castle in Southern Germany. Hermann Diebold kindly provded this interesting background information:
Year: ca 1950
Wingspan: 7.2m
Power: 180 HP
Max speed: 300 km/h
Restored: 1980~1983
D-EEPK: Bucker Jungmann
For 25 years this red biplane has been based at the
Mössinger mountain airfield of Farrenberg, situated about 50 km south of the Stuttgart
airprort. This is the astonishing and exciting story of how the Bücker
"PK" made its way to this place in the early eighties.
The beginning of the "Bücker"
1934 – although the time
of the biplane had been practically over in aeronautical history – Clemens Bücker designed the legendary Bücker
131 as a two seated trainer, sports- and aerobatic plane. Some time later he
also designed the single seat Bücker 133, which had a more powerful engine and
has been operated very successfully in aerobatic competitions for years.
The
131 was well designed and so became a successful commercial product, one of the
most successful aircraft of its class built.
More than 10.000 Bü 131 have been built worldwide – even in Japan Bückers were produced
under license, and they were used a trainers for young pilots.
The last serial
production took place in Spain in the 1960s. Bückers were built for the training
of military and airline pilots. When this period ended the buckers were
disassembled and stored in a hangar near Albacete.
When trash first came to Mössingen
1977 - This is when the
story of D-EEPK begins. Sigi had contact with the Spanish war ministry and
heard about the possibility of purchasing the Bücker planes (or what was left
of them.) In July Sigi and Wolfgang Serwatzy flew down to Albacete in the
club`s Remoqueur "HI", to inspect the aircraft.
Three months later at an auction Sigi bought one plane, complete down to the
last bolt, but in „trash“ condition.
After undergoing unbelievable bureaucracy, the plane finally made its
way to
Germany on the trailer intended for the clubs Grob “Astir” glider. Some
old
guys at the airfield looked at the thing that was brought from Spain and
said:
“This thing will never fly again”!
Start of the restoration
Anyway, in 1980 Sigi began
the restoration. After disassembling, all parts were cleaned and inspected by
specialists from the German FAA. Many parts needed to be re-produced, then
painted and sealed for the re-assembly of the plane.
This sounds simple but it was hard and time taking work. Many people at the
airfield helped during this period of intense work on the plane. Many of them
had the know-how to make this restoration project come true.
"Naked" in public
In 1982 the D-EEPK was presented to the public fort the first time, but not as
it looks today. During a Bücker gathering at Degerfeld the plane was displayed,
naked without fabric and without the engine. It was transported by truck,
assembled there and put on display.
This was a sensation even for the Bücker
specialists that gathered at Degerfeld because all planes displayed there were
flying planes. One of the Bücker pilots offered an engine for sale, Sigi bought
the engine and finally had all the parts needed to finish the project.
After the engine had
arrived the team speeded up its work and in August 1983 the plane was finished
It made its first flight at Farrenberg. Sigi was so nervous – but after a
couple of minutes the LBA test pilot (German FAA) started with the first
aerobatics over the field. Later joined by all the powered aircraft from Farrenberg,
the Bücker was flown to Degerfeld airfield. The examiner said: “Looks fantastic
and flies like a dream”.
Right after that he started training Sigi to fly his
Bücker. When Sigi finished his training he flew whenever he had time and the weather
cooperated.
An exciting flight 13
During his 13th flight Sigi had technical problems with
the plane and he landed on a field that was used by RC planes. Sigi, with his
long experience as a glider pilot managed to land the Bücker without a
scratch, he said that „he was just lucky“……….
Fist time abroad
To fly all the way through Europe in an antique open
cockpit biplane was something very special. The first tour lead back to the
roots of the pane, to its mother country Spain. The controllers and pilots
there were really amazed to see the beautifully restored Bücker and Sigi can
tell a lot of stories about his trip.
During the approach to Valencia all
commercial traffic up to Mirage-jets had to wait until the »Bücker Aleman« had
landed safely on the 3000 meter runway. The Spanish officials insisted on
housing the Bücker in one of their hangars.
Many flights over France, England,
Austria and Italy made flying the Bücker a dream come true.
The Bücker has also been used to tow gliders and banners.Its performance is outstanding even compared to
modern planes. During her time at the Farrenberg the Jungmann flew for more
than 700 hours.
At every airshow on nearby airfield the Jungmann is always present and does
aerobatic displays. In this way, interested visitors may take part in the
history of great aircraft that were designed and built many, many years ago. A
lot of them have been inspired to work on vintage planes, learn about their
history, some even started their own restoration projects.
We know that everyone that had the privilege to be invited to fly in a Bücker
aricraft will never forget how good it feels. Their
joy is our joy too.
Second restoration
From fall 2004 until April 2009 the PK was completely restored again. Since
April 25, 2009 Sigi and his partner "Buddy" Heinz Peter are back in
the air over Farrenberg and do their aerobatics over the Hohenzollern castle. The white Bücker D-EEGN: Bü 131, C.A.S.A. 1.131E – Serie 2000
Year: ca 1950
Wingspan: 7.2m
Power: 120 HP
Max speed: 300 km/h
Restored: 19801
Since the
early 1990 another Bücker Jungmann is in the air over Farrenberg. Gert Bender,
a former motor cycle race champion, restored his Casa Bücker to perfection and
became another member of the Bücker family.
CASA 1131 parts neeeded
Written by Administrator
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Brian Charters is restoring a Jungmann in the UK and needs help locating some parts.
Can anyone help with:
Cabane stuts
Interplane stuts
Engine cowling (Tigre 150)
Engine mount (bearers)
I know of a couple of recent Lycoming conversions that may have resulted in some surplus cowling parts.
If you have any of these items or know of a source, please email Brian at
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Mira Slovak's Great Escape
Written by Richard Bach
Friday, 22 January 2010
I feel a tiny connection with Richard Bach. His Fournier RF4D lives in a hangar at the airport I hang out at, and I get to fly it from time to time. Coincidentally, Mira Slovak's former RF4D lives in my hangar.
Richard wrote this article about Mira and his famous escape from soviet occupied Czechoslovakia.
Click on the image below or go to the Downloads section of this website to view it.
In addition to the fame he earned as an author, and as the creator of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach may be a distant descendent of the composer JS Bach. He now lives in New Zealand.
Landing gear data
Written by Administrator
Friday, 15 January 2010
Jay Billmayer has kindly shared a speadsheet containing technical data on Bucker landing gear springs.
The spreadsheet is in the Documents section of this website, filed under "Misc". If you are logged in, you can click here to get to it directly.
Thank you to Jay and to Doedo Schipper.
Sarre-Union Fly-in
Written by Henri Payre
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Dear Bücker enthusiasts !
After the wonderful Bücker events organized in Austria and Switzerland
in 2009, Alsace takes over in 2010: we are delighted to invite you to gather
and meet on the wonderful aerodrome of Sarre-Union, where the local flying club
will be welcome you as you deserve !
All Bücker pilots, owners and enthousiasts are invited to come on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th July. We will have a Pilot evening on saturday with awards, music and roasted wild boar ! We will also have a gathering of Stinson pilots,
a first in Europe for these fine aircrafts and other will also join the crowd !
Friday and Saturday will be private days, with an aerobatic zone open
over the field. Sunday will be a public day with a small and friendly airshow.
Avgas 100LL will be available on the field. The participation fees are 30
€ per person, including the Saturday pilot diner's and the bus to and from the hotels.
If you have DVD or CD with photos or videos, bring them with you, we will have a screen and a video projector on Saturday night.
Camping will be possible on the field.
For more information, the registration forms in three languages and the updated list of participants, look-up the site http://www.alsacehistoricflight.com and click on the Bücker Fly-In poster, or contact the organizers:
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or
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We will happily
welcome you in July at Sarre-Union !
Change of Date
Written by Gordon Clement
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Due to scheduling conflicts with many Bucker Club Members, the date for the 2010 BU BBQ will be MAY 21-23!
The Spring date seems to work better against all the other fly ins during the busy fall.
Remember, the location this year is Mountain Airpark, Cleveland, GA (0GE5).
Be there!
Gordon
Ailerons
Written by Administrator
Sunday, 03 January 2010
I have been "dressing" the ailerons. Adding all the fittings, hinges, bearing etc. I had been putting this off because I was rather daunted by making those large tubular rivets that hold the leading edge wire horns in place. (I recommend NOT removing these unless you really, really have to.)
In the end, I cheated. I ordered a set of rivets from Joe Krybus. Joe supplies these cut to approximate length and with the difficult (angled) end already formed. It only remains to push the rivets into place, trim them to the exact length with a Dremel tool (Joe also supplies a diagram with the final dimensions) and hammer over the "easy" end. - I was able to do this quite neatly with a very small ball-peen hammer.
Here is the first one installed on the top right wing.
and the other three awiting their turn:
Steve
2010 Bucker and Barbeque
Written by Gordon Clement
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
The 2010 Bucker and BBQ fly-in has a new location this year, the beautiful Mountain Airpark in Northern Georgia. (http://www.airnav.com/airport/0GE5 )
The date has been set for May 21~23
More details to follow.
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2010 Bucker Calendar
Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Artur Duesterhoeft has kindly sent his beautiful 2010 Bucker Calenar, a page from which is shown below.
Please visit the "Downloads" page and look in the "Misc" section to download the calendar. - You can also click on the link above. (You must be logged in to access the Downloads section)
Thanks you Artur!
New Bucker Book
Written by Brian Karli
Sunday, 20 December 2009
While globe trotting around the world in that 747 he flies, Bucker owner Arayan Lias found this new Bucker book. It is fantastic! It was written with the modeler in mind, so there are lots of color schemes and detail shots.
The price is equivalent to about 20 Euros, or 28 US$
Brian
D-EKYF flies again after 50 years
Written by Ralf Gaida
Tuesday, 01 December 2009
11-28-2009, testpilot Klaus Plasa made the first flight of our Bucker Bu181 Bestmann (swedish version SK25, sn 25016) D-EKYF. After more than 50 years, this Bestmann is back in the air.
Kind regards to you all - especially our Rangsdorf visitors John, Joe and Pat
On a trip to Buenos Aires, I took my strut boot patterns to a leather shop and had a set made for my Jungmann. They are SO nice! They are far superior to the ones I had made locally. I picked the leather I wanted and they had them for me before my layover ended. I installed them recently, and they look great. They were easy to trim and fit because of the high quality of the leather and workmanship.
The set cost $250 USD. The shop has the patterns now, and they fit my Jungmann really well.
If anyone needs a set, just let me know. It should be easy to order them and get them pretty quick using e-mail.
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Bucker-Prado SA
Written by Administrator
Monday, 02 November 2009
I have received an email from Bucker-Prado S.A. which says (paraphrasing):
Our founder Jesus Ballester (who is now 73 years old) has been suffering from heart and lung problems which make it difficult for him to work with his former efficiency.
For this reason, we have decided to sell the company, either completely or in parts.
If any person or entity is interested, they may contact us for the necessary information.
Jesus has also sent me a very interesting document "The Odyssey of the Tigre Engine" which contains the history and technical details of the engine. Please visit the "Downloads " page and look in the engines section so see the doc.