Beautiful Buckers

Air Classics, Feb 2002 by O'Leary, Michael

WE VISIT A GATHERING OF CLASSIC GERMAN BIPLANES AND FLY WITH THE FIRST PRODUCTION BUCKER JUNGMEISTER

The sky off the Bonanza's right wing was filled with a gaggle of colorful German biplanes. We were orbiting over farm land near Santa Paula, California, with three pristine Bicker Bu 133C Jungmeisters (Young Champions) immediately off the wing and a gaggle of Bu 131 Jungmanns (Young Men) led by Mike Meloche waiting in the background. How did this group of Teutonic aircraft come to be in the clear blue California sky? It's an interesting story!

In the late 1920s, Carl Clemens Backer wAg owner and managing director of Svenska Aero AB (today's SAAB) in Sweden. He decided he wanted to return to his native Germany and set up a factory to build aircraft. He did just that in Joha-nistal in a cramped building that became Bucket Flugzeugbau. Ambi-Build Presswerke was to supply substantial monetary aid for the start-up company and fortunately Backer brought with him designer Anders J. Andersson. The two men would combine their visions to create what are, today, some of the most collectible of all ex-military biplanes.

The Bu 131A Jungmann made its first flight on 27 April 1934 and power was supplied by a Hirth HM.60R inline that produced a rather limited 80-hp. Manufactured in large numbers, the aircraft was used by the pre-war Nazi Luftsportverband for training a whole new generation of German military aviators. In 1936, the Bu 131B came along and it had a 105-hp Hirth which offered a nice boost in performance. Built in large numbers for the Germans, the type was also built under license in Switzerland, Spain, and Czechoslovakia - one reason that a fair number of these aircraft still exist.

In 1935, the factory, which had moved to new and larger facilities at Rangsdorf, a southern suburb of Berlin, introduced the Bu 133 Jungmeister. Andersson had created a compact single-seater that would go on to dominate world aerobatics for years to come. The first aircraft, Bu 133V-1 D-EVEO, was fitted with the Hirth HB6 - an inline six-cylinder unit capable of 140-hp. This aircraft was entered in the International Aerobatic Champion-ships at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and Walo Horning placed third in the event. It was obvious that the company had a world-class performer, but the factory realized the plane needed more power and two Bu 133Bs were built fitted with the Siemens (Bramo) SH.14A radial rated at 160-hp. The next, and final, variant of the Jungmeister was the Bu 133C.

During late July, early August 1937, the Zurich International Flying Meet was held at Dubendorf Airfield and included a series of acrobatic competi- tions, including an event for aircraft powered by engines of less than ten liters. Competition was extremely tough but one aircraft became the very obvious winner - the Jungmeister. The nine top places were taken by pilots flying Jungmeisters and Walo Horning took an overall third place finish flying the first production Bu 1330, c/n 1001. Suddenly, the aviation eyes of the world had focused on the small German firm.

RESTORING A CLASSIC

The Swiss, with their close ties to the Nazi regime, had inspected numerous German military aircraft with the idea of procuring various types for their air force. Wanting to be independent as possible, the Swiss wanted to manufacture aircraft under license. A deal had already been worked out to make the Jungmann their standard primary trainer and when the Jungmeister came on the scene with its stunning aerobatic wins, the Swiss were very interested.

After a thorough inspection of the earlier Jungmeisters by the Swiss, a decision was made to make the type an advanced training aircraft for Swiss pilots. Since demand at the Backer factory was already high, a deal was struck with the Dornier factory, located in Altenrhein, Switzerland, to build the Jungmeister under license. The Swiss would eventually have 50 Jungmeisters.

As mentioned previously, three earlier Jungreisters had been constructed but the Swiss had settled on the Bu 133C as their choice. The C was very similar to the earlier Bs - powered by the same Siemens radial engine but the airframe had been slightly altered. The C fuselage was ten inches shorter while the wings had been clipped by 31-1/8 inches. Backer built three Bu 133Cs at its Rangsdorf factory for the Swiss to use while Dornier was setting up for production. The first of these machines, which was the fourth Jungmeister built, carried a large 51 code (later changed to U-51) on the side of the fuselage and was cin 1001.

The plane was given the Swiss civil registration HB-HAP for its relatively short ferry flight from Germany to its new home and on 23 January 1937, Jungmeister 51 was handed over to the Schweizerische Flugwaffe where it would enjoy a most interesting career. Being the first production Jungmeister, U-51 held an important position in the hearts of the Swiss Air Force pilots and although the aircraft was flown regularly, it was not flown excessively. Amazingly, the bright yellow biplane was operated by the military until 31 January 1968, at which time it was retired in a small ceremony. The aircraft even retained its original Siemens SH14A radial engine.