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There are currently an unusual number of Jungmann for sale in Europe and the USA. This one appeared recently and seems well priced. Click the image for details.


Our long time Bücker fellow Pete Cunniff passed away on Wednesday Feb. 12th after a long battle with cancer. 

Pete called me about three weeks ago and told me that he did not have much time left. I believe he wanted to say good bye. Pete was such a great guy and a very dear friend. Pete flew across the channel many times  to meet with us in the Bücker community.

He came to Degerfeld several times. When Pete was around we always had a great time with him and his fellow Nigel. His sense of humour was outstanding.

Here is a little story: Some years ago he flew into Switzerland, I believe to the Kestenholz meeting. He called the airfield and they said: „Report Echo“. Pete: „Where ist Echo“. Station: „Report Echo“. After severals calls Pete yelled „Where the f… is Echo“. He landed and went straight to the controller to apologize.

At Hahnweide some years ago, at the end oft he show when all warbids had left or were stowed away, Pete flew a low pass with a trumpet player in the front seat of his Jungmann. It was raining. „Yen a bon“. Pete flew anyway.

Pete my dear friend, rest in the deep blue skies. We miss you.  ~ Hermann

Dear Bücker enthusiasts,

We have found a host for the Bücker Fly-In 2025 with the Quax pilots at Bienenfarm EDOI which is located about 50 miles west of the Berlin International airport. If you don't come with your Bücker you may fly into Berlin end enjoy the historic capital of Germany.

The VAWC (Vintage Aerobatic World Championship) will take place there at the same time, where the Landshut Bücker colleagues will be there anyway. We can join in and will be integrated into the event. Participation in the competition will also be possible for other Bücker pilots if they are interested in taking part.

At the VAWC we will get to know many pilots from other categories. Our Bücker friends from the northernarea will have a suitable platform in their "homeland". 

Hangar spaces are available. Depending on weather conditions, those will be available for us. There are hotels nearby, shuttles are offered. Camping is also possible on site. No landing fees will be charged during the event.Bienenfarm is setting up a link via which you can register your plane, PPR is required. The link will be published here as soon as it is available, or you can visit the QUAX website by clicking the image below.



On Saturday there will be an evening event in the tent which will be available to the pilots as a pilot area during the whole event.

We will see the only flying Bücker Student, hopefully in the air. Many thanks to Alexander Stendel, Matthias Hanisch and Kay Rechthien who will make it possible to meet at their airfield. They will prepare a really great event for us. There is also confirmation from Nordholz Spieka for a fly-in in another year. Ludolf Ungerer has done a great job for us and would love to be the host. Many thanks to him for his commitment.

Here is an appetizer from Degerfeld 2024.




   

Richard Santus has an LOM 332 engine and V410 propeller for sale. Contact Richard at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The last two CASA 1.131 Jungmann top center sections from the Marcus bates collection have become available. Contact Simon Diver at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Enjoy these two videos from the Aeroverse "Pilot Odyssey" series featuring none other than long time Bücker owner Jeff Rowland.




AEROVERSE is a streaming app that has secured content from across the globe including documentaries and TV shows featuring the best aircraft and aviators. You can find out more at https://aeroverse.com 

By Brian Karli

I know social media has its good and bad traits, but sometimes the good benefits those of us who passionately love Bückers.  There was a post the other day which made me say, “I never knew that”.
 
I have always been fascinated by famed Bücker pilot Prince Constantin Catancuzino. He is famously known for his spectacular Jungmeister aerobatic routine that left the audience spellbound. Low level snap rolls gave predictions of an early demise. 
 
You can see his routine here: Jungeister in the Bull Ring

Anyway, back to social media.  This popped up on Facebook.  



So I clicked on the link:



It was so sad seeing the Jungmeister smoldering in the field.  
 
Since Cantacuzino’s name came up again, I started searching for information about him.  Yes, he was Romania’s most successful WWII fighter pilot with 48 confirmed (and 11 unconfirmed) victories.  But did you know he fought WITH the Germans and then AGAINST the Germans?



In 1944, when Romania quit the Axis, they switched to the Allied side and Cantucuzino went from protecting Heinkel 111’s to shooting them down. One time, when his ME-109 was damaged, Cantacuzino hopped in a P-51 and on his first flight proceeded to dazzled everyone with his aerobatics.
 
Wow.
 
Before the war, Cantacuzino married Anca Diamande and they had a daughter who became who became a famous Romanian writer.  She wrote with a pen name of Oana Orlea, but her real name was Iona Cantacuzino.
 
More things under the category of “I didn’t know that”.
 
At age 16, Iona was jailed for distributing anti communist manifestos.  She was given a four year prison sentence.  After she was released from her labor camp, she was forbidden to continue her studies and forced to earn her living as a welder and supplemented her income by washing hair at a salon.  Under constant surveillance, she was finally able to flee to France where she wrote several books about the Romanian Gulags.


After the war, the Communists took over Romania and imprisoned the old elite (Cantacuzino was a Prince, remember) and confiscated all personal property.  So much for being a famous war ace.  Cantacuzino’s lost all his family land and his wife left him.
 
Not all was lost.  In 1946, he met and married a Romanian film star named Nadia Kujnar. They were able to escape to Italy and settled in Spain where he was helped by the Romanian community to buy an airplane (Spanish Jungmeister) and make his living in the airshow business.



They were married until his death in 1956.
 
Bucker history is very fascinating.  I have only scratched the surface of Prince Cantacuzino’s history. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the famous Prince:






This is a great eyewitness account of his Jungmeister flying in 1952. The author is unknown but the item is from a report on the King's Cup air race of that year.

The crowd were to enjoy another aerobatic display that was even more appreciated by the watching pilots who understood what was being done and how difficult it was.  The aeroplane was a Bücker Jungmeister – the Pitts Special of its day – and the pilot was a Prince Constantin Cantacuzeno.

{He was a member of the Cantacuzeno dynasty which had ruled Romania for centuries.  In the thirties he flew as Chief Pilot of LARES, the Romanian Air Transport Company.  He was also a keen aerobatic pilot and became National Champion in 1939, flying his Jungmeister.  On the outbreak of war, he joined the Air Force and flew in a squadron equipped with Mk I Hurricanes.  Romania had been ‘absorbed’ by Hitler so their troops went to war against the Russians.
 
By 1943, Cantacuzeno was commander of a squadron equipped with Me 109s and building a tidy score of victories, enough to be awarded the Iron Cross, First Class.  He became ill and spent some months in hospital returning in time to meet the USAAF raids against the oilfields around Ploesti in which he shot down a B-24 Liberator. 
 
In August 1944 Romania decided to stop fighting with the Germans and they opted for an Axis-Exit.  The affronted Germans still had some airfields in Romania and began bombing Bucharest.  Cantacuzeno added three He 111s and an Fw 190 to his score (he ended with 43 confirmed victories, Romania’s highest).
 
With the Russians in control life was becoming difficult.  There were many US airmen PoWs, technically freed but unable to get back to Allied controlled territory i.e. Italy.  Without any authorisation Cantacuzeno secretly had an Me 109G prepared with an extra fuel tank and the radio removed from its compartment in the fuselage behind the wing root.  Into this he squeezed Lt Col. James Gunn who had briefed him on the landing procedures at Foggia.  When they arrived there Cantacuzeno put on his lights and lowered the undercarriage, rocking his wings.  They landed without being fired on.  Cantacuzeno borrowed a screwdriver, opened the little 18” square hatch and produced Gunn.
 
Subsequently, Cantacuzeno was briefed on flying a Mustang and he led a formation of P-51s back to his airfield in Romania. (He couldn’t resist a burst of Mustang aerobatics before landing). They were followed by groups of B-17s, stripped of interior fittings, each of which could cram in 20 ex-PoWs.  700 Americans were rescued that day and the ferrying went on until 1,161 had been evacuated.
 
Cantacuzeno himself stayed in Romania but he was steadily stripped of all his possessions and status.  In 1947 he managed to get away, eventually to Spain where he took a job crop dusting.  After a short spell of bankruptcy he was able to raise enough money to buy one of his beloved Jungmeisters and make a living from display flying, which is how he managed to be in Newcastle in 1952.  It didn’t last long.  Surgery for an ulcer went wrong and he died in 1958, aged just 53}.

.  

The Jungmeister first flew in 1935 and was designed specifically for aerobatics.  With a wingspan of 21 ft 8 ins and a 160 hp engine it displayed ‘astonishing agility’.  The combination of such a  powerful engine in a tiny airframe was unusual for its day and the pilot could make full use of gyroscopic effects to produce manoeuvres that seemed impossible.



(In 1952, colour film was expensive and more expense was added if you wanted an enlargement.  So this is a cheat.  You could buy little tubes of transparent oil paint and delicate stroking with a cotton bud and other little tricks produced this effect).
Cantacuzeno added his own modifications to his Jungmeister.  The rudder was extended to allow him to do his signature manoeuvre.  Note also that much smaller wheels had been fitted.  The usual larger and heavier wheels must have had some adverse effect in one of the manoeuvres. 

The display itself was quite dazzling and the little machine twirled about.  The loops were tight and the ‘slow’ rolls not slow.  The only bit of straight and level flight was a long sideslip with the wings rolled 90° and the nose held up with that enlarged rudder.
 
Finally he approached to land just in front of the crowd, the engine now quietly muttering.  At the last second when no more than 10 feet above the ground, the engine roared, the plane climbed to 50 feet and flick rolled.  Cantacuzeno closed the throttle and gently landed.

 

Fortunately, I’d been warned about this and was able to capture it with my little camera.

Brian Karli. Jan 2025




Bücker/CASA Jungmann 2000

TIGRE G-IV-B, ENHA prop. Upgraded undercarriage including disc brakes. Imperial instrumentation. Trig 8.33 radio and transponder. EGLM/White Waltham based. Extensive spares package including spare engine, prop, fuel tank and workshop equipment. Offers in region £ 85,000.00 for further info contact Pete Cunniff (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)


Dear customers of our Bückershop!

The year is coming to an end and you are probably already waiting for a new calendar for 2025. We have put in a lot of effort again and designed a new calendar. Wonderful photos on 13 pages in landscape format A3 will accompany you through the year.

The printer will deliver the calendar to us by December 18th. Orders can be placed in the Bückershop immediately. This would make it possible to ship before Christmas and the calendar will arrive in time for the holidays.

You can go directly to the 2024 calendar via this link:

https://www.bueckershop.com/index.php/mobil-kategorien/product/view/16/97

If you have any difficulty ordering or paying for the calendar, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will do our best to help.

Our support association would like to thank the photographers who contributed their pictures to this calendar for their support. This was kindly done free of charge and the proceeds from this calendar will therefore go 100% to our museum.

We hope you enjoy the new calendar and have a wonderful Christmas,

with kind regards from Rangsdorf
the Bückershop team of the Bücker-Museum Rangsdorf e.V. support association.


Over the years, I have always admired the red and white CASA 1.131 pitot covers.  I had seen them in several vintage CASA Jungmann photos, but when John LaBarre sent me a color picture of a pitot cover hanging off the strut of a Jungmann in a Spanish Air Force hangar, I said to myself, “I gotta have one of those”.



Here you can see another one:



Well, my lovely wife got tired of hearing me lament about not being able to find an original one, so she offered to fire up her sewing machine and make one.



Since we didn’t have an original to copy, we guessed at the dimensions.  I think we got pretty close.  She said, “Since I have to make you one, maybe I should make more for other Bucker people”.

And so she did.



Here you go everyone - reproduction CASA 1.131 Pitot Tube Covers.  If you want one, send me an email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.    

Since she has a lot of time and material invested, I’m suggesting giving her $85 plus shipping costs.

Happy Bucker flying

Brian

Once again, just when I thought I knew all about something, it turns out there was more to learn.

Scott Hess obtained an LOM 332 engine which came with this hub. It is of a design I have not seen before. It uses an SAE bolt pattern and threads so appears to be intended for an American standard prop. hub - Interesting.



Scott emailed the LOM factory and the next day received a detailed response, along with a number of engineering drawings. Their responsiveness is remarkable these days. (It comes and goes :) ) It included:

"The pictures probably show the propeller flange p/n V231-010 of LOM.
This flange was made specially for a company of Joe Krybus (USA) or for Moravia Co. (Canada)."

So now we know how this unusual flange came about.

The reply went on to describe in great detail how to mount the hub and what parts are required to support it.



This is a "standard" LOM hub. It is intended for use with LOM metal props as well as a number of others that conform to the European bolt hole pattern (Same as a Tigre)



This is an LOM wood prop hub. I has a larger flange and a central support for a spinner



And it is also possible to use a Walter Minor hub on an LOM engine. The nose fairing requires modification but it results in an overall shorter engine installation.


October 5th was the Ranger Texas flyin. Simon Diver took his Jungmann to David Martin's place and then did a 3 ship of Buckers to the event. Simon was honored to fly U85 to the show and back, his buddy Tom Womack flew Simon's Jungmann with Andrew Diver, and David flew the German Meister. It was a pretty awesome event!



 

Thomas Holz is a member of a group operating a CASA Jungmann, an original Hirth powered Jungmann and a Klemm 35D. The Klemm is being offered for sale as below. It is a spectacular looking aircraft with perhaps the cleanest engine I have ever seen in a flying aircraft :) The Klemm is based at Siegerland EDGS in Germany.

Contact Thomas Holz at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. +49 174 399 5699



The Klemm 35 D with the serial number 1983 was built in 1941 by „Leichtflugzeugbau Klemm GmbH“. This type with the special undercarriage is one of three still flying. 
The aircraft can be easily converted into the single seat version.
The Hirth HM 504 A2 engine was overhauled in 2023 by LTB Bende (best Hirth expert in Europe) and has been running only a few hours since.
Bosch Magnetos and SUM carburetor.
One spare Hirth HM 504 A2 engine would also be available (not included in price).
The propeller MT is from December 2022


Yesterday (October 12th) out local IAC chapter wrapped up it fall aerobatic contest and as has become something of a habit, Larry Ernewein took first place in the Sportsman category. The contest was held at the Bellefontaine, Ohio airport. Jungmann N131HT and N28Bu were able to fly over and cheer Larry on. The weather was near perfect, there was an interesting variety of aircraft to see and lunch was provided. A good day indeed. - Congratulations Larry!

Dave Trost spotted this unusual landing gear configuration during a recent visit to Prague.




It would be interesting to learn more about it. Anyone have any ideas?

It begins, rain or no rain :)







Unfortunately the weather this weekend does not look so good. The fly-in may turn out to be more social than flying, but still a good number of people have confirmed that they are attending. Weather or not, it will be worth the trip!

Everything you need to know is now on a new website page which you can access here or by clicking the link in the menu at the left of the page. - Hope to see you soon.

 

Brian Karli
William Cox

Stories of Frank's Great Lakes trainer are legion: Instructing without the benefit of any instruments, Shipping it to then Czechoslovakia for the World Aerobatic Championships, showering the host parade with the contents of his toolkit, learning the Loncevak and founding the American Tiger Club. - The list goes on. Ever wonder where that aircraft it now?

Turns out it is in a private hangar at the Antique Aeroplane Association field in Iowa.



There are many articles about Frank on this website, my favorite is this one written by Rob Dorsey after Frank's passing;

As part of the process of becoming more proficient at 3D modeling I have experimented with the instrument panel mounts used on Bücker aircraft. Mine have become old and the panel is sagging. Printed in PLA they turned out quite well and have definitely improved the security of the panel. If you need some, let me know and I can print some for you or send you the STL file. If you have a (free) account at OnShape, you can find the design file here: Bûcker Instrument Panel Mount



It might be fun to create a library of useful Bücker CAD design files some time.

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