Interesting anecdotes from Bucker history
- Written by: Brian Karli
Brian Karli Researched the matter and dug up some interresting history:
Great photos and story! More than likely, the Jungmeister did not survive the war. After doing some research, I have found there are no original German Jungmeisters remaining today. They are all Swiss or Spanish airframes. Unfortunately, surplus German war material was broken up for scrap right after the war. My guess is that the Jungmeister met the same fate. It's a shame, though. Think of what might have been...
Anyway, I found out a lot about Albert Falderbaum.
Your dad was right. Albert Falderbaum was the German Aerobatic Champion in 1938 and 1939 flying Jungmeister D-EQOA. He also flew Jungmeister D-EHKU. Could the Jungmeister behind your dad be one of these airplanes? Before the war, all the Jungmeisters were owned by the German National Flying club Deutsche Luftsportverband. Since there weren't that many Jungmeisters, undoubtedly Albert flew all of them.
Albert Falderbaum came from a sporting family and grew up in Niederpleis, Germany. At an early age, he developed a love of flying by building model airplanes. From the age of 14 he began soaring in Bonn.
In 1934, Albert joined the German Air Force. He used this opportunity to develop his skills in aerobatics. During the 1937 German Aerobatic Championships in Dortmund, Albert came in second place.
The next year, Albert came in first place and again in 1939 despite feeling the effects of an acute appendicitis.
During the war, Albert continued his work as a flight instructor, the focus of his work was in the blind flying training of pilots. As the war drew to a close, Albert flew the rocket powered ME163 and jet powered ME262. He became the Staffelkaptan of Erganzungsstaffel JG400 and eventually Gruppenkommanueur in February 1945. During this time he suffered a serious back injury when his aircraft exploded.
After the war, private flying was banned in Germany. Albert took a job in the chemical business but not to be deterred, Albert continued flying in Switzerland. When flying was allowed again 1955, Albert began giving aviation demonstrations and became the German Aerobatic champion again in 1960...flying a Jungmeister.
He continued to fly airshows throughout Europe. Here is a link showing Albert flying a glider inverted down a runway. Unfortunately, he clipped the tail!
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/glider-crash
1955 - Air field at Dusseldorf, with Albert Falderbaum's glider as it takes off. CU. Spectators watching. GV. Glider flying swiftly upside down just above the ground - the tail of the glider touches the ground and it is torn off.
Albert ended up in a coma for 14 days!
Unfortunately, my research yielded Albert's death. He was employed as a test pilot for a new sport aircraft, the Siebel Siat 222. On September 29th 1961, he took off from the airfield in Augsburg to conduct spin testing. Unable to recover, Albert bailed out but his parachute snagged the tail and pulled him to the ground. He was 48 years old.
Looking at these pictures of Albert, notice the coloration around the cowl bumps. The same coloration is seen on your dad's Jungmeister picture. Perhaps this is D-EHKU after all?
Anyway, it was fun researching a piece of Bucker history. Thanks for sharing your dad's pictures.
Brian
- Written by: Administrator
September of 1951 found Frenchman Fred Nicole in Lausanne, Switzerland on the shores of Lac Leman (lake Geneva) and he was thinking about a new trick for his airshows. Inverted flight was his specialty, but he was looking for something more spectacular. Early one morning he flew out over the lake with the local debris spotting aircraft and once in the center (presumably to stay out of trouble with both the Swiss and French authorities) he rolled inverted over the calm surface and eased down until he was mere inches above the water.
At the moment he judged right, he set full power and pushed gently forward dipping the fin into the water and holding it there, creating a long "rooster tail" of spray as the fin of his Jungmeister dragged through the water!
Fred Nicole off the coast of Cannes on the French riviera on Sept 9th 1951
Fred went on to make this amazing feat a standard part of his airshow routine wherever there was water available and according to Anette Carson did so with perfect reliability. A modest Fred Nicole was quoted as saying: "In
Cannes, in the sea, it was more difficult than on Lake Geneva. From the
lake, the water surface is smooth, while the sea, it moves all the
time."
It must have taken some nerve to perform this maneuver at any time, but can you imagine trying it for the very first time?
Fred Nicole died in Paris in February 1997 at age 86.
An update from David Martin:
Just saw the pictures of Fred Nicole on the website, his Jungmeister was the one I bought from Jay Sieler in 1990, I sold it in the late 90's. I was told by Jay that it was a German airplane that was buried during war to keep it from being destroyed.
It was acquired by Nicole sometime after the war and rebuilt. I was never able to find much information to confirm this. I do believe it was a German airframe, none of the sheet metal was original, and I think the wood had all been replaced. If the currant owner ever rebuilds it maybe he will find more clues when the fabric is removed. Think I do have an original photo of it somewhere. Here is a photo just before I sold it.
David
It must have taken some nerve to perform this maneuver at any time, but can you imagine trying it for the very first time?
Fred Nicole died in Paris in February 1997 at age 86.
An update from David Martin:
Just saw the pictures of Fred Nicole on the website, his Jungmeister was the one I bought from Jay Sieler in 1990, I sold it in the late 90's. I was told by Jay that it was a German airplane that was buried during war to keep it from being destroyed.
It was acquired by Nicole sometime after the war and rebuilt. I was never able to find much information to confirm this. I do believe it was a German airframe, none of the sheet metal was original, and I think the wood had all been replaced. If the currant owner ever rebuilds it maybe he will find more clues when the fabric is removed. Think I do have an original photo of it somewhere. Here is a photo just before I sold it.
David
- Written by: Gilles Tatry
Biancotto was a French test pilot and great aerobatic champion. He died in 1960 in Bratislava while training for the WAC, when his Nord 3202 pitch control broke in flight.
On the Jungmann's fuselage is written the names of the airfields where he displayed the Jungmann, and the trophies he won in Coventry in 1955, 1956 and 1958. There is a special mention for his record of 1 hour and 16 minutes of inverted flight in 1957, a record which was only beaten in 1974 (by John Legatt, over Arizona).
The registration was F-BCSY. After he died his Jungmann was (and still is) owned by Lucien Canu, who has been my aerobatic instructor. The Hirth engine once failed and Lucien succeeded in landing on the best place he could find under his wings, which happened to be works in progress for making a large runway: the Jungmann then became the very first airplane to land at Charles de Gaulle airport! The engine was replaced by a 180 HP Lycoming, and the registration changed to F-PCSY (where F-P is for Experimental). This is as you can see her in my story "Restoring F-PGLT" (Note the front seat covering on both pictures, to make it a one-seater).
Both of the following pictures were taken on a particular occasion: September 19th, 1959 in Etrepagny (Normandy). For his homebuilt Bébé Jodel's maiden flight party, Julien Selosse-Gougeon hardly dared to invite his idol Léon Biancotto and did not even think he would accept. When he arrived at the airfield for the party, Léon and his wife Lucienne had already landed there with the jugmann! When they removed their flight suits they appeared dressed Leon in a diner jacket with bow tie, and Lucinnne in a white skirt suit and pearl necklace. Julien was deeply honored and moved. (You can see him behind the Jungmann with the headset, and bowing to Lucienne while Léon is talking to the parish priest). After her husband died Lucienne became a famous journalist for Aviation Magazine International. She recently died in a car crash.
These pictures have been kindly sent by Régine Selosse, Julien's daughter, who was then 7. When she read my article in the French "Cahiers du RSA" (translated as "Restoring F-PGLT" for Bucker.info) she was shot by a strong rush of adrenaline as it made this wonderful kid's memory come vividly alve.
She offered me the pictures and her father's book, posthumously dedicated through her hand:
"For having rebuilt the most beautiful of my memories... and also for your career as a pilot, which I wanted so much for myself.
From the paradise of pilots, where I rest.
Julien"
The Jungmann colors were orange and black, as repainted after recovering (without Binacotto's hand-written script), as for my first solo flight:
- Written by: Administrator
The Bellanca 28-92 had a Menasco C6 in each wing, and a Ranger V770 in the nose (neither of which were known for their reliability.) The 28-92 had a range of 3,000 miles at 250 mph.
There were problems with the test flights and Papana had a disagreement with the factory which resulted in the cancellation of the order, and of the proposed flight. The aircraft did take part in a number of famous races though, before ending its days derelict somewhere in Ecuador.
Much information here.
- Written by: Administrator
- Written by: Administrator
I only met Marcus twice, although I emailed and spoke to him on the telephone many times. By the time I started communicating with him and his wife Joann in the mid 1980s he had become very deaf, so telephone conversations were not always easy. "Do you have any wheels?" you might have asked. "Just a minute" Joann would reply. Then through a muffled microphone would be heard, "MARCUS - DO WE HAVE ANY WHEELS?" "WHAT?" "DO WE HAVE ANY WHEELS?" "WHAT SORT OF SEALS?" "NO, WHEELS!" . . . Marcus' hearing wasn't that much of an impediment though. It had become part of his character and part of his charm. Marcus would usually sign his emails or his forum posts "Marcus the Greater" :).
Part of the reason I am writing this is that I would like to know more. If anyone reading this has stories, anecdotes or information about the Bates, I would love to collect them for this website. Let's try not to lose any of these wonderful memories and do what we can to preserve Marcus and Joann's contribution to our lives. He was probably best known as an importer of Spanish CASA 1.131, but he was much more than that.
I'll start by recounting the story of my visit to Bates Field, West Texas in 2005 (I think)
Tom Muller at one time sold a Jungmann to Buzz Hurt in West Texas, and I had the privilege of delivering it. After enjoying Buzz's company for a little while, he suggested we pay a visit to Marcus and Joann, who lived not too far away. Buzz had a new litter of puppies at his ranch, and one had been promised to the Bates, so we would take it with us.
After a short drive, we took an unmarked turning and approached the airfield. There was no doubt we were in the right place:
The runway at Bates field is a brilliant white. It is built from compacted caliche, a form of calcium carbonate so soft that it feels like talc and polishes metal propellers to a brilliant shine. There is no missing it. Down the runway on the right, we saw the house. Also hard to miss since there were two Antonov AN2s in front of it.
I was flattered that Marcus and Joann not only remembered me but greeted me like an old friend. It was not because of anything I had done, it was because that was the way they greeted everyone. Everyone that didn't work for the government, that is :). We talked for a while and played with the puppy, but the evening was drawing on and everyone was tired. I asked if I might come back the next day and left for the hotel.
The next morning, in a truck Buzz had loaned me, I drove again to Bates Field. In the large kitchen, we sat at the table, had some tea and homemade muffins, and talked at length. We talked about Marcus' trips to Spain, the process of importing the CASA Jungmann, the people he had met, and the problems he had encountered with "the Feds" (US federal government.) I think it is fair to say that Marcus was not a fan of the government :).
After some hours, it was time to visit the hangar. What a place! There are aircraft and parts everywhere. A Glasair 1, Joann's Cessna, an unfinished Super Chipmunk that Leon Davis had built in the style of Harold Krier and "Pappy" Spinks, and everywhere you looked, Bucker parts. More than 50 engines, wings, tails, and rows and rows of wooden boxes - so many that they had been used to build walls and a second story erected on top.
Fins, rudders, and elevators
Boxes of goodness knows what!
There were canyons of boxes, and with his hearing difficulties, Marcus wasn't anxious to go down them and risk encountering a rattle snake. I didn't see or hear any, but he assured me they were there!
We poked around the hangar for a long time. We checked out the crates, counted the engines, looked over the Jungmeister project he was working on, and then, having taken up rather too much of his time, we went back to the house to say our goodbyes. There was another surprise in store.
They had prepared two gifts for me. One was a set of tail wheel steering cables/springs for my project, the other a shoebox in which Joann had packed muffins, water, a ham sandwich, a cookie and an apple. "You can't eat that stuff they give you on airplanes," she said. What a sweetheart.
And that was my visit. Thank you for your help Marcus, and thank you for your time and your advice. It was a most wonderful privilege to know you.
Joann Bates sitting in a Jungmeister obtained from Jennings Carter of Monroeville, Alabama in about 1979
More pictures soon.
- Written by: Hermann Diebold
Last week two representatives of the ancient days of Bücker flying met again after 35 years.
I had visited Werner v. Arx in his Museum at Basel airport Switzerland last year.
From Werner I learned that Werner v. Arx and Fritz Ulmer from Germany had owned several Bückers in their career and that they have many stories to tell how the Bückers changed hands from the Swiss and Spanish military to private aero clubs or private parties.
Both Fitz and Werner are now 88 years old, and it was pleasure for me to bring these two guys together after so many years of not having seen each other. Werner came to Göppingen by train and rang the door bell at Fritz Ulmers home. Fritz did not know about Werner`s visit, we did not want to make Fritz nervous ahead of the meeting. Fritz Ulmer`s wife Linda helped us and she had everything well prepared. Surprise surprise!! When Fitz recognized his old bucker fellow Werner v. Arx he was really excited.
So they sat down for a first chat and then had a beer. Five hours of talks, stories, memories about the Bücker history was exchanged between the two enthusiasts. Everything has been recorded so that the younger Bücker fellows will have the priviledge to hear what these Bücker friends did and what experiences they had over so many years of Bücker flying.
Fritz attended over 60 airshows with his wonderful Bücker planes that he still owns. He enjoys to watch the planes in his studio while sitting in his living room and having a glass of good German red wine in the evening. The planes will all go to Museums in Germany when Fritz will not be with us any more.
Fritz bought his first Jungmann from Werner and the contract was a handshake. And this is how they were “dealing” their Bückers all over the years. Fritz had 6 Bückers in his career, Werner owned 7 Bückers. They told stories how they flew over the alps transferring Bückers from here to there. Amazing stories, sometimes dangerous situations they went through. But finally they never ever had serious problems when flying their beloved Bücker planes.
We will write down their stories in its entirety and share it with the Bücker community in the future.
- Written by: Hermann Diebold
Liesel Bach, Thea Rasche, Elly Beinhorn 1932
Now another young German lady is flying Jungmann and Jungmeister.
This year Kerstin Abrecht joined the group of German Bücker enthusiasts. One day she showed up at Degerfeld together with Peter Ulmer (son of the famous owner of the private Bücker museum in Göppingen) and asked us whether she could fly with Jürgen Hüfner`s Lycoming powered Bücker 131.
After only a few takeoffs with Jürgen in the front seat he noticed that she can really fly these planes without any problems. So she made the next step and flew in our Jungmeister.
Now we know why: Kerstin has 8000 hrs. of flying experience, 200 hrs. of aerobatic time on mostly Zlin, Yak 55 and Pitts aircraft. For living she is flying Boeing 737 as PIC.
We are very proud to see her fly these beautiful planes. Kerstin is considering it to be a great privilege to be invited to use the Jungmann and our Jungmeister.
Hermann Diebold, Jürgen Hüfner (proud owners of Bücker Jungmeister D-ESZN)
- Written by: Administrator
Since then I have flown quite a few Sukhois, and yesterday I ferried one from Long Island, New York to Virginia. Funny thing is, after flying the Jungmann every day this week, the Sukhoi felt like a truck. Its controls were heavy and poorly balanced. It landed as easily as a Cherokee, however. Everything really is relative.
It is hard to believe, but next week it will be one year since N28Bu made its first post-restoration flight. Harder still to believe that in all that time I have flown it for only 15 hours. A cold winter, a terribly wet summer, a far longer than expected propeller finishing, and a busy work schedule are to blame.
Today though, I rather made up for it.
Ferrying the Sukhoi was tiring work, but I got up early this morning, took a shower and headed for the airport. The sky was blue, the winds perfectly calm and the temperature a pleasant 70 F (20 C) or so. I pushed the Jungmann out of the hangar and gave her 15 gallons of 100LL as a treat. (She usually drinks unleaded auto fuel)
There has been remarkably little maintenance to do since that first flight. I installed an oil cooler, reworked the oil tank breather line to prevent oil loss, and replaced the left landing gear strut oil seals three times. - I pinched the O-ring the first two times. Other than that, nothing. To my constant amazement, everything has just worked. Even my fuel system, the electric supercharger actuator, and my homebrew radio have worked without a hitch.
The newly finished "Performance" propeller gives about 2500 RPM on climb out, and a pleasing rate of climb. In just a few moments I was at 1,500 feet, and turned to the Northeast, setting off across Ohio towards Ashland County airport where there was a "Pie in the Sky" fly-in today.
At 1,500 ft, with 93 kts on the GPS and that smooth LOM engine purring away up front it was magical. The trees are starting to turn colors of red, orange, and yellow, and with the harvesting machines starting their annual task of bringing in the field corn and the wheat, there were convenient little runways all over the country side. Not too much worrying about a place to land today!
After the first few flights last year I made one slight rigging change, after which the Jungmann has flown straight and level. Today, with no wind at all, I put that to the test. I took my hands off the stick and let the Jungmann fly herself while I drank in the stunning views. 56 NM later, I had not once laid a finger on the stick. Just a nudge from a toe had been enough to keep her on course.
When I landed (twice - I need another few degrees of up elevator) and shut down, people came out of the airport building to meet me. "My God" one person said. "Don't tell me. Is that what I think it is, the real thing?" Don't you love it when people recognize a Bucker, rather than saying "What's that - a homebuilt?"
Inside there was hot coffee, many types of handmade fruit pie, and vanilla ice cream to be had. What a life.
After an hour or so I took off, allowed the Jungmann a little fun over the airport to say thank you for the pie, and turned towards home. Another one hour and twenty minutes on the tach. This time we landed only once, made the first turn-off and taxied to the hangar to wipe off the bugs. - Yellow airplanes do seem to attract bugs.
As the engine ticked and cooled, I realized that this was exactly why I had built this airplane. This was the very dream that had inspired me to keep working for all that time.
I LOVE this airplane!
Steve
- Written by: Administrator
Over the next few months, I hope to publish a great deal more about Frank, but until then, please enjoy this classic picture of N87P while it used a 200 HP Lycoming O-360 engine.
John Price shared this memory of his father's flying:
"My father would fly the airplane with minimum fuel as possible to stay as light as possible for vertical performance. The flop line in the fuel tank would get air and the engine would quit often during tail slides. If he was high enough he would dive vertically(160-200 MPH) and restart the engine. If he was to low he would dead stick down and land on the grass strip. I saw him do this many times and never once do I remember having to push the airplane to where I was sitting or standing. He always rolled right to where I was standing. I really considered this to be routine until I became a pilot a few years later then I realized how difficult this was and how easy he made it look !! "
- Written by: Administrator
Francis lairdon performing at Basel in 1958
In the 1960s, he was much in demand for airshows all over Europe, and as far away as Dallas, TX. Three times in all he was a Lockheed Trophy finalist and in 1959 brought Switzerland her first resounding victory in a world-class event by winning the trophy itself, in a competition whose overall standard was rated much higher than in previous years.
Lairdon's ex-military Jungmeister HB-MIC
Lairdon flew his Jungmeister through a beautiful series of figures, which he put together without disruptive pauses and with a fine sense of balance, contrasting the slower moments with the more abrupt and rapid maneuvers to achieve a cohesive whole.
Hot on the heels of Lairdon came Albert Ruesch, another Jungmeister exponent. Three times national champion and the foremost aerobat of the day, he too became a regular competitor at the Lockheed Trophy competition, joining Lairdon in 1960. Albert became well known in later years for his school in Porrentruy where he turned the charming and scenic airfield into a veritable Promised Land for devotees of aerobatics. Students came from all over Europe and from the United States to train with the master.
In 1963 and 1964, Albert's middle son Hansruedi joined his father at the Lockheed competitions.
Hansruedi and Albert Ruesch
Dissatisfied with the performance of available machines, it was the Rueschs who first began an innovative trend in aerobatic aircraft which eventually had a profound influence on later events in Switzerland and Germany: by 1962 Albert had exchanged the once traditional Jungmeister for a verson of the Bu131 Jungmann, HB-UTH, which Flug und Fahrzeug Werke AG (successor to the manufacturers Dornier-Werke) had modified to operate on a 170HP Lycoming engine.
The Bucker R-170 HB-UTH
The "Super Jungmann", or Bucker R-170, greatly impressed observers in England on its first appearance and gave the venerable Jungmann a new lease on life. An even better modification was the substitution of a 180 HP engine together with a wing of improved section for inverted flght designed by Swiss engineer Fritz Dubs, and this version - fitted to the Pilatus modified Jungmann HB-URN - was the famous Lerche (Lark) marketed by Max Datwyler & CO. It made its debut at the 1966 World Championships, and continued its competition career as later as 1970.
Bucker R-180 "Lerche"
(Mostly from "Flight Fantastic", Anette Carson, 1986)
- Written by: Administrator
You will find the article in the Downloads/Magazines section, or can go directly to it by clicking the image below. - But you need to logged in.
<Here is> the article that stoped Tiger day. Too much publicity, and Frank was afraid of the liability. We did have one more in the early 80's. It was an aniversery of the first one if I remember right. Sure miss them.
Len
Len
I wrote the piece below on the 28th February during a rainstorm,
it has been terrible weather for some time; in fact most of the month had been abysmal.
Monday 01st March, wow unbelievable, the sun is out, the sky is blue, the wind calm.
Am I dreaming, nope.
Goodwood however is flooded and that means the Jungmann has to stay caged up for just a little while longer. Of course this could be just a fools gap.
On the news today, we are told that after all the the stories of bankers getting bonuses even if the bank has a gross loss.
We are now told that the Meteorological Office are to pay out a bonus of some 12 million pounds.
Apparently their forecast was looking for 20 million, well no changes there then.
Anyway here is the piece I wrote to see the mad Month of March in.