The German Swiss Classic Bücker Bü-131 Jungmann

Nicknamed the Strativarius of antique light aircraft of the 1930’s, the Bucker Bü-131 came to be 1934 with its first flight occurring on April 27th of that year. The Jungmann (pronounced Young man) was designed by Karl Bücker. The first model of Jungmann, the Bü-131A, went into production and rapidly became an extremely popular aircraft of that time, with most of Europe wanting these to train their pilots. Not long after the release of the 80HP Bü-131A did the Bücker Flugzuegbau firm release their second Edition version of the bi-plane, the Bü-131B mode. The B had the updated new Hirth A-2 sporting 105 HP. This new version was then licensed out to many European countries including Spain, Japan, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland. (Many years later, other countries would go into a limited production runs of the popular design).

This version of the Bücker Bü-131B by Lionheart Creations is the Swiss model which 99 units were produced in Switzerland. This particular ‘flight simulation model’ shows you a ‘modernized version’ of one that would be typically owned and ‘modified’ to todays standards, which includes fitting of radios (COM1 and Transponder) and NAV lights for night flying.

The heart of the Bü-131B was the impressive Hirth aero engine. The B model Jungmann featured the new version HM 504 ‘A-2’ which had a higher output of 105 HP. The first version Bü-131A had an 80HP version of the Hirth.

The engine is unique as it is inverted, its cylinders hanging down, and the crankshaft up high. The engine is in a neat row, making it ‘one cylinder wide’ from the front view, thus very narrow, making it aerodynamic, fitting in the cowling neatly.

The Cabin layout of the Bücker Jungmann places the Pilot in the rear back-seat and the student or passenger sat in front. The front students position had basic flight controls to fly the plane, from throttle and joystick and very limited instruments, while the pilot had full instrumentation and controls. The controls and systems were directly linked via linkages (strut tubes and control cables).