Bücker Flugzeugbau was a German manufacturer of training and sporting aircraft established in Berlin-Johannisthal on 3 October 1933. It moved production to Rangsdorf in 1935 and became known for the Bü 131 Jungmann and Bü 133 Jungmeister. Its aircraft served military training organisations and international sporting aviation.[1][2]
Factory and early aircraft
The new Rangsdorf works stood beside an airfield developed during the mid-1930s. The move provided space for organised production of the company's training and aerobatic aircraft. The Bü 131 was exported widely and adopted for Luftwaffe training, while the single-seat Bü 133 became associated with aerobatic competition. Later designs included the Bü 180 Student and Bü 181 Bestmann. The company's product range thus moved from biplanes toward low-wing cabin aircraft while retaining its emphasis on instruction and relatively small aeroplanes.[1][2]
The Bestmann and its international life
The Bü 181 used two seats arranged side by side inside an enclosed cabin, allowing instructor and student to work beside one another. It became the Luftwaffe's standard trainer from 1940 through the end of the war. Production continued outside Germany after 1945, including in Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Egypt. Many aircraft later received civil certification and flew as sporting or touring aeroplanes. Their continued use extended the practical life of a Bücker design beyond the end of manufacturing at the original German factory.[3]
Wartime work and closure
During the war, Rangsdorf also manufactured equipment for other aircraft programmes, including DFS 230 transport gliders, Ju 87 wings and Fw 190 tail components. Its workforce included prisoners of war and forced labourers from the Soviet Union. Work at the factory stopped on 20 April 1945, shortly before Soviet forces occupied Rangsdorf. The enterprise was subsequently seized and expropriated as an armaments business. Carl Clemens Bücker moved west, but the original Rangsdorf company did not resume its pre-war role as an independent aircraft manufacturer.[4]