Nicknamed the Strativarius of antique light aircraft of the 1930s, the Bucker Bü-131 came to be in 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 releas... Nicknamed the Strativarius of antique light aircraft of the 1930s, the Bucker Bü-131 came to be in 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 released their second Edition version of the bi-plane, the Bü-131B model. The 131B 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 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 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. I have also hidden a bare-bones autopilot in the instrument panel that has basic AP features. A free-to-download owners manual of this plane is available to show you in more detail how everything works.
* Parts of the above history of Bucker Flugzuegbau are from Wikipedia ** Screenshots by Greg Martin and Bill Ortis
UPDATES TO BU-131 BUILD 1. 3. 1 Fix to Effects Settings that were causing low frame rates on dirt runways.
UPDATES TO BU-131 BUILD 1. 3 * Moderate Flight Model and Handling Improvement Revamp * Roll performance and snap radically improved * Ground and rudder handling moderately improved * Accelleration to upper speed ranges improved * Massive Engine Soundpack Update with true Hirth engine sounds * Improved and louder Wind sound for open cockpit realism * Added speed tapes to Air Speed Instrument * High Realism Asobo worn Plexi now featured * Improvements to graphics for added Grunge including tail wheel, tires, etc * New Crinkle Black on black panels * New Turned Metal panel on Blue and Silver theme pack * Military antique trainers now have more flat based paint on fabric zones with metal still having a metallic shine * New Hanger Selection Screenshots with better side angle for Selection Clarity
UPDATES TO BU-131 BUILD 1. 2 * Landing Light 3D Element Installed, drop-down vintage model * Landing Light 'light source' improved to Asobo level technology * Decals Resolution boosted on exterior * Click zone moved back on Fuel Cutoff Lever so not to interfere with upper clickzones * Click zone for Starter Button moved away to left side and increased in size to help over-lapping click zones * LOD Models (2) were improved with minute touchups to details on them (very small, far distance, exterior models) * LOD Adjustments carried out so they do not appear close, but farther away * Adjustments to Pitch handling (input reaction time) on elevators * Number of AI planes (Bu-131's) was reduced to 4 plane variants (Liveries) to reduce footprints at airports and reduce doubling * AI planes that were sitting 'in' the tarmac adjusted to now to sit properly on the tarmac surface * Adjustments to some of the rudder pedal linkages * Engine and engine compartment graphics improvement/update.
UPDATE 1. 1 / List of Improvements * Better ground handling with improved cornering when taxiing * New Sound Pack based on similar 4 cylinder inline as like the Hirth 504 * Front Passenger option button for in-cabin flights * Mouse over improvements * Higher resolution for exterior textures
