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The Bücker Bü 133 Jungmeister was a very successful single seat aerobatic trainer used as an advanced trainer by the Luftwaffe and as an aerobatic display aircraft after the war.
Bücker's first design, the Bü 131 Jungmann, was a successful two-seat biplane basic trainer. This was a very standard biplane, with a steel tube fuselage, wooden wings and a fabric covering, and was adopted by the Luftwaffe as its standard basic trainer. The success of this aircraft allowed Bücker to move from its original factory at Johannisthal to a new plant at Rangsdorf, and the extra manufacturing capability at the new factory allowed the company to develop a new aircraft.
The Bü 133 Jungmeister was essentially a smaller, lighter, single-seat version of the Bü 131, using many of the same components as the larger aircraft. The 135hp Hirth HM 6 used in the prototype gave the lighter aircraft an excellent aerobatic performance, and it was accepted by the Luftwaffe as an advanced trainer. The aircraft was used for standard pilot training and for the early stages of fighter pilot training.
All records of Bücker production have been lost, so the total number of Bü 131s built in Germany in unknown. Fifty were produced under licence by the Dornier-Werke in Switzerland, and a similar amount by CASA in Spain. Many aircraft survived the war, and were used as aerobatic aircraft by private pilots.
Bü 133A
The Bü 133A was the first version, using the Hirth engine.
Bü 133B
This designation was to be used by licence-built versions, probably powered by a Hirth HM 506 inline engine (although some sources give it a Siemens engine with the same power). Some may have been built in Spain, but most of CASA's production was of the C model.
Bü 133C
The Bü 133C was the main production version. It was powered by a 160hp Siemens Sh 14A-4 radial engine, and was produced in Germany for the Luftwaffe and under licence in Switzerland and Spain.
Bü 133C
Engine: Siemens Sh 14A-4 radial piston engine
Power: 160hp
Crew: 1
Wing span: 21ft 7 3/4in
Length: 19ft 8 1/4in
Height: 7ft 2 1/2in
Empty Weight: 937lb
Maximum Take-off Weight: 1,290lb
Max Speed: 137mph
Cruising Speed: 124mph
Service Ceiling: 14,765ft
Range: 331 miles
Armament: none
Bomb-load: none
Aircraft of the Luftwaffe 1935-1945, Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage.
Combines a good background history of the Luftwaffe with a comprehensive examination of its aircraft, from the biplanes of the mid 1930s to the main wartime aircraft and on to the seemingly unending range of experimental designs that wasted so much effort towards the end of the war. A useful general guide that provides an impressively wide range of information on almost every element of the Luftwaffe
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