Carl Clemens Bücker

Carl Clemens Bücker (born February 11, 1895 in Ehrenbreitstein , † March 3, 1976 in Mölln ) was a German pilot , aircraft designer and industrialist. He became world-famous for his aerobatic and training aircraft Bü 131 and Bü 133 , developed in the 1930s .

Plaque on the house where Clemens Bücker was born

Life

Carl Bücker was born in Ehrenbreitstein in 1895. His parents were the general doctor Georg Bücker and his wife Luise, née Ladner. At the age of twelve he started school in Münster, as his father was transferred there. After the family returned to Koblenz, he attended the Kaiserin-Augusta-Gymnasium there . In 1912 he graduated from school and became a midshipman in the Imperial Navy in Kiel on April 1 . As a lieutenant at sea , he completed his training and became an officer on watch on the ship of the line, Emperor Charlemagne .

In 1914 he trained as a sea pilot and flew missions from List (Sylt), Helgoland and Zeebrugge. He was later transferred to the sea flying test command in Warnemünde, where he met the designer Ernst Heinkel in 1918 . In 1919 Bücker retired from military service and for a short time tried his hand as a freight forwarder on a Baltic Sea cutter.

Around 1920 he went to Sweden and worked as a pilot, from April 1, 1921 as a flyer and advisor to the Swedish Navy. A year later he became a Swedish citizen and, thanks to Ernst Heinkel's support, founded Svenska Aero AB in Lidingö near Stockholm , which in the following years produced Heinkel licensed models for the Swedish military . In 1927, Bücker designed the Svenska Pirat multi-purpose aircraft , the Svenska Falken training aircraft and finally the Svenska Aero Jaktfalken fighter aircraft , 18 of which were built and some were in service with the Swedish Air Force until 1941 .

In December 1932 Svenska had to file for bankruptcy, Bücker returned to Germany and founded Bücker Flugzeugbau GmbH on October 3, 1933 in Berlin-Johannisthal . During this time, chief designer Anders J. Anderson, who had followed Bücker from Svenska to Germany, designed the Bü 131 Jungmann , which was an international best seller, but initially met with little approval from the Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM). It was only Bücker's international successes that led the office to use this aircraft for pilot training for the Air Force. The same applies to the second successful model, the Bü 133 Jungmeister . Both types of aircraft are still flying today.

From 1935 onwards, Bücker's company was increasingly involved in arms production. First he had to build 85 of the competitor Focke-Wulf Fw 44 and take over the maintenance and repair of the He 46 close-up reconnaissance aircraft . Later, the production of DFS-230 cargo gliders and parts for the Ju 87 dive fighter and the Bf 109 Jäger were added.

In 1939, Bücker achieved another great success with the Bü 181 Bestmann . The aircraft became the standard training and training aircraft for the Air Force .

In April 1945, shortly before the arrival of the Red Army , Bücker left for Hamburg and later moved to Bonn, where he became Saab's representative in Germany for some time . His attempt to introduce the Safir aircraft, now designed by his friend Anderson at Saab, into the newly emerging air force of the German armed forces failed. Only the German Lufthansa bought two for the initial training of their pilots. Together with the Josef Bitz company in Augsburg, at the end of the 1950s, he tried again to launch a small series of his two successful aircraft, the Jungmann and Jungmeister, but this plan also failed.

In 1965 his wife Hermine, née Jungbeck, died. Bücker spent the following years in a retirement home in Mölln-Lauenberg until his death. He died on March 3, 1976 and was transferred to Koblenz to be buried in the main cemetery in accordance with his wishes .

literature

• Frank Töpfer: Carl C. Bücker - an aircraft designer from Koblenz . Self-published by the Landesmuseum Koblenz, 1985.