Bücker Bü 131 Biplane

CASA 1-131E SERIES 1000 Jungmann built 1957

Kind of a cool old biplane. I didn't recognize it, the body (fuselage) is a little thicker than most, and it's got an inline engine instead of the more common radial. And what's with the Olympic Rings on the nose? Anyway, it piqued my curiosity so I did a little checking.
    The Swastika on the tail, which I didn't even notice, elicited a rash of comments on the Flight Aware page. This airplane first flew in 1935 and was used as a basic training aircraft for the Luftwaffe. Other airplanes from the era have the swastika on the tail as well, so it might be historically accurate. That red is dang near fluorescent though.
    How about the Olympic rings on the nose? Aeronautics was an Olympic sport at the 1936 games in Berlin*. That was the only year for that. Guess I'm not surprised what with WW2 and its vast armadas of death dealing aircraft. Kind of took the sport out of it.

Hirth Engine Poster 1938

    This airplane originally used a Hirth HM 504 engine.  Some people have converted their aircraft to use a Lycoming engine. Some people are still using the Hirth. Some people from somewhere in Eastern Europe rebuilt one and posted a slide show of their efforts on YouTube.

Cutaway drawaing of Hirth 504 Engine Multipiece Crankshaft with Roller Bearings

This engine is a little unusual in that it uses a multi-piece crankshaft with roller bearings. Most engines use crankshafts made from a single piece of metal and plain bearings. The Hirth crank would require more time at overhaul which explains why people exchanged their engines for Lycomings.

*Hanna Reitsch gets mentioned in the page about 1936 Olympic games. She's appeared in these pages a couple of times before.