Pilot:
S. Buckingham
Baujahr/Year of construction/Année de construction/Bouwjaar:
1967
Heimatflugplatz/Home Airfield/Base maison/Homebase:
Boscombe Down/GB
Über das Flugzeug/About the aircraft/À propos de l'avion/Over het vliegtuig:
The origins of the Bolkow Junior go back to the BA-7 designed and built by Björn Andreason and first flown by him on 10 October 1958. Although a Swede, he built the prototype in his garage while
working for Convair in the United States. It was powered by an air-cooled Continental A-75 engine (75 hp) driving a two-bladed variable-pitch propeller. In 1960 Andreason returned to Sweden as
Chief Designer at Malmö Flygindustri where he designed an improved version of the BA-7 that went into production as the MFI-9 Junior. Changes included a larger cockpit and the powerplant was now
a Continental O-200-A flat-four cylinder air-cooled piston engine delivering 100 hp. Amazingly, in 1969-70, some of the improved MFI-9B variant, equipped with two six-round Matra 68mm SNEB rocket
pods fitted to hard points under each wing, saw successful operational service with the Biafran Air Force in the Nigerian civil war. Meanwhile, in 1961 the German manufacturer Bolkow had obtained
a licence to manufacture the design, building its first example as the Bolkow 208A in 1962. From this the 208B and 208C versions were developed, with increased wing span, a longer cockpit and a
modified wing profile. Production ceased in 1969, by when 210 examples had been built.
D-EEAH was built by Bolkow GmbH at Laupheim, Germany as airframe number #658, making its first flight in July 1967. It was operated as a flying club trainer and also as a glider tug in Germany
for many years, passing through the hands of several owners. In 1990 its new owner, Gunther Butterweck, carried out an extensive restoration and refurbishment, and the aircraft won the Cup for
Best Restoration and also the Pilot Magazine trophy for the Concours d’ Elégance at the Popular Flying Association rally at Cranfield that year. In 1997 it passed into the hands of an English
owner and moved to the UK, though still retaining its German registration. The present owner purchased it in 2005 with some 2,100 hrs in the log book, and relocated it to Boscombe Down. Since
then it has flown a further 600 hrs, including trips to Ireland and the Isle of Man, France, Germany, Ibiza, Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Italy and Hungary.
