I was fortunate to be able to spend a few days at Bates Airfield loading the Jungmeister into its container bound for England. Once the container door had been closed and locked, we sat down at the kitchen table and enjoyed a late dinner. After some wonderful conversation, Marcus Jr. and his wife Robin mentioned the boxes of pictures in the office upstairs. I was graciously permitted to glimpse into the Bates family history. It was a privilege which I will always cherish.
I asked Marcus Jr. how his dad ended up importing so many Buckers and Bucker parts. "Dad was a patent agent and a friend in Washington told dad about the sale. Not wasting any time, he flew to Spain and went to the auction. I think he ended up buying about 20 Jungmanns on his first trip. Later, mom and dad went back to Spain and brought back a few containers of engines and parts."
"We were living in Odessa at the time and dad rented a building close to the Sleimeyer Airport. That's where we kept everything." Robin smiled at me. "I drove the forklift," she said, "and unloaded each of the 100+ engine crates into the building. And I was pregnant at the time with our daughter too," she laughed.
Marcus Jr. continued the story. "Eventually we moved to the airstrip. Dad bought a mile square piece of property and began building his dream. Mom kept beautiful gardens and the Bucker business moved into the large hangar next to the airstrip."
"Around 1979, dad picked one of the Jungmanns and put it together to fly. Mom flew the Jungmann by herself on January 20th. "
"Over the years, mom and dad had many flying adventures together. As kids, we tagged along. All four of us boys became pilots."
Marcus Jr. and Robin told me many funny stories that night. "Dad and mom went to Romania when they heard some Antonov AN-2's were for sale. A local guy showed them around the factory and they walked down the line of parked AN2's. At the end of the day, the man said to mom, "So, which one do you want?" "All of them," she said. And that is how the Bates family came to own nearly a dozen AN2's.
As I poured through the boxes of pictures, one photo stood out. It is a poignant photo of Marcus and Joann standing next to their yellow Jungmann in 1991. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth two thousand. Marcus is gone now, and Joann lives in an assisted living home. But that evening, they were alive and well in a box of family photos. Thank you Marcus Jr. and Robin for allowing me into their lives and seeing a piece of US Bucker history.
Brian