Bücker Bü 181

The Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann (Best Man) is a two-seater, single-engine trainer aircraft built by Bücker Flugzeugbau GmbH in Johannisthal, Berlin and extensively used by the Luftwaffe in World War II.

Development
The prototype Bü 181 (D-ERBV) made its maiden flight in February 1939 with Chief Pilot Arthur Benitz at the controls. After thorough works and official flight testing by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) the Bü 181 was nominated to be the standard primary trainer for the Luftwaffe. Series production of the Bü 181 commenced in 1940/41. The types were designated A to D with only slight variations between each and could be powered either by the Hirth 500A or 504 engine.

Description
The Bü 181 Bestmann was powered by a 105 hp four-cylinder Hirth HM 504A piston engine. The Bü 181A aircraft was a single-engine low-wing monoplane with fixed undercarriage, air-cooled 4-cylinder HM 500 A engine, split flap, twin controls and two adjustable seats arranged side-by-side. The cabin section of the fuselage was of a tubular steel frame construction whereas the rear of the fuselage had a wooden shell. The wing assembly and tail unit were also of wooden shell construction. All the rudders, elevators and ailerons had wooden ribs and are covered in fabric.

The aircraft was designed for training flights, pleasure trips and aerobatics. Its strength corresponded to Stress Group 5 with a limited load (single occupancy) and Stress Group 4 fully laden.

Production
The Bücker factory at Rangsdorf built most of the Bü 181's, but because of demand was forced to license the design to the Fokker Company in the Netherlands, who subsequently built 373 of the type for the Luftwaffe all of which were delivered by the end of 1943.

Production of both the Bü 181A and the slightly modified Bü 181D was begun by Fokker in Amsterdam in 1942 and its total wartime production was 708 aircraft. Between 1943 and 1945, Hägglund & Söner AB in Sweden built 120 Bü 181's with the Hirth 500A engine with the Swedish military designation Sk 25.

Just prior to the German withdrawal from Czechoslovakia, production of the Bü 181D was initiated in the Zlín plant at Otrokovice, and production continued after the war, as the C.6 and C.106 for the Czechoslovak Air Force and as the Zlín Z.281 and Z.381 in various versions for civil use. 783 aircraft were built.

During the 1950s the Heliopolis Aircraft Works of Egypt acquired a Czechoslovak licence to produce the Bestmann in versions similar to the Zlín Z.381 with a 105 hp Walter-Minor engine. It was produced for the Egyptian Air Force as the Gomhouria (meaning "Republic") and subsequent versions were supplied to other Arab air forces. At least 300 Gomhourias were built.

In all, 3,400 aircraft were built but only a handful survive today.

Service
Although built as a primary trainer for the Luftwaffe, the type also performed other duties such as communication, glider towing, and even launching Panzerfaust anti-tank grenades from underwing-mounted launchers, with one restored Bestmann on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin with a pair of Panzerfausts under its wing panels, not unlike what American army officer Major Charles Carpenter had done with half-a-dozen M1 Bazooka rocket launchers, beneath the wing struts of his Piper L-4 Grasshopper liaison aircraft late in World War II against the Germans.

A Bücker Bü 181 'Bestmann' was used in the movie The Great Escape. It was flown in the movie by James Garner with Donald Pleasence as his passenger.

Test pilot, and sister-in-law of Claus von Stauffenberg, Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg was flying a Bücker Bü 181 when she was shot down and fatally wounded in 1945.

Variants

 * Bu 181
 * Prototype.


 * Bu 181A
 * Two-seat primary trainer aircraft.


 * Bu 181D
 * Two-seat primary trainer aircraft. Slightly modified version, with only minor improvements.


 * Zlín Z.181
 * Two-seat primary trainer aircraft. Czech production version of the Bu 181D, built by Zlín in Czechoslovakia after the war.


 * Zlín Z.281
 * Two-seat primary trainer aircraft, powered by a Toma 4 piston engine.


 * Zlín Z.381
 * Two-seat primary trainer aircraft, powered by a 105 hp (78 kW) Walter Minor piston engine. Czech Air Force designation C-106.


 * Gomhouria Mk 1
 * Two-seat primary trainer aircraft, powered by a Walter Minor piston engine. Egyptian production version of the Zlín 381, built under licence in Egypt by the Heliopolis Aircraft Works.


 * Gomhouria Mk 2
 * Two-seat primary trainer aircraft, powered by a 145 hp (108 kW) Continental C-145 piston engine.


 * Gomhouria Mk 3
 * As Mk. 2, but with improved undercarriage.


 * Gomhouria Mk 4
 * Increased fuel capacity.


 * Gomhouria Mk 5
 * Similar to Mk 1, powered by Walter Minor, but with different engine mounting.


 * Gomhouria Mk 6
 * Continental O-300 engine.


 * Sk 25
 * Swedish Air Force designation of the Bucker Bu 181.

Survivors
Of the over 4,000 Bü 181s originally built, only 32 examples remain. Of the 32 survivors, only two are presently in flying condition, one being on display at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.

Former Military Operators

 * Algerian Air Force - Gomhouria
 * Bulgarian Air Force
 * Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia
 * Czechoslovak Air Force - Post War
 * Czechoslovakian National Security Guard - Post War
 * Egyptian Air Force - 150 Gomhouria
 * 🇩🇪 Germany
 * Luftwaffe
 * Hungarian Air Force - Postwar.
 * Royal Jordanian Air Force - Gomhouria
 * 🇱🇾 Libya
 * Libyan Air Force (1951-2011) - Gomhouia
 * - Postwar.
 * 🇸🇰 Slovakia
 * Slovak Air Force (1939-1945)
 * Royal Romanian Air Force
 * Royal Swedish Air Force
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland
 * Swiss Air Force
 * SFR Yugoslav Air Force - Postwar
 * - Postwar.
 * 🇸🇰 Slovakia
 * Slovak Air Force (1939-1945)
 * Royal Romanian Air Force
 * Royal Swedish Air Force
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland
 * Swiss Air Force
 * SFR Yugoslav Air Force - Postwar
 * Swiss Air Force
 * SFR Yugoslav Air Force - Postwar
 * SFR Yugoslav Air Force - Postwar