PILOT’S PERSPECTIVE BÜCKER BESTMANN
106 FLYPAST January 2018
Fieseler Fi 156A-1 Storch G-STCH
which he flew from 2006 until it was
transferred to Germany a decade
later. Over the years he has operated
an impressive collection of classics,
including a 1937 Jungmeister.
Basing his aircraft at the
Shuttleworth Collection’s Old
Warden aerodrome Peter acquired
1945-built Bü 181B-1 G-GLSU in late
- This is the aircraft featured;
Peter sold it in Germany in 2010,
where sadly it was damaged in an
accident in 2011 and has not flown
since.
Power-to-weight
Even if I didn’t know that the
Bücker was German, I would have
guessed it was. The Germans had
a propensity for covering cockpits
with multi-pane transparencies,
and the Bestmann is no exception.
The canopy consists of no less than
19 individual pieces of Perspex,
supported by a relatively thick
frame.
As I moved in for the pre-
flight, it occurred to me
that the Bü 181 is quite a
large aeroplane for only
105 ‘horses’. Peter had
already intimated that
it was somewhat
underpowered, and I
was beginning to see
why. However, its power-to-weight
ratio is not as poor as I’d initially
suspected.
With an empty weight of around
1,000lb (453kg) it is lighter than it
looks, being constructed from an
interesting combination of methods
and materials. For example,
although the 25ft 9in (7.85m) long
oval-section fuselage may look as
if it is mostly made of metal, this is
deceiving.
Only the forward section is
metal – essentially welded chrome-
molybdenum steel tubing, covered
with aluminium panels. The rear is a
wooden monocoque affair attached
to the steel tube section, while
the fin and tailplane are plywood-
covered wood frames.
The long (34ft 9in span) tapered
wings are also wood. They are
coated with ply from the leading
edge to the rear spar and with
fabric from the spar to
the trailing edge.
The ailerons,
elevator,
rudder
andflaps are all wooden frames
wrapped in fabric.
Narrow chord, Frise-type ailerons
cover approximately 50% of the
trailing edge, the remainder being
the split flaps. These didn’t look
as if they’d be especially effective,
being neither particularly large nor
offering a significant amount of
deflection.
Power is provided by a 105hp
(78.3kW) Hirth HM 500A-1 air-
cooled inverted in-line four cylinder.
As well as the standard fitting for a
hand crank, Sierra-Uniform also has
an electric starter. I was somewhat
surprised by the additional weight
and complexity added by the hand
crank, as most engines of this
horsepower and vintage are usually
started by simply flipping the prop.
The undercarriage is interesting- it has quite a narrow track but
a relatively long wheelbase. It
is reminiscent of one of the
machines the Bestmann
had been built to train
pilots for – the legendary
Messerschmitt Bf 109.
Braking is by cable-
actuated drums. The
pneumatic tailwheel
fully castors, and
should be locked for
taxi, take-off and
was beginning to see landing.landing.