IN THE LOGBOOKIN THE LOGBOOK
January 2018FLYPAST 107Instrument mixture
Access to the cockpit is good. The
large doors swing forward and can
be latched open from inside the
cockpit. The wing root walkway is
sensibly sized and there are well-
located grab handles immediately
aft of the cockpit and another
above the instrument panel.
On settling into my seat, the first
thing I noticed is that the cockpit
is very generously proportioned.
It is remarkably spacious for an
aircraft in this class.
All the controls are easily
reached, and the position of
the seats and pedals can be
altered. The instrument panel
is split into three sections, and
carries an initially confusing
mixture of imperial and metric
instrumentation.
The airspeed indicator (ASI)
was certainly not standard, as it
went up to 600km/h, although
I suspected that ‘never-exceed’
speed was little more than half
of that. Furthermore, the lowest
number (80km/h) was still faster
than the stall speed!
Other gauges on the pilot’s side
are a large compass, Luftwaffe-
type eight-day clock, a 1950s
British turn and slip, a metricvertical speed indicator and an
imperial altimeter. The other side
of the cockpit carries another big
compass – if one was inaccurate,
how would you know which one
was correct?
In the centre of the panel are the
tachometer and fuel gauges, fuel
valve, primer, magneto selector,
electrical switches and a combined
gauge that shows oil temperature,
oil pressure and fuel pressure.
The fuel gauge is particularly
noteworthy. To read the contents
you gently rotate the large knob
clockwise until resistance is
felt, and then note the amount
indicated. It is then wound back
to 12 o’clock, where it is always to
be left.
The crank handle for the starter
is between the seats, as is thehandbrake-type flap lever. It has
three positions, ‘Ein’ (on), ‘Start’
and ‘Landung’ (landing).
I familiarised myself with the
primary controls. The stick is quite
tall and has a good long throw for
both the ailerons and elevators.
There are toe brakes on the pilot’s
side only. There is a large air
vent in the roof and, unusually,
a quarter-light in front of the
pilot that can be opened in flight.
Overall, it seemed to be – for the
era – a comfortable, well thought-
out cockpit.Beautifully
balanced
Having set the fuel valve to
‘reserve’ and wobbled the wobble
pump until the fuel pressure needle
moved, I gave the engine twoBuilt in Germany and the Netherlands for the Luftwaffe, the Bü 181 Bestmann
was also manufactured in Sweden between 1944 and 1946 for that nation’s air
force (see the main text). From late 1944 the Czechoslovakian Zlin company
began building the type at Otrokovice, but few were completed. Postwar, Zlin
restarted production as the C.6 and C.106 for the Czech air force and as the
Z.281 and Z.381 for government-run aero clubs.
Czechoslovakian industrial links with Egypt extended to granting the country
the rights to build the Bestmann. By 1952 the type was being produced at
Heliopolis for the Egyptian Air Force as the Gomhouria (‘Republic’). As many
as 300 were made at Heliopolis, with a variety of powerplants. There was an
attempt to relaunch the design in the mid-1990s as the Aeropony, but only a
handful were completed.Multi-National Bestmann
The Hirth engine.“For a taildragger the visibility
over the nose is excellent, as the
cowling slopes down. This enables
the pilot to see everything except
immediately in front on the right”
Built in Germany and the Netherlands for the Luftwaffe, the Bü 181 BestmannMulti-National Bestmann
Built in Germany and the Netherlands for the Luftwaffe, the Bü 181 BestmannMulti-National Bestmann