The Bücker Bü 181 C-3 Bestmann was a single engine two seater monoplane developed in 1939. Production started in 1940 and the Bestmann was manufactured by several factories like the Fokker Company in the Netherlands and the Zlin Aviation Works plant in Zlin, Bohemia and Moravia, but mostly by the Bücker factory at Rangsdorf in Germany. It was named after the crew of German coastal fishing boats; Bestmann is the German term for these crew members.
Role during WWII
The low wing monoplane had dual controls and was therefore extremely suited as pilot trainer plane for the Luftwaffe, but it also performed Liaison and courier tasks. In desperation it was converted to Panzerjäger in the last months of the war in 1945, but it was unsuited for a tank destroyer role. Converting Bücker Bü 181 B-2 or C-2 types into the Bücker Bü 181 C-3 Panzer Jaeger they added 4 Panzerfausts on top and under the wing, controlled from the cockpit by the pilot. The Panzerfaust was not suited for an aviation role and it was hard to aim while flying a plane, success was moderate. This abuse of the Bücker Bü 181 C-3 resulted in high plane losses and pilot casualties.
The Bücker Bü 181 C-3 in the pictures was photographed in Berlin at the Deutsches Technik Museum in 2016.
