Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann

The Bücker Bü 181 was structurally based on the successful sports and training biplanes Bücker Bü 131 and Bü 133. Unlike them, however, the Bü 181 was a low-wing aircraft with fixed landing gear and a covered cockpit. The wing and tail structure was wooden, partially covered with plywood, the remaining parts with fabric. The front part of the fuselage was made of a tubular structure with a fabric cover and a rear wooden shell with a plywood cover. The two-man crew sat side by side. The characteristics of the new machine were excellent and after thorough tests by the Reich Ministry of Aviation, the Bü 181 was selected as the standard Luftwaffe training aircraft. It was officially named Bestmann. Serial production of the Bü 181 began in 1940 and the B and C versions were produced, differing in the Hirt HM 500 A and B engine variants. Due to the need for training aircraft, the Bü 181 was produced during the war at the Bücker factory in Rangsdorf, but also at the Dutch Fokker factory and in Zlín in the then Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

During the war, the Luftwaffe aircraft were used as trainers, but at the end of the war they were involved in defensive battles over the ever-shrinking territory of the Reich. The aircraft were used in combat equipped with four Panzerfausts or a 50 kg bomb rack. The kit offers three aircraft. Two are in German colours, one flew as a trainer, the other was deployed with Panzerfausts and flew with the 3. Panzerjagdstaffel. The third aircraft is in the colours of the Swiss Luftwaffe. The resin kit replaces the sold-out PLT087 kit. It has been upgraded with new, improved wheel and panzerfaust parts.