You can read the original (German) article by clicking here. The words and pictures are by Erich Gandet, chief photographer of Swiss Antique Airplane Association (www.a-a-a.ch). The English language version below is via OCR, Google and me, so it is not likely to be perfect!
A new arrival at Teufen
Albert and Elisabeth Zeller had the former Swiss Bucker 181 Bestmann HB-USA completely restored at Bitz-Flugzeugbau in Augsburg. The rare low wing monoplane now fills a gap in their Bücker collection and has a place of honor there. The Swiss Oldtimer scene has been greatly enriched by this rare aircraft in its very original “Swiss Neutrality” paint scheme.
The Bücker Bü-181 Bestmann is the last design from Anders J. Anderson and Carl Clemens Bucker, and thus the last aircraft type built at the Bücker-Werke. More than 4,000 copies of this popular aerobatic training, courier and liaison aircraft were built with the 105 HP Hirth HM504 or HM500 engine.
After its first flight in 1939, the aircraft was destined to become the standard training aircraft of the German Luftwaffe and to largely replace the Bücker Jungmann. At the end of 1942, large-scale production began in Rangsdorf.
In addition, Bestmann were produced at Fokker in Holland, at Zlin in Czechoslovakia as Z 181, and at Hägglund & Söner in Sweden as SK 25. The licensed production at Zlin was handed over to Egypt in 1950, where the state-owned aerospace works in Heliopolis built the Bestmann as the “Gomhouria”, equipped with a Continental O-300 (C-145) engine.
Flight characteristics
Albert Zeller received a flight briefing from the well-known display pilot Klaus Plasa in Augsburg. Plasa previously owned a Bestmann, and is still enthusiastic about this type of aircraft, although today he mainly flies Warbirds, including the Bf109, the FW190 and the Mustang.
The Bestmann flies like a Bücker and brings some pleasant advantages: Unlike the open cockpit Jungmann, seating is side-by-side in the enclosed cabin. It has 300 kg load and has an extremely good endurance of five hours, with reserves.
Thanks to its good maneuverability and stability around all axes, the Bestmann can be used to fly all the aerobatic figures with ease and with elegance. The oil system, however, is not suitable for inverted flight. Even at its low landing speed, the monoplane is still very controllable. The average cruise speed is 180 km/h.
How it came to be HB-USA
The 121 units which were built under license at Hägglund & Söner in Oernsköldsvik in Sweden, were put into service by the Swedish Luftwaffe at the F5 flying school in 1945. The last aircraft was retired in 1954. Since at that time in the German Aeroclub needed powered aircraft, their then president Rudolf Renneke bought the last 70 Swedish Bestmann. After a major overhaul and civilian painting, the machines went to the aviation clubs. Between 1956 and 1958 it was the most registered type of aircraft in Germany.
In Switzerland, three of them were registered as HB-UTA, HB-USA and HB-USX. Another specimen, the HB-USE, was produced by Zlin. The former HB-USA received the license in 1956 as D-EKIN initially based in Mönchengladbach and later, from from 1959 in Cologne. In 1960 there was an trade against the Nord 1000 HB-IKI (the French license built Bf-108) of the Federal Air Force.
The Bestmann was stationed in Berne until 1972. After two other owners, the plane was abandoned. In 1992 HB-USA came to Peter and Maja Ekel, who as sail-plane specialists began to rebuild the plane. The structure of the tube fuselage, some sheet metal work and the stabilizer woodwork were already complete when they decided in 2007 to hand over the aircraft to Albert Zeller and his Bücker museum in Teufen. However, the new owners quickly realized that without the experience and help from Bitz-Flugzeugbau in Augsburg, this project would never be in the air, so the partially restored parts of the HB-USA were delivered to Augsburg in 2009.
Restoration at Bitz Flugzeugbau
Albert Zeller has long had a friendly relationship with this company. Between 2005 and 2008 his Bücker 133 “Antares” was restored there (see SkyNews.ch 01/2006). Under the direction of the experienced Josef Griener and his team, the first restoration work began on HB-USA in 2009.
After careful inspection, a lot of the aircraft had to be rebuilt. This was a very elaborate and demanding woodwork. After all the fittings had been installed and all the sheet metal work had been carried out, the aircraft was covered with Polyfiber fabric. Subsequently, the elaborate “neutrality” paint was painted.
The Hirth motor from a Bücker-Jungmann was used and was thoroughly overhauled at the company of Dirk Bende in the Königswinter, Germany. It was tested for six hours on the test bench with a non-stop test before it was installed. On 10 August 2016 Klaus Plasa made the first test flights successfully. Only small trimming corrections were necessary.
Why A-256?
The owners have demonstrated exactly how Bestmann should appear. As the aircraft was to enrich the Swiss old-timer scene in the future, it was better to use a Swiss paint scheme rather than Swedish or German airforce colors. Near the place where Albert Zeller lived in the Appenzellerland, two German Bestmanns landed after the flight in 1945 and received the “neutrality” paint scheme and registration A-255 and A-256 at the Swiss Air Force, so the decision was made to use A-256.
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