Bücker Bü 181 The Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann ( " Best Man " ) is a two - seater , single - engine trainer aircraft built by Bücker Flugzeugbau GmbH in Johannisthal , Berlin and extensively used by the " Luftwaffe " in World War II . Development . The prototype Bü 181 ( D - ERBV ) made its maiden flight in February 1939 with Chief Pilot Arthur Benitz at the controls . After thorough works and official flight testing by the " Reichsluftfahrtministerium " ( RLM ) the Bü 181 was nominated to be the standard primary trainer for the " Luftwaffe " . Series production of the Bü 181 commenced in 1940 / 41 . The types were designated A to D with only slight variations between each and could be powered either by the Hirth 500A or 504 engine . Description . The Bü 181 Bestmann was powered by a 105 hp four - cylinder Hirth HM 504A piston engine . The Bü 181A aircraft was a single - engine low - wing monoplane with fixed undercarriage , air - cooled 4 - cylinder HM 500 A engine , split flap , twin controls and two adjustable seats arranged side - by - side . The cabin section of the fuselage was of a tubular steel frame construction whereas the rear of the fuselage had a wooden shell . The wing assembly and tail unit were also of wooden shell construction . All the rudders , elevators and ailerons had wooden ribs and are covered in fabric . The aircraft was designed for training flights , pleasure trips and aerobatics . Its strength corresponded to Stress Group 5 with a limited load ( single occupancy ) and Stress Group 4 fully laden . Production . The Bücker factory at Rangsdorf built most of the Bü 181 ' s , but because of demand was forced to license the design to the Fokker Company in the Netherlands , who subsequently built 373 of the type for the Luftwaffe all of which were delivered by the end of 1943 . Production of both the Bü 181A and the slightly modified Bü 181D was begun by Fokker in Amsterdam in 1942 and its total wartime production was 708 aircraft . Between 1943 and 1945 , Hägglund & Söner AB in Sweden built 120 Bü 181 ' s with the Hirth 500A engine with the Swedish military designation Sk 25 . Just prior to the German withdrawal from Czechoslovakia , production of the Bü 181D was initiated in the Zlín plant at Otrokovice , and production continued after the war , as the C . 6 and C . 106 for the Czechoslovak Air Force and as the Zlín Z . 281 and Z . 381 in various versions for civil use . 783 aircraft were built . During the 1950s the Heliopolis Aircraft Works of Egypt acquired a Czechoslovak licence to produce the " Bestmann " in versions similar to the Zlín Z . 381 with a 105 hp Walter - Minor engine . It was produced for the Egyptian Air Force as the Gomhouria ( meaning " Republic " ) and subsequent versions were supplied to other Arab air forces . At least 300 Gomhourias were built . In all , 3 , 400 aircraft were built but only a handful survive today . Service . Although built as a primary trainer for the Luftwaffe , the type also performed other duties such as communication , glider towing , and even launching " Panzerfaust " anti - tank grenades from underwing - mounted launchers , with one restored " Bestmann " on display at the " Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin " with a pair of Panzerfausts under its wing panels , not unlike what American army officer Major Charles Carpenter had done with half - a - dozen M1 Bazooka rocket launchers , beneath the wing struts of his Piper L - 4 Grasshopper liaison aircraft late in World War II against the Germans . A Bücker Bü 181 ' Bestmann ' was used in the movie " The Great Escape " . It was flown in the movie by James Garner with Donald Pleasence as his passenger . Test pilot , and sister - in - law of Claus von Stauffenberg , Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg was flying a Bücker Bü 181 when she was shot down and fatally wounded in 1945 . Survivors . Of the over 4 , 000 Bü 181s originally built , only 32 examples remain . Of the 32 survivors , only two are presently in flying condition , one being on display at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City , Florida .