The Bü 181 was named Bestmann after a German maritime term designating a member of the deck crew on coastal or fishing vessels.

Following the completion of flight testing and an official evaluation by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM/Reich Aviation Ministry), the Bü 181 was selected to be the standard primary trainer of the Luftwaffe.

Despite this, as well as the company's established primary market being in the trainer sector, the Bü 181 had actually been designed with the intention of promoting it for sports and touring purposes instead.

[2] During February 1939, the first prototype, baring the civil registry D-ERBV, performed its maiden flight; it was flown by Chief Pilot Arthur Benitz.

[3] It received a favourable official review, which promptly led to the Bü 181 being selected to become the next standard primary trainer of the Luftwaffe.

Quantity production of the initial model, the Bü 181a, commenced during late 1940; the company produced many of these aircraft at its Rangsdorf facility outside Berlin.

[1] Due to the heavy wartime demands imposed upon the company, it became clear that Bücker Flugzeugbau could not produce the aircraft at a sufficiently high rate on its own.

[1] The Bü 181D was also built by Zlin Aviation Works plant in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; production was established only just prior to the German withdrawal from Czechoslovakia.

For several years following the end of the conflict, production of the aircraft continued at the Zlin Aviation Works; denominated as the C.6 and C.106, numerous examples were taken on by the re-established Czechoslovak Air Force, while various other versions, such as the Zlín Z.281 and Z.381, were also produced for civil purposes, such as flight clubs.

[1] During the 1950s, the Heliopolis Aircraft Works of Egypt acquired a Czechoslovakian licence to produce the Zlin Z.381 with a 105 hp (78 kW) Walter Minor engine.

[citation needed] The Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann was a single-engine low-wing monoplane with a compact cabin that accommodated a pair of adjustable seats in a side-by-side arrangement.

The main difference between the B-1 & C-1 and the B-2 and C-2 sub-types was the presence of pitot heating and position & cabin lights while the B-2 and C-2 types lacked any electrical system.

One restored example of a Gomhouria 181 MK6 in Luftwaffe markings, registration G-TPWX, is known to be airworthy and in flying condition and can regularly be seen airborne over the Welland Valley in South Leicestershire, UK, usually with a chase plane.