 By saving his earnings, on May 20, 1914 he was able to buy his own aircraft (a Nieuport monoplane) and he immediately taught himself how to fly.On the day Buddecke started his own aircraft production company, war was declared and he abandoned his business plans and returned to Germany, with the American-built Nieuport monoplane he had purchased at the Cicero aerodrome.Travelling under a fake name, Buddecke crossed the Atlantic in the Greek ship "Athene" to Palermo (Italy).