Practical Light Aeroplanes: The Development of the Beneš and Mráz Low Powered Private Machines Available to Purchase

IT seems to us, with our insular outlook, strange that a small country like Czechoslovakia could have so “got the start of the majestic world” in the production of really light and, at the same time, practical private aeroplanes. In this country, although the original “Moth” was the first successful attempt to produce an economical and workable aeroplane for the private owner, the term “light aeroplane” has of late years been more or less farcical because of the way in which power and weight have risen. Except for a few ultra‐light designs (mostly of foreign origin and built under licence after having been well‐tried in their home countries, so that they have not been new by the time they reach this land), British private machines of the past few years have all been of the order of one hundred and thirty horsepower upwards—hardly the original conception of the light aeroplane. It has been left for the designers of some of the smaller countries, the most prolific being Czechoslovakia, to show that an aeroplane may be low‐powered, carry a practical load and still have a really useful performance. Why these small countries should hit on the happy medium appears inexplicable; it would be pleasant to be able to say that they have been able to spend all their energies on the job because their small resources demand cheapness and they do not have to devote their powers to armament races; but this is certainly not the reason, for these particular peoples arc all armed to the very teeth.