Beneš-Mráz Be-50 Beta-Minor

Be-50 Beta-Minor
Be-50 Beta-Minor
Role Sports plane
Manufacturer Beneš-Mráz
Designer Pavel Beneš and Jaroslav Mráz
First flight 1935

The Beneš-Mráz Be-50 Beta-Minor was a light airplane manufactured in Czechoslovakia shortly before World War II.

Design and development

First flown in 1935, it was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of wooden construction, with tandem open cockpits and fixed tailwheel undercarriage. The aircraft proved popular with Czechoslovakia's aeroclubs and was successful in international competitions. In 1937, the designers created a modernised version, the Be-51, which featured a reduced wingspan and fully enclosed cockpits. A final variant, the Be-52 Beta-Major retained the Be-50's open cockpits but featured improved aerodynamics and a more powerful Walter Major engine.

Operational history

Like other Czechoslovakian aircraft, all available machines were impressed into Air Force service at the outbreak of war. Several Be-51s survived to be used by the Luftwaffe as liaison aircraft and trainers during the occupation.[1]

Variants

Be-50 Beta-Minor
Be-51 Beta-Minor
Be-52 Beta-Major

Operators

 Independent State of Croatia
 Germany
 Slovakia

Specifications (Be-51 Beta-Minor)

Data from [2]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Notes

  1. Ketley, Barry, and Rolfe, Mark. Luftwaffe Fledglings 1935-1945: Luftwaffe Training Units and their Aircraft (Aldershot, GB: Hikoki Publications, 1996), p.11.
  2. Green, William (2010). Aircraft of the Third Reich (1st ed.). London: Aerospace Publishing Limited. p. 105. ISBN 978 1 900732 06 2.

References

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