Beneš-Mráz
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Beneš-Mráz is a former Czechoslovak manufacturer of sport aircraft . The full name is Továrna na letadla inž. P. Beneš a inž. J. Mráz Choceň ( Aircraft Factory Ing. P. Beneš and Ing. J. Mráz in Choceň ).
history
The two engineers Pavel Beneš and Jaroslav Mráz founded their company on April 1, 1935 in Choceň . Beneš had already made a name for himself as a designer at Avia and ČKD-Praga .
The first model was the shoulder -wing aircraft Be-60 Bestiola , which was also produced in small series. By 1938, the " Beta " series, single and two-seater sports and aerobatic aircraft in low-wing design , which also went into series production, was created. A total of 15 types of aircraft were created. In 1937 a Be-501 made by Beneš-Mráz won the Angers 12-hour race .
No separate types emerged during the German occupation . From 1940 onwards, the company built gliders on behalf of the RLM , mainly of the DFS crane type , for the NSFK and the air force . The first piece was accepted on September 28, 1940 by pilot staff engineer Heinz Kensche. The factory was only entrusted with the construction of the Fi 156 Storch liaison and medical aircraft in the versions C-7 and D-2 from June 1944, after the previous manufacturer, Leichtbau Budweis , had switched to the production of Fw 190 . By the end of 1944 Mráz had delivered a total of 64 Fi 156s, 40 of which were C-7s and 24 D-2s. The total order was 344 pieces, but was reduced to 291. It is not known how many of them were delivered up to May 1945. The stork in the C-7 version continued to be built after the war until 1949 as the Mráz K-65 Čáp . Beneš-Mráz was nationalized soon after the end of the war and renamed Orličan, národní podnik . Under the new chief engineer Zdeněk Rublič , the series-built sports aircraft of the " M-1 " series and, as their successor, the L-40 Meta Sokol , 200 of which were built and also exported.
Types
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- Be-50 "Beta Minor" (trainer aircraft, 1935, series)
- Be-51 (touring aircraft, 1937, series)
- Be-52 "Beta Major" (aerobatic and sport aircraft, 1936)
- Be-56 (aerobatic plane, 1936)
- Be-60 "Bestiola" (sports aircraft, 1935, series)
- Be-150 "Beta Junior" (sports and training aircraft, 1936, series)
- Be-156 (sports aircraft, 1935)
- Be-250 "Beta Major" (sports aircraft, 1936, series)
- Be-251 (touring aircraft, 1938)
- Be-252 "Beta Scolar" (aerobatic plane, 1937)
- Be-352 (touring aircraft, early 1939, project)
- Be-501 (sports aircraft, 1936)
- Be-502 (sports aircraft, 1936)
- Be-550 "Bibi" (sports aircraft, 1936, series)
- Be-555 "SuperBibi" (sports aircraft, 1938, series)
- Orličan
- M-1 "Sokol" (sports aircraft, 1946, series)
- M-2 "Skaut" (sports aircraft, 1948)
- M-3 "Bonzo" (school and travel aircraft, 1948)
- L-40 "Meta Sokol" (sports aircraft, 1956, series)
