The Beneš-Mráz Be-150 Beta-Junior was a light

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

trainer and

racing aircraft Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previ ...

, designed and built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s.

Design and development

With the success of the Beneš-Mráz Be-50 Beta-Minor Beneš decided to produce a smaller version with better performance for sport flying. A major incentive was the availability of five spare Walter Junior engines, which would imbue the Be-150 with much improved vertical performance compared to the Be-50. Beneš shortened the fuselage and fitted the short-span wings of the Be-52, retaining the open cockpits and fixed, trousered, tailwheel undercarriage of the Be-50.

Operational history

The Be-150 was first flown on 5 January 1937, but was rejected by the MNO ( Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense) and the three production aircraft were used for general flying club use and for air racing.

Specifications (Be-150)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benes-Mraz Be-150 Beta-Junior 1930s Czechoslovakian sport aircraft Beta-Junior Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Aerobatic aircraft