The Beneš-Mráz Be-56 Beta-Major was a single-seat aerobatic advanced trainer manufactured in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Design and development

First flown in 1936, the Be-56 was a low-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

of wooden construction, with a single open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

and fixed

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

. A two-seat version was produced as the Beneš-Mráz Be-52 Beta-Major, with tandem open cockpits

Variants

;Be-52 Beta-Major: Two-seat aerobatic trainer derived from the Be-51, but powered by a

Walter Major Walter Major was a family of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak aircraft inline engines developed by Walter Aircraft Engines in the 1930s. Design and development Available in either four or six cylinder configuration, with identical bore and stroke o ...

engine; one built. ;Be-56 Beta-Major: Single-seat version of the Be-52; one built (''OK-BEG''). Walter Major 4 a Be-52 Beta Major

Operational history

The sole Be-56, registered ''OK-BEG'', was used by the

Slovak Air Force The Slovak Air Force, known since 2002 as the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic (), is the aviation and air defense branch of the Military of Slovakia, Slovak Armed Forces. Operating 15 aircraft and 18 helicopters fro ...

after the German takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1939.

Operators

; *

Slovak Air Force (1939–1945) The Slovak Air Force (, or SVZ), between 1939 and 1945, was the air force of the short-lived World War II Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovak Republic. Its mission was to provide air support at fronts, and to protect Bratislava and metropolita ...

Design and development

Variants

Operational history

Operators

Specifications (Be-56)

References

Further reading