CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER - 2001/04

The mySTeRy Airplane in the February issue was the Avia B-
534. This biplane was designed and produced in Czechoslovakia
before World War II. It was one of the last biplane fighter designs in
the world, and is credited with the last air-to-air victory by a biplane.
If you can’t recall any air actions for the Czechoslovakian Air
Force, your memories are correct.
The Czechoslovakian B-534s were part of the spoils as the
country was divided up during the early stages of what was
becoming WW II. By the time WW II began in earnest, Germany
had annexed Czechoslovakia along with many of its Air Force
assets—among them some B-534s.
As Germany was preparing to build its first aircraft carrier, the
Graf Zeppelin, many aircraft designs were modified to include
catapult and arresting gear. The airplanes were tested to gain
experience in carrierlike operations and to evaluate some of them as
potential production carrier aircraft.
Three of the confiscated Avia B-534 biplanes were modified for
that purpose. Thus the Avia B-534, designed and built in a
landlocked country and nearly obsolete by the time it entered
production, is a legal prototype for our Control Line (CL) Navy
Carrier events.
I’ll announce the winner in the June column. There is no Mystery
Airplane this month, so I can devote more space to photographs.

CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER - 2001/02

As I Announced in the October issue, the
last Mystery Airplane was the Bristol Brigand.
The winner of that contest was Don Boose of
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Don won a one-year
membership in the Navy Carrier Society.
In the October column, I mentioned that
Rand McNally listed the aircraft as a
shipboard attack aircraft. Although that
reference fulfills the documentation
requirements for anyone who wants to build
a Brigand, I received interesting letters from
a few readers who had experience with that
aircraft or with other aircraft from Bristol.
None of the correspondents recollected the
Brigand serving aboard carriers with the Royal
Navy. One was modified for catapult
operations, but that seems to have been to
validate steam-catapult development rather
than to test the aircraft for carrier service.
The correspondents unanimously doubted
that the Brigand ever made arrested landings.
The Mystery Airplane for this month
may stump those who are most consistent
in their correct answers.
Send me your entry via US Postal Service
or E-mail at the addresses at the head of this
column. I’ll select the winner from among
those who correctly identify the aircraft.
I’ll give you an extra chance to win if
you can describe the circumstances that
qualify this airplane as a legal prototype
for the Navy Carrier events.

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