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.

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