Mráz M-3 Bonzo

Beneš-Mráz · Czechoslovakia · first flew 1948 · light aircraft

The Mráz M-3 Bonzo was a four-seat, all-wood, low-wing light aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in 1948. Only one prototype was built.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	7.72 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Low-wing monoplane with a spacious, extensively glazed four-seat cabin
Tricycle undercarriage with main wheels retracting into the wing and a semi-retractable nosewheel
Single inverted inline engine driving a two-bladed propeller

Look for a small low-wing cabin monoplane with a long glazed cabin, tricycle gear and a single nose-mounted engine. It was named after the designer's dog.

Specifications

The Mráz M-3 Bonzo has a length of 7.72 m (25 ft).
It has a wingspan of 10.6 m (35 ft).
Its maximum speed is 266 km/h (165 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Designer Zdeněk Rublič based the Bonzo on the Sokol airframe, with a redesigned wing, a longer fuselage for a fourth seat and a lower rear fuselage for all-round visibility. It first flew in April 1948 and was shown at the 1949 Paris Air Show.

Variants

There were no variants: a single prototype was built, powered by a Walter Minor 6-III inverted six-cylinder inline engine.

Where you'll see it

Production plans were stopped after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup. The prototype was used as a runabout at the Choceň factory, then by the Slovak Institute of Cartography and later by Svazarm, setting national and international speed records in 1961.

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