CSSR Orlican/Moravan companies

hesham

hesham

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From Czechoslovakia,

Orlican L-20 :three seat single piston engined tourer/trainer light aircraft.
 
A short while ago Apophenia listed a very entertaining and useful listing of post-war aircraft companies in Romania.
I hope that forum members can give me some background information on a somewhat similar situation in the CSSR (quite some name changes).
Where did the Orlican and Moravan companies come from (which were the predecessors?). It always puzzled me to see aircraft such as the M-3 Bonzo described as the Mraz M-3, but also as the Orlican M-3.
Any help is very much appreciated.
Regards, Walter
 
M-2 Skaut : two seat trainer version of M-1 with new fuselage,a larger bubble canopy
and 75 hp Praga D engine,and a fixed tricycle undercarriage.

M-3 Bonzo : was M-1 airframe using a modified wing without the Sokol's swept leading edge and the fuselage enlarge to provide an additional rear seat,and the rear fuselage was cut dawn to allow for a large 360-degree cabin canopy,a retractable tricycle undercarriage was fitted,and powered by 160 hp Walter Minor 6-III engine.

XLD-40 Mir : all metal three seat version of Sokol,and had a V-tail,a large rear-sliding bubble canopy and 105 hp Walter Minor 4-III engine.
 
Last edited:
Walter: Sorry, I completely missed this at the time :-[

Some of the confusion comes from the common misspelling 'Orlikan' for the name Orličan. The later was applied to the aircraft factory at Choceň which began at the Beneš-Mráz plant.

1935 - Beneš-Mráz (Ing Pavel Beneš and Ing Jaroslav Mráz)
1939 - Flugzeugwerke Chotzen (aka Ing J Mráz, Flugzeugfabrik)
- Under BMM (Böhmisch-Mährische Maschninenfabriken AG)
1944 - New Dvořisko plant (becomes Orličan, now Kögel)
1945 - Mráz (Ing J Mráz, továrna na letadla, národní správa)
1955 - Orličan, n.p. (národní podnik = National Corp'n)
1991 - Orličan, a.s. (akciová společnost), Choceň

The Otrokovice factory has gone under either the Zlín or Moravan name since forming. But there's been a vast range of 'proper' name changes.

1934 - Baťa Zlín
1935 - Zlínská Letecká as (akciová společnost)
WWII - Zliner Flugzeugwerke (under Weser Flugzeugbau)
1946 - Moravan Zlínavion
1953 - Moravan, n.p. (národní podnik = National Corp'n.)
1956 - Moravan Otrokovice, n.p.
1990 - Moravan a.s.
1992 - Moravan-Aeroplanes a.s.
2006 - Moravan Aviation s.r.o.
2009 - Zlín Aircraft a.s. Otrokovice

Hope that helps ... albeit belatedly! :-[
 
Hi Apophenia :)
Thank you very much for your elaborate explanation. I never knew that all the various names over the years covered in fact 2 factories ( Choceň and Otrokovice). Very usefull and thank you again!
Best regards, Walter
 
Maveric said:
The latest product from the Czech company Orlican is the M.8 Eagle.
https://www.orlican.org/m-8-eagle/We know the M.1 to M.4, the M.7, and the M.8. Does anyone know more about the M.5 and M.6?
Click to expand...

I can make some speculations,

- As I know the M-4 Meta Sokol was intended to design as a large
version with four or five seat,so we can say,maybe it M-5 ?

- The company built also L-60 Brigadýr,so as I guess to aviod
confuseing with number "6",they started from M-7 Ornis ?
 
I'm not a fan of such speculation, but I know one thing for sure: the aircraft named "Meta Sokol" wasn't designated M.4, but L.D.40. The M.4 was a completely different project.
 
Maveric said:
I'm not a fan of such speculation, but I know one thing for sure: the aircraft named "Meta Sokol" wasn't designated M.4, but L.D.40. The M.4 was a completely different project.
Click to expand...

Sorry,I meant XLD-40 Mir.
 

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