Aero A.46

The Aero A.46 is a light, single‑engine trainer and liaison aircraft produced by the Czech firm AERO Vodochody Aerospace in the early 1930s. Developed as a successor to the earlier A.30 series, the A.46 first flew on 12 April 1932 and entered limited service with the Czechoslovak Air Force the following year. Its wooden fuselage and fabric‑covered wings gave the machine a low empty weight of roughly 620 kg, while the 120 hp Walter Minor engine provided a maximum speed of 210 km/h and a service ceiling of 4,800 m. The aircraft’s simple fixed‑gear undercarriage, dual‑control cockpit and forgiving handling made it ideal for basic pilot instruction, reconnaissance, and short‑range transport of officers and equipment. Although only about 65 units were built before production ceased in 1936, the A.46 demonstrated the effectiveness of modular construction techniques that later influenced AERO Vodochody’s more advanced trainers, such as the L-39 Albatros. Its role in modernising Czechoslovakia’s interwar air training programme earned the A.46 a place in Central European aviation history as a bridge between biplane antiquity and the sleek monoplanes that dominated World War II. Today a few restored examples are displayed in museums, preserving its legacy.

AERO Vodochody Aerospace

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