Origins - Development - Background - Aircraft
Early - Pitts - Monoplanes

In the early years of World Aerobatic Competition, you flew what was available that could manage to get through the sequence. A wide variety of aircraft were seen in competition, but the most popular were training aircraft that were also capable of aerobatic manuvers.

The Bücker Jungmeister

The incomparable Bücker Jungmeister was a single seat derivation of the two seat Jungmann a trainer designed by Swedish designer Anders J. Andersson for German aircraft manufacturer Carl Clemens Bücker in 1933. The Jungmeister was wildly popular in the period between the wars as an exhibition mount in the hands of such greats as Romanian Alex Papana and, after the war, Romanian Count Constantin Cantacuzino. The Jungmeister is often described as the "Stradivarius" of aerobatic aircraft. It's performance was the standard used by Spanish Count José Luis Aresti (seen below) in the development of the Aresti figure definition and scoring system that is the basis of modern aerobatic competition. Winning the Aresti Cup is the sports' premiere achievement.

Bücker Jungmeister Photo: John Underwood Flight Fantastic

The Zlin 226T

The name of Czechoslovakian aircraft manufacturer Zlin has been associated with excellence in aerobatic aircraft sincethe firm was founded in 1934. The first airplane to win a modern World Aerobatic championship was the two seat Zlin 226T Trener, at the hands of Ladislav Bezák, who flew one at the 1960 World Championships at Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1960. Hungarian József Tóth became the second World Champion two years later at Budapest also flying a Zlin 226. So able was the 226 series that 33 of 61 contestants in the first two World Championships flew Zlin 226 models.

Zlin 226T Photo: Annette Carson Flight Fantastic

The Yak 18P

Mainstay of the U.S.S.R. aerobatic team in the early years of World Aerobatic Competition was the Yak 18P, a single seat, tricyle gear, 260 hp development of the Yak 18 two seat trainer. Large by competition aircraft standards, the Yak 18P none the less was graceful and, thanks to the reduction of weight from the two seat version and additional power, fairly agile. A lack of rudder authority made good slow rolls and rolling turns difficult. An advanced version, the Yak 18PM, sporting 300 horsepower, was introduced at the 1966 World Championships at Moscow, where the U.S.S.R. team swept the competition outright.

Yak 18P Photo: Peter Phillips Flight Fantastic

The Stampe SV.4

Born in Belgium in 1933 as the 120 hp SV.4 and raised to maturity in France after the war as the 140 hp SV.4C and 145 hp SV.4D, the Stampe is representative of the aerobatic trainers available when World Competition began. With ailerons on both sets of wings and an airfoil better suited to aerobatics, the SV.4B, produced in 1935, was the first really nimble model. Perhaps the highlight of the Stampe's noteriety came at Cannes, on 9 September, 1951, when Fred Nicole left a wake in the Bay of Cannes with the tip of the vertical fin while flying inverted. The example below is a 145 hp Stampe SV.4B in the hands of Brian Lecomber. By the onset of the World Aerobatic Championships the Stampe was outclassed, and while a number were entered as late as 1966, none came close to winning.

Stampe SV.4B Photo: Brian Lecomber Flight Fantastic

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