Rebiirth of the Baby

摘要

At reichenbach airfield, 7,600ft up on the northern rim of the Swiss Alps, PragaE.114M Air Baby HB-UAF is flying again after a gap of nearly 40 years. The dainty ultralight is the only airworthy Praga, and a colourful reminder of the efforts of small manufacturers during the mid-1920s and mid-1930s to build a low-cost touring machine for "the man in the street". Rebuilt by the father-and-son team Fritz and Andre Moser during 2004-09, this 1947-built, 65 h.p.Walter Mikron-engined machine is a development of the original, 36 h.p. flat*twin-powered Air Baby. The canoe-like ultralight was penned by Jaroslav Slechta, chief designer of the CKD-Praga company, in a Prague suburb during 1934.