Tatra T.101

The Tatra T.101 was a two-seat monoplane general aviation aircraft built in 1937 by Ringhoffer-Tatra, the Czech industrial firm better known for its cars and trucks. Ringhoffer-Tatra had begun making aircraft in 1935 by building the Avro 626 Avian and the Bucker Bu 131 Jungmann under licence, and the T.001 of 1937 was its first own design. The T.101 developed from that aircraft with a larger wingspan and a bigger tail unit. Only one was built, registered OK-TAO, but in 1938 it flew from Prague to Khartoum, a distance of about 4,330 kilometres, and it set an altitude record for two-seat aircraft with engines under four litres, later raised to 7,470 metres. It was powered by a Tatra T100 four-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline piston engine of 77 kilowatts. A replica built by the brothers Ivo and Jiri Sklenar first flew in October 2009.