What power did the ultralight BH-16 have?

Short answer

Two engine options: 12 kW (16 hp) with a four-cylinder Vaslin, or 19 kW (26 hp) with an inverted-V twin-cylinder Blackburne Tomtit. With the Vaslin, the BH-16 weighed 130 kg empty, reached 116 km/h (72 mph) and had a service ceiling of 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

Published: November 4, 2026 · Updated: November 4, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What power did the ultralight BH-16 have?

Avia BH-16 3 view NACA TM-301

Two possible engines

The BH-16 accepted two different powerplants: a four-cylinder Vaslin of 12 kW (16 hp) or an inverted-V twin-cylinder Blackburne Tomtit of 19 kW (26 hp).

A 130 kg aircraft when empty

The airframe measured 5.13 m (16 ft 10 in) in length and 9.50 m (31 ft 2 in) in wingspan, with a wing area of 10.6 m² (114 sq ft). With the Vaslin engine, the empty weight was 130 kg (287 lb) and the gross weight 238 kg (525 lb). In that same configuration, the maximum speed was 116 km/h (72 mph, 63 kn) and the service ceiling 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The BH-16's rate of climb with the Vaslin was 1.0 m/s (200 ft/min) and its range 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi).

Another Avia of the BH series: the BH-10

The Avia BH-10 had a single Walter NZ 60 of 45 kW (60 hp). Its maximum speed was 160 km/h (100 mph, 87 kn), with an empty weight of 288 kg (635 lb) and a gross weight of 414 kg (913 lb).