Czechoslovakia Air Force

The Avia B-158 was a prototype Czechoslovak twin-engined light bomber aircraft of the 1930s. Only a single example was built and it was abandoned following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. In 1935, the Czech aircraft company Avia produced a design for a small twin engined bomber with a fixed undercarriage and powered by two 313 kW (420 hp) Avia Rk 17 radial engines. This design was abandoned in 1936, however, by a more powerful and advanced derivative, the Avia B-158, which was designed to meet a requirement from the Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defense (MNO) for a high performance medium bomber, capable of operation during both day and night, competing against Aero Vodochody's A.300.

In 1937, Avia started to build a single prototype of the B-158, a three-seat low-winged monoplane with inverted gull-wings, a retractable tailwheel undercarriage and 634 kW (850 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Ydrs engines, making its maiden flight in mid-1938. It was fitted with a twin tail to give a better field of fire for the dorsal gun position. While the competing Aero A.300 gave superior performance, neither had entered into production by the time Germany occupied Bohemia and Moravia. After testing by the Luftwaffe at their test centre at Rechlin, the prototype B-158 was scrapped in 1940.

The Aero A.32 was a biplane built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s for army co-operation duties including reconnaissance and tactical bombing. While the design took the Aero A.11 as its starting point (and was originally designated A.11J), the aircraft incorporated significant changes to make it suited for its new low-level role. Like the A.11 before it, the A.32 provided Aero with an export customer in the Finnish Air Force, which purchased 16 aircraft in 1929 as the A.321F and A.32GR (which spent most of their service lives as trainers). They were assigned numbers AEj-49 - AEj-64 and were used until 1944. At least one fuselage has survived, preserved at the Finnish Air Force Museum. A total of 116 of all variants were built.

Work on the Letov S-16 began in 1935 as an order of the Czech Ministry of National Defence who issued specs for a long-range bomber and recon aircraft. The reliable and easy to fly S-16s served successfully in the Czech Air force and as bombers they still formed part of the second-line airpower in 1938.

The 1929 presented aero A-38 united different characteristics of earlier models. The tail unit and the bearing areas came from the aero A-23. Chassis and trunk come from the aero A-35. However the A-38 was no double-decker separates a Hochdecker with abgestrebten bearing areas (were taken over only the upper bearing areas). The trunk was extended, so that altogether eight passengers place found. The entrance took place via in each case a door on both sides of the trunk. The seats were arranged in Zweiererreihen. In the tail a toilet and a baggage compartment were accommodated.

The Aero A.42 was a Czechoslovakian bomber aircraft of 1929 that was only ever produced in prototype form. For its day, it was an advanced design, with a sleek monoplane configuration. However, the Czech Air Force was not satisfied with it for a number of reasons, in particular, the aircraft's take-off and landing rolls were felt to be excessively long, and crew complained about the cramped cabin. The air force suggested a set of modifications to Aero, including replacing the wooden wing with a metal one, but Aero discontinued development. On September 20, 1930, one of the two prototypes set international speed records of 253.428 km/h over a 1,000 km (621 mile) closed circuit, carrying payloads of 500 kg (1,100 lb) and 1000 kg (2,200 lb).

One prototype was used by the Czechoslovak Air Force until 1938, then by the Slovak Air Force. Probably it was scrapped in 1940. The A.42 was a single-engined high-wing cantilever monoplane, with a fixed landing gear.

The Aero A.30 was a biplane light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s. It originated as an attempt to improve the performance of the Aero A.11, but soon evolved into quite a different aircraft, larger and more powerful than its predecessor. The aircraft is readily distinguished from other related types by the difference in spans between its wings - the upper set being of much greater span than the lower. Prototypes of the A.30 were retrospectively designated A.130, with the A.230 the main production version. The A.330 and A.430 featured different, more powerful engines, but the latter of these did not enter production, serving instead as the prototype for the Aero A.100.

The Letov Š-20 was a fighter aircraft produced in Czechoslovakia during the 1920s. It was a conventional, single-bay biplane with unstaggered wings braced by N-struts. In overall appearance, it greatly resembled contemporary SPAD fighters. The fuselage and empennage were of welded steel tube construction and covered in fabric. The wings had a tubular metal spar but were otherwise wooden, and also fabric-skinned. The Czechoslovakian Air Force bought 105 machines, and 10 examples were produced for Lithuania under the designation Š-20L. These remained in service until 1936 and 1935 respectively.

An Š-20 placed second in the single-engine category of the national President of the Republic air race in 1925, but fared better the following year. In the 1926 race, an Š-20 not only won this category but also set a new national airspeed record of 234 km/h (146 mph). This record was short-lived, however, since the prize for the fastest circuit was also won in an Š-20, and this raised the record to 245 km/h (153 mph). A single prototype of an unarmed advanced trainer version was built as the Š-21, but this did not sell.

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Probably the finest fighter biplane ever built, and one of the last mass-produced biplane fighters, the Avia B.534 first flew in August 1933, and an initial order for 100 machines was placed by the Czech Army Air Force. Early B.534s had an open cockpit, but a sliding hood was introduced on later aircraft. First deliveries were made in the second half of 1935. In 1937 a B.534 took part in the International Air Meeting at Zurich and outperformed everything except the Messerschmitt Bf 109 - even then it was only 11km/h slower than the German fighter. The B.534 was adopted by the Czech Army Air Force as its standard fighter type, and also served in Bulgaria and with the Luftwaffe, which used it as an advanced trainer. In 1939, after the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia, large numbers of B.534s were acquired by the Slovak Air Force, which later used them against the Russians. Total B.534 production was 445 aircraft.

The B-534 was first used in combat by the Slovenské vzdušné zbrane (Slovak Air Force). Germany took control of the "Czech" part of Czechoslovakia as Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, leaving the "Slovak" part, Slovakia, as a minor ally. Slovakia acquired some 80 B-534s and Bk-534s from the Czech air force and quickly had to use them against Hungary during the border war of 1939. Later, two squadrons of B-534s assisted the German Luftwaffe during the Invasion of Poland in September 1939. The same squadrons served with the Germans in Ukraine during summer 1941, with one squadron returning in 1942 for anti-partisan duty. Obsolescence, lack of spare parts and the old Czechoslovak air force's curious fuel mixture (BiBoLi, or some other mix of alcohol, benzol and petrol) finally relegated the surviving B-534s to training duties.

This would have been the last of the B-534s in Slovak colors if not for the Slovak National Uprising of September–October 1944. The rest of the Slovak air assets did not turn-coat as expected and the leaders of the uprising were faced with using a rag-tag collection of leftover aircraft, including several B-534s at Tri Duby airfield. On 2 September 1944, Master Sergeant František Cyprich, just after testing a repaired B-534, downed a Junkers Ju 52 transport under Hungarian colors on its way to a base in occupied Poland. This was at once the first aerial victory for the Uprising and the last recorded biplane air-to-air victory. As the Slovak National Uprising was desperate for available aircraft, Sergeant Cyprich was derided by his colonel for not trying to force the Junkers Ju 52 to land and be captured instead. The last two B-534s at Tri Duby were burned as the base was evacuated on 25 October 1944.Bulgaria bought 78 B-534s in 1939, well after the partition. The last batch of these aircraft arrived in March 1942. On 1 August 1943, seven of these aircraft were able to make two passes at American B-24 Liberator bombers returning from the raid on Ploieşti. Hits were scored but no B-24s were shot down and some of the B-534s that received damage in the combat, cracked up on landing. After the anti-German coup of 9 September 1944, Bulgaria switched sides overnight and its B-534s were often used in ground attacks against German units. On 10 September 1944, six B-534s were involved in a brief melee with six German Bf 109s at low altitude. One B-534 was lost, but the Germans quickly broke off, wary of the low altitude and the B-534's maneuverability.

The rest of the Slovak air assets did not turn-coat as expected and the leaders of the uprising were faced with using a rag-tag collection of leftover aircraft...

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Circumstances surrounding the outbreak of Slovak National Uprising are very complex to be described here in detail, but here are few words to comment the sentence I quoted above. One could notice that almost entire inventory of Slovak Air Arms (SVZ) during their existence was "leftover" from former Czechoslovak AF and therefore obsolete for effective use in the WW2. Percentage of modern aircraft obtained abroad was so low (30+ Bf 109E, 15 Bf 109G-6, 2 He 111H, 2 Ju 52, a hand full of Fw 189s and Ju 87D Stukas, and 6 SM.84s) that SVZ for most part had to rely on old Czechoslovak aircraft. This is main reason why insurgent Combined Squadron war poorly equipped by default. Also the Operative Group of Air Arms (Skupina Vzdušných Zbraní) assembled in eastern Slovakia collectively defected to the Soviet side few days before the outbreak of the Uprising to avoid capture as Germans started to disarm East Slovakian Army under General Malar. Out of all these aircraft (including number of modern types) only two Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 fighters returned to insurgent territory to reinforce the Combined squadron. Large number of SVZ aircraft was captured by the Germans. Typical is the example of events at Spišska Nova Ves airfield. Here five brand new Junkers Ju 87D Stukas fell into German hands amid the confusion of the first day of the Uprising.

...Sergeant Cyprich was derided by his colonel for not trying to force the Junkers Ju 52 to land and be captured instead.

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Cyprich's action which resulted in downing the Hungarian Ju 52 on 2nd September is described in detail in "Slovenske letectvo 1939-1945" Volume 3, page 75 without any mention that Cyprich was allegedly reprimanded for shooting down and not "forcing to land" enemy aircraft.


Here are few pictures of Avia B.534 in service with Slovak Air Arms...

By the beginning of the 1930s, Germany was starting to show its discontent with the Treaty of Versailles which did not permit either powered flight or military development. Thousands of pilots had been trained in the Hitler Youth Glider Clubs, those that would become the top scoring pilots of all times, such as the highest scoring fighter pilot in history, Erich 'Bubi' Hartman. A powered airplane was needed for them to keep progressing. To avoid an obvious violation of the Treaty, Germany invested in over-seas companies, such as SAAB, a Swedish subsidiary of the Heinkel company, then managed by Carl Clemens Bücker. Once it was obvious this plan wasn´t working out, Germany started acting more openly and moved the manufacture of aircraft back to Germany. Bücker moved back to his native country and brought Anders Andersson, a Swedish engineer at SAAB, with him.

Rather than working again for Heinkel, and foreseeing what was about to take place in Germany, Bücker decided to start his own company, 'Bücker Flugzeugbau GmbH' . Within six months of the requirements for a new powered trainer being issued, Anders Andersson had the prototype Bü 131A 'Jungmann', registered D-3150 and powered by a 80HP Hirth HM-60R, ready for its test flight. A light aerobatic biplane, with two seats in tandem, its construction incorporated the most innovative techniques. It was April the 27th 1934, and Joachim Von Köpen was at the stick. That requirement came from the Deutscher Luftsport Verband, DLV (German Association for the Aerial Sport), a civilian organization, for which Hermann Göring was ultimately responsible. Certain aspects of the program were delegated to some very capable leaders, such as Erhard Milch, who established the national priorities at a time when the Luftwaffe was still existing as a clandestine organization. That "civilian" DLV was the first school for most of the early German Aces of WWII, and the Bü 131 'Jungmann' was their mount! The requirement was for a cheap to operate trainer airplane, hence the decision to initially install a 80HP engine. Its manufacture had to be easy, simple, cheap; the aircraft fast, light, strong... Bücker´s answer was the Bü 131 'Jungmann'.

Developed from the successful Fokker F.VII, five of which were built in 1924-25, the Fokker F.VIIA flew on 12 March 1925 with a 298kW Packard Liberty engine. Following a demonstration tour of the United States, a number of orders were secured and further orders came from European operators. Almost 50 single-engined F.VIIAs were built, some of which were converted later to F.VIIA-3m standard with three engines. This variant, together with the slightly larger-span F.VIIB-3m, formed the backbone of many European airline operations in the early 1930s, with licence-production also being undertaken in Belgium, Italy, Poland and the UK. Although two F.VIIAs were supplied to the Royal Netherlands air force and one to the RAF, the only example known to have been used by the military in World War II was the 12th production F.VIIA which, after a chequered career in the Netherlands and Denmark, was presented to the Finnish Red Cross and operated in military markings in the Continuation War which began in 1941. Those operated by the Netherlands and Polish air forces were destroyed at an early stage of the German invasion of these two nations.

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The Aero A 100 was a Czechoslovakian two-seater light bomber and long-range reconnaissance aircraft of the Second World War in service from 1933 to the late 1940s. The Aero A 100 was powered by an Avia Vr-36 Vee piston engine giving a top speed of 270 kmh and a range of 917 km or a flying endurance of four hours. Armament consisted of two 7.92 mm calibre vz30 fixed forward-firing machine-guns in the forward fuselage with synchronisation equipment to allow them to fire through the propeller disc, and two 7.92 mm vz30 (Lewis) trainable rearward-firing machine-guns in the rear cockpit. In addition to the fixed armaments, up to 600 kg of disposable stores could also be carried in a lower fuselage weapons bay rated at 400 kg and on four under fuselage hard points each rated at 50 kg. Disposable stores generally consisted of three 100 kg bombs carried in the weapons bay and four 50 kg bombs carried on the hard points.

The Aero A.101 was a biplane light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft built in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. It was an attempt to improve the Aero A.100 by enlarging it and fitting it with a more powerful engine. However, even with 33% more power, performance was actually inferior, and the Czech Air Force was not interested in the type. Production did result, however, when 50 were ordered by Spanish Republican forces for use in the Spanish Civil War. Some of these aircraft were captured by Nationalists while en route and used against their original buyers. Local demand eventually was forthcoming, and a re-engined version was produced as the Ab.101.