Author: Dušan Vrážel

In the 1930s, after the success of the B-22 trainer, the Avia factory focused on training and aerobatic specials. The Czech army ordered a series of Bš-122s for fitness flights and pilot training. In 1937, the factory took two machines of this type and modified them into new versions of the B-322 and Bš-322. The main change to the Bš-322 was the installation of the Avia Rk-17 engine and the addition of wheel hoods.

When the old Kovozávody Prostějov released a model of the machine, I couldn’t resist as a kid and built it. Later, I found out about its influence on the history of the establishment of the state of Israel and decided to build one of these machines. And when Eduard released the model with the option to build an uncovered engine, I bought everything I needed and here is the result.

In 1924, the Avia factory built a single-seat special BH-9 for record flights. The machine was under military administration and had military markings, and for the most famous flights it received the civilian registration L_BONG, which was applied over the military one. In this article, I describe the pitfalls of building from the KP kit and the necessary modifications to the model.

The Aero factory organized a demonstration flight over Europe and Africa in 1926, where it presented its latest product, the Ab-11. The aircraft selected for the flight was serial number 17, which received the civil registration L_BUCD and a light blue paint job. The kit was published by Special Hobby.

The L-29A is an aerobatic version of the well-known Aero L-29 Delfín two-seater training aircraft.
It was originally marked as L-429 and was created in 1967 in Aero Vodochody in the number of only two pieces.
The aircraft was intended for the planned aerobatic competitions of jet aircraft and underwent considerable “defatting”. Thanks to this, his agility equaled the piston acrobatic specials. Now you can see it in the aviation museum in Kunovice.

For IV. year of the Challenge de Tourisme International race in 1934, the Aero factory prepared a special tourist airplane A-200. It was a machine specially adapted for easy take-off and landing on short and unimproved surfaces, which can be easily folded for transport behind a car. Speed ​​was sacrificed for this by choosing a weaker Walter Bora engine.

In 1929 year, the Š-20.103 aircraft from the fourth production series was handed over to VLÚS (Military Aviation Institute of Studies) for a set of tests. It was used for a number of tests, including with a ski chassis. This particular machine was also modified to be a “photo plane”, where a cutout was made in the lower part of the fuselage for a photo chamber that partially extended outward.

In 1926, the Czechoslovakian Army was conducting a series of complex military manoeuvres, which included a joint training with Czechoslovakian Air Force.
During the training, two opposite groups of aircrafts were created – the “Blues” belonging to LP2 located in Olomouc and “Reds” of LP1 located in Prague.
The plane I decided to build belonged to the Blues, which were equipped with Š-20s (designed by Ing. Antonín Šmolík), specifically Š-20.57 with registration number E1 from 33rd squadron of LP2.

The Praga E-114 was an excellent sports aircraft that was widely used in our flying clubs before and after World War II.
It has several records to its credit and, above all, a lot of trained pilots.
It was designed in the Praga factory in 1934 by Ing. Jaroslav Šlechta as an all-wooden high-wing aircraft and his trademark was the atypical tilting of the upper part of the cabin to facilitate boarding.

In 1916, the French Air Force issued a specification for a new plane, capable of filling reconnaissance and light bomber role.
In response, Emil Samlson submitted his design, later known as Samlson 2.
This design won the trials and after few improvements was put into service starting at 1917. It was produced in two versions – 2A2 as a reconnaissance plane and 2B2 as a light bomber. The Samlson 2 entered the service in our Air Force in 1919, when 49 planes of 2A2 versions, manufactured by Latécoere company, were given out by France. They served until 1923.

In 1919 Ing. Beneš and Ing. Hajn designed and in 1920 built the BH-1 Exp (Experimental) low-wing, experimental monoplane concept under the banner of the new Avia factory. And thanks to previous attempts on models, the work was successful the first time and the concept proved itself. It was a pioneering concept for its time, which fully proved itself in the category of training and sports aircraft.

In 1927, the Letov factory modified the Š-20 fighter plane of designer Alois Šmolík with a Škoda H-S 8Fb in-line engine for a Walter Jupiter radial engine (Ghone-Rhone license according to Bristol Jupiter) with an output of 480 HP (353 kW). This is how the unique Š-20J was created.

In the middle of 1920s our army had two main fighter planes – Letov Š-20 and Avia BH-21. Both manufacturers offered a trainer aircraft, which featured the main fuselage of the production aircraft, but with reduced weight and weaker engine Škoda HS 8Aa. Those trainers were Letov Š-21 and Avia BH-22 respectively. In the end, the army chose Avia, while Š-21 was produced in only two examples. The first Š-21 had a three-colour camouflage and was completely destroyed when its pilot Andrej Beneš couldn’t pull it out of the spin. The pilot survived thanks to the plane’s metal frame. Letov didn’t give up and built a second prototype (marked again as Š-21.1).