Author: Dušan Vrážel

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).

Avia BH-3 was a fighter plane designed by Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn for Czechoslovakian Air Force and holds the position of one of the first monoplane aircraft ever put into serial production worldwide. Test pilots praised the plane’s speed and agility, however, the military pilots were less impressed, as they were used to much more stable biplanes which were easier to handle. The new Avia, on the other hand, required the pilot’s attention during every part of the flight and was difficult to land safely.

Little Aero A-18 called “Špaček” (Starling) was the first serial production fighter plane of Aero, a small new factory back then. One of the conditions set by MNO (Ministry of National Defence) was to use WW1 engines BMW IIIa with an output of 136 kW. It is not a lot of power, but A-18 was a small and light aircraft. Despite the small engine output, A-18 was capable of reaching a speed of 229 km/h and was capable of climbing up to 8000 meters.

František Novák, Josef Hubáček, and Petr Široký, three of our excellent aerial acrobats, first introduced themselves during an army airshow in the year 1936 on Prague-Kbely airfield. They were flying three specially camouflaged aircraft: Avia BA-122 OK-AVE, OK-VIM, and OK-VIL.
In the air, the group was always flying in such a formation, that the color scheme of their planes created the Czechoslovak flag, tricolor in order white-blue-red.