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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.

Spirit of St. Louis was the plane that Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic in May 1927. Originally designated Ryan NYP, the high-wing, strut-braced monoplane was designed by Donald Hall of Ryan Airlines based on the Ryan M-2 and was named after the city of St. Louis, because the city participated financially in its construction. For my model, I chose the appearance of the machine from Charles Lindbergh’s promotional tour of the States and Latin America in 1927-1928.

And here I go again! I managed to finish another Caudron C.600 from SBS. This time it is a civilian version of this sporty two-seater aircraft taken over by the French Air Force at the beginning of World War II. The machine after being fitted with distinctive cockades and sprayed with snaky camouflage was most likely used for liaison and training purposes.

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).

RWD-8 was a Polish parasol wing monoplane trainer aircraft used as a training and sports plane. The type was designed in the early 1930s by the RWD design office (Rogalski, Wigura, Drzewiecki). It became the most numerous type of aircraft manufactured in interwar Poland, and between 1934 – 1939 it was widely used by the Polish Air Force and also civilian owners, especially aeroclubs.

The Italian racing seaplane Piaggio P.7 was designed for the famous Schneider Cup in 1929. It was by no means a typical seaplane. A maritime propeller (ship screw) was to be used for take-off and only when the aircraft had gained sufficient speed and was gliding on the surface on skids, the aircraft propeller was to be engaged and used to lift the aircraft off the surface and of course win the race.

VBS Kuňkadlo is a Czechoslovak light single-seater sports aircraft. It was built by brothers Vladimír and Bohuslav Šimůnek between 1924 and 1926. The aircraft can be seen in today’s permanent exhibition at the National Technical Museum in Prague.