In 1938, Germany threatened Czechoslovakia. For a variety of
reasons, England and France backed down in the face of the threat of war with
Germany, and allowed Germany to dismember Czechoslovakia and create the
"rump" state of Slovakia, a puppet ally throughout World War 2. This
was more of a feat than it seems - Germany was the 5th rated industrial power
in the world, and Czechoslovakia was the 7th.
A significant number of German aircraft were used in
Czechoslovakia as well (Bf 109G, Me 262, He 111, Ju 52, Bü 131, Bü 181, Ar 96,
Fi 156, Fw 58, Fh 104, Si 204, He 219, Fa 223, etc.).
On 8th May 1945, one of the last victories attached the
Luftwaffe happened abovethe Czech
republic. That day about 4 PM Oblt. Fritz Stehle (I./JG 7) flew from the
airport at Zatec and moved with his Messerschmitt Me 262A to the British sector
in Germany (Fasseberg airfield). Above the Krusne Hory Mountains he shoot down
Soviet Bell P-39Q Airacobra piloted by Lt. Sergej Griorjevic Stepanov from 129.
GIAP. Soviet pilot (21 years of age) died. Oblt. Stehle surrendered after that
to the British.
After WW2
In 1945, the Czech pilots returned home with their Spitfires
and Lavochkins used in the war. These machines became the standard fighters in
the first post-war years. There were also some planes left behind by the
Luftwaffe. New planes were delivered by Avia. During the war, the company
produced Messerchmitts Bf-109 for the Reich. The natural thing to do was
continue with this production. There were, however, no original engines for the
Bf-109 in the country. That's why the engine was replaced by a heavier and more
powerful type, which was plentiful. The plane was too nose heavy and the engine
was overpowered for the design. The Avia designers did their best to improve
the qualities of the plane, but this was only partly successful. The result was
called Avia S-199, and its two-seater version was CS-199. The pilots called it
"mezek" - a short form of Messerschmitt, but also the Czech
expression for "the mule", due to its mule-like behavior. The plane
was difficult to balance, and had a tendency to roll over during the landing
(this was a problem even with the original Bf-109). If this happened, the
engineers had to smash the cabin with a long pole to get the helpless pilot
out. When the pilot revved up the engine during the take-off, the movement was
so strong that the plane was in danger of hitting the ground with the wing. In
spite of these problems, hundreds of S-199's were produced and used until 1955.
The moment of glory for S-199 came with the Israeli war of
independence. Czechoslovakia was the only country ready to equip Israel with
aircraft and train their pilots. A number of Spitfires and Avias were delivered
to Israel. Israeli pilots learned to use the excessive engine moment for
unexpected sharp turns in combat. According to some sources, if it hadn't been
for Avias, there would be no Israel. It is ironic that the only Czech plane
that played a decisive role in a real conflict was at the same time one of the
worst Czech designs.
The communist coup of 1948 was an important turning point.
From this time, Czechoslovak aviation became increasingly dependent on the
Soviet Union, which had no interest in a prosperous Czechoslovakia. The
superior light industry was suppressed and replaced by heavy industry. Aircraft
manufacturers had to move to a different kind of production. Avia made licensed
Soviet aircraft in the beginning, but starting from early 60s, aircraft
production was stopped. Avia now makes trucks.
No comments:
Post a Comment