page_title: Avia B-534
section_title: Initial production
hierarchical_section_title: Avia B-534 / Development / Initial production
caption_attribution_description: English: Czechoslovak Avia B-534 fighter aircraft, early variant. Čeština: Československý stíhací letoun Avia B-534 I. verze.
context_page_description: The Avia B-534 is a Czechoslovak biplane developed and manufactured by aviation company Avia. It was produced during the period between the First World War and the Second World War. The B-534 was perhaps one of the most well-known Czechoslovakian aircraft of the era.
  During 1932, work had commenced on the development of a new single-engined biplane fighter aircraft, the Avia B-34, which had been designed by aeronautical engineer František Novotný. During its development, various alternative engines were considered and trialled before eventually settling upon the license-built Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine. Other improvements during the prototype stage included the adoption of an enclosed cockpit along with a revised tail and undercarriage arrangement. On 14 April 1934, the second prototype, while flown by test pilot Václav Kočí, successfully attained a Czechoslovak national speed record of 365.7 kilometres per hour. Deliveries of production aircraft to the Czechoslovak Air Force commenced in October 1935.
context_section_description: More testing followed and an initial order for 34 aircraft for the Czechoslovak Air Force, soon increasing to 147, was placed on 17 July 1934. At that time, the B-534 was well ahead of its contemporaries. The United Kingdom was still dependent on Hawker Furies, with the first Gloster Gladiators being produced at this time. The Soviet Union was placing its hope on its Polikarpov aircraft designs. The United States was still using descendants of the Curtiss Hawk series, with the Seversky P-35 and Curtiss P-36 about to fly as prototypes.
  The B-534 was designed as a single-engine biplane fighter with a license-built Hispano-Suiza inline powerplant, and fixed landing gear.  The air forces of the 1930s were reluctant to abandon the maneuverability and climb rates of biplanes for the speed of monoplanes, even in the face of new and better technology. The success of Soviet pilots with biplanes may have contributed to this reluctance; they were known to strip their aircraft of sliding canopies, preferring to have the wind in their faces. Aircraft with two fabric-covered wings and fixed landing gear were also less expensive to manufacture.
  First deliveries of the B-534 to the Czechoslovak air force began in October 1935, and 568 had been completed by 1939. The first 100 of these were of the first series. The second prototype was the blueprint for the I series, although it was built with an open cockpit. These early series aircraft were initially armed with four 7.92mm vz.28 guns. Two were located in the nose on either side of the engine in a similar manner to the Avia B-34 and two were fitted in the wings. At an early stage of production, it was however recognised that the wing-mounted guns were troublesome. Aircraft from serial number B-534.47 were completed without the wing guns, which were also removed from the earlier aircraft. The first to fourth series aircraft were fitted with the Avia licence-built version of the Hispano-Suiza 12Ydrs engine. This was a liquid-cooled V12-cylinder engine with a capacity of 36.05 litres. On the ground its normal power rating was 650 hp, it could deliver 750 hp for two minutes. At an operational height of 3,000 m (9,842 ft), it could deliver 850 hp for 30 minutes. At an operational height of 4,000 m (13,123 ft), it could reach 860 hp. Total fuel was 347 litres (76 gal) which was held in two fuselage fuel tanks of 90 and 257 litres.
caption: B-534, early variant
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