page_title: Avia
section_title: Aircraft
hierarchical_section_title: Avia / Aircraft
caption_attribution_description: A Chech Republic air force Avia B-534
context_page_description: Avia Motors s.r.o. is a Czech automotive manufacturer. It was founded in 1919 as an aircraft maker, and diversified into trucks after 1945. As an aircraft maker it was notable for producing biplane fighter aircraft, especially the B-534. Avia ceased aircraft production in 1963.
context_section_description: Before the Second World War the company made civilian and military aircraft, including the Avia BH-1, Avia BH-21, Avia B-534 and Avia B-71 (Soviet licensed Tupolev SB).
  In the Second World War, Avia was ordered to build Messerschmitt Bf 109G fighter aircraft. After the war Avia continued production as the Avia S-99, but it soon ran out of the correct Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines. It therefore substituted the Junkers Jumo 211 engine and propeller designed for the Heinkel He 111 bomber and redesignated the aircraft as the Avia S-199.
  The S-199 was the first fighter obtained by the Israeli Air Force for use during the War of Independence. Czechoslovak pilots nicknamed it Mezek ("Mule"), while in Israel it was known as the Messer ("knife" in German and Yiddish) or Sakeen ("knife" in Hebrew) or simply called Messerschmitt.
  But the S-199 was a problematic aircraft, unpopular with its pilots. The Jumo engine was heavier and less responsive than the Daimler-Benz unit. The torque of the large paddle-bladed propeller made control difficult. This, combined with the 109's narrow-track undercarriage also made landings and take-offs more hazardous. Also the synchronization gear did not seem to work properly, leading a few Israeli aircraft to shoot off their own propellers.
  Also during the war Germany built factories in Czechoslovakia to make the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. The factories survived the war intact, so after the war production continued as the Avia S-92.
  The first S-92 was built at the Letňany Research Institute in 1945 with the airframe from Avia and the twin engines from the repair works in Malešice. Junkers developed the engines as the Jumo 004, and the Czechs redesignated them M-04). The S-92 first flew on 27 September 1946, with Avia's chief pilot Antonin Kraus in control. That same year on 10 December the CS-92 flew for the first time.
  Delivery of the first S-92 to the Czechoslovak Air Force was on 6 February 1948. A total of 12 were made, nine S-92 and three CS-92, equipping the 5th Fighter Flight, until they were grounded for use as instructional airframes in 1951.
  By the time Yugoslavia showed interest in buying the S-92, Avia was looking at closing down the production line to make way for newer up-to-date aircraft. When Avia was granted a license to make the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 Fagot (they were already making the Yakovlev Yak 23 Flora, as the S-101) the S-92 production lines were dismantled.
  There are an Avia S-92 (A-1a) and Avia CS-92 (B-1a) at the Prague Aviation Museum in Kbely.
  Later Avia made the B-33, which is a licensed Ilyushin Il-10, and the Avia 14, which is a licensed Ilyushin Il-14 airliner able to carry 42 passengers. The Avia 14 became the largest aircraft ever made in Czechoslovakia.
  Aircraft production ceased in 1960, and for several years only aircraft engines and propellers were manufactured for other Czechoslovak and foreign manufacturers.
caption: Avia B-534
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