The Avia B.158 was a prototype Czechoslovak twin-engined
light bomber aircraft of the 1930s. Only a single example was built and it was abandoned, following the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
occupation of Czechoslovakia
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
in March 1939.
Development and design
In 1935, the Czech aircraft company
Avia produced the B-58 design for a small twin-engined bomber with a fixed undercarriage, powered by two 313 kW (420 hp)
Avia Rk.17
The Avia Rk.17 was a 9-cylinder radial engine, radial aircraft engine, developed from the 7-cylinder Avia Rk.12, with a Power rating, rated output of 270 kW (360 hp). The Rk.17 was one of Avia's own designs and was built in Czechoslovaki ...
radial engines. This design was abandoned in 1936 and replaced by a more powerful and advanced derivative, the Avia B.158, which was designed to meet a requirement from the
Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defense (MNO) for a high performance medium bomber, capable of operation during both day and night, and competing against
Aero Vodochody's
A.300.
[Avia B-158]
". ''Samaloty Wojskowe Świata 1935-1945''. (In Polish). Retrieved 14 December 2009.
In 1937, Avia started to build a single prototype of the B-158, a three-seat low-winged
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
with
inverted gull-wings, a retractable
tailwheel undercarriage
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...
and 634 kW (850 hp)
Avia (Hispano-Suiza) 12Ydrs engines, making its maiden flight in mid-1938.
It was fitted with a twin-tail to give a better field of fire for the dorsal gun position.
While the competing
Aero A.300 gave superior performance, neither had entered into production by the time Germany completed
its conquest of Czechoslovakia. After testing by the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
at their test centre at
Rechlin
Rechlin is a municipality in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, around 100 km (60 mi) northwest of Berlin. The town's airport has a long history and was the Luftwaffe's main testing ground for new aircraft designs in Nazi Germany. ...
, the prototype B-158 was scrapped in 1940.
Specifications (B.158)
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
* "Plane Facts: One-off Czech". ''
Air International'', January 1981, Vol 20 No. 1. p. 48.
External links
AVIA B-158(In Czech)
{{AVIA aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Gull-wing aircraft
1930s Czechoslovakian bomber aircraft
B-158
Aircraft first flown in 1938
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft