The MÁVAG ''Héja'' ("Hawk") was a Hungarian fighter aircraft based on the Italian Reggiane Re.2000. The 70 Reggiane Re2000s delivered from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

were modified with Hungarian equipment and fitted with Hungarian-built Manfred Weiss WM K-14 engines. The Héja was re-designed for Hungarian manufacture as the Héja II and a further 203 were built by

MÁVAG MÁVAG (''Magyar Királyi Államvasutak Gépgyára''; ''Hungarian Royal State Railroads' Machine Factory'') was the largest Hungarian rail vehicle producer. MÁVAG company was the second largest industrial enterprise after the Manfréd Weiss Steel ...

for the Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierő (Royal Hungarian Air Force), which used them in operations against the Soviet Union alongside German units.

Design and development

In December 1939 seventy Reggiane Re.2000 fighters, purchased from Italy, were delivered to the ''Magyar Királyi Állami Vas-, Acél- és Gépgyárak'', ("Royal Hungarian State Iron, Steel and Machine Works"), where they were modified into MÁVAG Héja I ("Hawk I") fighters. The original

Piaggio P.XI The Piaggio P.XI was an Italian 14-cylinder radial aircraft engine. The P.XI was a licensed derivative of the French Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major 14K produced in Italy.Gunston 1989, p.110. Isotta Fraschini also produced a version of the 14K ca ...

engines were replaced by the Hungarian-built Manfred Weiss WM K-14 driving

Hamilton Standard Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...

three-bladed, constant-speed propellers. The WM K-14 was a licensed copy of the French Gnome-Rhône 14K engine that necessitated a 1-foot 3-inch lengthening of the fighters' forward fuselage to restore the center of gravity to a safe position. The Piaggio engine was itself also a copy of the Gnome-Rhône 14K, which was more reliable than the Italian engines. However, the aircraft also suffered from a number of drawbacks. The Hungarian and Italian chemical industries were not able to produce enough good insulation material for wing tanks, thus early planes (Héja I. and all of Italian Re.2000) flown with continuously leaking fuel tanks and late models (Héja II.) had rows of small tanks in the wing, therefore manufacturing complexity and weight of the plane has been increased. Yaw stability was poor and the Héja's predisposition to sideslip was very dangerous at low altitude (it killed

István Horthy Vitéz István Horthy de Nagybánya (9 December 1904 – 20 August 1942) was Hungarian regent Admiral Miklós Horthy's eldest son, a politician, and, during World War II, a fighter pilot. Biography In his youth, István Horthy and his young ...

), moreover the subsequent mass increase of Héja II. has worsened this issue. A decision was soon made to produce more Héja fighters under license in Hungary as the MÁVAG Héja II (''Hawk II''). The new Héja II was entirely Hungarian with locally produced airframes, engines and armament, which was changed to twin Gebauer Motorgeppuska 1940.Minta GKM motor-driven machine guns in the fuselage nose with 300 rpg. The first MÁVAG Héja II took to the air on 30 October 1942 and MÁVAG built a further 203 Héja IIs for the Royal Hungarian Air Force, with the last aircraft completed on 1 August 1944.

Operational history

The

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

was allied to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, with at least one Hungarian squadron flying the MÁVAG Héja in combat on the Eastern Front. However, most Héjas operated inside Hungary in an air defense role or as a trainer. On 20 August 1942, personal tragedy struck the Hungarian Regent

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the regent ...

, when 37-year-old

, Horthy's eldest son, Deputy Regent of Hungary and a Flight Lieutenant in the reserves, was killed while flying Heja ''V.421'' of 1/1 Fighter Squadron Royal Hungarian Air Force near Ilovskoye. In 1943, 98 Héjas were produced and another 72 in 1944. They were regarded as no longer suitable for combat against modern Soviet fighters and should have served as fighter trainers only. The ''Luftwaffe'' was reluctant to re-equip its Hungarian ally: the deliveries of aircraft went primarily to front-line formations and there was still danger of a Hungarian-

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n conflict. Moreover, Hitler held an extremely bad opinion of the Hungarian aviators. So, the Hungarian Air Force was forced to use the licence-built Reggiane. The last offensive sortie of the Hejas took place on 2 April 1944, when 180

15th Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

USAAF bombers, escorted by 170 fighters, bombed the Danube Aircraft Works in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and other targets. The Fighter Control Centre dispatched one wing of Hejas from 1/1 Fighter squadron, along with a couple of

Messerschmitt Me 210 The Messerschmitt Me 210 was a German heavy fighter and ground-attack aircraft of World War II. Design started before the war, as a replacement for the Bf 110. The first examples were ready in 1939, but they proved to have unacceptably poor ...

Cas and 12 Bf 109Gs. The Honvéd pilots claimed 11 American aircraft (six of them confirmed). USAAF pilots reported to have shot down 27 Hungarian aircraft, while only two Hungarians were killed.Neulen 2000, p. 136.

Operators

;

Royal Hungarian Air Force The Hungarian Air Force ( hu, Magyar Légierő), is the air force branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The task of the current Hungarian Air Force is primarily defensive purposes. The flying units of the air force are organised into a single ...

** ''2 Vadászszázad'' based at

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by other #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A City with county rights, city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, i ...

** ''Század Héja'' ** ''1/2.Század 'Keresztes pók'' ** ''2/1.Század 'Keresztes pók'' ** ''1/1.Vadászszázad'' ** ''2/1.Vadászszázad'' ** ''1/1.Század Dongó'',''Önálló Vadász Osztály'' (OVO)

Specifications (Héja II)

Design and development

Operational history

Operators

Specifications (Héja II)

See also

References

Further reading