Interwar Czechoslovak Air Force

Excellent work, its great to see these Central European types. Another good thread mixing great art with good research!

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Avia B-71 (Tupolev SB-2)
The first production Tupolev SB-2 rolled off the production line in SSSR before the end of 1935. A number of these being diverted to Spain where giving excellent performance in the Spanish Civil War.
In 1937, negotiations were successfully concluded between the Soviet and Czechoslovak governments for the supply of SB-2 bombers and a licence for local production in exchange for the right to produce the Skoda 75 mm Model 1936 mountain gun. The version of the SB-2 to be supplied to, and subsequently license-built as the Avia B-71 was fundamentally the SB 2M-100A but fitted with the Avia-built Hispano-Suiza 12-Ydrs engine. A single 7.92 mm ZB-30 machine gun supplanted the twin ShKAS machine guns in the nose and similar weapons were provided for the dorsal and ventral stations.
Sixty aircraft were flown to Czechoslovakia by mid-1938. The planned licensed production program took a decidedly leisurely course, despite the increasingly dangerous political situation. By 15 March 1939, when the German Wehrmacht occupied Bohemia and Moravia, not one Czech-built aircraft had been delivered.
source: wikipedia.org

Great work! Keep it up!

Great work! SB-2 is quite likely the most beautiful inter-war light bomber IMO.

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"If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done." ~Ludwig Wittgenstein

Avia F-VII and F-IX (Fokker F-VIIb/3m and Fokker F-IX)
Though the Avia works produced some of Europe's best fighters between the world wars, it was not judged economically feasible to attempt a heavy bomber. Accordingly, Avia, obtained a licence for the Fokker F.VII/3m, the pre-eminent civil transport of the 1920s, and while producing this for civil use also schemed a bomber version. The Czechoslovak army however judged this aircraft too small. The upshot was a further licence for the Fokker F.IX, considerably bigger and weighing more than twice as much.

In 1932, Avia built 12 F.IX bombers, powered by three Walter Jupiter VII engines rated at 450 hp, carrying an internal bomb load of up to 1500 kg (3307 lb) and with any of a variety of armament schemes involving manually-aimed vz.28 7.92-mm (0.312-in) machinegun above and below the fuselage and firing from beam windows. Some aircraft had a retractable ventral 'dustbin'. Czechoslovak ally, Jugoslavia, bought two slightly modified aircraft desig-nated F 39, powered by Gnome-Rhone Jupiters, and obtained a sub-licence for this version. Avia also built two examples as airliners for Czechoslovakian Airlines as the F.IX D (Dopravní - "transport"). One of these survived into World War II, when it was impressed into Luftwaffe service (as TF+BO).

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References and feedback is always welcome!

Very interesting, good work!

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Excellent work. This is a quality thread.

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