Monday, 29 August 2016

Avia S-92 - Never were users

This is some atypical post as we cover the intended foreign users of this airplane.

The first country to show interest on this airplane was Yugoslavia, as in 1947 a Yugoslav pilot was trained in Czechoslovakia on the type.
The Yugoslav were very interested on improving their fighter fleet with some jets in order to support their mixed propeller fighters. After reconsidering it, they decided to stick to propeller fighters until the more modern jets like the American F-84 Thunderjet was available. Their other concern was that Avia maybe could cancel the S-92 project as it wasn't economically profitable.

Israel on it's part, showed some interest on the type during 1948 and 1949 in order to fly them or buying the already completed few ones for cash. Apparently, in 1950 there are reports from Egyptian intelligence of an Israeli jet fighter crashing into Ekron airbase, when the whole Israeli Air Force at the time was still piston-powered. According to that report the type that crashed was most likely an Avia S-92. Some time later, an Egyptian transport airplane reported that was harassed by an Israeli jet airplane that looked like a German Me.262.
Actually, the S-92 was never flown by the IAF even if they started negotiations to buy it. It seems that the origin of the urban legend is on the British intentional leaks to Egyptian intelligence in order to cover-up the fact that, in 1950, Israel had already jet fighters, some of the earlier version of the Gloster Meteor and some De Havilland Vampires, even if it wasn't until 1953 that they oficially recognized their existance.
The IAF has stated many times, the last one in 2005 that they have never flown the Avia S-92.










Sources:
1. https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/the-s-92-czechoslovakias-me-262/
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of FIghters

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