Tuesday, 30 August 2016

Avia S-92

Considering that every jigs, tools and component required to manufacture the Me.262 were left behind in Czechoslovakia by the Germans, were seized by the Soviets and then handed back to Czechoslovak authorities by the Marshal Ivan Konev, it comes no surprise that the Me.262A1-a was manufactured in Czechoslovakia after the World War II.

More precisely, Me.262 fuselages had been produced in Letnany, some other components were built in converted railway tunnels and CKD and Walter Works had manufactured the Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine at Cheb, close to the German border.
That way, enough components were recovered and/or manufactured to build 17 single and two-seat Me.262, flying the first single-seater one on 27th August 1946, even if on 5th September it was lost in an accident. A second one, named as Avia S-92 first series, flew on 24th October and was followed by the first CS-92 (the two-seater trainer variant) on 10th December.
It was dubbed Turbina (Turbine) and the 7th aircraft of the CS variant was fitted with a BMW 003 turbojets, with 950kgp of thrust power. However the flight test weren't satisfactory so it fitted back to the standard Jumo engines. The eleventh and twelth aircrafts were completed during 1949 and the summer of 1950 to equip the 5th Fighter Squadron which was exclusively flying the Turbinas, however this unit was disbanded a year later and the S-92 were scrapped.










Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://www.military.cz/czech/air/avia/s92/default.htm (translated)

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