Tag: Europe

Park of Military History-Pivka, Slovenia

Posted on by Kevan V
Pivka-Pavilion A
The view across Pavilion A. This hall focuses on the Cold War and the rise of Slovenia as an independent nation.

Align yourself with Non-Aligned History

Pivka is a small town about an hour and a half by train from the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. The town is home to an extensive and immersive military history park that is well worth the train ride to visit.

Established in 2006, the park focuses mainly on the period from the lead-up to the Second World War to the establishment of Slovenia as an independent nation in 1991—effectively from just before the German occupation to the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and the end of the Cold War in Europe.

When one thinks of the Cold War, it’s typically in terms of the Eastern and Western blocs, NATO versus the Warsaw Pact, and so on. However, there was also the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a nuanced “third way” that allowed member nations a greater degree of flexibility in trade and domestic development than strict allegiance to either East or West would have permitted. The Park of Military History does an excellent job of presenting the Non-Aligned Movement in context and explaining the former Yugoslavia’s role as a founding nation.

The non-aligned stance of the former Yugoslavia allowed the country to cultivate strong trade relations with Western nations while supporting its domestic industries. That flexibility is reflected in the eclectic nature of the park’s collection. Here you’ll find military machines and equipment from Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, the Soviet Union, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and others—mingling alongside an impressive selection of domestically produced gear.

At that, let’s take a look at the Park of Military History in Pivka:

Markers from the train station to guide you to the park.

From the Station to the Park

Almost as soon as you get off the train in Pivka, you’ll find a marked trail leading from the station to the park. Go through the station building, turn right as you exit, and before long you’ll see military bootprints and the international symbol for museums painted on the ground to mark the route.

The walk took me about ten minutes and wasn’t too strenuous, though the trail does have a notable incline, so your time may vary.

The heart of the park is the main building (Komanda), where you pay admission, and three display pavilions, in addition to an outdoor exhibit area. Once I had paid my admission, my first stop was the outdoor display, where the exhibits too large to go indoors are kept.

Among the larger exhibits, you’ll see a German-made steam locomotive from the Second World War. During the war, it was used by the occupying German forces; afterwards, it was given to the former Yugoslavia as a war reparation and played a critical role in rebuilding the nation in the post-war years.

There’s also a fast patrol boat of Italian origin that was used by the Slovenian Maritime Police from 1995 to 2021. You can tour the interior of the boat with a guide, but this must be reserved by email or phone ahead of time.

The IAR-93 Vultur was the Romanian variation of a strike aircraft jointly produced by Yugoslavia and Romania in the 1970s.

One outdoor exhibit worth a closer look is the IAR-93 Vultur strike aircraft.

In the 1970s, Yugoslavia and Romania jointly developed this aircraft. The IAR-93 Vultur was the Romanian variant, while the Yugoslav version was known as the J-22 Orao. Although Romania was a member of the Warsaw Pact at the time, it had ceased to be a Soviet satellite by the mid-1960s and thus had the autonomy to partake in such a project freely. Both versions were powered by a pair of British-designed Viper engines built under licence in both Romania and Yugoslavia.

The principal idea behind the aircraft was to provide both creator nations—and others in the Non-Aligned Movement—with a simple, credible combat aircraft that offered an alternative to products from either bloc.

Ultimately, the aircraft wasn’t used outside Romania and Yugoslavia, but it stands as a testament to the benefits of non-alignment in the Cold War—not only for the freedom it gave the two nations to collaborate without external oversight, but also for the flexibility it afforded them in sourcing components from suppliers of their choosing.

Today, most surviving examples are in museums, though a small fleet remains in service with the Serbian Air Force.

Pavilion B armour - Pivka
The armour collection in Pavilion B.

Armour and Artillery

Once I’d finished exploring the outdoor displays, I moved on to Pavilions B and C, which stand directly adjacent. These pavilions focus on armour and artillery, covering the Second World War through to the mid-1950s.

Inside, you’ll find vehicles and equipment not only of domestic origin but also from a variety of Allied nations. This diversity reflects the fact that the Yugoslav Partisans were one of the most effective resistance movements of the war and received considerable support from the Allies. You’ll also see German equipment that was captured and used by the Partisans.

Among the highlights: a Soviet T-34 tank sits alongside an American Sherman, a British Bren Gun Carrier, and the domestically designed M-48 mountain gun. Display cabinets feature smaller sidearms, gas masks, and other equipment.

The domestically developed SOKO 522 in Pavilion C.

There are also aviation elements here. Pavilion B contains the remains of a Royal Air Force Spitfire Mk IX that was shot down in September 1944 and excavated in 2019. The aircraft was based in Italy and on a mission to attack German ground targets when it was shot down over the outskirts of Ljubljana. The pilot, Sergeant Peter J. Clark, survived and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.

Pavilion C includes two domestically designed trainer aircraft from the 1950s and 60s, including the SOKO 522. First flown in 1955, it served as the main primary trainer for the Yugoslav Air Force until 1978.

living room - Pivka
A living room from 1991, with news footage of the Ten Day War that ended in Slovenia’s independance showing on the television.

Tito’s Yugoslavia and the Road to Freedom

From Pavilion C, I made my way back through the outdoor display and past the Komanda building toward Pavilion A, which showcases Yugoslavia through the Cold War, its dissolution, and the founding of modern Slovenia in 1991.

The park itself is a piece of history: the buildings and grounds began life as an Italian army barracks in the interwar period. Until 1944, the western section of Slovenia that includes Pivka belonged to the Kingdom of Italy. From 1945 to 1991, the site served as a Yugoslav army barracks. It was eventually given to the municipality of Pivka by the Slovenian military on the condition that it be turned into a museum.

I entered Pavilion A via a lift to the upper level. The first exhibit is a well-organized and immersive timeline that takes you through the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy and the formation of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945 under Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980).

Tito had led the Yugoslav Partisans during the war and envisioned a Communist Yugoslav state. Post-war relations between Tito and Josef Stalin were initially good but soured by 1948, as Tito’s ideas for Yugoslavia’s internal and foreign policies diverged from Soviet and Eastern Bloc interests.

The exhibit then traces the temporary warming of relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union in the mid-to-late 1950s, followed by Yugoslavia’s emergence as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961.

As the timeline progresses, it explores the shifts in political power between the Yugoslav republics, as well as the ethnic tensions that led to the Yugoslav Wars (1991–2001). The most critical of these for Slovenia was the Ten-Day War (June–July 1991), in which the Territorial Defence of Slovenia and the Slovenian police successfully drove the Yugoslav army out of Slovenia—paving the way for independence. The exhibit also gives good context on the Territorial Defence organization as a forerunner to today’s Slovenian Armed Forces.

The final section shows photographs and videos from the independence celebrations. The next room cleverly contrasts this with a reconstructed 1991 living room—complete with a black-and-white cathode-ray tube television playing wartime news footage.

A French designed Gazelle helicopter in Territorial Defense of Slovenia markings.

Air, Land, and Sea

From the domesticity of the 1991 living room, you step out onto a balcony overlooking the main display hall. Compared to the low-lit and somewhat claustrophobic timeline exhibit, the main hall is bright and spacious, illuminated by both natural and artificial light. I paused to let my eyes adjust before descending to the floor below.

One of the first exhibits you’ll encounter is a Gazelle helicopter. Designed in France but widely used by the Yugoslav military, over 100 Gazelles were licence-built in Yugoslavia. The one on display was Slovenia’s first military aircraft. If you look closely around the Slovenian national markings, you can see where the old Yugoslav insignia were painted over.

Nearby is a line of domestically designed BOV vehicles—Borbeno Oklopno Vozilo (Combat Armoured Vehicle). The BOV has been in production since 1985 and has adapted to a wide variety of roles over the years. The park’s collection includes versions for anti-aircraft operations as well as a police variant for riot control.

BOVs at Pivka
BOV vehicles in Pavilion A.

In the same section, you’ll find Soviet-made armoured vehicles painted in early Slovenian Armed Forces or Territorial Defence markings.

Other aviation exhibits include a MiG-21 fighter in Yugoslav Air Force markings and an Agusta-Bell AB.212 helicopter of the Slovenian police.

Rounding the corner, you come face to face with one of the park’s star attractions—an Una-class submarine named Zeta.

The Una class was a domestically developed special-operations submarine designed to operate in the northern Adriatic Sea and capable of infiltrating Italian ports. Manned by a crew of four, it could also carry six naval commandos.

The Una class submarine, Zeta, on display.

Six Una-class submarines were built between 1985 and 1989. Plans for further improved models were abandoned after Yugoslavia’s breakup. Four of the six are known to survive in museums. You can tour the interior of Zeta, but advance reservation is required so a guide can accompany you.

The final section of the hall contains mostly Soviet or other Warsaw Pact vehicles, while above them are two American-designed fighter jets—the Republic F-84G Thunderjet and the North American F-86D Sabre—illustrating again how Yugoslavia’s non-aligned status enabled it to access Western technology.

After finishing in Pavilion A, I returned to the Komanda building to browse the well-stocked souvenir shop. As the park’s restaurant is in the same building, I enjoyed lunch there before heading back to the station for my train to Ljubljana.

North American F-86D Sabre in Pavilion A.

Paying a Visit and Learning More

Getting from Ljubljana to Pivka by train is straightforward. I found the Slovenian Railways website easy to use for buying tickets and checking schedules; several direct trains run each day.

If you travel by car, there’s ample parking available, including electric vehicle charging and a parking area for motorhomes.

I was on a schedule the day I visited, so I didn’t have time to see everything. A trail connects the park to remnants of the Alpine Wall—a fortified defensive line Italy built in the 1930s—on nearby Primož Hill. The walk takes about 40 minutes according to the park’s website, but I couldn’t take a later train and still make my evening plans in Ljubljana. I also missed some of the smaller exhibits on the upper floors of the Komanda building.

I spent around three hours visiting the main display pavilions. As Slovenia’s largest military museum, it easily warrants a full day if your schedule allows.

To learn more:

  • The official park website contains up-to-date information on admission prices, operating hours, and how to book tours of the police boat and submarine interiors.
  • An article and photo report from the Croatian-based Achtung, Skyhawk! aviation website offers excellent insight into the histories and restorations of the F-86D Sabre, MiG-21, F-84G Thunderjet, and Gazelle aircraft in Pavilion A.
  • As different people experience places differently, I also recommend an article from the Italian-based Paola Everywhere travel website, which follows the adventures of a single mother and her son. Her story gives a wonderful sense of the park’s family-friendly atmosphere.

Let L-23 Super Blaník – Good Gets Better

Posted on by Kevan V
L-23 taking off at Brno, 2025
An L-23 goes aloft at Brno, Czech Republic, in 2025.

Feeding the Flame of Success

The Let aircraft company is one of the younger players in Czech aviation history. Founded in 1936 in Kunovice as a division of the much older Avia company—which itself was then a division of Škoda Works—Let quickly found its place in the industry.

Following the Second World War and Socialist take over of the former Czechoslovakia, Let was nationalised. This allowed the company to become a designer and manufacturer of its own aircraft rather than producing for others.

Let is still based in Kunovice, in the southeast of the Czech Republic. Since 2022, it has been under the ownership of the Prague-based Omnipol Group, a major importer and exporter of defence and aviation products in both the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia.

Despite its relative youth among Czech aircraft manufacturers, Let has given the small nation some of its most successful designs. Chief among them is the L-13 Blaník sailplane.

The L-13 was a resounding success at home and abroad. It was widely exported and over 3,000 were built between 1958 and 1978. This makes it the most-produced sailplane of the post–Second World War era, and one of the most-produced sailplanes in history.

Only a few years after L-13 production ended, momentum grew to create a new and improved version to carry the Blaník legacy forward.

That improved aircraft would take shape as the L-23 Super Blaník, let’s spend some time with it:

L-23 after landing at Brno in 2024
L-23 just after landing. Brno, Czech Republic, 2024.

Striking Hot Iron

By the mid-1980s, there was strong interest in reviving sailplane production at Kunovice

For Let, it was a matter of staying active in the sailplane business. The company had other aircraft, but the L-13 Blaník had been its only glider design in several years, and production of that type had ended. Given the great success of the L-13, it was certainly in Let’s interest to build on it and maintain its reputation in that sector of aviation.

Other forces pushing for an improved Blaník included Omnipol and Svazarm. At the time, Omnipol held a complete monopoly on the import and export of aircraft in Czechoslovakia. The L-13 had been a highly reliable product for them, generating many satisfied customers, so it was very much in Omnipol’s interest to have an updated version to offer.

Svazarm, which existed from 1951 to 1990, was an organisation that promoted cooperation between the civilian population and the military. It provided military-style training in a number of disciplines, including flight. The L-13 was a major training type within Svazarm, and the organisation also encouraged development of an improved variant.

L-23 in flight over Brno, Czech Republic in 2023.

A Tall Order

Improving on the L-13 Blaník was no easy task. It was an immensely popular aircraft with many advantages.

At its heart, the L-13 was a training glider of primarily metal construction, renowned for its resilience to hard landings and other novice pilot mistakes. It also had a semi-retractable main landing wheel that helped protect the fuselage if a pilot forgot to lower it before landing.

The L-13 was also known for its affordability and cost-effectiveness. As fibreglass and other high-maintenance composite materials became the norm in sailplane construction, a simple, tough, metal design like the Blaník still had strong appeal.

Whatever changes were made, what made the Blaník the Blaník had to be preserved.

In the spring of 1986, a team was assembled to design and produce the improved version. The new variant first flew in May 1988 and entered full production in 1989 as the L-23 Super Blaník.

L-23 at Breclav in 2022
An L-23 at Břeclav, Czech Republic in 2022. This shows both the metal construction the L-23 shared with the L-13 and the changes that set the L-23 apart.

Building a Better Blaník

As with the L-13 before it, the L-23 was primarily of metal construction and retained the semi-retractable main landing wheel. The main areas of improvement, aside from handling, were ergonomics, safety, and weight reduction. These goals drove substantial redesigns of the tail, forward fuselage, and wings.

Tail redesign

The tail was completely reworked. The vertical fin was swept back, and the horizontal stabiliser was moved from the base of the fin to the top.

This higher position made the stabiliser less vulnerable to damage during rough-field landings. It also allowed the component to be built as a single piece, simplifying both its construction and its attachment to the aircraft.

Another improvement at the tail was replacing the L-13’s metal skid with a swivelling tail wheel, making the aircraft far easier to handle on the ground.

L-23 landing at Breclav in 2022.
L-23 landing at Břeclav, Czech Republic in 2022.

Wing redesign

The L-23’s wing was also substantially changed. Designers deleted the wing flaps, which the L-13 had but were rarely used in practice. This made the L-23 wing lighter and simpler, though the trade-off was reduced aerobatic capability compared to the L-13. However, the modifications improved handling at higher speeds.

The large metal wingtip skids of the L-13 were replaced with much lighter fibreglass structures containing small wheels. Like the tail wheel, these improved ground handling.

Later-production L-23s could also be fitted with optional wing extensions, which improved efficiency and glide performance.

Forward fuselage redesign

Up front, the focus was on pilot comfort and visibility.

The cockpit was slightly roomier than that of the L-13, with improved seating, including a seat that could be ballasted to compensate for lighter pilots.

The canopy and sill were redesigned to extend farther downward than the L-13’s, giving the pilot better outward visibility. Later-production aircraft also featured reduced canopy framing, which improved visibility further.

The canopy was divided into two sections: the front hinged sideways, and the rear hinged upward and backward. This made the sections lighter and easier to manage, and also made entry and exit from the rear seat more convenient.

L-23 rear aspect, Brno 2020
Rear quarter view of an L-23 at Brno, Czech Republic in 2020.

The Super Blaník’s Place

While the L-23 Super Blaník was every bit as rugged a trainer as the L-13, it never achieved the same production run. About 300 L-23s were built between 1989 and 2007.

A major factor in the smaller number was the fall of socialism in Europe in 1989, which brought financial challenges and ownership changes to Let.

Additionally, by the time the L-23 reached the market, more modern sailplanes were available. The L-23 was a worthy heir to the L-13, but ultimately it was a modification of an older design, and flying clubs often chose newer models when budgets allowed.

Even so, the L-23 has enjoyed popularity with those who fly it, and it has been exported to roughly 30 countries. Among its operators is the United States Air Force Academy, where it is known as the TG-10B Merlin.

The L-23 also gave something back to the Blaník family. In the late 1990s, the concept of an aerobatics trainer within the lineage took shape. The result was the L-13AC, which first flew in July 1997. It inherited some of the L-23’s modifications: its wing was a shortened, modified version of the L-23’s, and it shared the L-23’s forward fuselage, though with a one-piece canopy.

L-23 at Brno, Czech Republic in 2017.

The L-23 Today and Learning More

With about 300 built and exports to some 30 countries, the L-23 remains a workhorse, and many are still flying today.

Since 2014, the type certificates for all Blaník-family aircraft have been held by the Prague-based Blaník Aircraft company. As such, ongoing support remains available to keep the type in the air for years to come.

Nostalgia also plays a role in keeping the Blaník family alive. Many pilots around the world learned to fly in an L-13 or L-23 and hold fond memories of them. Within the sailplane community, these aircraft are very much considered “classics.”

To learn more about the L-23 and its place in the Blaník lineage, a good first stop is this article on the Orlita.net website. It covers the entire aircraft family in detail; the L-23 specific part starts halfway down the page. It’s all in Czech, but responds well to online translators.

Sukhoi Sunset

Posted on by Kevan V

This week is the end of an era as the Polish air force retires the last of its Sukhoi Su-22 fleet.

The Su-22 is an attack aircraft produced by the former Soviet Union. It entered service with the Polish air force in 1984.

The retirement of the Polish Su-22 fleet marks the end of Su-22 operations in Europe.

It’s an aircraft I didn’t get a chance to see much of in action. By the time I relocated from Canada to the Czech Republic in 2004, Czech air force Su-22s were in museums.

These are pictures I took of Polish Su-22s at the 2013 and 2022 editions of the AirPower air show in Zeltweg, Austria:

Břeclav Air Day – 2025 Edition

Posted on by Kevan V

June 21 and 22 of 2025 saw the annual Letecký Den (Air Day) event at Břeclav, Czech Republic take place.

It was a great show, the weather could not have been better and there was a good amount of variety and action to take in.

The show had some of the regular performers as well as some newcomers to keep things fresh

Here’s some of my pictures for the Saturday show:

Pardubice Aviation Fair – 2025

Posted on by Kevan V

The Pardubice Aviation Fair is an annual event that takes place in Pardubice, Czech Republic. the 2025 edition of the show took place on June 7 and 8. I attended the June 7 show.

It was a pleasantly varied show with a lot of vintage aircraft with some modern in the mix.

We had scattered rain throughout the day, so photogaraphy was a challenge, but I managed to get some presentable shots.

Čáslav Base Open Day, 2025

Posted on by Kevan V

On May 17 of 2025, the Czech air force base at Čáslav hosted its Day of Open Doors event.

The mostly overcast and windy weather, along with higly variable lighting conditions, made photography a challenge to say the least.

In spite of the challenges, it was a good show and I’m happy I went to it.

Here’s a few images from the day:

Letov Š-1 and Š-2 – Domestic Defenders

Posted on by Kevan V
Letov S-2 at kbely 1
A Letov Š-2 preserved at the Kbely aviation musum in Prague, Czech Republic

Wings of Self-Sufficiency

The Czech Republic has a long and rich aviation history that reaches back to the early days of flight and predates the independence of former Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary in 1918.

The newly emergent nation had a ready and able talent pool of highly skilled professionals from a variety of technical disciplines and hit the ground running from the moment it was established as a free and sovereign state. This should come as no surprise as Czech and Slovak technical prowess was a driving force behind much of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s industrial and military might.

The Škoda Works of Plzeň, for example, was founded in 1859 and was the largest arms manufacturer in Austria-Hungary at the outbreak of the First World War. Another example was the Vítkovice iron and steel mill established in Ostrava in 1828. Vítkovice was the most important iron and steel producing facility in Austria-Hungary as well as being a major producer of armaments for the empire until the end of the First World War.

As Czechoslovakia was a fully landlocked nation, it should also come as no surprize that developing a domestic aviation industry was an early priority. Letov was founded in 1918 and was the first Czechoslovak aviation company.

Initially founded as Air Arsenal, a state run repair and servicing facility for the foreign aircraft that made up the Czechoslovak army’s aviation arm, Air Arsenal quickly came into its own as a designer and manufacturer of aircraft. Air Arsenal was renamed to Main Aviation Workshops before the Letov name was finally put on it in the mid 1920s.

Letov was a strong performer in the interwar period with a prolific output of aircraft designs in both civilian and military categories.

As with all companies in the former Czechoslovakia in the Second World War, Letov was forced to support the German War effort. The company was used as a repair facility for Geman military aircraft and a production facility for the Junkers Ju 290 aircraft.

The last aircraft fully designed and built by Letov was the LF-107 Luňák glider which first flew in 1948. After the Communist takeover of the Czechoslovak government in 1948, Letov was tasked strictly with producing components for aircraft made by other manufacturers.

Letov still exists today and has been a subsidiary of French based Groupe Latecoere since 2000. Currently, Letov makes components and structures for civilian aircraft from Airbus, Boeing, Dassault and Embraer.

Letov can lay claim to the first domestically designed and mass produced Czech military aircraft, The Letov Š-1. The Š-1 first flew in 1920 and was followed soon after by the updated Š-2 version.

Nearly 100 examples of this aircraft family were built and stood as testament that the new nation was capable of supplying its military with a competent, homegrown aircraft to defend its skies.

Let’s spend some time with the Letov Š-1 and Š-2:

A Letov Š-2 preserved at the Kbely aviation musum in Prague, Czech Republic.

Getting off the Ground

The Letov Š-1 did not have an easy start, and could easily have never existed at all if sceptics in the Czechoslovak military had their way.

In the formative years of the Czechoslovak military air arm, there was a great deal of debate regarding the ability of domestic aircraft companies to supply aircraft to the military that were competitive with foreign designs.

The military favoured foreign suppliers, particularly France. The French government and French aircraft companies were quite eager for the opportunity to supply aircraft to the Czechoslovak military. In fact, a number of French aircraft types served in the nation’s military in the interwar period; examples included the SPAD VII and XIII fighters along with a fleet of Bloch MB.200 bombers that were license built in Czechoslovakia by the Aero and Avia companies.

In the face of military scepticism, the various domestic aircraft producers rose to the challenge and began designing aircraft that would serve military interests.

There was a lot of national pride on the line. The Czechs and Slovaks had just come out from under centuries of Habsburg rule and were eager to show the world that they were capable and competent of being a self-sufficient and modern nation in every aspect, including national defense.

Design work began on what would become the Š-1 in 1919, with the prototype taking to the air for the first time in April of 1920. The aircraft was intended to fill the light bomber and reconnaissance roles. Shortly after the first flight, the military ordered five aircraft for trial purposes.

In autumn of 1920, a more refined prototype was exhibited to an international audience in Prague. This served notice to the world at large that the aviation industry of Czechoslovakia was a competent one and not to be overlooked as a potential supplier of aircraft.

Soon after that exhibition, the Czechoslovak military placed an order for 50 of the new aircraft.

Letov S-2 cockpit
The pilot and observer stations of the Letov Š-2 preserved at the Kbely aviation musum in Prague, Czech Republic.

Not Perfect, but a Start

The new aircraft, initially designated as Šm-1, was an ambitious design for the time.

While it was a biplane, as was still common for the timeframe, the Šm-1 was constructed completely from wood. This contrasted with many of its contemporaries that still incorporated large areas of cloth covering on wood frame in their construction.

The fuselage of the aircraft was perhaps the most notable aspect of the design as it was made from molded plywood construction. It was a construction method most famously associated with the World War Two era DeHavilland Mosquito from Great Britain, but was very unusual in the immediate post World War One period.

While the molded plywood construction method gave the Šm-1 a strong fuselage that was more durable than traditional cloth on frame construction, it made the aircraft unpopular with ground crews and maintenance personnel. Repairing damage to the wooden fuselage was more complex and took longer than with the cloth on frame types the crews were more familiar with.

Pilots were also not fond of the aircraft as it had issues with directional stability, so was a challenge to fly. Despite several attempts by Letov to remedy the stability problems, they were never overcome.

In spite of the above problems, the Šm-1 and its descendants succeeded in showing that the Czechoslovak aircraft industry was up to the task of providing aircraft to the nation’s military that were of a modern standard.

Only the engines and armaments of the aircraft were of foreign origin. Early variants were fitted with a six cylinder Hiero engine of Austrian design, while later variants used a six cylinder Maybach engine of German origins. Both early and later versions featured a British designed Vickers machine gun for the pilot and a ring mount for a pair of American designed Lewis guns for the observer.

In the light bomber role, the aircraft could carry two 50 kilogram bombs or twelve 10 kilogram bombs. It could also be fitted with a camera for reconnaissance work.

The Šm-1 and its descendants formed a small family of aircraft comprised of two main variants, the engine fit being the main point of differentiation:

Šm-1/Š-1

The Šm-1 and Š-1 are the same aircraft. The difference came from a change in the Czechoslovak military designation system, where the Š-1 designation replaced Šm-1 in 1923.

These early versions of the aircraft were fitted with a six cylinder Hiero L engine of around 230 horsepower. A total of 28 examples of the Š-1 version were made.

Š-2

The Š-2 designation was used for later aircraft that were fitted with a six cylinder Maybach Mb.IVa engine of around 260 horsepower. The change of engines was due to the Hiero L engine being out of production and in very short supply. By comparison, the Maybach engine was plentiful and easy to accquire.

The Maybach engine brough a modest improvement in the aircraft’s performance, but came with its own set of drawbacks. The main issue was that the Maybach Mb.IVa was optimised for use on airships rather than conventional aircraft. To make it work on conventional aircraft, the engine needed a number of adjustments made that added further challenge to flying the aircraft, such as very sensitive throttle and carburetor controls.

A total of 64 examples of the Š-2 version built; fellow Czechoslovak aircraft company, Aero, license built 40 of them.

Letov S-2 at Kbely rear angle
A Letov Š-2 preserved at the Kbely aviation musum in Prague, Czech Republic. Note the alternate ski landing gear.

The Mind Behind the Machine

Alois Šmolík (1893-1952) was the man behind the design of the Letov Š-1. An aeronautical engineer and business man, Šmolík was the chief designer and technical director of Letov from its establishment until he left the company 1943.

Šmolík’s interest in aviation showed while he was still a student at technical school. He build his first glider in 1910 and his first powered aircraft in 1913.

He joined the military in 1913 and was wounded in late 1914 while serving on the Russian Front. After being wounded, he was reassigned to Vienna and tasked with organizing the design department of the Austro-Hungarian air force. He also spent some time building his knowledge of aeronautics through study at the Vienna Institute of Technology.

Šmolík returned home to Prague after the war and helped to establish the state run Aviation Arsenal, which would eventually be renamed Letov.

Under Šmolík’s watch, the company flourished and produced a remarkable number of aircraft types, some of them seeing significant production runs for the time period.

Aside of the Š-1 and Š-2, important Letov designs from the interwar period included:

  • Š-4: First flown in 1922, the Š-4 replaced French made SPAD VII and XIII fighters in Czechoslovak service. 20 were made.
  • Š-6: A bomber first flown in 1923, the Š-6 set a new altitude record for flying with a 500kg payload. It also set a national record for endurance flight at 10 hours and 32 minutes. 35 were made.
  • Š-16: First flown in 1926, this bomber design existed in several variants and was exported to Latvia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. 89 were produced.
  • Š-18: First flown in 1925, the Š-18 was a training aircraft that was exported for military use to Bulgaria and Finland. The aircraft proved quite popular with private pilots and flying clubs as well. 46 were built.
  • Š-20: A fighter design first flown in 1925, it was used mostly by the Czechsolovak military with a small number exported to Lithuania. Approximately 118 were built.
  • Š-31: First flown in 1929, the Š-31 and its derivatives were fighters. Aside of Czechoslovakia, versions of this aircraft were used by the Slovak air force during the Second World War. They were also used by the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War and the Spanish air force after the civil war. 33 were produced.
  • Š-39: A sport aircraft first flown in 1931, it was popular in flying clubs in Czechoslovakia. 21 were built.
  • Š-328: First flown in 1933 the Š-328 was a reconnaissance aircraft used by air arms in Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Romania as well as Czechoslovakia. It was used by both the Slovak air force and Slovak insurgent forces during the Second World War. Approximately 412 were made.

Alois Šmolík left Letov in 1943. As German occupation forbade any design and construction of Letov’s own aircraft in favour of the company servicing German needs, there was nothing to keep Šmolík there. He moved his family to Příbram, south-west of Prague, and spent the rest of his life in non-aviation related work there.

Letov S-2 nose
A Letov Š-2 preserved at the Kbely aviation musum in Prague, Czech Republic.

What Remains and Learning More

The interwar period was a time of remarkably quick advances in aeronautics. For aircraft from a newly established nation in that timeframe, the Letov Š-1 and Š-2 did well for themselves.

In spite of their shortcomings, nearly 100 were built and they served the Czechoslovak military from 1920 to 1926 before being gradually replaced by more modern domestic designs, such as the Aero A.12 and A.11.

Only one example of this aircraft family remains intact to the present, an Š-2 that is part of the excellent Kbely Aviation Museum collection in Prague, Czech Republic.

This specific aircraft was removed from service in 1926 and ordered to be scrapped in 1928. Happily, the aircraft was spared and taken into the collection of the Military Museum of the Czechoslovak Republic.

The aircraft was moved to the National Technical Museum’s care in 1935 and remained in their collection until it was transfered to the Kbely museum in 1979.

A large scale restoration of the aircraft began in 1983 and concluded in 2003.

Further Reading

To learn more about the Letov Š-1 and Š-2, a good start would be to visit the dedicated articles about the types on the Československé Letectví and vinar.cz websites. Both articles are written in Czech, but respond reasonably well to online translator functions.

You can also visit this page at the Czech Military historic Institute’s website. It contains general information about the Š-1 and Š-2 as well as more detailed information about the Š-2 preserved at the Kbely Aviation Museum. This article is also in Czech, but works well with online translator functions.