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19-WWII Avia BH-33L

WWII Aircraft Listings - 1

The Avia BH-33 was a biplane fighter aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in 1927. It was based on the BH-21J which demonstrated promising results by combining the original BH-21 airframe with a licence-built Bristol Jupiter radial engine. Other than the peculiar Avia hallmark of having an upper wing with a shorter span than the lower, it was utterly conventional, even featuring a tail fin for the first time in a Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn design.

Maximum speed: 298 km/h (185.17 mph), Maiden flight: 21 Oct 1927, Length: 23.69 ft, Wingspan: 29.20 ft, Manufacturers: Avia · Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów Type: Fighter aircraft

Czechoslovakian BH-33s never saw combat, and Poland's examples had long been replaced in service by the time of the German invasion. Two Yugoslavian machines did, however see combat against Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109s, but were both destroyed and their pilots killed. The Avia BH-33 was a single-seat biplane fighter aircraft used during World War II. It was manufactured by the Czechoslovakian company Avia, as well as Ikarus and PWS under license. It was based on the BH-21, an earlier fighter that displayed promising combat performance. The aircraft made its first flight on 21 October, 1927, and was soon pressed into service with the Czechoslovak Air Force. Approximately 180 BH-33's were produced in total by all manufacturers.

During the course of 1926,Avia tested the Gnome- Rhone version of the Bristol Jupiter nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engine in a BH-21 airframe, and elected to employ this power plant for a new fighter, the BH-33. This, the last fighter design to be produced by Benes and Hajn for the Avia concern, was the first Avia fighter to feature a fixed tail fin from the outset, and commenced flight trials in 1927. It was ordered into production for the Czechoslovak air arm with a Walter-built Jupiter VI rated at 543hp for take-off, armament comprising two 7.7mm machine guns. A manufacturing licence for the BH-33 was acquired by Poland in 1928, PZL building 10 pre-production fighters of this type and PWS building some 50 production examples for the Polish Air Force as the PWS A from 1930. Three BH-33s were supplied to Belgium in 1929.

While at first, even with an improved Jupiter engine from the BH-21, the BH-33 prototype performed poorly. Two other prototypes, both named the BH-33-1, were constructed, with one being good enough to be produced. A production run of five aircraft was soon ordered by the Czechoslovak Defence Ministry. License production also began in Poland, where it was designated the PWS-A. Development didn't stop there, however, and a completely new fuselage was invented for the plane, with the original slab sided wooden structure being replaced with a welded steel tube structure with elliptical cross section, resulting in the design being redesignated as the BH-33E. Yugoslavia bought some of these aircraft, and was licensed to produce around twenty more. The USSR also bought a few examples for evaluation and testing, although didn't press the BH-33 into service. Another variant, known as the BH-33L, was developed, comprising BH-33E fuselages fitted with longer span wings of greater area, and Skoda three bank twelve cylinder water cooled engines. The Czechoslovak Air Force put around eighty BH-33L's into service, with some continuing to be standard up into World War II. One BH-33E was fitted with a BMW-built Hornet engine, becoming the B-133.

By World War II, most BH-33's in the world were retired by their respective militaries, although Yugoslavia used its examples against Nazi Germany, after the latter invaded the former. They were inferior to most newer German fighters and quickly perished in combat. The Croatian Air Force also used some of these surviving fighters later in the war. All in all, the BH-33 is generally considered a successful interwar combat aircraft.

Performance
Maximum speed: 298 km/h (186 mph)
Cruising speed: 280 km/h (174 mph)
Range: 450 km (280 miles)
Service ceiling: 8,000 m (26,247 ft)
Rate of climb: 9.9 m/s (1,940 ft/min)

Armament
2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303 in) Vickers machine guns
2 × fixed，forward-firing 7.92mm vz.28 machine gun

Role: Fighter
Manufacturer: Avia, PWS (under licence), Ikarus (under licence)
Designer: Miroslav Hajn and Pavel Beneš
First flight: 21 October 1927
Primary users: Czechoslovak Air Force
                          Polish Air Force
                          Yugoslav Royal Air Force
Produced: Ca. 110, plus 50 licence-built in
                   Poland and 22 in Yugoslavia
Developed from: Avia BH-21

General Characteristics
Crew: one, pilot
Length: 7.22 m (23 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 8.90 m (29 ft 2 in)
Height: 3.13 m (10 ft 3 in)
Wing area: 25.5 m2 (274 ft2)
Empty weight: 1,117 kg (2,463 lb)
Gross weight: 1,560 kg (3,439 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Škoda L, 430 kW (580 hp)

Operators
Belgium - Belgian Air Force received three BH-33-1 aircraft.
Independent State of Croatia
Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia
Czechoslovakia - Czechoslovakian Air Force
Czechoslovakian National Security Guard
Greece - Hellenic Air Force acquired five Yugoslav-produced BH-33s, during the 1935 coup, when Greece was a republic.
Poland - Polish Air Force received one BH-33 and 50 PWS-A license-built variant.
Slovakia - Slovak Air Force (1939–45)
Soviet Union - Soviet Air Force bought two or three BH-33Es for tests.
Spain - Spanish Republican Air Force
Yugoslavia - Yugoslav Royal Air Force