Origins
Avia was founded in Prague in 1919, initially as a repair workshop before rapidly developing into one of Czechoslovakia's most prolific aircraft manufacturers. Working alongside Aero and Letov, Avia formed the backbone of the Czechoslovak aviation industry through the interwar period, producing an extraordinary range of fighters, trainers, airliners, and bombers. The company is perhaps best known internationally for two aircraft at opposite ends of its history: the elegant Avia B.534 biplane fighter — one of the finest biplane fighters ever built — and the Avia S-199, the war-surplus fighter that played a decisive role in Israel's War of Independence in 1948. Like Aero, Avia survived Nazi occupation and Communist nationalisation, continuing production under Soviet direction through the 1950s.
Aircraft Involved
Early Sports and Fighter Aircraft (1920–1927)
Avia's earliest designs, developed by engineers Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajň, were a series of sports and fighter monoplanes designated with the BH prefix. The Avia BH-1 (1920) and BH-2 were single-engine sports planes, followed by the BH-3 (1921, 14 built) — a single-engine monoplane fighter. The BH-4, BH-6, BH-7, and BH-8 (1922–23) were prototype fighter developments. The BH-9 (1923, 11 built), BH-10 (~20 built), and BH-11 (~20 built) were popular sports planes. The BH-17 (1924, 24 built) was a single-engine biplane fighter, and the BH-19 (1924) a monoplane fighter prototype. The BH-21 (1925, 184 built) was the most successful of the BH series — a single-engine biplane fighter produced in significant numbers and exported to Belgium and other countries. The BH-22 (1926, 30 built) was a biplane trainer, the BH-23 a night fighter variant, and the BH-25 (1926, 12 built) a biplane airliner. The BH-33 (1927, ~110 built) was a refined biplane fighter developed from the BH-21, widely exported.
The B-Series — Interwar Fighters and Bombers (1932–1938)
The Avia B-34 (1932, 14 built) was a single-engine biplane fighter, produced in numerous engine variants including the B-134, B-234, B-334, and B-434. The Avia B-122 (1934, 3 built) was a biplane aerobatic trainer. The Avia B-534 (1933, 568 built) was Avia's masterpiece — a single-engine biplane fighter that was among the finest biplane fighters in the world at the time of its introduction, fast, agile, and well-armed. It equipped the Czechoslovak Air Force at the time of the 1938 Munich Crisis and was subsequently used by the Germans, Slovaks, and Bulgarians during the Second World War. The B-634 (1936) was a prototype development. The Avia B-35 (1938, 3 prototypes) and Avia B-135 (1938, 12 built) were advanced single-engine monoplane fighters that represented Avia's transition to modern low-wing monoplane design, comparable to contemporary European fighters but overtaken by events in 1938–39.
Licence-Built Types — Interwar
Avia also produced several licence-built foreign designs: the Avia F.VIIb/3m (1930, 2 built) was a Fokker F.VIIb/3m three-engine monoplane airliner, and the Avia F.IX (1932, 12 built) a Fokker F.IX three-engine monoplane bomber with an airliner variant F.IX D. The Avia B-46 was a licence-built Rohrbach Roterra three-engine bomber, and the Avia B-71 a licence-built Tupolev SB twin-engine monoplane bomber.
Airliner Projects and Developments
Avia developed several airliner designs through the 1930s: the Avia B-51 (1933, 3 built) was a three-engine six-passenger monoplane airliner, the Avia B-57 (1934) a 14-passenger three-engine low-wing prototype, and the Avia B-156 (1934) a refined single-engine monoplane airliner.
Postwar — Wartime Designs and Soviet Licence Production
In the immediate postwar period Avia produced some of the most historically significant aircraft of the era. The Avia S-92 (1946, 12 built) was a Czech-assembled Messerschmitt Me 262A twin-engine jet fighter — one of the very few Me 262s to fly after the war. The Avia S-99 (21 built) was a licence-built Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, and the Avia S-199 (1947, 559 built) a development using the Junkers Jumo 211F engine — a difficult and unpopular aircraft, but historically crucial as the type supplied to Israel in 1948, giving the newly formed Israeli Air Force its first fighter aircraft during the War of Independence. The Avia VR-1 (1948, 2 built) was a Czech-assembled Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 helicopter.
Under Communist rule Avia produced Soviet licence types: the Avia B-33 (1951, 1,200 built) was a licence-built Ilyushin Il-10 ground attack aircraft, the Avia B-228 a licence-built Ilyushin Il-28 twin-engine jet bomber, and the Avia Av-14 (1956, 203 built) a licence-built Ilyushin Il-14 twin-engine airliner. The Avia XLE-10 (1950) was a prototype single-engine monoplane trainer.
Legacy
Avia's legacy rests on two pillars separated by fifteen years and a world war: the B.534 — the pinnacle of biplane fighter design, a symbol of Czechoslovak aviation excellence in the 1930s — and the S-199 — an imperfect but historically decisive aircraft whose export to Israel in 1948 helped determine the outcome of a war and the survival of a nation. Few manufacturers can claim that their aircraft changed the course of history twice.