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Aero A.101

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A.101
General information
TypeLight bomber
Reconnaissance aircraft
ManufacturerAero Vodochody
Number built50
History
Manufactured1930s
First flight12 December 1934[1]

The Aero A.101 was a biplane light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft built in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s.

Design and development

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In 1933, the Czechoslovak Air Force had a requirement to replace ageing bombers such as the Letov Š-16 and Aero A.30, and so issued a requirement for an improved version of the Aero A.100. The new aircraft, the Aero A.101, was required to use Isotta Fraschini Asso 800 W18 engines that had been built under license by ČKD-Praga for the unsuccessful Aero A.42 monoplane bomber, instead of the license-built Hispano-Suiza 12N used by the A.100.[1] Like the Aero A.100 upon which it was based, the A.101 was a single-engined biplane of mixed metal and wood construction, with a fixed conventional landing gear.[2][3] The unequal-span single-bay wings had a wooden structure, with fabric covering over most of the wings while the leading edges were clad in plywood. The fuselage had a welded steel-tube structure.[4][3] The A.101 had increased span wings and a lengthened fuselage compared to the A.100. While the Asso engine was more powerful (with a rating of 600–750 kW (800–1,000 hp) compared to 485–541 kW (650–725 hp) for the Hispano-Suiza engine), it was significantly heavier.[2]

The prototype was completed in November 1934, and made its first flight on 12 December 1934.[1] An order for 29 production aircraft followed in January 1935.[1] While testing was generally successful,[5] the use of a heavy and obsolete engine was soon recognised as a mistake by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defence,[6] while changes to the aircraft's specification during testing, including increasing the required bombload, and using larger tyres to increase standardisation, led to reductions in the aircraft's performance,[5] which was disappointing.[7]

Service history

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The A.101 entered service with the Czechoslovak Air Force from November 1935 to January 1936, with the 29 production aircraft and the prototype joining the 6th Air Regiment, equipping four squadrons (the 71st and 72nd Squadrons at Prague and the 73rd and 74th Squadrons at Hradec Králové).[5] During 1936, two A.101s were destroyed in accidents, both as a result of engine failures, while the aircraft suffered from degradation of the plywood covering the wing leading edges, which required repair by Aero. Consideration was given to selling the A-101s to Romania, but the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War meant that the Spanish Republican government urgently needed aircraft from whatever country was willing to sell them.[6]

On 23 January 1937, a contract was signed to sell the Spanish Republic all 28 remaining A-101s, together with 24 Letov Š-231 fighters and spare parts, using Estonia as an intermediary.[6][8] The first batch of A-101s arrived at the port of Gdynia, Poland on 27 February 1937, but did not leave port aboard the Panamanian-flagged freighter Hordena until 8 April. The delay meant that the presence of the Aeros and their destination was well known in Gdynia before Hordena departed port, and the freighter was intercepted and captured by the Nationalist cruiser Almirante Cervera in the Bay of Biscay on 16 April 1937, and taken into Ferrol.[9][10][a] The captured aircraft entered service with the Spanish Nationalist Air Force, where they were known as Oca (Goose) or Praga (after the engine manufacturer's badge).[13] The Nationalist A.101s took part in the Battle of Brunete in July 1937, and continued to serve until the end of the war.[14]

Local demand eventually was forthcoming, and a re-engined version was produced as the Ab.101.

Operators

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 Czechoslovakia
 Slovakia
 Spanish Republic
 Spanish State

Specifications (A.101)

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Data from Monografie: Aero A-101/Ab-101: Část III[16]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 12.09 m (39 ft 8 in)
  • Wingspan: 17.00 m (55 ft 9 in)
  • Height: 3.86 m (12 ft 8 in)
  • Wing area: 57.10 m2 (614.6 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 2,500 kg (5,512 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 4,260 kg (9,392 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × CKD Praga-Isotta Fraschini Asso 750 W-18 water-cooled piston engine, 588 kW (789 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 265 km/h (165 mph, 143 kn) at 4,500 m (14,800 ft)
  • Range: 845 km (525 mi, 456 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 5,600 m (18,400 ft)

Armament

  • Guns:
    • 1× forward-firing 7.92 mm (0.312 in) vz.30 (Česká zbrojovka Strakonice) machine guns
    • 2× 7.92 mm vz.30 (Česká zbrojovka Strakonice) in ring mount for observer
  • Bombs: 600 kg (1,300 lb)

See also

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Related development

Related lists

Notes

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  1. ^ The number of A.101s captured by the Nationalists aboard the Hordena differs between accounts. While some sources suggest 22 aircraft were captured,[7][11][12] others state that considerably fewer, possibly 12 or less, were aboard.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Kučera Letectví a Kosmonautika 1988 No. 18, p. 710.
  2. ^ a b Green 1967, pp. 41–42.
  3. ^ a b Kučera Letectví a Kosmonautika 1988 No. 20, p. 790.
  4. ^ Green 1967, p. 41.
  5. ^ a b c Kučera Letectví a Kosmonautika 1988 No. 18, p. 711.
  6. ^ a b c d Kučera Letectví a Kosmonautika 1988 No. 19, p. 750.
  7. ^ a b Green 1967, p. 42.
  8. ^ Howson 1999, pp. 211–212.
  9. ^ Howson 1999, pp. 212–213.
  10. ^ Cerda 2003, pp. 47, 49.
  11. ^ Howson 1999, p. 272.
  12. ^ Cerda 2003, p. 47.
  13. ^ Kučera Letectví a Kosmonautika 1988 No. 19, p. 751.
  14. ^ Cerda 2003, pp. 49–51.
  15. ^ "Aircraft that took part in the Spanish Civil War". Archived from the original on 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  16. ^ Kučera Letectví a Kosmonautika 1988 No. 20, pp. 791–792.

Bibliography

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  • Cerda, Juan Arraez (May 2003). "Les Aero A-101 en Espagne". Avions: Toute L'Aeronautique et Son Histoire... (in French). No. 122. pp. 47–56.
  • Green, William (1967). War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Seven - Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft. London: Macdonald.
  • Howson, Gerald (1999). Arms for Spain: The Untold Story of the Spanish Civil War. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-24177-1.
  • Kučera, Pavel; Vraný, Jiří (1988). "Monografie: Aero A-101/Ab-101: Část I". Letectví a Kosmonautika (in Czech). Vol. LXIV, no. 18. pp. 710–712. ISSN 0024-1156.
  • Kučera, Pavel; Vraný, Jiří (1988). "Monografie: Aero A-101/Ab-101: Část II". Letectví a Kosmonautika (in Czech). Vol. LXIV, no. 19. pp. 750–752. ISSN 0024-1156.
  • Kučera, Pavel; Vraný, Jiří (1988). "Monografie: Aero A-101/Ab-101: Část III". Letectví a Kosmonautika (in Czech). Vol. LXIV, no. 20. pp. 789–792. ISSN 0024-1156.
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