KEA (aircraft)

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KEA is the most historic Greek aerospace company. The initials stand for Kratiko Ergostasio Aeroplanon,i.e., Greek National Aircraft Factory, a name formalized a few years after its creation (initially it used the name Ergostasio Aeroplanon Falirou and it was reported in English simply as Greek Naval Aircraft Factory). Its creation was decided in 1917, but the wars that followed delayed its foundation until 1925. It was based in Phaleron near Piraeus (the same area where AEKKEA-RAAB aircraft maker was later founded) and technology and initial management were provided by British Blackburn Aircraft Limited, the first type produced by the factory being the T3 Velos, designed by the British company. In 1927 an all-Greek KEA development was introduced (although according to other sources, a British engineer was a part of the design team), the Chelidon (Swallow) multi-purpose military aircraft. It used a Salmson 120hp engine and had a maximum speed of 150 Km/h. It seems that only one was built. Later, the factory produced a series of aircraft types under licence, including numbers of Avro 504-O and 504-N, Atlas (Armstrong-Whitworth), and 621 Tutor (Avro) types. Preparations for the production of the PZL P.24, the main fighter used by the Greek Air Force at the time, were never completed due to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October, 1940. Thus, the only KEA-produced type that saw action in World War II was the 621 Tutor. Production also covered other areas, including bombs, and specialized parts and tools. During Greece's occupation by the Axis powers the KEA facilities were used by the German Luftwaffe for technical support, while airport infrastructure where some of its facilities were located, became targets of Allied bombing. After the war KEA divisions produced a number of gliders but it eventually focused on maintenance work for the Greek Air Force with only limited construction activity - which want to the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) when the latter was founded. Nonetheless, KEA produced in the 1990s a number of remotely piloted unmanned aircraft essentially developed by HAI. The historic company survives to date, incorporated into the Greek military command.

[edit] References

Jane's "All the World's Aircraft" (1928 edition)