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The R-29 fighter belongs to a number of plane types that were developed in Greece by AEKKEA-RAAB, a company founded in this country by Antonius Raab, a German airplane designer, and his Greek partners. Other reported models of the new company were related to earlier products of the Raab-Katzenstein company that had previously operated in Germany. These included the R-27 single-seat fighter, introduced in 1935. It featured a light construction with wooden wings, steel-tube fuselage and a Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine; its maximum speed was 430 km/h. However, there is apparently no production record for this type. The R-29 was a completely new design developed by Raab’s Greek company in late 1936, featuring similar structural characteristics with the aforementioned type, a Ranger engine, cantilever single-leg undercarriage, two machine-guns, and a maximum speed of 473 km/h. It should be noted that there seems to be some discrepancy between Jane's contemporary reporting it as a "fighter", and Raab's later description (in his book) of the plane as a "trainer". This may be explained by changes in the type produced, however at least one more contemporary document (documents for export to Spain) describes it as fighter, so an error in Raab's book, written almost half a century later, cannot be precluded. This plane, along with another new type, the Tigerschwalbe 33 was destined for the Republican forces in Spain. The main and all complex parts of 30 planes of each type were produced in Greece and shipped to Spain, where a subsidiary company carried out assembly and completion. According to Raab, the 60 half-finished planes together with the construction plans were handed over to the Soviets by the Republicans and shipped to the USSR, their fate remaining unknown.
[edit] References
- L.S. Skartsis and G.A. Avramidis, "Made in Greece", Typorama, Patras, Greece (2003).
- Jane’s "All the World’s Aircraft" (1936-1937 ed.)
- Antonius Raab, "Raab Fliegt (Erinnerungen eines Flugpioniers)", Reihe Konkret, Hamburg (1984).
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