Aero A.100

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Aero A.100

Spanish Aero A.101

Type Light bomber
Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer Aero Vodochody
Maiden flight 1933
Retired late 1940s
Primary user Czech Air Force
Produced 1930s
Number built 44

The Aero A.100 was a biplane light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft built in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. It was the final step in a design lineage that extended back to the Aero A.11 a decade earlier. A.100s remained in service throughout World War II and for a few years post-war. A number were also supplied to Nationalist Spanish forces during the Spanish Civil War.

Contents

[edit] Development

Development of the A.100 was in response to a Czech Air Force requirement of 1932 for a uniform replacement for the A.11s, Aero Ap.32s, and Letov Š.16s then in service. Work began with a revision of the Aero A.430 that quickly became quite a different aircraft. Of standard biplane configuration, the A.100 was a somewhat ungainly-looking aircraft and somewhat obsolescent by the time of its first flight in 1933, a member of the final generation of biplane military aircraft to be designed in Europe. Nevertheless, since the only other competitor for the air force contract, the Praga E.36 had not flown by the close of tenders, the A.100 was ordered for production. A total of 44 were built, in two batches.

[edit] Specifications (A.100)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 11.08 m (36 ft 4 in)
  • Wingspan: 14.70 m (48 ft 3 in)
  • Height: 3.60 m (11 ft 10 in)
  • Wing area: 44.3 m² (476 ft²)
  • Empty weight: 2,040 kg (4,490 lb)
  • Loaded weight: 3,220 kg (7,080 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1× Avia-built Hispano-Suiza Vr-36, 552 kW (740 hp)

Performance

Armament

  • Guns:
    • 2× forward-firing 7.92 mm (0.312 in) wz.29 machine guns
    • 2× 7.92 mm wz.30 machine guns in ring mount for observer
  • Bombs: 600 kg (1,300 lb)

[edit] Operators

[edit] See also

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