Letov Š-231
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| Š.231 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Fighter, Trainer |
| Manufacturer | Letov |
| Maiden flight | March 17, 1933 |
| Introduction | 1934 |
| Primary users | Czechoslovak Air Force Spanish Republicans |
The Š.231 was a Czechoslovakian biplane manufactured by Letov in the 1930s.
[edit] History
This biplane fighter was designed and built at the Letov factory in Prague. Its first flight was on March 17, 1933. After testing at the Czech flight facility at Prague-Lethany, modifications were undertaken to improve the machine’s performance. It entered production the following year and began equipping Czech fighter units in June of 1934. The machines remained in front line fighter status with the Czechoslovak Air Force until the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Historical records are very vague, but apparently none of these machines were ever in combat with the far superior German aircraft during the German invasion or with any Allied aircraft during World War II when the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia and controlled of the Czech Air Force. A few of these hopelessly obsolete Letov Š.231s were still serving as trainers and as secondary fighters for the small Czech Air Force during the early months of World War II. The only recorded combat seen by any Letov Š.231 fighter was in the service of the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 7.80 m (25 feet 7 inches)
- Wingspan: 10.06 m (33 feet 0 inches)
- Height: 3.00 m (9 feet 10 inches)
- Empty weight: 1,280 kg (2,822 pounds)
- Loaded weight: 1,770 kg (3,902 pounds)
- Powerplant: 1× Walter Bristol Mercury V-S2, 9-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engine, 412 kW (560 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 348 km/h at 5,000 m (216 mph at 16,405 feet)
- Range: 450 km (280 miles)
- Service ceiling 7,800 m (25,590 feet)
Armament
- Guns: Two fixed forward-firing 7.7 mm (0.303 inch) machine guns mounted in fuselage nose, one similar weapon in pod beneath each lower wing,
- Bombs: Six small bombs at hard points beneath lower wings
