Avia BH-17

The Avia BH-17, a biplane fighter aircraft, was manufactured in Czechoslovakia in 1924.

It represented a significant improvement over its predecessors, the BH-6 and BH-8, with the latter being discontinued in favour of the BH-17.

Following successful operational trials in the same year, the Czech Air Force was highly impressed with its capabilities and promptly placed an order for 24 units.

Unfortunately, the BH-17 proved to be unreliable during its active service and was consequently retired from service.

Specifications

Crew

One pilot

Length

6.86 m (22 ft 6 in)

Wingspan

8.86 m (30 ft 0 in)

Wing area

21.3 m2 (229 sq ft)

Empty weight

762 kg (1,680 lb)

Gross weight

1,155 kg (2,546 lb)

Powerplant

1 × Skoda-built Hispano-Suiza 8Fb V-8,

230 kW (310 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed

235 km/h (146 mph, 127 kn)

Range

500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi)

Service ceiling

8,000 m (26,000 ft)

Rate of climb

5.9 m/s (1,170 ft/min)

Armament

2 × fixed forward firing .303 Vickers machine guns.

Sources
Czechoslovakian Air Force, 1918-1970, Aircam Aviation Special 05-Richard Ward, Zdenek Titz & Gordon C. Davies.

Ceskoslovenské Letectvo, 1918-1924-Jiří Rajlich & Jiří Sehnal.

Avia s.r.o.