Avia BH-17

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

It was a development of the BH-6 and BH-8, and work on the latter aircraft was cut short in favour of this one.

Operational trials in 1924 revealed performance good enough for the Czech Air Force to place an order for 24 examples.

In actual service, however, the BH-17 proved unreliable and was soon withdrawn.

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.