Avia BH-17
Czech Biplane Fighter

Archive Trading Card Images ¹

Avia BH-17 Czech Biplane Fighter (Aeroplane series with gilt border, John Player & Sons, 1926, card 31 of 50) via the Skytamer Archive ¹

Overview ²

• Avia BH-17
• Role: Fighter
• Manufacturer: Avia
• Designer: Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn
• First flight: 1924
• Primary user: Czechoslovakian Air Force
• Number built: 24

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 In actual service, however, the Avia BH-17 proved unreliable and was soon withdrawn.

Specifications ²

General Characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Length: 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan:
• Wing area: 21.3 m² (229 ft²)
• Empty weight: 762 kg (1,680 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,155 kg (2,546 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Skoda-built Hispano-Suiza 8Fb Vee-8, 230 kW (310 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 235 km/h (146 mph)
• Range: 500 km (310 miles)
• 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

References ²

1. Shupek, John. Airplane Card Images via the Skytamer Archive, Aeroplane Series with gilt border, John Player & Sons, 1926, card 31 of 50 via the Skytamer Archive (copyright © 2013 Skytamer Images. All Rights Reserved
2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Avia BH-17