Strana 47
S-199.165, Lt. Vladislav Petráš, 1 Squadron, 18 Aviation Regiment,
Plzeň-Skvrňany, Czechoslovakia, July 1952
S-199.310, PFC Josef Mucha, Aviation School Regiment 5, Zvolen, Sliač AB,
Czechoslovakia, August 1952
This aircraft was test-flown at the end of
October 1948 by the factory pilot Petr Široký and
on November 23 it was flown to the designated
Pilsen Aviation Regiment 4. On March 19, 1950,
the aircraft was damaged, subsequently
repaired and reassigned to its unit in mid-July
of the same year. From April 1952 it was used
by the 1 Squadron of the 18 Aviation Regiment
at the Plzeň-Skvrňany airfield. On July 23,
1952, this Avia, codenamed PS-15, was flown by
Lt. Vladislav Petráš who was performing
a training flight. During it, a technical
malfunction occurred, and the pilot had to
make an emergency belly-landing near Trhové
Dušníky, Příbram district. In such a landing, the
aircraft suffered only minor damage, especially
to the propeller blades and was subsequently
repaired.
This “Mezek” was assigned to Aviation Regiment
7 on August 4, 1948 and flew first with the Staff
Flight coded JP-1. Later, it was assigned to
No. 3 Squadron, and its code was changed to
KT-3. On March 9, 1949, it was damaged during
an emergency landing near Boskovice and was
sent in for factory repairs. Staff Captain Truhlář
conducted an acceptance flight on July 14, 1949,
in Kunovice and on August 17, 1950, the aircraft
was transferred from Aviation Regiment 1 to
the Aviation School. Later, after repairs at Avia,
it was assigned to Aviation School Regiment 5,
where it received the code UL-51. On August 26,
1952, a take-off was aborted by PFC Josef Mucha,
causing damage. No further records are available.
This aircraft is listed among the ones delivered
to Israel, although the records of its service in
Czechoslovakia contradict this. The same can be
said for S-199s Nos. 302, 307 and 311. Of the five
“Mezek” aircraft produced by Aero and delivered
to Israel as part of the second batch of fifteen
aircraft (ten being delivered by Avia), only the
case of No. 287 is certain. As part of its service
with the school regiment, aircraft 310 was given
yellow markings, indicating its function as
a trainer. These consisted of a band on the spine
at the rear fuselage and stripes on the upper
sides of both wings. The wing stripes wrapped
around the leading edge before terminating
behind it on the lower surface. Interestingly,
although the aircraft lacked the wing-mounted
machine guns, at least in available photographs,
the spent cartridge collector bulges remained
below the wings.
KITS 01/2026
INFO Eduard
47
January 2026