KITS 03/2023

B.534.208, 36th Fighter Squadron, Air Regiment 2, Olomouc Airfield,

Czechoslovakia, Fall 1937

This aircraft is representative of the camouflage scheme

used by Avia at the end of the Thirties, prior to the Munich

Crisis. Upper surfaces are khaki, lower are silver doped,

typically a matted shade. The lower surface of the upper

wing is also khaki. The blue and white Moravian eagle

identifies the aircraft as belonging to the Air Regiment 2,

while the letter G identifies membership within the 36th

Squadron, and the numeral 1 specifies the aircraft within

the Squadron. The blue tipped spinner was also a squadron

identifier, although this was not an official marking.

This aircraft is known to have crashed on September 6,

1937, piloted by četař (Sergeant) Julius Zaoral, following

a collision with another Avia B.534.35, with svobodník

(Private First Class) Jaroslav Šodek at the controls.

B.534.186, 34th Fighter Squadron, Air Regiment 4, Hradec Králové Airfield,

Czechoslovakia, Summer 1937

B.534s of the Air Regiment 4 are among the more striking

within the pre-war Czechoslovak Air Force. The color details

are not known for certain, and this arises from uncertainties

regarding the remarking of squadrons at the end of the

Thirties. These could have been either blue and yellow or

green and yellow. The colors on the wheel spats would

be consistent, and so would, likely, the lower prop blade

bandaging. This aircraft is known from photographs likely

taken during the course of 1937, when attached to 34th

Fighter Squadron, which utilized blue and yellow trimming.

In January 1938, she was re-designated as belonging to

50th Fighter Squadron, with the fuselage code K. Coded D,

she was then attached to 42nd Squadron, which used green

and yellow colors. The aircraft has a tail skid instead of a tail

wheel. The lower surface of the upper wing is silver doped.

B.534.239, 45th Fighter Squadron, Air Regiment 3, Piešťany Airfield,

Czechoslovakia, July 1938

This aircraft carries the standard Czechoslovak

camouflage scheme from the late Thirties. The

lower surface of the upper wing is in khaki, and the

spinner is yellow. The aircraft was documented on

a photograph dated July 14, 1938, when it suffered

light damage while flown by desátník (corporal)

March 2023

Baláš. At the time, these aircraft carried no squadron

codes. The Air Regiment 3 was the only one that was

located in Slovakia prior to the outbreak of the war.

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Air Regiment

3 aircraft were incorporated into the services of the

newly formed Slovak Air Force. In this service, Avia

B.534s took part in combat operations in Poland and

later in the Soviet Union. In August 1944, the Slovak

National Uprising saw the remaining Avias take part

in anti-German operations.

INFO Eduard

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