BUILT

S-199.531 Lt. Václav Dvořák, No. 2 Squadron, Aviation Regiment 3, Brno-Černovice,

Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1953

This “Mezek” was test flown on April 19, 1950 and

was one of the last of this type produced. From

June 12, 1950 it was assigned to the Air Reserve (LZ

8) at Zvolen Air Base with assignment to the VLT

(Air Force Headquarters) in Prešov. Later it was

transferred to No. 3 lp (Aviation Regiment 3), which

was part of No. 22 Air Fighter Division, comprising

units flying piston engined fighter aircraft. There,

“Mule” 531 served with the code GY-35. On April 5,

1953 Lt. Václav Dvořák made an emergency landing

with it due to an injection pump malfunction. The

airframe was written off. The aircraft was visibly

worn at the time with numerous signs of repairs to

the original paint, which had been made in a darker

shade of green. The engine cowling was apparently a replacement unit from a machine painted in

the later, darker shade, but darker spots were also

visible on it. These were likely the result of contrast between fresh and faded paint of the same

shade. Similar signs of repairs were found on older Avia S-199s of the unit.

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June 2022

INFO Eduard

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