Markings for Avia S-99/C-10 1/72
COL A
Avia C-10.7, Police Air Patrol, Czechoslovakia, 1947
The aircraft was test-flown by Avia chief pilot Antonín Kraus on August 13, 1946, and after being accepted by the military acceptance commission and the Police Air Patrol, it served almost exclusively with its air patrols for virtually the entire duration of the existence of this unit. At least until June 17, 1947, when it was damaged during takeoff at Ruzyně AB and sent for repairs (and is documented in photographs), it bore the Police Air Patrol meticulously executed livery and registration OK-BYG. A decree by the Ministry of the Interior had stipulated at the time that the color scheme of Police Air Patrol aircraft would consist of a base tone of metallic gray, with the underside of the wings and fuselage in a darker shade, the upper surface of the wings and the sides of the fuselage in a lighter shade, while the nose, the leading edges of the wings and of the horizontal stabilizer were to be scarlet red. The vertical stabilizer was required to display the national colors in a spherical triangle, and the fuselage and lower surfaces were to bear the registration in the format OK-Bxx.
COL B
Avia C-10.8, Police Air Patrol Unit, Brno-Slatina, Czechoslovakia, 1947-1950
The aircraft was test-flown by Avia test pilot Petr Široký on November 6, 1946, and was briefly registered with the Scientific Aviation Institute in Letňany (VLÚ), not for testing, but for the purpose of military and the Police Air Patrol acceptance commission. This aircraft, too, served almost exclusively with the Police Air Patrol for practically the entire duration of the unit’s existence, specifically with the Brno unit from 1947 to 1950. This aircraft, too, bore—at least initially—the Security Air Force’s meticulously executed livery and the registration OK-BYH. It is also one of the S-99s that were subsequently converted to S-199s; this one became the well-known S-199.185 with the fuselage code IF-01.
COL C
Avia C-10.6, Command Flight, 2nd Air Division, Fighter Training Centre, Czechoslovak Air Force, Planá Air Base, Czechoslovakia, Spring 1947
The aircraft was test flown by Avia test pilot Antonín Kraus on July 10, 1946. After being accepted by the military acceptance commission and the Police Air Patrol, it was assigned from September to November 1946 to the pilot retraining course of the 1 Air District Headquarters in Kbely, whose goal was to retrain police pilots on modern aircraft. At that time, it already bore the prescribed color scheme and registration OK-BYF for the Police Air Patrol, which it retained even during its service with subsequent National Security air patrols, or rather the Security Air Force, until the summer of 1947, when it was loaned, along with at least four other S-99s, to the Fighter Training Center at the 2 Air Division in České Budějovice. Here, while retaining the original paint scheme, the OK-BYF registration was merely carelessly painted over on the fuselage and wings, and the aircraft was re-marked with the new black designation EV-11 on the fuselage. On April 30, 1947, however, the aircraft was damaged during takeoff from Planá and subsequently sent for overhaul. Whether this incident is related to the fact that the aircraft is verifiably documented in photographs with a different, uniform light-colored scheme remains a question. In any case, while the aircraft was still in service with the Fighter Training Center, it was repainted on all surfaces, apparently with a light gray-green color that Avia also applied to other captured aircraft being put into service at the time (S/CS-92, S-199) and which is often mistakenly confused with the original German RLM 02. The aircraft was then marked with Czechoslovak national insignia with white borders in the usual locations, and on the fuselage black code EV-11was painted. There is no evidence the code was painted also on the underside of the wing though.
COL D
Avia C-10.1 (W.Nr. 613156), Military Research Institute (VLÚ) Letňany, Czechoslovakia, February 1946
This is the very first aircraft to be put into service, originally a Bf 109G-10/U4 (W.Nr. 613156) manufactured at WNF, which was test-flown by Avia test pilot Petr Široký as early as February 22, 1946. This aircraft is known for its colorful history. Not only because such famous WWII pilots as Maj. Jiří Maňák, Capt. Stanislav Hlučka, Lt. Col. František Chábera, and Lt. Col. Jaroslav Taudy, were flying it, but also because until 1948 it was assigned to the Scientific Aviation Institute in Letňany (VLÚ) for testing, including takeoff tests using launch rockets. It was precisely at that time that the aircraft was painted in a uniform light color on all surfaces, apparently a light gray-green, which Avia also applied to other captured aircraft being put into service at the time (S/CS-92, S-199) and which is often mistakenly confused with the original German RLM 02. It was then fitted with Czechoslovak national insignia with blue borders in the usual locations and a black “V-9” marking on the fuselage. During 1948, the aircraft was transferred from the VLÚ to the Police Air Patrol (then known as the SNB Air Force), where it served in the new color scheme prescribed for the Police Air Patrol units, with the registration OK-BYA. From May 1950, following repairs at Avia, it is even documented with the registration OK-4381, having made its final flight after the Police Air Patrol was disbanded—now formally under the Ministry of National Defense—on February 2, 1951.