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Avia BH-5

The first completely Czechoslovak aircraft

Basic parameters

1923/
2003

Year of manufacture

9.75

m

Span

350

kg

Mass

135

km / h

Travel speed

1 + 1

Number of persons

About the Plane

The design of the aircraft was based directly on the first successful design of the Avia factory, type BH-1. It was an all-wood two-seater training sports and courier aircraft, which was compared to the BH-1 type enlarged, reinforced, aerodynamically and technologically better developed. It was designed for basic acrobatics flying. The Avia BH 5 was the first Czechoslovak aircraft to win international races. In 1923 he won the King of Belgium Award and the Tourism Aeroclub Tourism Award. Pilot Zdeněk Lhota flew to Brussels and back with a stopover in Mayence at an average speed of 138 km / h, which in 1923 was an interesting performance not only in the category of sports aircraft. In 1923, the BH-5 still won in category D in the race for the prize of the President of the Republic and thus won the prize of CZK 5,000.

9.7 m

6.5 m

2.5 m

14.9 m2

350 kg

580 kg

210 km / h

135 km / h

3.3 m / s

250 km

Walter NZ-60

1 + 1

Span

Length

Height

Bearing surface

Weight of empty machine

Take - off weight

Maximal speed

Travel speed

Climb solo

Range

Power unit

Number of passengers

More about the Avia BH-5

Continuation of text from the yellow box ...

Although a number of aircraft have been built in Czechoslovakia since its inception, the Avia BH 5 was the first to be completely "Czechoslovak". Among other things, the Walter NZ-60 five-cylinder star engine, Walter's first and most successful engine, was used for its first time to power it. Based on military tests of the BH-5 type, the MNO ordered a series of slightly improved Avia BH-9, BH-10 and later BH-11, which were successful in many domestic and international races and during record and promotional flights. The Avia BH-5 aircraft was matriculated with L-BOSA, according to this brand, this whole very successful type series of these aircraft was nicknamed "barefoot".

Avia BH 5 with matriculation OK - BOS serial number 02, which hangars on Točná is therefore the second built piece. It is a faithful replica of the original aircraft from 1923, ie not only was it built on the same scale, from the same materials and using the same construction procedures, but it also uses original parts. In particular, it is the original Walter NZ 60 engine from 1923, installation and some on-board instruments. Avie BH 5 is the first ever faithful airworthy replica of a historic aircraft in the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia.

The construction of the aircraft itself was started after processing two-thirds of the drawing documentation and calculating the structure of the aircraft in August 2003. The drawing documentation was prepared according to the torsion of the original (about a quarter has been preserved) and historical photographs. The rough construction of the aircraft airframe was completed in July 2004. In mid-2007, after working seventeen thousand hours, the construction of the Avia BH 5 was completed. During the construction, the structure of the aircraft was again subjected to a complete aerodynamic and static calculation according to JAR - VLA regulations. Due to the use of the original Walter NZ 60 power unit, the aircraft is operated in the EXPERIMENTAL category. On Friday, June 1, 2007, at the airport in Mladá Boleslav, Avia BH 5 restarted after more than 82 years and thus launched a demanding test program, which was successfully completed after four months and more than twenty-five flight hours.

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