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Letov Š-28
Role	Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Letov Kbely in Prague
First flight	1929
Introduced	1934
Retired	1944
Primary user	Czechoslovakian Air Force
Number built	470

The Letov Š-28 was a Czechoslovak single-engined, two-seat reconnaissance aircraft. It was manufactured by Letov Kbely in a number of versions with different powerplants.

[edit] History

Design work started in 1932 to meet a requirement from the Finnish Air Force although the Finn's never accepted the type. It first flew in 1934 and began equipping the Czech Air Force the following year. The machine was made in two versions—with wheeled undercarriage for land use and with floats for water operations. Although Czechoslovakia was a land locked nation, the float variant flew off lakes and rivers. The historical records of Czechoslovakian aircraft of the 1930s and of World War II are meager, so not a great deal is known about this machine or its operational career except that it functioned as a reconnaissance aircraft for the Czech Air Force during the mid and late 1930s and in that same role during the early months of World War II, when the Solvak Air Force was under German control following its occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.

The Letov Š-328's combat record is vague but it appears that a few of the land variants may have been operational during the Spanish Civil War.^[1]

The Germans used captured Š-328s as trainers and later pressing them into service as Night Attack aircraft on the Eastern Front in the Winter of 1942-43.^[2]. The Germans also handed over numbers of these machines to their allies, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.

The Slovak Š-328s carried out reconnaissance and bombing sorties in support of the Slovak participation in the Invasion of Poland in September 1939.^[3] Following Slovakia's participation in the German Invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Slovak Š-328s were used for anti-partisan operations in western Ukraine in the summer of 1941, being used again on the Eastern front in the summer of 1942.^[4] Three Slovakian aircraft were seized by Slovak insurgents and actually flown against the Germans in late 1944 during the Slovak National Uprising in September to October 1944.^[5]

[edit] Operators

Bulgaria

Bulgarian Air Force purchased 62 Š-328s from Germany in 1939, naming them the Vrana (Crow).^[6] They remained in service until at least September 1944.^[7]

Czechoslovakia
Estonia

Estonian Air Force

Germany

Luftwaffe

Slovakia

[edit] Variants

Š-28 - prototype with Walter Castor engine (1 built)
Š-128 - production version with Gnome et Rhone-built Bristol Mercury VII engine (12 built)
Š-228 - production version for Estonia with Walter-built Bristol Mercury VII (4 built)
- Š-328F - prototype for Finland, powered by 580 hp (433 kW) Bristol Pegasus IIM-2 radial engine (1 built).^[8]
Š-328 - main production version. Approx 470 built in total^[8], including:
- Š-328N- night fighter, armed with four forward firing and two flexibly mounted machine guns.^[8]
- Š-328V - floatplane target tug (4 built)^[8]
Š-428 - close ground support aircraft covering armies on the battlefield. The engine was an Avia VR-36 545 kW, V-12 liquid-cooled inline piston engine of 740 hp (1 built)
Š-528 - planned replacement for Š-328 developed in 1935, powered by 800 hp (597 kW) Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major (6 built).^[9]

[edit] Specifications (Š-328 Smolik)

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 10.34 m (33 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 13.69 m (44 ft 11 in)
Height: 3.38 m (11 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 722 sq ft (67.10 m²)
Empty weight: 1,680 kg (3,704 lb)
Loaded weight: 2,640 kg (5,820 lb)
Powerplant: 1× Walter-built Bristol Pegasus II.M-2 , 9-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engine, 485 kW (650 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 280 km/h (174 mph)
Range: 1,280 km (795 miles)
Service ceiling: 7,200 m (23,620 ft)

Armament

2× fixed forward-firing 7.9 mm (0.31 inch) machine gun in forward fuselage
2× 7.9 mm machine gun in flexible mount in rear cockpit
500 kg (1,102 lb) of bombs

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

^ Nash, David. "Aircraft that may have participated in the Spanish Civil War" Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
^ Green 1967, pp. 48-49.
^ Green 1967, p.47
^ Green 1967, pp.47-48.
^ Green 1967, p.49.
^ Green and Swanborough 1989, pp.66-77.
^ Green and Swanborough 1989, p.73.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mondey 1996, p.152.
^ Green 1967, p.46.

[edit] Bibliography

Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Seven - Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft. London:Macdonald, 1967.
Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Balkan Interlude - The Bulgarian Air Force in WWII". Air Enthusiast. Issue 39, May–August 1989. Bromley, Kent: Tri-Service Press, pp. 58–74. ISSN 0143-5450.
Mondey, David. The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. London:Chancellor, 1996. ISBN 1 85152 966 7.

[edit] External links

Letov S-328
Letov S-328(French)

[0] Nash, David. "Aircraft that may have participated in the Spanish Civil War" Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War. Retrieved 23 August 2008.

[Green_v7_p48-9-1] Green 1967, pp. 48-49.

[Green_v7_p47-2] Green 1967, p.47

[Green_v7_47-8-3] Green 1967, pp.47-48.

[Green_v7_p49-4] Green 1967, p.49.

[Balkan_66-7-5] Green and Swanborough 1989, pp.66-77.

[Balkan_73-6] Green and Swanborough 1989, p.73.

[Axis-7] Mondey 1996, p.152.

[Green_v7_p46-8] Green 1967, p.46.

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