Avia
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- Avia is also a municipality in Greece, see Avia, Messinia. For the American athletic shoe company, see Avia (shoes)
Avia had started building Messerschmitt Me 109Gs straight after the war as the Avia S-99, but soon ran out of the 109's Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. The Avia S-199 was a fighter aircraft built in Czechoslovakia after World War II using parts and plans left over from Luftwaffe aircraft production that had taken place in the country during the war. While a very problematic aircraft, unpopular with its pilots, it achieved fame as the first fighter obtained by the Israeli Air Force for use during the War of Independence. Czechoslovakian pilots nicknamed it Mezek ("Mule"), whilst in Israel it was known as the Sakeen ("knife").
The S-199 continued to use the Me 109G airframe but with none of the original engines available, the engine (Junkers Jumo 211) and propeller from the Heinkel He 111 bomber were used instead. The result of this compromise was an aircraft with extremely poor handling qualities. The substitute engine lacked the responsiveness of the Daimler-Benz unit, was heavier, and the torque created by the massive paddle-bladed propeller made control very difficult. This latter flaw, combined with the 109's narrow-track undercarriage also made landings and take-offs extremely hazardous. A final hidden danger lay in the synchronization gear which did not seem to work properly, leading a few Israeli aircraft to shoot off their own propellers.
The brand and production facilities now belong to Avia Propeller company [link].
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