Air & Space Smithsonian – September 2019

NOONELOVEDTHEAVIAS-199atfirstsight.

Perchedonnarrow,splayed-outlandinggear,the

Czech-builtfighterhada sinisterlookthatmade

pilotsandpotentialbuyerswary.Andwhenairmen

becamebetteracquaintedwiththe

long-snoutedwarplane,thewari-

nessturnedtodistrust.

The single-engine S-199 was a product of the Avia

Company in Czechoslovakia, which had tooled up

to produce Messerschmitt Bf 109s for the German

Luftwaffe just as World War II ended. After the

war, the company opted to manufacture a version

of the Messerschmitt fighter for the Czech air force.

The Daimler-Benz DB 605 V-12 engine, which

Israel’s fi rst air force

pilots didn’t have an

enviablefleetof

aircraft,butthey

counteredthis

disadvantagewith

aggressiveness.The

volunteerscame

frommultiple

countries,including

SouthAfricaandthe

UnitedStates.

THE

CZECH

KNIFE

BY ROBERT GANDT

56 AIR & SPACE airspacemag.com

MITCHELL FLINT COLLECTION