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