During the Second World War, Germany used factories in occupied Czechoslovakia to produce aircraft for the Luftwaffe. After the war, Czech industry continued to produce many of the same aircraft types using leftover parts and factory tooling. Fighters were designated "S" for stíhací letoun (fighter aircraft).
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The Avia "S.99" was simply a Czech-built Messerschmitt Bf.109G, which was produced until a warehouse fire destroyed Avia's stock of DB605 engines. The S.99 depicted here was first used by the air police unit of the National Security Corps
(Sbor Národní Bezpečnosti), then transferred to the Air Force fighter school at České Budějovice around 1948. The civilian markings on the wings and fuselage were painted over, but it kept the triangular police roundel on the tail. (The model is a Revell Bf.109G kit with homemade decals and Techmod national insignia.)
The Avia "S.199" was a variant which used the same Messerschmitt fuselage with a Jumo 211 engine instead. Pilots called it Mezek (mule) because of its poor handling: the replacement engine was underpowered and produced too much torque. Nonetheless the S.199 remained in service into the mid-1950s, and about two dozen were sold to Israel and used in the 1948 conflict. The S.199 shown here was another ex-police aircraft, transferred to the Air Force air defense school in Olomouc in the 1950s. (The model is KP's S.199 kit built out of the box.)
Charles P. Kalina
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