Avia Ba-122

The Czechoslovak single-seat acrobatic biplane Avia Ba-122 was created by the Czechoslovak aircraft manufacturer Avia in 1934. Pilots of the Czechoslovak army participated in the acrobatic competition Coupe Mondiale in Paris with Avia Ba-122.

The prototype B-122 was presented after six weeks and it had its first flight on 12 May 1934. Another unit was built in only twelve days. The pilots František Novák and Ján Ambruš won the fourth and the eight place respectively in a competition in France. More successes followed at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 (with B-122) and at the international acrobatic competition Internationaler Kunstflugwettbewerb, where Czechoslovak pilots came in second (Petr Široký), third (František Novák) and eighth (Ján Ambruš). The successes of Ba-122 were noticed and led to its export to the Soviet Union and Romania, while the Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defence ordered 45 units (version verze Bš-122). The approaching Second World War, however, ended the aircraft’s development and the aircraft ended in Luftwaffe, from where some of them were sold to the Slovak and Bulgarian air forces.

The aircraft was manufactured in several versions: B-112 with a Walter Castor II engine (prototype), B-122 with an Avia RK-17 engine and with a larger rudder and elevators on the top and bottom wings, Ba-222 with a spatted undercarriage (prototype), B-322 with an enclosed cabin (prototype), B-422 with a better forward and backward view and B-122 as a military trainer version. The aircraft had the wingspan of 8.85 metres and the length of 6.8 metres. The Avia RK-17 engine had a power output of 420 horse powers and allowed for a maximum speed of 270 km/h. An empty aircraft weighed 780 kilograms, its maximum takeoff weight was 1,080 kilograms. The number of units built is unknown but is estimated at 80 to 90 aircraft of all versions. One of them is housed in the Aviation Museum in Prague-Kbely.