Avia BH-17

BH-17
General information
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Avia
Designer	Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn
Primary user	Czechoslovakian Air Force
Number built	24
History
First flight	1924

The Avia BH-17 was a biplane fighter aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in 1924. It was a development of the BH-6 and BH-8, and work on the latter aircraft was cut short in favour of this one. Operational trials in 1924 revealed performance good enough for the Czechoslovak Air Force to place an order for 24 examples. In actual service, however, the BH-17 proved unreliable and was soon withdrawn.

Specifications

Avia BH-17 3-view drawing

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Length: 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 8.86 m (30 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 21.3 m^2 (229 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 762 kg (1,680 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,155 kg (2,546 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Skoda-built Hispano-Suiza 8Fb Vee-8 , 230 kW (310 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 235 km/h (146 mph, 127 kn)
• Range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 8,000 m (26,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 5.9 m/s (1,170 ft/min)

Armament

• 2 × fixed, forward-firing .303 Vickers machine guns

See also

Related development

• BH-6
• BH-8

References

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 86.
• World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 889 Sheet 86.
• Němeček, V. (1968). Československá letadla. Praha: Naše Vojsko.