Aircraft

Czechoslovak Air Force

Air Warfare Aircraft 11 Min Read

Ilyushin Il-10 (Avia B-33) Czechoslovak Air Force   World War I In the First World War, the Czechs served in the Austro-Hungarian army, but mass desertions were widespread. Czechoslovak legions were formed in France, Italy and Russia to fight for Czechoslovak independence from Austria-Hungary. This is why Czech pilots could be found on both sides of the conflict. Many Czech…

Newsletter

Get the latest from Weapons and Warfare right to your inbox.

Follow Us

Most Recent

Air Warfare Aircraft 5 Min Read

Israeli Avia S-199

The Czechs sold Israel twenty-five Avia S-199 (Me 109Gs assembled from parts left over after the war) called ‘Mezek’ or Mule by the Czechs but more often known as ‘Messer’ (knife in Yiddish) by their pilots. In 1945, the Czech pilots returned home with their Spitfires and Lavochkins used in…

Aircraft Soviet 7 Min Read

Yakovlev Yak-1/3/7/9 (1940)

A Yak-3 of the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division, First Soviet Air Army, on the 3rd Ukrainian Front, in 1944. Pilot of this aircraft was 303rd commander Georgii Nefedovich, who eventually accumulated 23 kills.   This Yak-9D was flown by the famous ‘Normandie-Niemen’ Regiment in 1944. This French-manned unit was established…

Air Warfare Aircraft British 37 Min Read

No. 102 Squadron RAF

On 12 November 1940, Pilot Leonard Cheshire’s Whitney was hit by flak over Colongne, but he got it back to the airfield. 102 Squadron would have the second highest losses in Bomber Command. The squadron was active from the second day of the Second World War, dropping leaflets in the…

Aircraft Soviet 7 Min Read

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (1950)

This non-afterburning MiG-17 was flown by Lt Bomba of the Mozambique Air Force when he defected to South Africa in 1980, where the fighter was tested before being returned to Mozambique.   This MiG-17F wears the colourful markings of an aerobatic team provided by No.11 Squadron, Indonesian Air Force, that…

Aircraft 8 Min Read

Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon (1974)

The first F-16s arrived in Israel in July 1980. These were newly-built F-16A/B Block 10 Netz (Sparrowhawk) jets and they equipped Nos.117 ‘First Jet’ and 110 ‘Knights of the North’ Squadrons. In 1981 they took part in the raid against the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq. An F-16B Netz is…

Aircraft Soviet 11 Min Read

Tupolev Tu-22M (1969)

A Tu-22M3 of the 924th Naval Missile Carrier Regiment, part of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet based at Olenya in 1998. Aircraft from this unit were later taken over by the Air Force’s 840th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment based at Soltsy. A Tu-22M-3 armed with a Kh-22 missile underwing. This…

Most Popular

Focke Wulf Fw 190D-9 Dora

Arguably, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 evolved into wartime Germany’s most effective fighter, offering the Luftwaffe…

American Medium Bombers of WWII Part I

Douglas A-20 Havoc Douglas Aircraft developed the Model 7B twin-engine light attack bomber in the…

Spitfire XIVs versus Bf 109Ks

Final Encounter (Spitfire v Messerchmitt) by Michael Turner. Wing Commander J E Johnnie Johnson, Spitfire…

Post-war Spitfire XIV

The final Spitfire variant, the Mk 24, was similar to the Mk 22 except that…