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The Avia S-199 is a propeller-driven fighter aircraft built after World War II, notable as the first fighter obtained by the Israeli Air Force, and used during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Constructed in Czechoslovakia, with parts and plans left over from Luftwaffe aircraft production, the aircraft had numerous problems and was generally unpopular with its pilots. Czechoslovak pilots nicknamed it ''Mezek'' ("Mule"), while in Israel it was officially known as the ''Sakeen'' ("knife" in Hebrew). In practice, the aircraft was more often called Messerschmitt or ''Messer'' (which also means "knife", in German and Yiddish). ==Design and development== Avia continued building Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6s after the war under the Avia S-99 name, at two aircraft factories in Czechoslovakia: one of them officially called ''závod Avia'' (Avia Plant) (1946–48) and ''závod Avia-Jiřího Dimitrova'' (Avia-George Dimitroff-Plant, 1948–49) in Čakovice near Prague, as a post-war corporative part of the ''Automobilové závody, n.p.'' ''(Works, National Corp. )'', and the other one called ''závod Vysočany'' (''Vysočany Plant'', 1948–49) in Prague, as a corporative part of ''Letecké závody, n.p.'' ''(Works, National Corp. )'' but soon ran out of the 109's Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine after many were destroyed during an explosion at a warehouse in Krásné Březno. The S-199 continued to use the Bf 109G airframe but, with none of the original engines available, an alternative engine had to be used. It was decided that as a replacement for the original engine, the aircraft would use the same engine (Junkers Jumo 211 F) and propeller as the Heinkel He 111 bomber. The resulting combination of parts was an aircraft with extremely poor handling qualities. The substitute engine with the propeller lacked the responsiveness of the Daimler-Benz unit and the torque created by the massive paddle-bladed propeller made control very difficult. This, in combination with the 109's narrow-track undercarriage, made landings and take-offs extremely hazardous. The Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine allowed for a central cannon mount (''Motorkanone'' in German) that fired through the propeller spinner. This was not possible with the Junkers Jumo 211, and so the S-199 used a version of the Luftwaffe's ''Rüstsatz VI'' modification kit, which consisted of a pair of MG 151 cannon, one each in a gun pod, one beneath each wing. This further impinged on the aircraft's performance. A final hidden danger lay in the gun synchronizer for the cowl-mounted MG 131 machine guns, which did not work as it was meant to, leading a few Israeli aircraft to shoot off their own propellers. Around 550 S-199s were built, including a number of conversion trainers designated CS-199 (armed) and C-210 (unarmed). The first flight took place in March 1947, and production ended in 1949. The last examples were withdrawn from Czechoslovak service (with their National Security Guard) in 1957. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Avia S-199」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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