Aero A.18

Infobox Aircraft
name=Aero A.18


caption=
type=Fighter aircraft
national origin = Czechoslovakia
manufacturer=Aero Vodochody
designer=Antonin Vlasák Antonin Husnik
first flight=March 1923
introduced=
retired=1939 (due to German invasion)
status=1 preserved at the Letecke Muzeum
primary user=Czech Air Force
more users=Czech Aero Club
produced=1920s
number built=20
unit cost=The Aero A.18 was a biplane fighter aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in the 1920s. It was a development of the Ae.02 and Ae.04 fighters Aero had designed during World War I, but also borrowed from the more recent A.11 reconnaissance-bomber design.

The aircraft was designed by Antonin Vlasák and Antonin Husnik and first flew in March 1923. It was only one of three prototype fighters that Aero flew that year, but this one was selected for production over the A.19 and A.20 that competed with it. Twenty machines saw service with the Czech air force in the period between the wars.cite book |last= Sharpe |first= Michael |title=Biplanes, Triplanes, an Seaplanes |year=2000 |publisher=Friedman/Fairfax Books |location=London |pages= 16|isbn=1-58663-300-7]

The A.18B and A.18C were specially modified racing variants that competed in the Czech Aero Club's first two annual air races, in 1923 and 1924 respectively. Both aircraft won their races, and the A.18C is preserved at the Letecke Muzeum in Kbely along with a replica of a standard A.18 fighter.

pecifications (A.18)

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=
crew=1
length main=5.90 m
length alt=19 ft 4 in
span main=7.60 m
span alt=25 ft 0 in
height main=2.86 m
height alt=9 ft 5 in
area main=15.9 m²
area alt=171 ft²
empty weight main=637 kg
empty weight alt=1,401 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=826 kg
max takeoff weight alt=1,817 lb

number of props=1
type of prop=BMW IIIa
power main=138 kW
power alt=185 hp

max speed main=229 km/h
max speed alt=124 knots, 143 mph
range main=400 km
range alt=220 nm, 250 mi
ceiling main=9,000 m
ceiling alt=30,000 ft
climb rate main=9.8 m/s
climb rate alt=1,930 ft
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=

guns=2× .303 in (7.70 mm) Vickers machine guns

Operators

* Czechoslovakia.

ee also

aircontent

related=
* Ae.02
* Ae.04

lists=
* List of fighter aircraft

References