The Praga BH-44 (designated E-44 by the

Czechoslovak Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia ce ...

) was a prototype

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

fighter biplane of the early 1930s. Only two were built, the rival Avia B-34 being ordered instead.

Design and development

In 1932, ČKD-Praga, the aircraft department of the Czechoslovak company

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

, entered a competition to design a new fighter for the

, with its design, the BH-44, competing against designs from Avia (the B-34Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 36.) and Letov (the Š-231Green and Swanborough 1994, pp. 334–335.). The BH-44 was a single- bay biplane of mixed construction, with wooden wings and a fabric covered, steel-tube fuselage. Powerplant was a single Praga ESV water-cooled

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The f ...

. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 19 July 1932. Performance was unimpressive, as the engine delivered only instead of the promised . A second prototype (sometimes called the EH-144), fitted with a supercharged Praga ESVK engine, flew in April 1934, but performance remained disappointing. The first prototype was therefore re-engined with a

Rolls-Royce Kestrel The Kestrel or type F is a 21 litre (1,300 in³) 700 horsepower (520 kW) class V-12 aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce, their first cast-block engine and the pattern for most of their future piston-engine designs. Used during the interwar ...

VII, flying in this form on 30 October 1934, and as such was evaluated by the Czechoslovak Air Force as the E-44. The imported Kestrel engine worked poorly with the fuel used by the Air Force, however, and the type was rejected, the B-34 being purchased instead.

Specifications (ESV engine, performance estimated)

Praga_BH-44_3-view_L'Aerophile_February_1934

Notes

References

*Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Complete Book of Fighters''. New York: Smithmark, 1994. . {{Praga aircraft BH-44 1930s Czechoslovakian fighter aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1932

Design and development

Specifications (ESV engine, performance estimated)

See also

Notes

References