Å koda-Kauba
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The Å koda-Kauba Flugzeugbau was a Czechoslovak aircraft manufacturer, formed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as a joint venture between Otto Kauba and the
Škoda Works The Škoda Works (, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century. In 1859, Czech engineer Emil Škoda bought a foundry and machine factory in Plzeň, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary that had been established ten ye ...
. Kauba produced a number of innovative designs and the company built several prototypes, with the SK 257 fighter-trainer entering limited production before being cancelled. The company ceased to exist at the end of the war.


History

Otto Kauba was an
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n engineer who developed a novel idea for a flying bomb during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. His personal friendship with
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 â€“ 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...
led to a joint collaboration with the
Škoda Works The Škoda Works (, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century. In 1859, Czech engineer Emil Škoda bought a foundry and machine factory in Plzeň, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary that had been established ten ye ...
. The Å koda-Kauba Flugzeugbau was opened in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
,
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''ÄŒesko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
in 1942.Saffek & Plocek (1992). Kauba went on to produce a number of innovative aircraft and the company built several prototypes, with the SK 257 fighter-trainer entering limited production before being cancelled. The company ceased to exist when Prague was liberated at the end of the war in 1945.Titz & Zazvonil (1965). After the war Kauba returned to his native Austria and later designed the country's first postwar type to fly, the OFW OK-15.


Aircraft designs

Otto Kauba produced a variety of aircraft designs, many of them novel. Several were completed and flown, and one briefly entered production.


Unconventional lightweight prototypes

Å koda-Kauba built a succession of lightweight experimental prototypes, many of them re-using parts from earlier ones. The V1A was a manned test prototype for an unconventional flight control arrangement, intended for use on a proposed flying bomb. The wing was tailless, with elevon control surfaces mounted on double booms trailing behind the outer wing section. Directional control was by differential drag surfaces on the wing trailing edges. It crashed on its first flight. The next example, designated simply V1, was similar but also fitted with a conventional rudder and flew after a fashion. The V2 was similar to the V1 but had a swept wing, reducing the length of the mounting booms, but its performance was little better and the flying bomb project was terminated. The V3 was a conventional light aircraft built using parts from the V1A, the V6 used parts from the V1 to create a pusher design with twin tail booms and conventional flight controls, and the V7 cannibalised the V2 wing for another pusher with a canard foreplane though it was never completed. The V6 design was subsequently modified as the SL6, with its twin booms repositioned and an
outboard tail An outboard tail is a type of aircraft tail or empennage which is split in two, with each half mounted on a short boom just behind and outboard of each wing tip. It comprises outboard horizontal stabilizers (OHS) and may or may not include addition ...
fitted, to test yet another novel control system, this time being developed by Blohm & Voss for their P208 pusher-powered high-speed fighter.


Fighters and trainers

The SK V4 was a conventional design for a fighter trainer and a prototype was flown. The prototype was sufficiently promising for a production version, designated the SK 257, to be developed. The SK 257 was a conventional fighter and entered production. manufacturing was allocated to the nearby Avia factory, where the manufacturing quality proved so poor that the contract was cancelled after only a handful had been built. Development work also began on a more powerful fighter variant, the V5. It progressed as far as wind tunnel testing before the RLM decided that it really did not need another fighter project and cancelled it in favour of the Focke-Wulf Ta 152.


Ramjet power

Kauba became interested in a René Lorin ramjet propulsion unit being developed by Eugen Sänger. He designed a novel interceptor fighter, the P14, around it with the large ramjet powerplant forming an integral part of the aircraft structure. The ramjet project was cancelled in 1944 and the P14 design abandoned.


List of types

Types designed by Kauba included:Nowarra (1993). * Å koda-Kauba V1: Piloted test prototype with novel control surfaces. * Å koda-Kauba V1A: Variant of the V-1 with conventional rudder added. * Å koda-Kauba V2: Variant of the V-1 with swept wing. * Å koda-Kauba V3: Single-seat light plane of conventional design. * Å koda-Kauba V4: Conventional fighter trainer prototype. * Å koda-Kauba V5: Fighter project, developed from the SK 257. * Å koda-Kauba V6: Twin-boom pusher prototype. * Å koda-Kauba V7: Canard pusher project. * Å koda-Kauba V8: Two-seat primary trainer prototype. * Å koda-Kauba V9: Lightweight aircraft project. * Å koda-Kauba V10: Trainer project. * Å koda-Kauba V11: Advanced trainer project. * Å koda-Kauba V12: Forward-swept research project. * Å koda-Kauba SK 257: Production fighter trainer. * Å koda-Kauba SL6:
Outboard tail An outboard tail is a type of aircraft tail or empennage which is split in two, with each half mounted on a short boom just behind and outboard of each wing tip. It comprises outboard horizontal stabilizers (OHS) and may or may not include addition ...
modification of the V6. * Å koda-Kauba P14: Ramjet powered fighter project. * Fieseler and Skoda FiSK 199: Modified Bf 109 for the attack role


References


Notes


Bibliography

* *Saffek, Otta and Plocek, Pierre; "Les Étranges Créations d'Otto Kauba", ''Le Fana de l'Aviation'', No.272, July 1992, pp. 14–22. (French) *Titz, Zdenek and Zazvonil, Jaroslav; "Kauba's Dwarfs", ''Flying Review International'', November 1965, pp. 169–172. {{DEFAULTSORT:Å koda-Kauba Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia 1942 establishments in Czechoslovakia 1945 disestablishments in Czechoslovakia Manufacturing companies established in 1942 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1945