Letov Š-20

Š-20 and Š-21
Role	Fighter
National origin	Czechoslovakia
Manufacturer	Letov
First flight	1925
Number built	ca 118

The Letov Š-20 was a fighter aircraft produced in Czechoslovakia during the 1920s.

Design and development

The Letov Š-20 was a conventional, single-bay biplane with unstaggered wings braced by N-struts. In overall appearance, it greatly resembled contemporary SPAD fighters. The fuselage and empennage were of welded steel tube construction and covered in fabric. The wings had a tubular metal spar but were otherwise wooden, and also fabric-skinned.^[1]

The Czechoslovakian Air Force bought 105 machines, and 10 examples were produced for Lithuania under the designation Š-20L. These remained in service until 1936 and 1935 respectively.

Operational history

An Š-20 placed second in the single-engine category of the national President of the Republic air race in 1925, but fared better the following year. In the 1926 race, an Š-20 not only won this category ,but also set a new national airspeed record of 234 km/h (146 mph). This record was short-lived, however, since the prize for the fastest circuit was also won in an Š-20, and this raised the record to 245 km/h (153 mph).^[2]

A single prototype of an unarmed advanced trainer version was built as the Š-21, but this did not sell.

Variants

• Š-20 - initial production version
  • Š-20M - revised version with slimmed down rear fuselage (main production version for Czechoslovakia)
  • Š-20L - export version for Lithuania (8 built)
  • Š-20R - version with further revisions to fuselage (1 built)
  • Š-20J - version with Walter-built Bristol Jupiter engine
• Š-21 - trainer version with Hispano-Suiza 8Aa engine (1 built)

Specifications (Š-20)

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 7.44 m (24 ft 5 in)
• Wingspan: 9.70 m (31 ft 10 in)
• Height: 7 m (23 ft 3.25 in)
• Wing area: 18.4 m² (198 ft²)
• Empty weight: 728 kg (1,602 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,048 kg (2,306 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Škoda-built Hispano-Suiza 8Fb, 190 kW (260 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 256 km/h (160 mph)
• Range: 528 km (330 miles)
• Service ceiling: 7,200 m (23,600 ft)
• Rate of climb: 6.0 m/s (1,190 ft/min)

Armament

• 2 × fixed, forward-firing .303 Lewis guns

See also

Related lists

• List of Interwar military aircraft

References

Notes

1. Taylor 1989, p. 573.
2. Taylor 1969, p. 63.

Bibliography

• Němeček, Václav. Československá letadla. Prague: Naše Vojsko, 1968.
• Taylor, John W. R. and Jean Alexander. Combat Aircraft of the World. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. ISBN 0-71810-564-8.
• * Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989. ISBN 0-517-69186-8.