Engineering:Aero A.300

A.300
Aero A.300 in 1938
Role	Bomber
Manufacturer	Aero Vodochody
First flight	1938
Primary user	Czechoslovak Air Force
Developed from	Aero A.304

The Aero A.300 was a Czechoslovak bomber aircraft that first flew in 1938 as a much refined development of the A.304 (despite what the numbering would suggest).

Designed by Aero as a replacement for the obsolete, locally-built Bloch MB.200 bombers Czechoslovak Air Force , the Aero A-304 transport/bomber formed the basis for its design. The new aircraft mounted Bristol Mercury IX radial engines rated at 610 kW/820 hp and carried three machine guns for defense. The A-300 was faster than any other Czechoslovak aircraft in the inventory except for the Avia B-35 fighter. Despite showing much promise, development and production of the aircraft was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.

Aero A.300.1, prototype, Summer 1938

Operators

Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovak Air Force

Slovakia

• Slovak Air Force (1939–45)

Specifications (A.300)

Aero A.300 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile February 1939

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 13.5 m (44 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 19.2 m (63 ft 0 in)
• Height: 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 45.4 m² (489 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 3,955 kg (8,719 lb)
• Gross weight: 4,347 kg (9,583 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 6,040 kg (13,316 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Mercury IX 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines, 610 kW (820 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 456 km/h (283 mph, 246 kn)
• Range: 2,200 km (1,400 mi, 1,200 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 9,400 m (30,800 ft)

Armament

• Guns:
  
• 1 × fixed forward-firing 7.92 mm vz.30 (Česká zbrojovka Strakonice) machine gun
• 1 × 7.92 mm vz.30 machine gun in dorsal turret
• 1 × 7.92 mm vz.30 machine gun in rearward-firing ventral position
• Bombs: Up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of bombs

See also

Related development

• Aero A.204
• Aero A.304

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Avia B-158