Engineering:Letov Š-4

Letov Š-4
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Letov Kbely
First flight	1922
Introduction	1923
Retired	1928
Primary user	Czechoslovak Air Force
Number built	20

The Letov Š-4 was a Czechoslovak single-bay, unstaggered biplane fighter and trainer in the 1920s.

Production history

The Š-4 was first created in 1922 as an intended successor to the SPAD S.VII and S.XIII, in service with the newly created Czechoslovak Air Force . It first flew in 1922, with fabric-covered wooden wings and a metal fuselage and tail.

Operational history

The Czechoslovak Air Force ordered 20 Š-4s in 1922 and these were delivered in early 1923. The plane lived out the 1920s as a fighter and trainer, but by 1927 difficulties were being experienced due to the low manufacturing quality of the Š-4. As a result, all remaining Š-4s were upgraded to Š-4a trainer aircraft in 1928.

List of operators

Czech Republic

• Czechoslovak Air Force

Specifications

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1924

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6.58 m (21 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)
• Height: 2.62 m (8 ft 7 in)
• Wing area: 15.9 m² (171 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 673 kg (1,484 lb)
• Gross weight: 980 kg (2,161 lb)
• Powerplant: × Hispano-Suiza 8Ba V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 160 kW (220 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 232 km/h (144 mph, 125 kn)
• Service ceiling: 6,200 m (20,300 ft)
• Time to altitude: 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 9.3 minutes
• Wing loading: 61.5 kg/m² (12.6 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 0.16 kW/kg (0.1 hp/lb)

Armament

• Guns: 2 x synchronised 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine-guns

See also

Related lists

• List of Interwar military aircraft

Bibliography

• Green, William; Swanborough, Gordon (1997). The complete book of fighters : an illustrated encyclopedia of every fighter aircraft built and flown. Surrey: Colour Library Direct. ISBN 1-85833-777-1.