Flight, June 1924
THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL AERO SHOW AT PRAGUE
THE MILITARY AIRCRAFT FACTORY MACHINES.
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We are naturally not in a position to know how far some of the schemes indicated by the scale models exhibited are maturing, and in the case ДальшеMore>>>
of one at any rate, the S.137, with 7 (seven) engines, it seems very doubtful whether such a machine is even an engineering possibility. Certainly it does not appear to be a practical commercial proposition, and we understand that as a matter of fact the project has been dropped.
Of the remaining Smolik models it will suffice to refer to two, photographs of which we are publishing herewith. One of these is a three-engined commercial monoplane, with a Napier "Lion" placed in the nose of the fuselage and two 220 h.p. B.M.W. engines in narrow nacelles under the wing.
The engine nacelles also carry the four wheels of the undercarriage, as shown in the photograph. This machine, which carries the series number S.9, is stated to be in course of construction at the Prague works of the Vojenska Tovarna na Letadla, and will, it is stated, have accommodation for 30 passengers.
Finally there is the four-engined monoplane, the S.15, which also is said to be in course of construction. This machine is intended for night flying, and will be fitted with four Hispano-Suiza engines mounted in the wing, two in tandem on each side.
Judging from the models exhibited, it will be seen that Mr. Smolik and his firm are not without ambition, and in this connection it is of interest to point out that the Military Aircraft Factory is being reorganised. In future it will be a curious mixture of a government establishment financed partly by private capital, an arrangement that would seem to confer to some extent a monopoly on the firm, and with which the other Czech aircraft firms can hardly be over-pleased.
