Aero A.101

Aero A.101
Role	Light bomber Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Aero Vodochody
Produced	1930s
Number built	50

The Aero A.101 was a biplane light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft built in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. It was an attempt to improve the Aero A.100 by enlarging it and fitting it with a more powerful engine. However, even with 33% more power, performance was actually inferior, and the Czech Air Force was not interested in the type. Production did result, however, when 50 were ordered by Spanish Republican forces for use in the Spanish Civil War. Some of these aircraft were captured by Nationalists while en route and used against their original buyers.

Local demand eventually was forthcoming, and a re-engined version was produced as the Ab.101.

Specifications (A.101)

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 12.09 m (39 ft 8 in)
• Wingspan: 16.99 m (55 ft 9 in)
• Height: 3.73 m (12 ft 3 in)
• Wing area: 58.7 m² (631 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,578 kg (5,671 lb)
• Loaded weight: 4,345 kg (9,559 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Praga-built Isotta-Fraschini, 738 kW (990 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 265 km/h (143 knots, 169 mph)
• Range: 845 km (456 nm, 562 mi)
• Service ceiling: 5,500 m (21,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 2.5 m/s (490 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 74 kg/m² (15 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 170 W/kg (0.10 hp/lb)

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 2× forward-firing 7.92 mm (0.312 in) wz.29 machine guns
  • 2× 7.92 mm Ckm wz.30 machine guns in ring mount for observer
• Bombs: 500 kg (1,100 lb)

Operators

Spanish Republic

• Spanish Republican Air Force

See also

Related development

• A.430
• A.100
• A.104
  

Related lists

• List of bomber aircraft
• List of military reconnaissance aircraft
  

External links

• La ayuda material a la República Española (Spanish)