Letov Š-32
The Letov Š-32 was an airliner produced in small numbers in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. It was a trimotor monoplane with a high, cantilever wing, and was designed to meet a requirement by ČSA for a machine to service a night route between Prague, Bratislava, Uzhorod, and Bucharest. It could carry up to six passengers in a fully enclosed cabin which was praised at the time as being "particularly roomy and lofty".[1] The wings were of all-metal construction, and the fuselage was built up from steel tube and was mostly skinned in metal, other than its very rear part, which, like the empennage, was fabric-covered.
Š-32 | |
---|---|
Role | Airliner |
National origin | Czechoslovakia |
Manufacturer | Letov |
Designer | Alois Šmolik |
First flight | 1931 |
Primary user | ČSA |
Number built | 4 |
ČSA bought and operated four of these machines. On 26 June 1934, one of these (registered OK-ADB) crashed during final approach to Karlovy Vary, killing all three on board, most notably the famous Austrian actor Max Pallenberg.[2]
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: two pilots
- Capacity: Up to six passengers, but more usually configured for four or five
- Length: 11.60 m (38 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 17.24 m (56 ft 7 in)
- Wing area: 39.9 m2 (429 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 1,850 kg (4,070 lb)
- Gross weight: 2,760 kg (6,070 lb)
- Powerplant: 3 × Walter Mars I , 108 kW (145 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 203 km/h (127 mph, 110 kn)
- Range: 600 km (380 mi, 330 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 3,500 m (11,500 ft)
Notes
- Flight 1932, 36
- "Prager Tagblatt". 27 June 1934: 1. Cite journal requires
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References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Letov Š-32. |
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 573.
- Němeček, Václav (1968). Československá letadla. Prague: Naše Vojsko.
- "Letov S.32". Flight: 36–37. 8 January 1932. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- "Pallenberg tödlich abgestürzt". Prager Tagblatt: Front Page. 27 June 1934. Retrieved 24 January 2013.