ČKD-Praga
| Company type | Aircraft manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Predecessor | Praga (engine production firm) |
| Founded | 1915 |
| Headquarters | Czechoslovakia |
Key people | Pavel Beneš, Miroslav Hajn, Jaroslav Šlechta |
| Products | Aircraft, aircraft engines |
ČKD-Praga (Českomoravská-Kolben-Daněk Praga) was an aircraft manufacturer based in Czechoslovakia. Established in 1915 initially as an engine production firm under the name Praga, the company ventured into aircraft design during 1930–31. This shift occurred when designers Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn joined ČKD-Praga from Avia. Their inaugural model, the Praga E-39, was introduced in 1931 as a military trainer, with a total of 139 units produced. Although ČKD-Praga created multiple aircraft designs in subsequent years, most remained at the prototype phase.
In 1934, Jaroslav Šlechta took over as chief designer and developed the Praga E-114 Air Baby, which achieved commercial success. This model was exported to countries including France, Iran, Romania, and the United Kingdom. In Britain, F. Hills & Sons manufactured most of these aircraft locally under license, marketing them as the Hillson Praga. Orders for this aircraft reached 126 units by 1946. Šlechta continued his work with Praga after World War II, designing the E-55 for general-purpose use.
Out of 17 aircraft designs developed by ČKD-Praga, seven proceeded to series production.
List of Praga aircraft
During the 1930s, ČKD-Praga identified its designs using the initials of their designers' surnames—for example, the BH-39 trainer created by Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn. The Czech government assigned each manufacturer a letter code for aircraft identification; Praga was designated with "E," thus the BH-39 was renamed E-39.
This list may not be exhaustive; contributions with references are welcome.
- E-36
- E-39 – military trainer with approximately 139 units produced
- E-40 – trainer aircraft, around 43 built
- E-41
- E-44 – possible biplane fighter
- E-45 – biplane fighter
- E-51 – twin-boom fighter design
- E-55 – postwar general-purpose aircraft
- E-112 – trainer developed after World War II
- E-114 – two-seat sports plane, with about 300 produced
- E-115 – variant derived from the E-114
- E-117 – another development based on the E-114
- E-141 – evolution of the BH-41 design
- E-210 – twin pusher tourer model
- E-211 – postwar iteration of the E-210
- E-212 – planned postwar eight-seat version of the 210/211 series; likely unfinished
- E-214 – four-seat touring aircraft
- E-241 – advanced trainer biplane with about 95 produced