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Hi all!
Here is some info about unrealized pre-war projects of Czechoslovakian Zlin company - addition to "Zlin designations" topic (http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9747.0.html). My source is the first volume of Československa letadla (Czechoslovakian Aircraft) bible by Vaclav Nĕmeček.
The popular pre-war Z-XII light aircraft, as well as Z-X glider, weren't the first applications of these indexes! Both these designs by eng. Jaroslav Lonek were preceded by unbuilt projects of František Oskar Majer (the previous chief designer of Zlin a/c), carrying the same designations. Majer’s Z-X was a high-wing ultralight with 25-hp engine, and his Z-XII was 4-seat aircraft with two 95-hp Walter Minor 4 engines.
Z-XIV designed by Lonek was a twin-engine aircraft “carrying four persons” – it’s Nĕmeček’s text, and I don’t know if he meant only the passengers or with the pilot(s). If the second assumption is correct, then Z-XIV belongs to the same category as Majer’s Z-XII project; also Nĕmeček mentioned the same type of engines (Walter Minor 4). But Z-XIV, as it is drawn in the book, looks much more “solid” aircraft. To my mind, it looks rather 5- or 6-seat (carrying 4 passengers, plus 1 or 2 pilots). Also Nĕmeček specifies its speed – 265 km/h, which seems a bit optimistic for two 95-hp engines. Maybe “Minor 4” is a misprint, and they must be Major 4 – 130 hp each?
Z-XVI was a project by eng. František Pospišil, who replaced Lonek as Zlin chief designer in 1938 (he was also a designer of Z-XV and unfinished Z-XVIII). Z-XVI was two-seat, high-wing monoplane with 55-hp Persy III opposite engine produced by Zlin.
Z-XVa also wasn’t built because of Nazi occupation; it was Z-XV version with side-by-side cockpit layout. The last pre-war project was Z-XXI courier aircraft: resembling Z-XV but bigger, with retractable landing gear, and twice faster (450 km/h)! Unfortunately Nĕmeček doesn’t specify what engine was planned for Z-XXI: maybe 390-hp Minor 12-I-MR, or even 600-hp Sagitta?
Here is some info about unrealized pre-war projects of Czechoslovakian Zlin company - addition to "Zlin designations" topic (http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9747.0.html). My source is the first volume of Československa letadla (Czechoslovakian Aircraft) bible by Vaclav Nĕmeček.
The popular pre-war Z-XII light aircraft, as well as Z-X glider, weren't the first applications of these indexes! Both these designs by eng. Jaroslav Lonek were preceded by unbuilt projects of František Oskar Majer (the previous chief designer of Zlin a/c), carrying the same designations. Majer’s Z-X was a high-wing ultralight with 25-hp engine, and his Z-XII was 4-seat aircraft with two 95-hp Walter Minor 4 engines.
Z-XIV designed by Lonek was a twin-engine aircraft “carrying four persons” – it’s Nĕmeček’s text, and I don’t know if he meant only the passengers or with the pilot(s). If the second assumption is correct, then Z-XIV belongs to the same category as Majer’s Z-XII project; also Nĕmeček mentioned the same type of engines (Walter Minor 4). But Z-XIV, as it is drawn in the book, looks much more “solid” aircraft. To my mind, it looks rather 5- or 6-seat (carrying 4 passengers, plus 1 or 2 pilots). Also Nĕmeček specifies its speed – 265 km/h, which seems a bit optimistic for two 95-hp engines. Maybe “Minor 4” is a misprint, and they must be Major 4 – 130 hp each?
Z-XVI was a project by eng. František Pospišil, who replaced Lonek as Zlin chief designer in 1938 (he was also a designer of Z-XV and unfinished Z-XVIII). Z-XVI was two-seat, high-wing monoplane with 55-hp Persy III opposite engine produced by Zlin.
Z-XVa also wasn’t built because of Nazi occupation; it was Z-XV version with side-by-side cockpit layout. The last pre-war project was Z-XXI courier aircraft: resembling Z-XV but bigger, with retractable landing gear, and twice faster (450 km/h)! Unfortunately Nĕmeček doesn’t specify what engine was planned for Z-XXI: maybe 390-hp Minor 12-I-MR, or even 600-hp Sagitta?
