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(National Museum of Technology) Prague, Czech Republic September 2006 |
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When visiting Prague (Praha) you must find time to visit this fine museum. However due to reconstruction the museum was closed shortly after my visit and remained closed in 2009, check the museum website for the latest information which shows that the museum re-opened in February 2011 after being closed for well over four years. |
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| The museum is very light inside with most aircraft suspended from the roof. |
Left to right: Blériot XI (no markings) built in 1910 and flown for the first time on April 16, 1910 by Jan Kaspar a well known Czech aviation pioneer. Following a series of accidents he rebuilt the mono-plane installing a Austro-Daimler engine. In 1911 he acheived recognition for a series of long-distance flights only to retire from flying in 1913 when he donated his aricraft to the Museum. |
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Left to right: Anatra Anasalj (010.091 marked as '11120') Russian (Odessa) built aircraft dating back to 1917 and is one of 70 constructed before the Russian Revolution of November 1917. Problems with the fuel system caused a number of in-flight fires, but still continued until the late 1920's before being withdrawn from service. |
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Left to right: Avia BH-9 (in anonymous military markings) built 1924 in Prague and Avia BH-10 (OK-AVO) also built in 1924 for the air force and used for aerobatics training, before being transferred to local aero clubs. |
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Left to right: Racek 3 (OK-8340) built in 1936. |
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Left to right: Zlin Z-XIII (OK-TBZ) Designed by Jaroslav Lonek and built by the Bata factory in Zlin, Czechoslovakia in 1937 as a two-seat trainer. It was later converted to a single-seat racing plane for the Circuit l'Est race in France in 1938 but although it attended it was not ready to fly. The Nazi occupation of 1939 prevented more than this sole example from being built. It was handed to the museum after the war and restored by them in 1989-90. |