Avia was a Czech aircraft company notable for producing biplane fighters, especially the B-534. The company was founded in 1919 and manufactured aircraft up to 1960. They continued to make aircraft engines and eventually went on to only producing props in 1988. An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings of similar spans, normally one mounted above, and the other level with, the underside of the fuselage. ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Manufacturing is the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale, or intermediate processes involving the production or finishing of semi-manufactures. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... A propeller can be seen as a rotating fin in water or a wing in air. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Avia had started building Messerschmitt Me 109Gs straight after the war as the Avia S-99, but soon ran out of the 109's Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine.The Avia S-199 was a fighter aircraft built in Czechoslovakia after World War II using parts and plans left over from Luftwaffe aircraft production that had taken place in the country during the war. While a very problematic aircraft, unpopular with its pilots, it achieved fame as the first fighter obtained by the Israeli Air Force for use during the War of Independence. Czechoslovakian pilots nicknamed it Mezek ("Mule"), whilst in Israel it was known as the Sakeen ("knife").

The S-199 continued to use the Me 109G airframe but with none of the original engines available, the engine (Junkers Jumo 211) and propeller from the Heinkel He 111 bomber were used instead. The result of this compromise was an aircraft with extremely poor handling qualities. The substitute engine lacked the responsiveness of the Daimler-Benz unit, was heavier, and the torque created by the massive paddle-bladed propeller made control very difficult. This latter flaw, combined with the 109's narrow-track undercarriage also made landings and take-offs extremely hazardous. A final hidden danger lay in the synchronization gear which did not seem to work properly, leading a few Israeli aircraft to shoot off their own propellers.