Letov S 328

The S 328 began development in 1932 to fulfill a Finnish interest in the earlier S 28 reconnaissance biplane. Ultimately, Finland never ordered the plane, but the design was adopted by the Czech Air Force. Production began in 1934, with 445 planes being built. Surviving planes were confiscated by the Nazis in 1939 and used as trainers or given to allied nations such as Bulgaria and Slovakia. Czech pilots again flew the plane in 1944 on reconnaissance missions during the National Uprising.

The plane has a crew of two: pilot and observer. The pilot has two fixed MGs on the upper wing, and the observer has two pintle-mounted MGs trained to the rear. The plane burns 23.7 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo (excluding bombs) costs $24.

Letov S 328

Subassemblies: Light Fighter chassis +3; Medium Fighter wings with Biplane option +2; 2 fixed wheels +0.

Powertrain: 474-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 474-kW old prop and 90-gallon standard fuel tank [Body]; 4,000-kWs battery.

Occ.: 1 XCS, 1XRCS Body

Cargo: 3 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wings: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Weaponry:

2xAircraft LMG/7.92mm Skoda [Wing:F] (500 rounds each).*

2xAircraft LMG/7.92mm Skoda [Body:B] (500 rounds each).*

1,100 lbs. Bombs [Body and Wings:U].

*Linked

Equipment:

Body: Navigation instruments, medium radio transmitter and receiver, casemate and high-angle mount for the rear MGs. Wings: Two hardpoints at 220-lbs. each.

Statistics:

Size: 34'x45'x11' Payload: 1.06 tons Lwt.: 2.91 tons

Volume: 144 Maint.: 55 hours Cost: $13,449

HT: 8. HPs: 100 Body, 160 each Wing, 8 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 174 aAccel: 4 aDecel: 20 aMR: 5 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 51 mph. Take-Off Run 260 yards. Landing Run 260 yards.

gSpeed: 204 gAccel: 10 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 424 sf. The fuel capacity was based on a rough calculation between range (410 miles) and gas consumption, as no historical value could be located. MG load outs are a guess. Design payload was 1.09 tons; the historical value has been substituted. Design aSpeed was 169 mph. The cost, weight, and HPs of the chassis were doubled to increase design weight; design weight was further increased 6% to the historical. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight. The observer's seat was unusually roomy; in the design it is modeled with 1.5 crew stations.

Variants:

The S 328N was a night-fighting version with four fixed MGs. 13 built.

The S 328V was a floatplane version for target towing. 4 built.

The S 438 featured a 485-kW engine and four fixed MGs; only one was built.

The S 538 (1935) was powered by a 597-kW engine, with a top speed of 205 mph. Six were built for the Czech air police.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS