Avia Bk-534
Avia Bk-534 (black 15) used by Luftwaffe for training purposes.
(J.Zazvonil collection)
Avia Bk-534 (white outlined 44) used by Luftwaffe for training purposes.
(J.Zazvonil collection)
Aircraft Carrier Trials
Three machines Avia Bk-534 were modified for service
on the German aircraft carrier "Graf Zeppelin", a vessel, which ultimately was
never completed. The aircraft were given spools for catapult launching, a folding hook for
arrested and thus equipped they were tested in 1940 to 1941 period. The airframe structure
was not designed to withstand the concentrated loads of arrestal landings, the A-frame
hook got pulled out from the fuselage on several occasions and the carrier-borne career
of the Bk-534 fighter ended even before the German aircraft
carrier project was abandoned.
This one Bk-534 was used for carrier-capability tests. The shot
depicts the actual snatching of the arrester hook in the wires. Note civil registration D-IUIG.
(J. Janecka collection)
Details of the arrester hook on Bk-534.
(J.Zazvonil collection)
