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What Czech aircraft was tested for the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin?
Short answer
The Avia Bk-534: three aircraft were modified to serve aboard the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, a ship that was never completed. They were fitted with catapult spools and a folding arrester hook, and in this configuration were tested between 1940 and 1941. The hook was torn from the fuselage several times.
Three Bk-534s for the Graf Zeppelin
The Czech aircraft tested was the Avia Bk-534: three machines were modified to serve aboard the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, a ship that in the end was never completed. The aircraft were fitted with spools for catapult launching and a folding hook for arrested landings, and in this configuration were tested in the period from 1940 to 1941. The three examples were also subjected to structural reinforcement.
Why it didn't work
The fuselage structure was not designed to withstand the concentrated loads of arrested landings. The A-frame hook was torn from the fuselage on several occasions, and the Bk-534 fighter's career aboard ship ended even before the German carrier project was abandoned.
The fighter it was based on
Deliveries of the B-534 to the Czechoslovak Air Force began in October 1935. By 1939, 568 examples had been completed. During 1937, a batch of fourteen B-534s was supplied to Yugoslavia. A large number of captured B-534s were taken into the Luftwaffe. They were also used as fighter trainers at several fighter pilot training schools.
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