The Latvian, Estonian, and Lithuanian Air Forces

[Tweener]

Hello all. Recently, I was on ebay, and whilst there, I purchased a set of Propagteam decals for a 1/72 Letov S.16. They were 6 dollars, something different, and I love the look of the S.16.

 

Almost immediately, I began to wonder what other types of aircraft may have been used by Latvia, other than the Gladiator, which I also have decals for and plan to build. I'll have to get my hands on the airfix kit instead of the miserable Heller kit that ended up in the bin after repeated efforts to get the tail stripes for a Chinese bird to lay flat. Any advice on that?

 

Back to my main point. I soon found that Latvia used a number of interesting types, many of which are available. The first two I am likely to build are the Gladiator I mentioned and the Brengun S.16, which looks to be a treat if I can get one at a good price. 

 

Anyways, my question / request is that if anyone has any photos of aircraft from any of the Baltic nations during the inter war period, they share them. I know I could find quite a bit on google, and I have, but perhaps some of you all have a few photos tucked away as well. My goal is to compile as many as possible as a sort of database.

 

Thanks, Tweener

Edited September 9, 2018 by Tweener

[jimmaas]

Not much in the way of photos, but here are links to listings of the pre-war types:

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Edited September 9, 2018 by jimmaas

[Jure Miljevic]

Tweener,

Blue Raider published Lithuanian air force 1918-1940, Latvian air force 1918-1940 and Estonian air force 1918-1940 booklets with decals under Insignia brand. They include plenty of interesting photos so even without decals they are worth tracking down. Cheers

Jure

[Tweener]

3 hours ago, jimmaas said:

Not much in the way of photos, but here are links to listings of the pre-war types:

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Many thanks for these! Now I at least know what to search for. Kind of interesting that the three nations had so many one off types, even more interesting when it comes to modelling them!

 

26 minutes ago, Jure Miljevic said:

Tweener,

Blue Raider published Lithuanian air force 1918-1940, Latvian air force 1918-1940 and Estonian air force 1918-1940 booklets with decals under Insignia brand. They include plenty of interesting photos so even without decals they are worth tracking down. Cheers

Jure

I've been looking at those but can't seem to find any for sale other than one for the Croatian Air Force. Any ideas?

 

Thanks, Tweener

[Tweener]

The Czech produced Letov S.16:

Acquired between 1927 and 1929, the S.16 was the first aircraft of metal construction in the Latvian Air Force inventory. Used primarily as a light bomber, the S.16 was capable of carrying 300-600 kilograms of bombs up to 900 kilometers at up to 230 km/h. Measuring 10.22 meters long and 15.3 meters wide, some S.16s were still in service when the Soviet Union invaded in 1940. Placed into storage, the aircraft remained idle throughout the war, and were scrapped soon afterwards.

 

Known Serial Numbers: 8, 8K, 10, 15K, 17K, 18K, 21, 23, 23K, 24, 25, 27, 28, 42, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57K, 58K, 59K

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Edited September 9, 2018 by Tweener

[Alfisti]

For further reference,there was a book published,'Of struggle and flight' by Karlis Irbitis that described Latvian aviation from its inception in 1919 to 1940,and described all the aircraft used during that period with photo's and drawings.It may be available from your local library or bidding sites.It was published by Canada Wings as K.Irbitis emigrated to Canada,and had some dealings with Vtol development.Blue Rider did produce a Latvian aviation booklet that included a decal sheet,but this has been OOP for a while.Their periodical mags that were produced during the 90's (I think) also contained articles on inter war and more modern aircraft.There was also at one time a web site dedicated to Latvian aviation and modelling the aircraft used.

 

Dave. 

[JWM]

Have you found that one?

http://latvianaviation.com/Letov.html

of others:

Buldog

Fairey Gordon

 

regards

J-W

[Tweener]

3 hours ago, Alfisti said:

For further reference,there was a book published,'Of struggle and flight' by Karlis Irbitis that described Latvian aviation from its inception in 1919 to 1940,and described all the aircraft used during that period with photo's and drawings.It may be available from your local library or bidding sites.It was published by Canada Wings as K.Irbitis emigrated to Canada,and had some dealings with Vtol development.Blue Rider did produce a Latvian aviation booklet that included a decal sheet,but this has been OOP for a while.Their periodical mags that were produced during the 90's (I think) also contained articles on inter war and more modern aircraft.There was also at one time a web site dedicated to Latvian aviation and modelling the aircraft used.

 

Dave. 

Ill have to wait to see if the price dips below 70 at any point. I could see paying 50, but it never ceases to amaze me how expensive reference books can be. Thanks for the link!

 

3 hours ago, JWM said:

Have you found that one?

http://latvianaviation.com/Letov.html

of others:

Buldog

Fairey Gordon

 

regards

J-W

Yes, I have been looking over that site quite a bit. Hopefully I can find more as good as it.

 

Thanks All, Tweener

[rossm]

The Blue Rider Latvian AF booklet is available as a download here - https://www.insigniamag.com/05_publications.html

[rossm]

Seems like there is also a download covering all the Baltic States lower down on that page - looks cheaper than buying each one individually.

 

There are also some Lithuanian decal sheets still listed under the 1/72 decals tab on the site.

Edited September 10, 2018 by rossm

[Tweener]

17 hours ago, rossm said:

The Blue Rider Latvian AF booklet is available as a download here - https://www.insigniamag.com/05_publications.html

Thanks a ton! I had been looking at Blue Rider decals last night and somehow didn't notice they also had books. Bought this one right away,