At the end of WW II three largely complete Focke Achgelis Fa
223s (production models S52 through S54) were found by the Red Army at the
Berlin-Tempelhof production line. These nearly complete helicopters were
delivered to the Soviet LII for completion. One completed Fa 223 was handed
over to Bratukhin OKB in light of that units experience with similarly
configured helicopters. Nothing further is known as to its fate.
The other two were handed over to the Czechs. Development of
these helicopters was headed by Jaroslav Slechta, who had acquired know-how
during his Totaleinsatz (compulsory assignment by the Nazis) in Halle, Germany.
(Note: The information about Jaroslav Slechta is in question at this time). By
the autumn of 1947 these two prototypes had been completed at the Avia Factory
in Cakovice near Prague, under the designation VR-1 (Vrtulnik or Helicopter
Design 1) although this was subsequently changed to VR-3.
The first prototype, the VR3-1 made an initial ten minute flight
on 12 March 1948. At the controls was the Avia test pilot, Frantiek Janca. As
he had no previous rotary wing experience, he was sent on a training course
with H. Osterman, A.B. in Stockholm where, between 18 December 1947 and 31
January 1948, he logged 40 flights in two Bell 47s (SE-HAB and SE-HAC) running
up a total flight time of 24 hours 35 minutes.
After demonstrations by the VR3-1 for representatives of
National Security, the first passenger flight was made on 30 April, followed by
a further series of demonstration flights before organizations likely to be
interested in the type, such as the Czechoslovakian and Yugoslavian Air Forces
as well as this one before a Bulgarian delegation at the Dimitrov factory at
Letnany. By 4 July the VR3-1 had logged 14 hours 16 minutes flying time. It was
joined in the test program on the following day by the second prototype, the
VR3-2, coded V-25, which made an initial flight of twelve minutes duration.
Shortly after making its first night flight on 7 July from
Cakovice to Kbely, the VR3-1 was taken over by the Czechoslovakian Air Police
and registered OK-BZX. A number of useful missions were performed by their
pilot, Major Nemecek, including Colorado Beetle spraying! It crashed in 1949
following an engine failure near Tyn nad Vltavou.
The VR 3-2 was coded V-25 and was intended for long term
testing by the Aeronautical Research Institute at Letnany but crashed in 1949
at the Military Academy in Hradeck Kralove.With the crash of the VR3-2 the same
year, development of the VR-3, which had provided much useful experience, was
abandoned.
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