MAGAV Heja III Series 5

[comrade harps]

MAGAV Heja III Series 5
a/c 4, 102/1st Fighter Bomber Squadron, Royal Hungarian Air Force
Debrecen, Hungary, September 1944
Personal mount of Lieutenant Zoltán Czibor



The Hungarian industrial conglomerate MAGAV produced a series of fighters based on the French Morane-Saulnier MS.406. Starting with licence-assembled MS.406s, known locally as the Heja, the company followed up with the Heja II, which had more Hungarian-designed and manufactured components. Aware that the basic MS.406 was already obsolete, MAGAV closely followed Morane-Saulnier's line of development and entered into a co-development agreement with the company in June 1939. This saw MAGAV produce several Heja-based prototypes with increasingly powerful Hispano-Suiza engines, culminating in the Heja IIII. In early 1940, MAGAV entered the Heja IIII into a Hungarian Air Force competition for a new fighter. To be powered by a MAGAV-produced 1,250 hp Hispano-Suiza YS-2 V12 engine and armed with two Gebauer Minta GKM 12.72mm machine guns and a Gebauer manufactured Hispano 20mm cannon, the Heja III was selected as an interim type. The definitive solution to the requirement was to be the Manfred Weiss WM-23 Ezustnyil. Whereas MAGAV promised they could get the Heja IIII into production by early 1941, the rival Ezustnyil was estimated to be available no later than the end of 1942.



Heja II with Heja III



When Hungary joined the Axis invasion of the Moscow Pact nations in June 1941, it did so with a frontline fighter force mostly composed of Heja and Heja II fighters. At the time, the first unit equipped with the Heja III was understrength (with just 5 aircraft), not fully trained and not confident with the reliability of the YS-2. In October, 7 Heja IIIs were sent to the Eastern Front for combat trials. Nobbled by poor engine reliability and spares shortages, the unit saw little action and returned home in late December to regroup. However, the type showed potential and Heja III pilots were credited with 8 kills for the loss of one pilot in combat; another was killed soon after taking off on a ferry flight when the engine cut out at low altitude.




Changes to maintenance procedures, improved quality control measures and the mass production of components over the winter eased the engine issues. By July '42 the Heja III was operated by 4 deployed squadrons, being Hungary's sole fighter employed during the Axis advance towards Volgograd. Flying air defence, escort and visual reconnaissance missions, the aircraft performed well and became the mount of aces.




Remaining in manufacture longer than anticipated, the Heja III was developed through several prototypes to test upgraded and alternative engines (including the German DB601 and DB605), revised fuselage and wing structures, new propeller designs and different armament including bomb loads (2 test airframes were equipped with air brakes for dive bombing) and German cannon. These efforts resulted in orders for new versions, identified by their Series number. With the original production version retroactively named Series 1, the final Heja III production variant was the Series 6. Series 2 incorporated detailed design changes based on operational feedback and a more reliable version of the YS-2. Series 3 introduced squared-off wingtips and replaced the 12.72mm cannon with Gebauer-made 15mm MG151s. Series 4 featured an increased horsepower YS-2, a new propeller and added a ventral hardpoint for bombs (upto 250kg in mass) or an external fuel tank. The Series 5 depicted here was one of 145 delivered. Armed with three Gebauer-made Mauser MG151/20s, the Series 5 featured cropped wingtips and a 4-bladed propeller driven by a 1,5000 hp YS-3 engine optimised for low altitude performance. Evolved from the YS-2 by Hispano-Suiza engineers working for MAGAV in Hungary, the YS-3 not only offered more power but also greater reliability. In addition to the ventral hardpoint, 4 underwing pylons could be installed for the carriage of 50kg bombs. The Series 6 was similar but featured a cut-down rear fuselage with a bubble canopy and provisions for GM-1 nitric oxide boost (believed to have been fitted to only the final 3). 12 Series 6 aircraft were delivered in March and April 1944. In addition, 2 DB605-powered prototypes for a proposed Heja IV were built using Series 5 and 6 airframes, with another prototype for a proposed Heja V being a modified Series 6 airframe powered by a DB603A engine. Despite these promising developments, by January 1944 the Hungarian government's plans had moved on. By then the Hungarian Railway Carriage and Engineering Works was delivering Bf 109 Ga-6s at a rate faster than MAGAV could produce the Heja III and the focus was on standardisation with German types.




While the rival Manfred Weiss WM-23A Ezustnyil technically entered service on time, it was a disappointment. Heavier and slower than expected, its weight issues were resolved by discarding armour and reducing the armament from a pair of 20mm cannon and 2 12.72mm machine guns to 2 12.72mm and 2 7.62mm guns. Although its bubble canopy and cut-down rear fuselage (introduced from the 2nd prototype) provided excellent visibility for dogfighting, it had been designed as an interceptor with a high rate of climb and its manoeuvrability was poor; this was judged as insufficient for air combat on the Eastern Front. Worse still was the slow rate of deliveries. Powered by an imported Piaggio P.XIX, the Italian manufacturer proved to be unreliable and many airframes were rolled out without engines. Rejected by the Hungarian Air Force, 17 MW.23A were bartered to Germany as part of a trade deal. These aircraft were transferred to the Croatian Air Force Legion as a punishment for numerous defections. To rejuvenate the MW.23 program, BMW 801 power eggs were acquired and bolted on to 23 MW.23A airframes to produce the MW.23B. A hastily cobbled together stop gap, the MW.23Bs were issued to interceptor squadrons but, after several accidents, were unofficially declared dangerous and rarely flown. The definitive BMW 801 powered MW.23C featured a longer fuselage, a larger tail, extended wings and an armament of 2 MG151/20 and 2 MG131s. Only 2 prototypes and 3 pre-series MW.23Cs were delivered, with 2 of the latter seeing brief combat service. The shortfall in MW.23 deliveries was made up by continued Heja III orders and, from mid-1943, the acquisition of Bf 109 Gs. According to Hungarian General, Deputy Defence Minister (August 1940 to March 1944) and Defence Minister (August 1944 to April 1946) András Littay, the selection and continued investment in the MW.23 was "a scandal." Before his death in Melbourne, Australia, in 1967, Littay told an interviewer from the Australian War Memorial that the Heja III was "an adequate" fighter, whereas the MW.23 "was chosen for political reasons."




By early 1944, German intelligence was aware that Hungary's Regent, Miklós Horthy, was arguing for a withdrawal from the Axis and a peace deal with the Reds. This prompted Hitler to order the occupation of Hungary and then mount a coup. The Fascist Arrow-Cross government installed by Germany in March '44 cancelled both the Heja and the MW.23 programs. A new fighter plan saw the wholesale introduction of Bf 109s and Fw 190s. In the process, MAGAV and Manfred Weiss were ordered to join the Hungarian Railway Carriage and Engineering Works in the licence manufacture of the Bf 109 Ga-6 (and later, the G-14, G-10 and the K-4, too). This industrial alignment with Germany was maintained after the Arrow Cross Party was deposed following Hitler's assassination in July.



This Heja III Series 5 was photographed in September 1944,  based at Debrecen with the 102/1st Fighter Bomber Squadron. Carrying an SC250 bomb, it was the personal mount of Lieutenant Zoltán Czibor. On 25 November he was forced to bail out of a/c 4 when its engine was badly damaged in a dogfight against a BeSS-5 of the Socialist Union Air Force. Although he survived the incident and landed in friendly territory, Czibor was badly burnt and permanently grounded. Given a medical discharge in February 1945, Zoltán Czibor reportedly died of pneumonia in November 1945.

[Tophe]

Very pleasant silhouette, from which kits has it been built? P-51+Bf-109? I recognize the MS.406 for the other one.
Congratulations anyway.

[comrade harps]

Very pleasant silhouette, from which kits has it been built? P-51+Bf-109? I recognize the MS.406 for the other one.
Congratulations anyway.

Not a kitbash (although I also see the P-51 - wings - and the '109 - cockpit and rear fuselage - resemblances), but the 1/72nd scale Doflug D-3802/D-3803. The real Doflug D-3802/D-3803 were Swiss developments of the MS.406 series via numerous intermediary designs like the MS.412.

[Tophe]

Thanks a lot for this explanation, and I do not remove my congratulations but confirm them

[comrade harps]

Thanks a lot for this explanation, and I do not remove my congratulations but confirm them

Thank you.

Some of these lesser-known fighters can be difficult to identify and can look like kitbashes.

The Swiss did fly Morane-Saulnier MS.406s, Bf 109Es and P-51D (and probably interned a few B/Cs during the war), so they were familiar with all those types. I think it shows.

[Wardukw]

Yeah i with Tophe there Harpy mate..if ya didnt explain it i would have said kitbash for sure but it makes no never mind to me ..its a surpurb build ..love the colours and the cleanliness of the lines ..love it mate 

[PR19_Kit]

Very inventive, both the model, the backstory and the links to more of your models too. 

[Tophe]

and the links

I had not seen links early this morning but now I see them, thanks.
And from page to page, it leads to the pleasant twin-boom De Schelde S.21 thanks!
https://www.rsmodels.cz/en/n/asdasd1

[comrade harps]

and the links

I had not seen links early this morning but now I see them, thanks.
And from page to page, it leads to the pleasant twin-boom De Schelde S.21 thanks!
https://www.rsmodels.cz/en/n/asdasd1

Now, that's a plane that screams kitbash!

[Dizzyfugu]

I got one in The Stash - it's pretty small!

[su27rules]

 

[Old Wombat]

French, German & (probably) Italian influences kinda sums up "Swiss" perfectly.


Neat looking piece of kit, comrade!

[NARSES2]

That's come out really well 

[stevehed]

Very nice and excellent back story. I was thinking kit bash as well.

[Tophe]

I have been inspired, thanks! 

= link http://www.kristofmeunier.fr/d-3802-zwilling.jpg