Amiot 143M in Croatian Air force

[Boris Ciglic]

Hello Jerome,

It aint a myth nor a legend. This plane existed, as do Yugoslav and Croat documents about it. As for the photo - that one we'll have to wait. The plane was flown by Czech crew to Zagreb in 1940. It was then taken to Kraljevo. I saw a document about official commision being sent from Belgrade to Kraljevo to examine Bronzavia radio set on the "X Plane". While the RYAF was deciding if to refurbish it for para-duties or to scrap it (it was in awfull state) Yugoslavia was overrun. Germans sold it to Croatia, where it had a serial 1701 and short and uneventfull career, being damaged at the end of 1941 when one of its landing legs collapsed. It eventually ended as an decoy, if I remember correctly, at Rajlovac, where allied fighters "practiced" live firing on it on many occassions in summer 1944.
In contrast to that, some recent stories and "findings" that it was actually an Amiot 351 or 354 are myth and legend.
Forget the Archives in Serbia, more or less they are mess and would take you too much time. But if you're looking for good social life then do not hesitate and pack your things!

Cheers,
Boris