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| - Initial tests of the first prototype were disappointing, displaying performance only marginally better than the BH-21, even when fitted with a more powerful version of the Jupiter. Two further prototypes followed, both designated BH-33-1, each with an increasingly powerful Jupiter variant - one a Jupiter VI, the other a Jupiter VII. The performance of the latter example was finally good enough for the Czechoslovakian defence ministry to order a small production run of only five aircraft.
- While at first, even with an improved Jupiter engine from the BH-21, the BH-33 prototype performed poorly. Two other prototypes, both named the BH-33-1, were constructed, with one being good enough to be produced. A production run of five aircraft was soon ordered by the Czechoslovak Defence Ministry. License production also began in Poland, where it was designated the PWS-A. Development didn't stop there, however, and a completely new fuselage was invented for the plane, with the original slab sided wooden structure being replaced with a welded steel tube structure with elliptical cross section, resulting in the design being redesignated as the BH-33E. Yugoslavia bought some of these aircraft, and was licensed to produce around twenty more. The USSR also bought a few examples for evaluati
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| abstract
| - While at first, even with an improved Jupiter engine from the BH-21, the BH-33 prototype performed poorly. Two other prototypes, both named the BH-33-1, were constructed, with one being good enough to be produced. A production run of five aircraft was soon ordered by the Czechoslovak Defence Ministry. License production also began in Poland, where it was designated the PWS-A. Development didn't stop there, however, and a completely new fuselage was invented for the plane, with the original slab sided wooden structure being replaced with a welded steel tube structure with elliptical cross section, resulting in the design being redesignated as the BH-33E. Yugoslavia bought some of these aircraft, and was licensed to produce around twenty more. The USSR also bought a few examples for evaluation and testing, although didn't press the BH-33 into service. Another variant, known as the BH-33L, was developed, comprising BH-33E fuselages fitted with longer span wings of greater area, and Skoda three bank twelve cylinder water cooled engines. The Czechoslovak Air Force put around eighty BH-33L's into service, with some continuing to be standard up into World War II. One BH-33E was fitted with a BMW-built Hornet engine, becoming the B-133.
- Initial tests of the first prototype were disappointing, displaying performance only marginally better than the BH-21, even when fitted with a more powerful version of the Jupiter. Two further prototypes followed, both designated BH-33-1, each with an increasingly powerful Jupiter variant - one a Jupiter VI, the other a Jupiter VII. The performance of the latter example was finally good enough for the Czechoslovakian defence ministry to order a small production run of only five aircraft. Three examples were sold to Belgium, where there were plans to build the type under licence, but this did not eventuate. Licence production was undertaken, however, in Poland, where a single example was sold along with a licence to build 50 aircraft. These were designated PWS-A and put into service with the Polish Air Force in 1930. Development continued with an almost total redesign of the fuselage, replacing the wooden, slab-sided structure with one of oval cross-section built up from welded steel tubes. Designated BH-33E, this was at last a world-class fighter for its time. Nevertheless, the response from the Czechoslovakian military was lukewarm (although two were bought for the national aerobatics team), and Avia again looked abroad for customers, this time selling 20 aircraft to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, along with a licence to produce another 24. Two or three examples were also bought by Russia for evaluation. In late 1929, a further development was flown as the BH-33L, featuring longer-span wings, and a Škoda L W-block engine. This version finally brought the company the domestic sales that it had been hoping for, with 80 aircraft ordered by the Czechoslovak Air Force. These became standard equipment with some air regiments up to the outbreak of World War II. A single, final variant with a BMW-built Pratt & Whitney Hornet engine was built as the BH-33H (later redesignation BH-133) in 1930, but this did not lead to production.
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