SLeS Pilot School 1940
Leadership and staff
At the top and sides of the montage are Lt. Col. Július Smutný, Sgt. Eugen Čech, Maj. Kornel Janček, SLeS commander Imrich Kubiš, chief pilot Jozef Büchel and chief mechanic Anton Zelík. The men in the lower rows, mostly wearing flying helmets, are pupils and graduates.
Smutný and Janček were already experienced military pilots in 1940. Čech’s logbook records flights from 1937; his position in the montage suggests he belonged to the flying staff, although his exact school role still needs documentation. Büchel is identified as “chief pilot” and Zelík as “chief mechanic”.
Trainees and their later lives
Silvester Valent began elementary powered-flight training with the SLeS squadron in Bratislava in 1940. He later continued military training at Piešťany and Trenčianske Biskupice. He completed a fighter course in 1943 and joined No. 11 Fighter Squadron in early 1944. After the war he served in the Czechoslovak air force. He died on 17 August 1945 when a La-5FN crashed during a flight from Prague-Letňany to Piešťany.[1]
Ernest Pokojný, Juraj Mergeščík, Štefan Heber, Jozef Chlebničan and A. Heinzel also appear in flying-school material from Trenčianske Biskupice dated 1940–1942. The exact spelling of A. Soldán’s name remains uncertain; Saldán appears elsewhere.
Other readable names on the montage include K. Farkaš, J. Gala, A. Bartišek, G. Jež, R. Macánek, J. Fülöp, K. Hájek, F. Kvaltín, F. Formánek, T. Glasa, E. Grumich and J. Lečko.
Sources
The commemorative montage “Graduates of the Slovak Aviation Corps Pilot School, Bratislava 1940” and Eugen Čech’s pilot logbook, supplied by the project’s author. Identifications follow the montage labels; uncertain roles are indicated in the text.
[1] Peter Baláž: Silvester Valent, Letka 13.
The small lettering on this tableau makes it especially likely that AI enhancement has rendered some text inaccurately or illegibly.
Personally I prefer this kind of pilots’ tableau, showing everyone on the course. Every slip of the tongue, every mistake can inspire a caricature of the pilot concerned. Karol Farský holds a little flag bearing the word “cving”.
Drawing tableaux survived in our Aeroclub for a long time: we cobbled one together in the glider hangar as late as the mid-1980s. We also loved writing the Aeroclub Chronicle in the changing room, usually when there was no flying and we were well under the influence.
Fantastic, dense writing that sometimes turned into wavy lines before the pen finally plunged towards the bottom edge. That was when a glider pilot’s hand and mind suddenly fell asleep from exhaustion.
Unfortunately, the Chronicle vanished, or someone pocketed it and has it at home. It contained gems — both written entries and hand-drawn sketches. What I would give to see it found!
Karol Farský began his aviation career in 1940 with elementary powered-flight training in the Slovak Aviation Corps (SLeS) squadron in Bratislava.