Antanas wants to be in the air

ANBO was not a company but the signature of one man. Antanas Gustaitis joined the Lithuanian Army in 1919, flew in the Polish–Lithuanian War, trained pilots, helped found the Aero Club and, in 1922, won the Lithuanian chess championship. In 1925 his first design, the ANBO-I, was built and flown, and after engineering studies in Paris he ran the military aviation workshops in Kaunas. The name is usually explained as Antanas and his wife Bronė, though Lithuanians often read it as Antanas Nori Būti Ore, Antanas wants to be in the air.

A tour of Europe

Gustaitis’s designs grew steadily. The ANBO III parasol trainer of 1929 was the first Lithuanian-designed aircraft built in series. The ANBO IV reconnaissance aircraft, first flown on 14 July 1932 and built with Bristol Pegasus engines, made Lithuania’s name abroad: between 25 June and 29 July 1934 three ANBO IVs led by Gustaitis flew a 10,000 km tour of European capitals. The improved ANBO 41, with a three-blade wooden propeller unique in Europe, equipped two reconnaissance squadrons. Between 1925 and 1939, 66 aircraft of various ANBO types were built.

The last ANBO

The most ambitious design, the ANBO VIII dive bomber, flew on 5 September 1939, four days after Germany invaded Poland. It was still being tested when the Soviet Union annexed Lithuania in 1940 and took the prototype away. Gustaitis, by then a brigadier general who had commanded the air arm since 1934, lost his post and tried to flee to Germany in March 1941. He was caught, taken to Moscow and shot on 16 October 1941. Lithuanian enthusiasts flew an ANBO-II replica in 2016.

Fábricas

• Military aviation workshops · Kaunas — Run by Gustaitis from 1928

Pessoas

• Antanas Gustaitis · designer, air force commander (1898–1941) — Lithuanian chess champion 1922; shot in Moscow 1941

Recordes e pioneirismos

• ANBO III: first aircraft of Lithuanian design built in series
• ANBO 41: the only aircraft in Europe then using a three-blade wooden propeller