AEKKEA-RAAB

The history of AEKKEA (Anonymos Etaireia Kataskevis Kai Ekmetallefseos Aeroplanon - Societe Anonyme Pour la Fabrication et l'Exploitation des Avions Raab), an aircraft maker based in Greece, is connected with the history of a talented German aircraft designer, Antonius Raab (his first name alternatively known as Antonios, in Greek, and Antonio, in Spanish after his involvement in Spain).

In Germany, Raab was the co-founder of Raab-Katzenstein, an aircraft manufacturing company. A devoted anti-Nazi, Raab was forced out of his homeland, and after attempts to establish his company in Estonia and Latvia, ended up in 1935 in Greece, where he had the support of a high-ranking Air Force officer (Gen. P. Gazis). With this support, he and his Greek partners founded a company called AEKKEA (which stood for "Anonymos Etaireia Kataskevis Kai Ekmetallefseos Aeroplanon", or, in French, the "international" language employed in Greece at the time "Societe Anonyme Pour la Fabrication et l'Exploitation des Avions Raab"). The company was legally established on October 20, 1935, by Antonius Raab, Apostolos Agnidis, Konstantinos Bitzios and Georgios Sarigiannis, with headquarters in Piraeus (to be moved it in 1937 to nearby Phaleron). Construction was undertaken by Pyrkal defence industry until AEKKEA's own factory in Moschato started operation in 1937.

The company employed Greek staff (including management and engineers like Greece's best known aircraft engineer, Georgios Pangakis), but a number of German technicians had also followed Raab to Greece. Its first reported types (to be produced) were - or were related to - models from Raab’s previous company, including the Pelikan trainer and touring plane, the R-27 single-seat fighter, the Schwalbe (I/II) and the Tigerschwalbe IV multi-role military aircraft. The first company "construction" was actually an old Raab-Katzenstein Schwalbe Kl 1c upgraded to Schwalbe II, and at least one complete Schwalbe II was also constructed. Except for the Schwalbe, and, possibly, a Pelikan, no production is verified for any other of the particular types; the company nonetheless possessed the designs and production rights. The first "job" of the new company was an order from Austria for two Schwalbe and two Tigerschwalbe, which were built under licence by Pintsch in Vienna. No further Austrian orders were made, under German pressure. At least one Schwalbe II was active with the Austrian Air Force when that country was annexed by Germany. The Turkish government had also at some point expressed interest in the Schwalbe.

...
Wikipedia