1. The museum was founded in 1968 on the territory of the historical military airfield in Prague - Kbely. It was the first Czechoslovak air base, established in 1918. The museum currently has 275 aircraft in its collection.
2. This is what the pilots of airplanes with an open cockpit looked like
3. Airplane Morane Saulnier MS-230 ET-2, France, 1932
4. Wood glued multi-layer screw, leading edge reinforced with metal
5. Airplane Avia Ba-122, Czechoslovakia, 1936. Aerobatic aircraft, multiple winner of various air shows
6. Czechoslovakian pilots from the First Republic between flights. In the hands, of course.
7. SPAD S-VIIC.1 fighter, France, 1916. A large number of these aircraft were purchased in France after the end of the 1st World War.
8. Airplane Ae-10, Czechoslovakia, 1919. Aircraft mechanic at work.
9. Airplane Avia Bk-11, Czechoslovakia, 1923
10. De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth Mk. II, Great Britain, 1931
11. The wing of a historical aircraft that flew from Prague to Beijing in the 1920s.
12. Military transport aircraft LI-2, USSR, 1942, slightly modified American aircraft Douglas DC-3.
13. Training aircraft PO-2 (U-2) “Kukuruznik”, USSR 1929. During the war it was used as a night bomber.
14. LA-7 fighter, USSR 1943
15. IL-2M3 attack aircraft, USSR 1942
17. Attack aircraft AVIA B-33 (IL-10 BEAST), Czechoslovakia 1951
18. Aero C-3a military transport aircraft (Czech version of the German Siebel Si 204).
21. Avia S-199 fighter (Czech version of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G / K), 1946. After the 2nd World War, a large number of Messerschmitt Bf 109G airframes remained on the territory of Czechoslovakia, and the Avia plant reprocessed them to install the Junkers Jumo 211D engine .
24. The Messerschmitt Me.262 "Schwalbe" fighter was the world's first production jet aircraft, and the world's first jet aircraft to participate in combat operations. It continued to be produced under the Avia S-92 and Avia CS-92 brands after the war in Czechoslovakia. The production of these aircraft became possible due to the fact that at the end of the war the Czech industry produced a full range of fighter components, including its BMW and Jumo engines, although I didn’t assemble the plane. On August 27, 1946, the first flight of the Czech S-92 took place.
L-410 UVP-E20 is a universal twin-engine aircraft of Czech production for local airlines, accommodating 19 passengers. Designed for operation on unprepared dirt, grass, snow areas, as well as on airfields with short runways (about 600-700 meters), which, in fact, makes it an aircraft in the “off-road” category. The first flight of the L-410 was made on April 16, 1969. The main customer of the aircraft was the Soviet Union. In addition, the L-410 was also supplied to Bulgaria, Brazil, Hungary, East Germany, Libya, and Poland. Despite the fact that the plant is located in the Czech Republic, it considers itself part of the Russian aircraft industry: the foundations for this were laid during its development and during its long history of operation. As of 2012, more than 400 L-410 aircraft are in operation around the world.
Production site of Aircraft Industries in Kunovice, Czech Republic.
The Aircraft Industries plant, better known under the Let Kunovice brand, is located 300 km from Prague. The plant employs 920 people.
The company produces aircraft through a full production cycle - it has its own lines for surface treatment of materials, paint and varnish production, a machine shop, assembly shops, a design bureau and an airport.
L-410 fuselage parts production workshop. The enterprise is expanding and modernizing production - light green equipment is intended for the production of a new generation of the L-410 NG (New Generation) aircraft.
The plant's production capacity is 16-18 new aircraft per year.
About 80% of aircraft are supplied to Russia. Over the past four years, 35 aircraft have been delivered to Russia.
Production of parts on a CNC milling center from the French company Creneau.
Cleaning parts before molding
Forming a part on a press
Punching press
Design documentation - interceptor drawing
Manufacturing of the wing spar on a 5-axis CNC milling center.
The production uses Russian duralumin produced by OJSC Kamensk-Ural Metallurgical Plant. The total share of components from Russia in the L-410 aircraft is about 15% - this is a legacy of the fact that the aircraft was developed by order of the USSR and with the participation of Soviet designers.
Wing panel production
Assembly of the front wing
Checking the quality of riveting on an airplane wing
One L-410 aircraft uses about 185,000 rivets of different types and sizes
Riveting work in the middle part of the fuselage
Installation of floor panels
Production of the rear fuselage
Production of engine air intake parts
Production of air intake parts for the CASA CN-235 aircraft within the framework of industrial cooperation.
The plant also cooperates with Boeing for the Boeing 787 aircraft.
Assembly conveyor for L-410 UVP-E20 aircraft. Located in one of the newest buildings of the plant, originally designed for the production of L-610.
In one half of the building there are two production lines for new L-410 aircraft, in the second half there is a service workshop for aircraft coming out of service.
There are about 10 aircraft in the assembly shop at the same time. The fuselage, wing, end tanks and tail unit come to the beginning of the line from the paint shop.
At the end of the line are aircraft undergoing flight tests and preparing for delivery to customers.
Over the entire history of its existence, the plant has produced over 1,150 aircraft of the L-410 family.
More than 850 of them were delivered to operators in the USSR.
The process of finishing the luggage compartment of an aircraft in the nose after completing the installation of electrical equipment
Emergency exit door assembly
The nose of the aircraft with serial number 2915. The weather radar antenna is visible.
The forward luggage compartment doors are open.
Installation of avionics in the cockpit. Avionics traditionally include devices from Russian manufacturers
Installation of electrical equipment in the aircraft cabin
Installing Wiring Harnesses
Installation of electrical wires on an aircraft wing in the area of the engine nacelle
Five-blade AV-725 propellers (Avia Propeller) together with a GE H80-200 engine make up the new power plant aircraft L-410 UVP-E20. It has been installed on all new aircraft since January 2013 and is certified by EASA and the Russian AR MAK.
Young people in production are not uncommon, also due to the presence of its own vocational technical school on the territory of the plant.
The average age of the company's employees is 44 years.
Work on the GE H-80 engine, carried out by a representative of GE Aviation Czech, Prague (former Walter plant).
The final installation stage takes about 5 months - this is the most expensive part of production, as within its framework, engines, landing gear and all avionics are installed on the aircraft, where each individual unit can cost 100-250 thousand Euros.
The total duration of the aircraft production cycle from the production of the first fuselage components to the end of flight testing takes just under a year.
Cockpit of the L-410 UVP-E20 aircraft.
The aircraft is fully equipped for instrument flights and has an advanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) and TCAS II. The L 410 is designed in the metric system (rather than inches), which is an exception in Western aviation.
This type of aircraft has been used for many years as a graduation aircraft for pilot training in Sasovsky flight school civil aviation(Ryazan region).
Pre-flight preparation. Stanislav Sklenarz is the chief test pilot of the plant.
Under the wing of an airplane, a view of the river. Morava and the town of Uhersky Ostrog
Aircraft L-410 UVP-E20 for French Guiana.
Airplanes for exotic countries often have bright, memorable colors.
Leaving with a turn
Practical ceiling - 8000 meters
Approaching the runway.
The L-410 aircraft can land both on a paved runway and on grass, soil and snow. UVP in the name of the aircraft means the Russian abbreviation “Shortened Takeoff and Landing,” which also recalls the Russian roots of the aircraft.
Castle Novy Svetlov (1480), Bojkowice.
The medieval Gothic castle Buchlov (13th century) is located 10 km from Kunowice.
Buchlov Castle is one of the most beautiful castles in South Moravia – the south-eastern region of the Czech Republic.
Velehrad Monastery (XIII century) is one of the main pilgrimage churches in the Czech Republic.
In 863 - 866 Christian saints Cyril and Methodius lived and preached in the city of Velegrad.
A prototype of the L-610M aircraft in Staroe Mesto, installed for viewing at the entrance to the city.
For any questions regarding the use of photographs, please email.
From MiGs to GripensAviation and Air Defense Forces of the Army Czech Republic(this name was originally given to the Air Force of the sovereign Czech Republic) were formed on January 1, 1993 after the once united Czechoslovakia was divided into two independent states. In accordance with the agreement reached between the two new countries, all weapons and military equipment of the Czechoslovak Army were distributed to the armed forces of the Czech Republic and Slovakia according to the approved list. As a result, the Czech Air Force received all the MiG-23BN, MiG-23MF, MiG-23ML and MiG-23UB aircraft available in Czechoslovakia; MiG-29 fighters were divided equally, and the rest aviation equipment distributed in a ratio of approximately 2 to 1 in favor of the Czech Republic. Among those inherited from her union state Soviet-made aircraft included 52 MiG-21MF fighters, 21 MiG-21R reconnaissance aircraft and 24 MiG-21US and MiG-21UM combat trainers.
However, the exploitation of most of them by the new “owner” turned out to be short-lived.
Having set a course for joining NATO, the Czech government began to gradually free itself from Soviet-made military equipment. Already in 1994, all MiG-21R, MiG-21US, MiG-23BN and MiG-23MF aircraft were removed from service. In the same year, all MiG-29 fighters available to the Czech Republic were transferred to Poland. Four years later, the Czech Air Force removed the MiG-23ML fighters and MiG-23UB combat trainers from service, and in 2000, all 24 Su-25K attack aircraft inherited from Czechoslovakia (along with one two-seat Su-25UBK). In 2002, 36 Su-22M4 and Su-22UM3K fighter-bombers left service, and the only type of Russian combat aircraft in the republican Air Force remained, paradoxically, the oldest available - the light front-line fighter MiG-21MF (in total in the period 1971 -1975 102 such aircraft arrived in Czechoslovakia).
After a series of reorganizations and a significant reduction in the Czech Air Force, the MiG-21MF became the main fighter aircraft of the republic and was supposed to remain so until the arrival of new generation fighters. The Swedish Gripen was identified as the successor to the “twenty-first” in 2002, but in the meantime, in connection with the Czech Republic’s entry into NATO, it was decided to subject these aircraft to some equipment modernization so that they could be successfully used within the framework of the joint air defense system of the North Atlantic Alliance. 12 MiGs modernized in this way were called MiG-21MFN.
By the beginning of 2005, they were in service with the 211th squadron of the 21st tactical aviation base of the Czech Air Force at the Caslav airfield (the second, 212th, squadron at this base was equipped with new Czech L-159A aircraft, which replaced the country's Air Force removed from strike weapons Su-22 and Su-25). Even after the first batch of Gripens entered the squadron, the “good old” MiGs continue to remain on combat duty. Their final removal from service is scheduled for the end of this year, when Časlav will begin operating all received JAS39s (the remaining eight of the 14 ordered vehicles will arrive here in August).
As our magazine has already reported (see “Takeoff” No. 1/2005, p. 27), the Czech Republic became the first country in Eastern Europe to adopt the new Swedish JAS39 Gripen fighters. In accordance with the contract, the Czech Republic will lease 14 such aircraft for a period of 10 years - 12 single-seat JAS39C and two twin-seat JAS39D. The first six Gripens arrived at the Časlav airbase, located 70 km southeast of Prague, on April 18 this year. Here they became part of the 21st Air Base of the Czech Air Force, which until now operated Soviet-made MiG-21 MF fighters. However, time takes its toll, and the legendary MiGs are giving way to more modern fighters. An air show at the Časlav airfield, held on May 21 of this year, was dedicated to the farewell to the MiG-21s, which served in the Czech Air Force for 45 years, and the adoption of the Gripens into service. Our special correspondents visited it.
Show
The organization of the holiday at the Časlav airfield was undertaken by the military of the 21st Tactical Air Base themselves, with the participation of the Czech Air Show Agency and the Kolin Aero Club. It must be said that there were no complaints against the organizers, with the exception of the cancellation of flights of the German F-4 Phantom aircraft (and how they would have looked in the same ranks with the MiG!) and the absence of the Yugoslav Galeb declared in the program - clearly, according to flights were on schedule, visitors could have a snack, buy model airplanes, T-shirts, patches and toys. Those who wished could practice shooting with automatic weapons. To the credit of the Czechs (as well as numerous Germans and Austrians), unlike the guests of Russian air shows, they put garbage only in special bags, leaving both the grass and concrete of the parking lots pristinely clean. To be honest, both the airfield and the airfield are quite different from ours for the better, and the quality of concrete, lighting, markings, and other infrastructure is almost ideal.
The flights were divided into three large blocks - two military ones, almost identical in program (morning and afternoon) and a free flight - with performances by aircraft modelers (aerial combat of large-scale copies of aircraft from the Second World War), athletes, amateurs, presentations of replicas and retro, "rides" everyone on the An-2 and Moravians. An interesting performance was shown by amateur pilots: red ones filled with light gas were launched from the ground Balloons, and the planes attacked them, trying to ram them with a propeller or wing. Having lined up in a conveyor belt, they again and again rushed to the next target, to the delight of the spectators, who kept a “battle score” for each of the participants.
The symmetry of the military parts of the show contributed to the fact that the spectacle was perceived without tension - if something was missed from attention in the first part, distracted by other matters, you can see it in more detail in the second, change the point of observation and perspective. The organizers gave the journalists this opportunity - after the first part of the flights, they were taken to a parking lot, where they could photograph in detail the flying equipment, the process of servicing it by technicians (with one exception - they were asked not to film the parking lots of MiGs on combat duty). By the beginning of the second military block, two buses with photographers were transported to the other side of the airfield in order to take pictures from the direction of the sun.
in one formation - the past, present and future of the Czech Air Force. The leader is a trio of Gripen aircraft, in the center is a flight of MiG-21 MFNs, and a pair of L-159A brings up the rear.
a pair of Czech MiG-21 MFN in a demonstration flight
The combat training MiG-21 UM takes off. Several "sparks" still remain in service with the 21st air base of the Czech Air Force
MiG-21 MFN aircraft were still on combat duty in Caslav in May. The photo shows an aircraft with two R-60 missiles and two drop tanks
this MiG-21 MFN has an unusual camouflage and bears the symbols of the 45th anniversary of the Chaslav airbase
Basic data of MiG-21 MF and JAS39C "Gripen" fighters
| MiG-21 MF | JAS39C | |
| engine's type | Р13-300 | RM12 |
| Engine thrust, kgf | 1x6600 | 1x8200 |
| Aircraft length (without PVD), m | 14,185 | 14,1 |
| Wingspan, m | 7,154 | 8,4 |
| Aircraft height, m | 4,71 | 4,5 |
| Wing area, m2 | 23,0 | 30,0 |
| Empty aircraft weight, kg | 5350 | 6820 |
| Normal take-off weight, kg | 8200 | 8500 |
| Maximum take-off weight, kg | 9320 | 14 000 |
| Fuel reserve (without fuel tank), kg | 2300 | 2270 |
| Maximum combat load weight, kg | 1300 | 4800 |
| Maximum flight speed at high altitude, km/h | 2175 | 1900 |
| Maximum flight speed near the ground, km/h | 1300 | 1320 |
| Maximum number of M | 2,05 | 1,8 |
| Practical ceiling, m | 16 800 | 17 000 |
| Maximum operational overload | 8,5 | 9 |
| Practical flight range, km | 1400 | 1800 |
| Run length, m | 800 | 400 |
| Run length, m | 550 | 500 |
To us, spoiled by the displays of aerobatic pilots and testers, the flight program of combat MiGs, L-159s and Gripens did not seem particularly difficult - mostly group passes, hills with afterburners, loops, rolls and dissolutions with a combat turn, although it looked quite spectacular. The vehicles flew with drop tanks, and the pair of “twenty-first” standing on duty under the NATO NATINEADS program also had missiles. Much more lively was the display of Aero-Vodohody factory tester Miroslav Shitsner on the L-159B.
We were truly pleased by the helicopter pilots who demonstrated the evacuation of a wounded parachutist on the Polish Falcon, accompanied by excellent dynamic aerobatics, and energetic combat maneuvering at low altitudes on the Mi-24V.
It must be said that the MiGs are leaving the Czech Republic, leaving a noticeable mark on the country’s aviation history. In 1951, the director of the Aviation Research Institute, Frantisek Horak, obtained permission from Stalin to produce the MiG-15, after which in 1953 a new plant with a capacity of up to 1000 aircraft per year was built in Vodochody near Prague, and at the beginning of 1954 the first of the MiGs built at the enterprise took off. A total of 3,405 MiG-15s of various modifications were produced in Czechoslovakia, followed by 103 MiG-19s and 194 MiG-21F13s. Few people know, but it was on one of the UTI MiG-15s built at the Aero plant that Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Seregin took their last flight in 1968...
The baptism of fire of the Czechoslovak MiG-15 took place on March 10, 1953, when Jaroslav Sramek shot down an F-84 near Pilsen, and soon Jaroslav Novak opened a combat account of the destroyed reconnaissance balloons. Exactly one year later, Zdenek Voleman chalked up an American twin-engine intruder. About five thousand Czech and Slovak pilots served on MiG aircraft.
The pilots and technicians with whom we were able to talk at the Caslav airfield noted the exceptionally high reliability of the outgoing Soviet equipment. The only disaster in the unit with her participation - a mid-air collision between a MiG-21 MF and a MiG-21U - occurred in June 1999. Two pilots - Jaromir Zbranek and Ivan Kaiser - were killed, and Zdenek Svoboda ejected safely.
This spring, 21 Czech MiG-21 modifications MF, MFN and UM, along with spare parts, were sold to a private company (its name and contract amount are not disclosed). The 12 vehicles of the same type remaining in service were planned to be sold after receiving the Gripen, but their service life was once again extended - this time until June 30. Experts have different opinions about the future fate of the MiGs - some talk about the exhaustion of their service life, others insist on the possibility of extending it. But everyone is unanimous that in the near future these cars will be sold abroad.
Compared to the MiG-21 MF, the Gripen cockpit has fewer dial instruments, but there are liquid crystal indicators
preparing Czech Gripen aircraft for flights at the Časlav airbase. It is noteworthy that, unlike the MiG-21 MF, you must enter the cockpit of the Swedish fighter from the starboard side
To increase the flight range, Gripens almost constantly fly with a large ventral drop tank
after a demonstration flight, the Czech JAS39C lands on the strip of the Časlav airbase (in the background is a Tu-154M of the Czech Air Force). The remaining eight of the 14 Gripens ordered by the Czech Republic should arrive at the base in August.
As for the 14 multifunctional Swedish-British JAS-39, which are supplied under a leasing contract with a total value of about $850 million, all our interlocutors said that this equipment requires a completely different approach. Role software so large that the entire operating and training system had to be rebuilt. Finding out the features of programs, searching for answers in multi-volume manuals and calling the support service, which was previously not typical for aviators, takes up more and more of their time. However, the advantages of the approach incorporated in the creation of the aircraft, combining the ability to exchange data between attacking vehicles of the same group, ground-based radars and command posts, AWACS aircraft, an on-board system for monitoring the condition of units with maximum automation of the piloting process, should bring their combat capabilities to fundamentally new positions.
Answering the question why the “Gripens” did not show anything very different from the aerobatics of the “twenty-first” at the show, representatives of the Air Force referred to the short flight time - 50 hours on the new type for each of the pilots, which does not yet allow them to carry out a complex program.
One of the program numbers became symbolic - the group passage of three Gripens, four MiGs and a pair of L-159s. Disbandment - and new vehicles go up, those currently in service remain on the horizon, and those removed from service leave - they are rearranged into a bearing and take turns landing.
The instructive respectful attitude of Czech aviators towards the outgoing generation of combat vehicles, the show organized in honor of this event, free access to almost all the equipment that took part in it, combined with the festive atmosphere, the friendly attitude of our interlocutors towards guests from Russia made up a very good memory of visiting Caslav.
Photo report by Andrey Zhirnov
The L-410 aircraft, which crashed in the Khabarovsk Territory and killed six people, is widely known in the former Soviet Union, despite its Czechoslovak origin. It was developed in the late 1960s at the Let Kunowice aircraft factory. The aircraft plant dates back to 1936 as a branch of the Avia Letnany plant, built as part of the development of the military-industrial complex of Czechoslovakia. During the occupation, the plant was engaged in the repair of fighter aircraft.
After the war, the plant was nationalized, and car repairs began there. In 1948, the company became part of the newly created Let company, and serial production of the single-engine Zlin 22 aircraft began in Kunowice.
In 1953, licensed production of Soviet Yak-11 fighter trainers and Aero Ae-45 twin-engine civil aircraft was established at the new aircraft plant.
In 1955, the first model of its own design, created by Czechoslovak engineers under the leadership of Ladislav Smrček, began to be produced in Kunovice - the Let L-200 Morava light passenger aircraft. The plant produced the Z-37 Cmelak (“bumblebee”) agricultural aircraft, gliders and the L-29 trainer jet, which in 1961 became the main training aircraft of the Warsaw Pact member countries.
However, a landmark order for the Czechoslovak aircraft was the order from the USSR for the development and production of a 19-seat L-410 turboprop aircraft.
By the end of the 1960s, there was a need in the USSR for a small, short-haul passenger aircraft of a new generation with a capacity of up to 10 people, capable of taking off and landing on unpaved airfields. And since the emphasis was on high efficiency, the aircraft had to be built with turboprop engines.
Despite the fact that the Beriev Design Bureau had an aircraft with the necessary characteristics (Be-30),
within the framework of cooperation between the CMEA member countries, it was decided to transfer the project to Czechoslovakia.
And this was not the only example of such cooperation. Thus, at one time the USSR transferred to Poland the production of the Mi-2 helicopter and the An-2 aircraft. Thanks to the course towards the integration of CMEA member countries, the fleet of airlines of “friendly” countries was constantly replenished with Il-62, Tu-154, Tu-134 aircraft and Soviet-made helicopters, Czechoslovakian L-410 aircraft and agricultural M-15 aircraft produced in Poland .
The USSR became the main customer of the L-410, where it became the most popular turboprop aircraft,
operated on regional routes, the first foreign-made aircraft to enter domestic air routes.
The L-410 is designed according to the classic design of a twin-engine high-wing aircraft with a single-fin tail. The first prototype aircraft, equipped with Pratt&Whitney RT6A27 engines, took off on April 16, 1969. The first to regularly use L-410A aircraft was the Czechoslovakian airline Slov Air (Bratislava) on local routes. In 1973, testing of the L-410M aircraft with Czech Walter M601A engines began. By the end of 1978, the USSR received about a hundred L-410 aircraft.
“According to the designers’ plans, this turboprop will in the future replace the An-2 and Li-2 on local airlines of the CMEA member countries,” wrote in those days.
In 1979, the aircraft was modified, and the L-410UVP model became the main production model. The aircraft was distinguished by a longer fuselage, the use of spoilers and increased wing dimensions, which made it possible to improve one of its main characteristics - the abbreviation “UVP” meant “short take-off and landing”.
In total, more than 1,200 L-410 units were produced, most of of which (862) were sent on flights of the Soviet Union, where they rightfully earned popularity for their reliability and unpretentiousness. L-410 could carry up to 19 passengers with a cruising speed of 380 km/h and were not very demanding on the runway - a normal dirt strip was enough.
The geography of their routes covered the entire territory of the USSR, from Sukhumi to Omsk. By paying not much more for a ticket than for a train, passengers could, for example, fly
from Krasnodar to Kerch, from Rostov-on-Don to Donetsk, from Sukhumi to Kutaisi, from Ryazan to Mariupol or Poltava.
By the beginning of 1992, there were about 750 such aircraft left in the former USSR. Among them were transport, transport-landing and training aircraft used by the military, including in the USSR. After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, the Kunovitsa plant fell into decay, serial production of the L-410 was curtailed and the plant changed owners several times. The production rate fell tenfold - from 50 cars per year to two to five. In 2008, 51% of the shares of Let Kunovice (Aircraft Industries) were bought by the Russian company Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, after which the production rate was eight to ten aircraft per year. Today the company, having purchased the remaining shares, is the sole owner of the production.
In 2017, preparations for production of L-410 aircraft in Russia were announced, which should begin in 2018.
According to the Russian State Research Institute of Civil Aviation, by 2020, from 604 to 822 aircraft with a capacity of 4 to 19 seats will be sold in Russia.
L-410 UVP-E20 is a universal twin-engine aircraft of Czech production for local airlines, accommodating 19 passengers. Designed for operation on unprepared dirt, grass, snow areas, as well as on airfields with short runways (about 600-700 meters), which, in fact, makes it an aircraft in the “off-road” category. The first flight of the L-410 was made on April 16, 1969. The main customer of the aircraft was the Soviet Union. In addition, the L-410 was also supplied to Bulgaria, Brazil, Hungary, East Germany, Libya, and Poland. Despite the fact that the plant is located in the Czech Republic, it considers itself part of the Russian aircraft industry: the foundations for this were laid during its development and during its long history of operation. As of 2012, more than 400 L-410 aircraft are in operation around the world.
Production site of Aircraft Industries in Kunovice, Czech Republic.
The Aircraft Industries plant, better known under the Let Kunovice brand, is located 300 km from Prague. The plant employs 920 people.
The company produces aircraft through a full production cycle - it has its own lines for surface treatment of materials, paint and varnish production, a machine shop, assembly shops, a design bureau and an airport.
L-410 fuselage parts production workshop. The enterprise is expanding and modernizing production - light green equipment is intended for the production of a new generation of the L-410 NG (New Generation) aircraft.
The plant's production capacity is 16-18 new aircraft per year.
About 80% of aircraft are supplied to Russia. Over the past four years, 35 aircraft have been delivered to Russia.
Production of parts on a CNC milling center from the French company Creneau.
Cleaning parts before molding
Forming a part on a press
Punching press
Design documentation - interceptor drawing
Manufacturing of the wing spar on a 5-axis CNC milling center.
The production uses Russian duralumin produced by OJSC Kamensk-Ural Metallurgical Plant. The total share of components from Russia in the L-410 aircraft is about 15% - this is a legacy of the fact that the aircraft was developed by order of the USSR and with the participation of Soviet designers.
Wing panel production
Assembly of the front wing
Checking the quality of riveting on an airplane wing
One L-410 aircraft uses about 185,000 rivets of different types and sizes
Riveting work in the middle part of the fuselage
Installation of floor panels
Production of the rear fuselage
Production of engine air intake parts
Production of air intake parts for the CASA CN-235 aircraft within the framework of industrial cooperation.
The plant also cooperates with Boeing for the Boeing 787 aircraft.
Assembly conveyor for L-410 UVP-E20 aircraft. Located in one of the newest buildings of the plant, originally designed for the production of L-610.
In one half of the building there are two production lines for new L-410 aircraft, in the second half there is a service workshop for aircraft coming out of service.
There are about 10 aircraft in the assembly shop at the same time. The fuselage, wing, end tanks and tail unit come to the beginning of the line from the paint shop.
At the end of the line are aircraft undergoing flight tests and preparing for delivery to customers.
Over the entire history of its existence, the plant has produced over 1,150 aircraft of the L-410 family.
More than 850 of them were delivered to operators in the USSR.
The process of finishing the luggage compartment of an aircraft in the nose after completing the installation of electrical equipment
Emergency exit door assembly
The nose of the aircraft with serial number 2915. The weather radar antenna is visible.
The forward luggage compartment doors are open.
Installation of avionics in the cockpit. Avionics traditionally include devices from Russian manufacturers
Installation of electrical equipment in the aircraft cabin
Installing Wiring Harnesses
Installation of electrical wires on an aircraft wing in the area of the engine nacelle
Five-blade AV-725 propellers (Avia Propeller) together with a GE H80-200 engine make up the new power plant for the L-410 UVP-E20 aircraft. It has been installed on all new aircraft since January 2013 and is certified by EASA and the Russian AR MAK.
Young people in production are not uncommon, also due to the presence of its own vocational technical school on the territory of the plant.
The average age of the company's employees is 44 years.
Work on the GE H-80 engine, carried out by a representative of GE Aviation Czech, Prague (former Walter plant).
The final installation stage takes about 5 months - this is the most expensive part of production, as within its framework, engines, landing gear and all avionics are installed on the aircraft, where each individual unit can cost 100-250 thousand Euros.
The total duration of the aircraft production cycle from the production of the first fuselage components to the end of flight testing takes just under a year.
Cockpit of the L-410 UVP-E20 aircraft.
The aircraft is fully equipped for instrument flight and has an advanced Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) and TCAS II. The L 410 is designed in the metric system (rather than inches), which is an exception in Western aviation.
This type of aircraft has been used for many years as a graduation aircraft for training pilots at the Sasovo Flight School of Civil Aviation (Ryazan region).
Pre-flight preparation. Stanislav Sklenarz is the chief test pilot of the plant.
Under the wing of an airplane, a view of the river. Morava and the town of Uhersky Ostrog
Aircraft L-410 UVP-E20 for French Guiana.
Airplanes for exotic countries often have bright, memorable colors.
Leaving with a turn
Practical ceiling - 8000 meters
Approaching the runway.
The L-410 aircraft can land both on a paved runway and on grass, soil and snow. UVP in the name of the aircraft means the Russian abbreviation “Shortened Takeoff and Landing,” which also recalls the Russian roots of the aircraft.
Castle Novy Svetlov (1480), Bojkowice.
The medieval Gothic castle Buchlov (13th century) is located 10 km from Kunowice.
Buchlov Castle is one of the most beautiful castles in South Moravia – the south-eastern region of the Czech Republic.
Velehrad Monastery (XIII century) is one of the main pilgrimage churches in the Czech Republic.
In 863 - 866 Christian saints Cyril and Methodius lived and preached in the city of Velegrad.
A prototype of the L-610M aircraft in Staroe Mesto, installed for viewing at the entrance to the city.
