Aero L-29 Delfín

what is it?

The Aero L-29 Delfín (English: Dolphin, NATO reporting name: Maya) is a military jet trainer developed and manufactured by Czechoslovak aviation manufacturer Aero Vodochody. It is the country's first locally designed and constructed jet aircraft, and likely the biggest aircraft industrial programme to take place in any of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) countries except the Soviet Union. In response to a sizable requirement for a common jet-propelled trainer to be adopted across the diverse nations of the Eastern Bloc, Aero decided to embark upon their own design project with a view to suitably satisfying this demand.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · mid wing · 10.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 655 km/htop speed
• range 894 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 2passengers
• size 3,280 kgmax take-off weight
• built 3,665made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 67 years ago, in 1959.
• 🏎️Top speed is 5.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 10.3 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.2× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1959

introduced

1963

number built

3,665

role

military trainer aircraft, light attack

origin

🇨🇿 Czechoslovakia

makers

AERO Vodochody Aerospace

engines

1× Motorlet M-701c 500 / M-701

crew

2

passengers

2

length

10.8 m

wingspan

10.3 m

height

3.1 m

max take-off weight

3,280 kg

top speed

655 km/h

range

894 km

ceiling

11,000 m

wings

mid wing

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.