The L-410 Turbolet goes 50

[upnorth]

Hello all,

 

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Let L-410 Turbolet. Arguably the most successful of Czech designed aircraft. Over 1,200 have been made and have been used by military and civil operators in around 60 countries on five continents. At 50, it shows no signs of slowing down.

 

The first L-410 prototype is preserved in the collection of the Kunovice Air Museum in the south east of the Czech Republic. The Kunovice airport is also home to the Let aircraft company, the creators of the Turbolet.

 

To mark the 50th anniversary of the first flight, the museum teamed up with Let and others to restore the first prototype back to the paint scheme it had for the event. As of yesterday, the restoration was finished and the aircraft was rolled out. No doubt it will be back on display in the museum in the near future.

 

The freshly restored aircraft had its photos taken with the youngest of the L-410 family, the second L-410NG prototype.

 

While this link is all in Czech, it has a great photo gallery with some historic pictures of the first prototype in action as well as before, during and after pictures of the restoration:

 

http://www.letistecr.cz/zajimavosti/matylda-se-vratila-cela-v-bilem.aspx