LET L-410 "Turbolet" - the Czechoslovakian/ USSR passenger plane

Let L-410 "Turbolet" is a universal twin-engine Czechoslovak-made local communication plane, that replaced "AN-2" in these lines. The first plane of a foreign manufacturer, used in the airlines of the USSR. The aircraft was designed in 1966. The first prototype, which was equipped with “Pratt & Whitney” РТ6А-27 (2 x 715 hp) turboprop engines, began the flight test program on April 16, 1969. The Czechoslovak company "Slov Air" from Bratislava began to use the L - 410A regularly at the end of 1971, serving domestic routes - by the beginning of 1974, it already operated 12 aircraft of this type. Only 31 units of this version were produced. Five L - 410A aircraft, manufactured at the end of 1972 and designated L - 410AC, were handed over to the USSR the following year. They received the USSR designation CCCP-67251 to CCCP-672555. The first of them was flown to the GosNII airfield by the Czech pilot - tester František Svinka. The people of the airport immediately called the nice newcomer "Чебурашка”. In 1973 L - 410M flight tests begin. They are equipped with Czech engines “Valter” M 601A. L - 410M - the second serial modification of "Turbolet". In total, until 1978, the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the USSR received 100 L - 410M and L - 410MU airplanes. In 1979 the production of the improved version L - 410UVP began, which became the main serial model. It differed from its predecessors in an elongated fuselage, enlarged wings and tail plates, the use of interceptors and other engines – “Valter” M - 601 (2x 730 h. p). this plane was also certified by the USSR and accepted by "Aeroflot" for operation. The result of further development is the L - 410UVP - E with even more powerful M 601E engines. This type of aircraft took off for the first time on December 30, 1984. It was distinguished by improved take-off and landing characteristics and reduced cabin noise. In March 1986 it was certified by the USSR. There is also a modification L - 420 with even more powerful turboprops M - 601 °F (2 x 778 h. p), increased to 6.8 t. starting mass and improved flight characteristics (flight tests of the prototype began in November 1993). Beginning in 1969, 1,104 L - 410 aircraft of different modifications were produced, 862 of which entered the USSR. It was also used by the Air Forces of a dozen countries as a training aircraft for the initial stage of long-range aviation, as a transport or disposition aircraft. The airplanes L - 410UVP, used in our Military Aviation, came to us not from “Aeroflot” of the collapsed USSR, but from the former Military Aviation of the GDR. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, these planes, along with other military assets, were taken over by the unified German Air Force. However, they were not used there for a long time due to the fact, that they did not fit into the German AF system. They were donated to friendly countries: 2 planes each in 1992 Germany gave a gift to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The aircraft, used in Lithuania were manufactured in 1982. The L-410 aircraft was repaired in 2006. The modernized and updated aircraft L-410 UVP "Turbolet" was handed over to the Lithuanian Air Force by the Czech factory PAMCO INT a.s. After more than half a year of overhaul, the aircraft's service life was extended, new navigation equipment was updated and replaced, and new navigation equipment was installed. The Latvians lost one of their "Turbolet" due to mismanagement. The saddest fate of the Estonian L - 410 - they have already been removed from their AF lists. Civilian Lithuanian L - 410UVP-E are bought in the Czech Republic, but it is not clear: new or used.

A complex, well-designed and well-detailed model for intermediate to advanced modelers. Fully detailed cabin and passenger cabin interior, chassis and its niches, external details. Unfortunately, making the L-410UVP, used by the Lithuanian Army, will be a difficult task, as there is no information about their transport department. And the engines and propellers of the passenger ones will have to be recycled.