Engine:     One Motorlet M701c-500  turbojet  1,960-lb thrust

Our Aircraft  OY-LSD :  This Aircraft rolled out of the factory in 1973 with the serial number 394952.

 Designed at Aero Vodochody in Czechoslovakia, the L-29 Delphin ( "Dolphin") Jet first flew in 1959. The L-29 served as the primary lead in jet trainer for the Soviet Union, untill it was replaced by the L-39 Albatros. Over 3600 L-29's were produced between 1959 and 1974.

 Although the L-29 was a dedicated trainer, it has also been involved in several combat operations during its service, because it was exported to African and Middle Eastern markets with unstable countries. The first non WPcustomer was Syrian Arab Republic in 1964. The L-29 was used in combat for very first time in Nigeria, flown by government forces against the rebels led by General Ojukwu in 1967. Upon rebellion in Uganda, the L-29s attacked ground targets with rockets and bombs when used against the governmental forces of General Amin in 1978. L-29s were also used by Egypt in the Arab-Israeli wars. They were modified to allow two pylons, each with four 80mm rockets, under each wing. It was quite rough modification of the wing design, which luckily went well... All in all, the Aero L-29 Delfín served successfully with 24 air forces and many of them are still in flight condition in private hands. With the total of 3665 examples produced, the L-29 Delfín is so far the mostly produced jet trainer in history.                     NATO designator : MAYA