File:Aero L-29 Delfín (51327089419).jpg

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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-29_Delf%C3%ADn" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-29_Delf%C3%ADn</a>


The Aero L-29 Delfín (English: Dolphin, NATO reporting name: Maya) is a military jet trainer developed and manufactured by Czechoslovakian aviation manufacturer Aero Vodochody. It is the country's first locally designed and constructed jet aircraft, as well as likely being 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. On 5 April 1959, an initial prototype, designated as the XL-29, performed its maiden flight. The L-29 was selected to become the standard trainer for the air forces of Warsaw Pact nations, for which it was delivered from the 1960s onwards. During the early 1970s, the type was succeeded in the principal trainer role by another Aero-built aircraft, the L-39 Albatros, heavily contributing to a decline in demand for the earlier L-29 and the end of its production during 1974.

During the course of the programme, in excess of 3,000 L-29 Delfin trainers were produced. Of these, around 2,000 were reported to have been delivered to the Soviet Union, where it was used as the standard trainer for the Soviet Air Force. Of the others, which included both armed and unarmed models, many aircraft were delivered to the various COMECON countries while others were exported to various overseas nations, including Egypt, Syria, Indonesia, Nigeria and Uganda. Reportedly, the L-29 has been used in active combat during several instances, perhaps the most high-profile being the use of Nigerian aircraft during the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s and of Egyptian L-29s against Israeli tanks during the brief Yom Kippur War of 1973.

In excess of 2,000 L-29 Delfins were ultimately supplied to the Soviet Air Force. Like the majority of Soviet-operated aircraft, it acquired its own NATO reporting name, "Maya." In the trainer role, the L-29 enabled air forces to adopt an "all-through" training regime using only jet-powered aircraft, entirely replacing earlier piston-engined types.

The Delfin served in basic, intermediate and weapons training roles. For this latter mission, they were equipped with hardpoints to carry gunpods, bombs or rockets; according to Fredrikson, the L-29 functioned as a relatively good ground-attack aircraft when deployed as such. It saw several uses in this active combat role, such as when a number of Egyptian L-29s were dispatched on attack missions against Israeli ground forces during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The type was also used in anger during the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s. On 16 July 1975, a Czechoslovak Air Force L-29 reportedly shot down a Polish civilian biplane piloted by Dionizy Bielański, who had been attempting to defect to the West.

The L-29 was supplanted in the inventory of many of its operators by the Aero L-39 Albatros. The L-29 which was commonly used alongside the newer L-39 for a time. The type was used extensively to conduct ground attack missions in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War by Azeri forces. At least 14 were shot down by Armenian air-defences, out of the total inventory of 18 L-29s; the Azeri Air Force lost large amounts of its air force due to anti aircraft fire.

On 2 October 2007, an unmodified L-29 was used for the world's first jet flight powered solely by 100 per cent biodiesel fuel. Pilots Carol Sugars and Douglas Rodante flew their Delphin Jet from Stead Airport, Reno, Nevada to Leesburg International Airport, Leesburg, Florida in order to promote environmentally friendly fuels in aviation.

The L-29, much like its L-39 successor, has found use in air racing, some of which have been re-engined with the British Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojet engine. From 10 September to 14 September 2008, a pair of L-29s took first and second place at the Reno Air Races. Both L-29s consistently posted laps at or above 500 miles per hour; former Astronaut Curt Brown took first place in "Viper," followed by Red Bull racer Mike Mangold in "Euroburner."

Russia has claimed that it destroyed a pair of Georgian L-29s during the 2008 South Ossetia war. On 18 January 2015, separatist forces in the War in Donbass claimed that they possessed an operational L-29.


Photo by Eric Friedebach
Date
Source Aero L-29 Delfín
Author Eric Friedebach
Camera location32° 34′ 49.04″ N, 96° 43′ 23.98″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by Eric Friedebach at https://flickr.com/photos/146295701@N02/51327089419. It was reviewed on 2 August 2021 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

2 August 2021

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