Strana 39
CN 810731, LOM Praha, Flight Training Center, Pardubice, Czech Republic, 2019
CN 800525, 5. Luftwaffe Division, Luftwaffe, Germany, 1996
This L-410UVP, which was later nicknamed Máňa
(means Mary homely), was finalized on November
25, 1981 and in December it was handed over to
the army aviation, which assigned it to the
3 Transport Aviation Regiment in Prague-Kbely.
The aircraft underwent several changes of color
and served as a VIP passeneger (salon) transport
aircraft. As part of the reorganization of the
Czech Air Force in the mid-1990s, the aircraft
was transferred to the 61 Transport Squadron at
the newly formed 6 Transport Air Base. In 2002,
it moved to Pardubice to the 34 Special Air Force
Base (overhauled subsequently in 2004) and
assigned to the newly formed Flight Training
Center. At that time, it sported the standard white
and grey livery and for some time also the “Máňa”
inscription above the cockpit. At the turn of 2011
and 2012, this Turbolet underwent a technical
revision in Kunovice, during which the technical
life was spanned for another 4800 hours or 10
years of operation. At the same time, it received
a new blue livery, in which it lived to the end of
its service in 2022. During that time, it flew 7,479
hours and made 13,892 landings. In February
2024, it was decided that the aircraft would be
loaned to the Kunovice Aviation Museum to be
exhibited there.
In late 1980s, the first L-410UVPs were delivered
to the Army of then German Democratic Republic.
These were finished in an eleven-seat salon
version and the first aircraft were delivered in
camouflage consisting of irregular stains of khaki
and green. After German reunification in the
early 1990s, the Bundesluftwaffe retained these
aircraft for the 5. Luftwaffe Division which was
tasked with the transport of government officials.
The aircraft were overhauled and given a white
and grey livery with a distinctive stripe of two
shades of blue. The other L-410UVPs delivered to
the GDR were mostly of parachute version and
these were partly sold to Guatemala and partly
donated to the air forces of the Baltic republics.
KITS 10/2024
INFO Eduard
39
October 2024