Aero L-29 Delfín

The Aero L-29 Delfín (Dolphin, NATO reporting name: Maya) is a military jet trainer aircraft that became the standard jet trainer for the air forces of Warsaw Pact nations in the 1960s. It was Czechoslovakia's first locally designed and built jet aircraft.

Design and development
In the late 1950s, the Soviet Air Force was seeking a jet-powered replacement for its fleet of piston-engined trainers, and this requirement was soon broadened to finding a trainer aircraft that could be adopted in common by Eastern Bloc air forces. Aero's response, the prototype XL-29 designed by Z. Rublič and K. Tomáš first flew on 5 April 1959, powered by a British Bristol Siddeley Viper engine. The second prototype was powered by the Czech-designed M701 engine, which was used in all subsequent aircraft.

The basic design concept was to produce a straightforward, easy-to-build and operate aircraft. Simplicity and ruggedness were stressed with manual flight controls, large flaps and the incorporation of perforated airbrakes on the fuselage sides providing stable and docile flight characteristics, leading to an enviable safety record for the type. The sturdy L-29 was able to operate from grass, sand or unprepared fields. Both student pilot and instructor had ejection seats, and were positioned in tandem, under separate canopies with a slightly raised instructor position.

In 1961, the L-29 was evaluated against the PZL TS-11 Iskra and Yakovlev Yak-30 and emerged the winner. Poland chose to pursue the development of the TS-11 Iskra anyway, but all other Warsaw Pact countries adopted the Delfin under the agreements of COMECON.

Production began April 1963 and continued for 11 years, with 3,600 eventually built until 1974. A dedicated, single-seat, aerobatic version was developed as the L-29A Akrobat. A reconnaissance version with nose-mounted cameras was built as the L-29R.

Operational history
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, and thus armed, Egyptian L-29s were sent into combat against Israeli tanks during the Yom Kippur War. The L-29 was supplanted in the inventory of many of its operators by the Aero L-39 Albatros. More than 2,000 L-29s were supplied to the Soviet Air Force, acquiring the NATO reporting name "Maya."

L-29's, along with the newer L-39,were used extensively in ground attack missions in the Nagorno-Karabakh War by Azeri forces. At least 14 were shot down by Armenian air-defences.

As a trainer, the L-29 enabled air forces to adopt an "all-through" training on jet aircraft, replacing earlier piston-engined types.

On July 16, 1975, a Czechoslovak Air Force L-29 shot down a Polish civilian biplane piloted by Dionizy Bielański that was attempting to defect to the West.

On October 2, 2007, an unmodified L-29 was used for the world’s first jet flight powered solely by 100% 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.

From September 10 to September 14, 2008, two 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 says it destroyed two Georgian L-29s during the 2008 South Ossetia war.

Current Military Operators

 * : National Air Force of Angola - 6 L-29s were in service as of December 2012.
 * 🇦🇿: The Azerbaijani Air and Air Defence Force
 * : Georgian Air Force - 4 L-29s were in service as of December 2012.
 * : Military of Guinea
 * undefined: Air Force of Mali - 6 in service as of December 2012.
 * 🇹🇯: Tajik Air Force

Former Military Operators

 * 🇦🇫: The Afghan Air Force operated as many as 24 from 1978 to as late as 1999.
 * 🇦🇲: The Armenian Air Force
 * 🇧🇬: Bulgarian Air Force operated 102 examples, delivered between 1963–1974, retired from service in 2002.
 * 🇨🇿 Czech Republic: Czech Air Force
 * : The Czechoslovakian Air Force operated as many as 400
 * : East German Air Force
 * 🇪🇬: Egyptian Air Force - withdrawn
 * 🇬🇭: Ghana Air Force
 * 🇭🇺: Hungarian Air Force
 * 🇮🇩: Indonesian Air Force
 * 🇮🇶: Iraqi Air Force - Received 78 L-29s between 1968 and 1974. A number were converted to Unmanned aerial vehicles in the 1990s. No longer operated
 * 🇳🇬: Nigerian Air Force
 * 🇷🇴: Romanian Air Force - all the L-29 have been retired in 2006
 * 🇸🇰: Slovak Air Force - after dissolution of Czechoslovakia, 16 L-29 were given to newly independent Slovak Air Force. They were withdrawn in 2003.
 * 🇸🇾: Syrian Air Force


 * 🇺🇬: Ugandan Air Force
 * 🇺🇦: Ukrainian Air Force
 * : Vietnam People's Air Force
 * 🇺🇸: United States Navy
 * : operated as many as 2,000
 * DOSAAF
 * Soviet Air Force

Civil operators

 * 🇦🇺 : One private L-29C,VH-BQJ. Based near Sydney, New South Wales.
 * Private L-29C, OK-ATS, Czech Jet Team Žatec - Macerka Plane crashed on 10 June 2012, killing pilot and passenger.
 * Private L-29, OK-AJW, Blue Sky Service Brno - Tuřany
 * One L-29C, OY-LSD owned by Lasse Rungholm & Søren Kjær.
 * L-29 ZK-JET operated on commercial joyflights by XX Aviation, Tauranga Airport
 * Fly yourself in L-29 ZK-SSU and ZK-VAU operated by Soviet Star from Christchuch International Airport.
 * 🇳🇴: Two L-29C, LN-ADA and LN-KJJ, operated by Russian Warbirds of Norway
 * 🇸🇰: One private L-29C owned by Ján Slota
 * Two Sasol Tigers aerobatic team flying the L-29
 * Ex-military L-29s are proving popular on the civil warbird market.
 * THUNDERDELFINS L-29 Demonstration Team
 * Two University of Iowa, Operator Performance Laboratory Used as high dynamics flight research aircraft for development of pilot state characterization
 * One as an avionics high dynamics flight test aircraft at the Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center
 * THUNDERDELFINS L-29 Demonstration Team
 * Two University of Iowa, Operator Performance Laboratory Used as high dynamics flight research aircraft for development of pilot state characterization
 * One as an avionics high dynamics flight test aircraft at the Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center