MALCOLM V. LOWE PHOTO
No. 4690. Let Kunovice L-410FG Turbolet (1523)
Czech Air Force
Photographed at Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, 2000
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10/31/2005. Remarks by Malcolm Lowe: "Needing little introduction, the Let Kunovice L-410 Turbolet is one of the world's successful turboprop light transport aircraft. L-410s are in literally world-wide service, for civil and some military operators. Sadly, the story for their manufacturer is not so rosy. Let Kunovice was once one of Czechoslovakia's main aviation companies, and was a major producer of transport aircraft from behind the Iron Curtain during the communist domination of Central Europe. But Let has struggled since the fall of communism, and spent an unhappy spell under brief American ownership in the late 1990's. The company is now owned by another Czech organisation, and is trying to reassert itself. The L-410 in the photograph is operated by its home airforce, the Czech Air Force. The Czech military operates a number of L-410s, but the aircraft pictured is a special L-410FG model, the FG standing for 'Foto Grammetry'. I photographed it in the Czech Republic during 2000, on a rather grey day at Hradec Kralové airfield." |
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Created October 31, 2005