KITS 01/2022

Z-126, OK-JGT, No. 804, Ruzyně Aero Club, 1960

The “Yoghurt”, as the aircraft is nicknamed due to its matriculation, was manufactured in 1954 and on February 15, 1955 it was

handed over to the Ministry of Defence for pilot training purposes. Later was handed over to the Svazarm organization (Union

for civilian cooperation with army) and was operated mainly by Aero Clubs of Zbraslavice, Ruzyně or Letňany. Its career as Z-126

version ended in 1982 and it was stored disassembled in the Letňany hangar. In 1998, OK_JGT underwent general overhaul and was

also upgraded to the Z-226MS version by ZLIN-AVION Service company. At that time, "Yoghurt" also received a livery with yellow-red triangles. The historical livery of OK-JGT as Z-126 was based on the scheme used for the Z-226A/AS aerobatic specials, with

light blue color instead the white one.

Z-126, OK-DVG, No. 525, Příbram Aero Club, September 2021

This aircraft was produced as Z-26 on August 30, 1950. As it was 38th aircraft of this type manufactured, it got military marking

code UC-38 and served with military from 1950 to 1954. After that the aircraft was assigned to the Liberec Aero Club, converted

to the Z-126 version and registered as OK-DVG on April 22, 1955. It flew like this until 1966, when it was considered too old and put

out of service. Eventually it was noticed by František Altner, a Czechoslovak Airlines pilot, who brought the incomplete aircraft. He

made overhaul of it on his own and registered it as OK-EKA at the end of 1970. When Ladislav Bezák emigrated at the end of 1971,

however, Altner was banned to use the aircraft and sold it to the Svazarm (Union for civilian cooperation with army). In 1976, the

aircraft underwent another overhaul and flew with the Aero Clubs in the Central Bohemia region, mainly at the airfields of Točná,

Kladno and Příbram until 1981, when it was de-registered again due to its age. Thanks to the efforts of the members of Příbram

Aero Club it was overhauled again in the mid-1990s by ZLIN-AVION Service and got its original markings. It was test-flown on

September 2, 1997 and is in use by Příbram Aero Club until today. It is the only Trener that has retained manual crank start and

is the oldest airworthy one as well.

INFO Eduard - January 2022

eduard

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