KITS 01/2022

Z-126, OK-IFD, No. 739, Ústí nad Orlicí Aero Club, 1969

OK-IFD was first flown on July 26, 1954 and then headed to AK Liberec, where it was used for pilot training and glider towing. Subsequently it was also used in Ústí nad Labem and Most, from where it was bought by AK Ústí nad Orlicí. However, the aircraft had

to be transported by land, as it was at the end of its lifetime period. It was overhauled by the LOTN (Trenčín Aircraft Repairs) and

the original military green color was replaced by a more colorful marking. At the same time, a large logo of the then textile factory

Perla, which sponsored the overhaul, appeared on the sides of the fuselage under the canopy. Overhauled OK-IFD was test-flown

on September 1, 1970, but after Vlastimil Macek emigrated to Austria on a glider in July 1973, the Aero Club had to hand its Trener

over. The OK-IFD then travelled through several Aero Clubs, changed colors several times, and finally ended up in Holešov Aero

Club in 1982. There is one uncertainty with this marking, as the contemporary witnesses can´t decide whether the stripe on the

fuselage and wing was blue or black. We provide decal for the blue version; black stripe can be airbrushed instead.

Z-126, OK-IHQ, No. 778, private owners, Letňany airfield, 2021

This Z-126 was handed over to Ministry of Defence on February 21, 1955 as a C 105-243. On September 12, 1959, it was entered to

the civil register under the OK-IHQ matriculation and put into service with the Svazarm Aero Clubs in Hořice, Plasy and Jičín. The

latter used it until 1999. Later it was bought by private owners and the aircraft was given the livery of a 1950s military trainer as

a part of an overhaul. Interestingly, the dashboards are painted red, and the aircraft has impressive radio equipment. OK-IHQ is

based at the Letňany airfield nowadays.

INFO Eduard - January 2022

eduard

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