Markings for L-410UVP Turbolet 1/72

CN 810731, LOM Praha, Flight Training Center, Pardubice, Czech Republic, 2019

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.

CN 800525, 5. Luftwaffe Division, Luftwaffe, Germany, 1996

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.

CN 810731, Special Operations squadron, 3 Air Transport Regiment, Praha-Kbely, Czechoslovakia, 1990

At the end of the 1980s, the Turbolet serial number 810731 was used in a saloon version for transporting foreign arms inspectors of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) by the Special Operations Squadron, which was part of the 3 Transport Aviation Regiment in Praha-Kbely. The camouflage was complemented by large areas of yellow on the wings, tail and nose of the aircraft. Most of the stencilling was not recovered in these areas.  

CN 851527, Slov-Air, Czechoslovakia, 1990

The state-owned Slov-Air company, which replaced the former ČSA Agrolet in 1969, was the first Czechoslovak user of the L-410. It added the first aircraft to its fleet in the second half of 1971. The aircraft, still in the L-410A version, were used for domestic transport and were handed over to ČSA in 1975. This aircraft was purchased by the Aviation Inspectorate Bureau and flown by the crew of Miroslav Srnec and Pavel Plaček on November 15, 1985, with the matriculation OK-PXI. Shortly afterwards, the Bureau revised its intentions (the aircraft was to serve for calibration purposes) and in November 1986 it was offered for sale or transfer. Moravan company and Kunovice aero club were interested, there was also a Yugoslavian bidder and also the army or ČSA were considered. Finally, Slov-Air acquired the aircraft in October 1988. On October 24, 1988, the aircraft was matriculated as OK-PDI and used for the JZD AK Slušovice (aero services of the agriculture company Slušovice), and later also transported Slovak government representatives. In 1992 the aircraft was written off after the nose gear was damaged during landing. The aircraft was then parked for a long time at the Žilina airport, after which it was transported to Bratislava and used for airport firefighters training.

CN 831138, Pyrlandia-Boogie, Ostróv Wielkopolski, Poland, 2006

This L-410UVP was not made for the customer, but for factory purposes. It was used to test modifications of the newly prepared UVP-E version. The aircraft with the OK-178 mark was flown on January 10, 1984. This was followed by tests of brakes, different shapes of wingtip tanks and installation of five-bladed propellers. In 1985, the aircraft was exhibited in Paris as “fake” UVP-E. The aircraft was also given the civil matriculation OK-OZG, then returned to OK-178 and was converted back to the standard L-410UVP. It then received the new OK-NZG marking and was leased to Slov-Air for two months at the end of 1991. It then went into private hands with Delta System Air, where it was rebranded OK-NDG. In Norimberk on January 28, 1994, it suffered broken wing end due to the strong wing. After the repair the crew of Jiří Nečas and Albert Orlita flew it to Bratislava. It was operated as OK-NDG by ABA Air and from March 2000 it was grounded in Otrokovice for almost a year. The next owner was the company Job Air from Mošnov, which gave the aircraft a yellow paint job with a blue stripe. At the beginning of 2003 it was sold to Polska, where it flew at Pyrlandia Boogie with the matriculation SP-KPS and served to sky-divers. However, as of September 16, 2013, it was back in the Czech Republic, this time with the matriculation OK-PRH, which was changed to OM-PRH on July 13, 2016 and then to OM-HFP, operated in attractive livery by Praga Aviation. The aircraft is currently parked at Kunovice airport. It recorded 6,021 flight hours and 9,066 landings.

CN 8100731, 24 Air Transport Base, Praha-Kbely, Czech Republic, 2010

In 2004, Turbolet CN 8100731, whose history is also described in markings A and C, underwent an overhaul and was discharged from the army, where it served until then, to the Flight Training Centre at Pardubice Airport. As part of the general overhaul, the original camouflage livery was replaced by an elegant white and grey paint with a stripe down the length of the aircraft in the colors of the national tricolor. Shortly afterwards, the inscription “Máňa” appeared on both sides above the cockpit side windows. This nickname has stuck ever since, although after another revision it was given a blue livery and the inscription disappeared.