Have you ever flown in Albatros L39 ? Is it worthy ?

Question

Thank you.

Answer 1

No but I'm interested how many say they have.  I also am very opinionated and think the only real Albatross was the amphibian, http://www.hu-16.com/ Call me a purist but thats the days boys became men.  The only difficult part. if ground fire was not spoiling your hull integrity, was take off and landing.  Twere a boat you know.

Answer 2

I haven't flown in one, but I rode in another aircraft formed up with one and watched the pilot do some pretty cool flying in it. I was impressed. It seemed to handle crisply, without wagging around at all, and the pilot told me later it was relly easy to fly. It's a great plane. There wouldn't be so many flying if it wasn't. It's a stable plane with very forgiving characteristics suitable for a training aircraft. It can handle enough aerobatics to satisfy all but the most insane of enthusiasts and do it all without burning too much fuel. I think it's an excellent aircraft. I'd love to buy one for myself if I had the money.

Answer 3

No i haven't yet. Was asked a few times but will in the near future. To answer your second Q: YES YES YES, I live in South Africa and at my local airport there are 4 L39`s I know the one owner very well. I have never heard anybody complain that it was not worth it.

I promise you that it will be a big adrenalin rush.

Enjoy.

Answer 4

worthy???? well to tell the truth it's a little like kissing your sister........

Answer 5

L39 served well in many countries of Eastern block, as well as overseas as a trainer jet.

it is able to demonstrate all of the usual maneuvers that you would expect from a fighter, except of the supersonic flight.

I dont know how much the ride is, but if you are able to afford it, go for it. Besides it is said to be a rather good behaving aircraft, so you could probably try to hold the stick for a while, too.

enjoy.

Answer 6

Yes I got the chance to fly one a few years back, but I'm not sure what you mean by worthy.  It's a trainer, not very fast but flies nice and looks good.  Burns a lot of gas.  The Learjets I fly would outperform it anyday.

Bond flew one though... has to say something right?

Answer 7

My dad told me the following -

He has flown a couple of times in an Albatross (could be possibly L39) in the late 60s. This was from a maritime search and rescue squadron and was flown regularly for training and operational purposes. This was an unpressurised aircraft with all the vibrations, droning and rough ride expected from such aircraft of that era. Once they travelled as a group of 11 people and had a ball of a time. Some took turns trying to fly the aircraft but this did not continue for long. The captain, somehow, got annoyed and stopped their 'piloting' due to some rude remarks regarding the aircraft. This group retaliated by moving to the aft end standing in the tail section. The crew trimmed it off and once she settled down, they all moved  to the front bulkhead (again much to the annoyance of the captain - flying tail heavy had also added to his misery). Threatening to off load all of them at an unused airport, resulted in a truce of some sorts and the journey was completed without any further fire works. Luckily, they all said, the flight path was not over the sea. All said, it was a nice amphibian which had flown many an hour and was still giving good service during those days.

To Caretaker - please note.

Answer 8

Worthy of what?

I have imported several L-39's and kept one to play with. They are a great aircraft (built in Czech Rep.) Low maintenance and high reliability have been their strong points. They are a trainer, not a fighter, and perform accordingly. Actually they do not burn a lot of fuel compared to other aircraft of similar performance (between 160 and 200 gph) their safety record is superior to most comparable aircraft and they are quite easy to fly. Yes the Lear will outperform the L-39 in both climb and redline airspeed but I doubt that a tail slide in a Lear would be nearly as successful :-) More than 300 L-39's have been imported into the USA. Several accidents, some fatal, have occured however I am unaware of any related directly to the aircraft, poor maintenance practices and pilot error / inexperience have proven to be the major factors.