The Military History Institute (VHÚ) in Prague has 2 new additions to the exposition of the Kbely Aviation Museum. These are the renovated Aero L-29 Delfín military jet training aircraft and the Avia CB-33 (Il-10) training attack aircraft, which were originally located in the museum's depository.

Picture: Aero L-29 Delfín | author: Jan Zilvar

The Avia CB-33 aircraft was manufactured in Prague's Avia, probably at the end of 1954. It is a training variant of the Avia B-33 attack aircraft, which was manufactured in the 1950s based on a license of the original Ilyushin Il-10 type. The training version differed from the attack version by the installation of full-fledged pilot equipment in the original area of the gunner, where the pilot-instructor was located.

Picture: Avia CB-33 | author: Jan Zilvar

Picture: The training version differed from the attack version by the installation of full-fledged pilot equipment in the original area of the gunner, where the pilot-instructor was located. | author: Jan Zilvar

The Aero L-29 Delfín on the other hand is the eighth piece in the first series of this legendary training aircraft. It was flown in July 1962 and after being taken over by the military administration it was handed over to VÚ 6989 in Prešov, later it was transferred to VÚ 9957 in Košice. It was from this department that it was handed over to the Research and Testing Center 031 in Prague-Kbely. Here, in February 1975, it was painted with special "LERAN" synthetic paints, which had the ability to absorb the thermal radiation of the aircraft and thus eliminate its detection by missiles with infrared guidance. These colors were to be used primarily for combat aircraft and helicopters, and this plane was designed to verify their properties and thus became the only camouflaged Delfín in the service of the Czechoslovak Air Force. Because it is a unique camouflage, the renovators decided to keep this unique paint of the aircraft untouched.

Picture: Official handover of the aircraft to the exposition of the Kbely Aviation Museum | author: Jan Zilvar

According to the original documentation, the renovation of both planes was carried out by the team of the LOM Praha state-owned company, and both aircraft were ceremoniously handed over to the director of VHÚ brig. General Aleš Knížek by the company director Mgr. Jiří Protiva. He also stated that cooperation in the renovation of exhibits for the Aviation Museum is one of the possibilities of cooperation between LOM Prague and VHÚ.

The curator of the Military History Institute, Jan Sýkora, introduced the two above-mentioned aircraft to our editorial office in more detail. "Both planes were part of equipment of our Army. Our attack pilots trained on the Il-10 in the 1950s, and most of our military pilots flew on the Delfín in their early days from the 1970s to the recent past. Ilyushin is an attack plane, so the aircraft is heavily armored, which limited its top speed to 400 km / h. The aircraft weighs about 3.5 tons and is relatively heavily armed with four cannons. Delfín is a two-seater aircraft for training military pilots, its horizontal speed was around 500 km / h. It is a light plane, its weight is up to 3 tons. Both aircraft are not airworthy at the moment, but if the revision of both was deeper, they might even be able to fly," Sýkora said.