Aero L-29 Delfin
In the early 1950s, air forces around the world came to the realization that it made little sense to train pilots on older piston-engined trainers, then expect them to go from those aircraft to high-performance jets without a high accident rate. Most nations with an aviation industry then embarked on designing jet trainers and a training syllabus entirely with jets.
For the Soviet Union, it would not only need a jet trainer, it would need thousands of them, to equip not only its own air force, but those of the Warsaw Pact and client states. The Khrushchev regime learned that two of the Pact nations were working on their own trainers--Aero of Czechoslovakia was designing the L-29 Delfin (Dolphin), while PZL of Poland was working on the TS-11 Iskra (Spark). Surprisingly for the Soviet Union, it issued a requirement for the jet trainer and opened it up to a competition between the two aircraft.
Aero's L-29 was designed to be everything a trainer should be: easy to fly, easy to maintain, forgiving of mistakes, and capable of simple aerobatics. As Soviet doctrine called for aircraft capable of operating from austere airstrips, the L-29 was given a strengthened landing gear, and for either weapons training or in emergencies, could be equipped with four underwing hardpoints for bombs, rockets or gunpods. It was not particularly fast and considered underpowered, but that was less important in a trainer.
The L-29 would first fly in 1959, and went up against the TS-11 in 1961. To the surprise of many, considering the TS-11 was faster, the L-29 was declared the winner. Suspecting politics and wishing to keep some independence, the Polish Air Force would never use the Delfin, and would make the Iskra its primary jet trainer. For the rest of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, the L-29 would go into production. NATO would give it the reporting name of Maya.
Some 27 nations would eventually fly L-29s, as trainers, but occasionally in combat as well: Egyptian L-29s were pressed into service during the 1973 Yom Kippur (October) War as ground attack aircraft, and they were also used in the Biafran War of 1967-1970 and the First Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1988-1994 between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In these cases, the Delfin did not do well, but it was never intended to fight against modern air defenses. Saddam Hussein reportedly converted a number of his L-29s to drones, intended to carry poison gas towards Coalition forces in 2003, though they never flew.
While the L-29 was adequate, as aircraft got faster and more manueverable, the Delfin was becoming obsolete. In response, Aero designed the L-39 Albatros, a more advanced trainer, and L-29 production ended in 1974 after 3665 had been produced. Though most L-29 users replaced it with the L-39, some continued with the Delfin, and Angola and Georgia would use it as late as 2016. After the end of the Cold War, many Delfins became available on the open market, and while not as common as its Western equivalent--the T-33 Shooting Star--or its successor the L-39, L-29s are found in small numbers in the warbird community, and a few have raced in the Reno Air Races.
This is one of those L-29s. N37KF, also known as "Raju Grace," was originally built for the Czech Air Force in 1969. During its long career, it was Bort 3233. Retired in the early 1990s, Bort 3233 was stored until around 2008, when it was acquired by the Kendall Flight Corporation in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. 3233 became N37KF, and received a striking all-red scheme, with a nude female figure and a snake on both sides of the fuselage. Since it was intended to be a racer, the original Motorlet engine was replaced by a much more powerful Rolls-Royce Viper, turning this L-29 into a true hot rod.
N37KF participated twice in the Reno Air Races, in 2010 and 2011, though it suffered some damage just before the 2011 race, when the engine accidentally melted the rudder. Luckily the pilot was able to get "Raju Grace" back down before it suffered catastrophic damage. In 2018, the aircraft seems to have been sold, and it was at Forgotten Warbirds in Brigham City, Utah when I saw it in July 2023.
Right now, "Raju Grace" isn't at her best, but it's being restored back to flying again, so far as I know. L-29s aren't the most sleek of aircraft, especially compared to the L-39, but this one is by far the most impressive Delfin I've seen.
Aero L-29 Delfin
In the early 1950s, air forces around the world came to the realization that it made little sense to train pilots on older piston-engined trainers, then expect them to go from those aircraft to high-performance jets without a high accident rate. Most nations with an aviation industry then embarked on designing jet trainers and a training syllabus entirely with jets.
For the Soviet Union, it would not only need a jet trainer, it would need thousands of them, to equip not only its own air force, but those of the Warsaw Pact and client states. The Khrushchev regime learned that two of the Pact nations were working on their own trainers--Aero of Czechoslovakia was designing the L-29 Delfin (Dolphin), while PZL of Poland was working on the TS-11 Iskra (Spark). Surprisingly for the Soviet Union, it issued a requirement for the jet trainer and opened it up to a competition between the two aircraft.
Aero's L-29 was designed to be everything a trainer should be: easy to fly, easy to maintain, forgiving of mistakes, and capable of simple aerobatics. As Soviet doctrine called for aircraft capable of operating from austere airstrips, the L-29 was given a strengthened landing gear, and for either weapons training or in emergencies, could be equipped with four underwing hardpoints for bombs, rockets or gunpods. It was not particularly fast and considered underpowered, but that was less important in a trainer.
The L-29 would first fly in 1959, and went up against the TS-11 in 1961. To the surprise of many, considering the TS-11 was faster, the L-29 was declared the winner. Suspecting politics and wishing to keep some independence, the Polish Air Force would never use the Delfin, and would make the Iskra its primary jet trainer. For the rest of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, the L-29 would go into production. NATO would give it the reporting name of Maya.
Some 27 nations would eventually fly L-29s, as trainers, but occasionally in combat as well: Egyptian L-29s were pressed into service during the 1973 Yom Kippur (October) War as ground attack aircraft, and they were also used in the Biafran War of 1967-1970 and the First Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1988-1994 between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In these cases, the Delfin did not do well, but it was never intended to fight against modern air defenses. Saddam Hussein reportedly converted a number of his L-29s to drones, intended to carry poison gas towards Coalition forces in 2003, though they never flew.
While the L-29 was adequate, as aircraft got faster and more manueverable, the Delfin was becoming obsolete. In response, Aero designed the L-39 Albatros, a more advanced trainer, and L-29 production ended in 1974 after 3665 had been produced. Though most L-29 users replaced it with the L-39, some continued with the Delfin, and Angola and Georgia would use it as late as 2016. After the end of the Cold War, many Delfins became available on the open market, and while not as common as its Western equivalent--the T-33 Shooting Star--or its successor the L-39, L-29s are found in small numbers in the warbird community, and a few have raced in the Reno Air Races.
This is one of those L-29s. N37KF, also known as "Raju Grace," was originally built for the Czech Air Force in 1969. During its long career, it was Bort 3233. Retired in the early 1990s, Bort 3233 was stored until around 2008, when it was acquired by the Kendall Flight Corporation in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. 3233 became N37KF, and received a striking all-red scheme, with a nude female figure and a snake on both sides of the fuselage. Since it was intended to be a racer, the original Motorlet engine was replaced by a much more powerful Rolls-Royce Viper, turning this L-29 into a true hot rod.
N37KF participated twice in the Reno Air Races, in 2010 and 2011, though it suffered some damage just before the 2011 race, when the engine accidentally melted the rudder. Luckily the pilot was able to get "Raju Grace" back down before it suffered catastrophic damage. In 2018, the aircraft seems to have been sold, and it was at Forgotten Warbirds in Brigham City, Utah when I saw it in July 2023.
Right now, "Raju Grace" isn't at her best, but it's being restored back to flying again, so far as I know. L-29s aren't the most sleek of aircraft, especially compared to the L-39, but this one is by far the most impressive Delfin I've seen.