The Valmet L-90 Redigo is a

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

-powered military basic

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

and liaison aircraft, a development of Valmet's earlier training aircraft for the

Finnish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = 159 , equipment_label ...

. The L-90 was the last military aircraft designed and produced in Finland.

Design and development

The prototype, a modified L-80, first flew on February 12, 1985. A second prototype, powered by a Turbomeca TP319 turboprop, was destroyed in an accident in August 1988. A total of 29 production aircraft plus the 2 prototypes were produced.

Aermacchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Ita ...

purchased the manufacturing rights in 1996 but never returned the aircraft to production. The aircraft is of conventional configuration, with retractable

tricycle gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ...

and a low wing. The student and instructor sit side-by-side. As is typical with many military trainers, it can also carry light armament for weapons training, or potentially, for use in a close-support role. The Finnish Air Force only used the L-90 as a liaison aircraft.

Operators

Eritrean Air Force The Eritrean Air Force (ERAF) is the air service branch of the Eritrean Defence Forces. History The Eritrean Air Force was established shortly after Eritrean War of Independence in 1994. It was first established by Commander Habtezion Hadgu, ...

6 in service as of 2011 ;:

Finnish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = 159 , equipment_label ...

, the whole fleet retired ;:

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...

7 in service

Specifications (M-290 TP)

References

;Notes

Design and development

Operators

Specifications (M-290 TP)

See also

References

Further reading