Aircraft Industries, a.s.,Contacts
" Let Kunovice. Retrieved on 19 May 2011. "Aircraft Industries, a.s. Na Záhonech 1177 686 04 Kunovice Czech Republic" �
Address in Czech
"Aircraft Industries, a.s. Na Záhonech 1177 686 04 Kunovice Česká republika" operating as Let, n.p., is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

(before December 1992

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

) civil

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

manufacturer. Its most successful design has been the L-410 Turbolet, of which more than 1300 units have been built. Its head office is in Kunovice,

Zlín Region Zlín Region ( cs, Zlínský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Moravia. It is named after its capital Zlín. Together with the Olomouc Region it fo ...

. Let was owned by the Russian company UGMK from 2008 to 2022, when it was acquired by Czech-based Omnipol Group. The company operates the sixth largest Czech airport and a

private secondary school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

History

Building of an aircraft factory in Kunovice started in 1936, as a part of the

Škoda Works The Škoda Works ( cs, Škodovy závody, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predece ...

industrial concern. Before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the unfinished plant served only as a repair works. After the end of the war the factory was nationalized and in 1950–53 a new plant was built. In 1957–1967 it was named SPP (''Strojírny první pětiletky'' – "Works of the First Five-year Plan"), and in 1967 it returned to the name LET. The works produced under licence were the Soviet trainers Yakovlev Yak-11 (under a designation C-11) and the

Aero Ae 45 The Aero 45 was a twin-piston engined civil utility aircraft produced in Czechoslovakia after World War II. Aero Vodochody produced the aircraft in 1947–1951, after which the Let Kunovice rolled out these planes until 1961. In 1958 the Ae-45S ...

and Aero Ae 145 utility aircraft. In 1957 the company began to develop the L-200 Morava light utility aircraft and four years later the Z-37 Cmelak agricultural aircraft, which were both a commercial success. Over the years Let developed and produced gliders:

Zlín 22 The Zlin 22 Junak was a 1940s two-seat cabin monoplane, developed from the Zlin 381 (a licence-built Bücker Bü 181). Development Although based on the Zlin 381, the Junak had side-by-side seating for two. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplan ...

, Z-124 Galánka, LF-109 Pionýr, and Z-425 Šohaj. However the most popular gliders produced by LET are the Blaníks: L-13 Blaník, L-23 Super Blaník and L-33 Solo. During the 1960s Let's engineers developed a 19-seat commuter turboprop, the L-410 Turbolet, of which more than 1200 were produced. This popular aircraft went through a number of improvements and modernisations and the latest types, the L 410 UVP-E20 and L 420 are EASA and FAA certified respectively. The largest Czech transport aircraft, the

Let L-610 The Let L-610 is a prototype aircraft for the Czech civil aircraft manufacturer Let Kunovice made in 1988–1997. Design and development In the late 1970s, after the success of the LET L-410 twin engine turboprop, the Soviet airline Aeroflot r ...

, was produced in 1988 in prototype form and displayed at the Paris Airshow. Production was cancelled due to lack of funding. There were eight prototypes made in the factory. The all-metal

Blaník Blaník (Czech: ) is a mountain in the Czech Republic near Louňovice pod Blaníkem. The hill and surrounding area is a Landscape park (protected area), nature reserve. The Blaník massif consists of two forested rocky hills, Great Blaník (638 m ...

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

was produced in the largest quantities of any sailplane, with over 3,000 manufactured since the first rolled off the production line in 1958. In 2005 it was still in production as the L23 ''Super Blaník'' variant. The company explored the possibility of a joint venture with Fairchild Aircraft in the 1990s, but eventually decided against it. However, it was later purchased by

Ayres Corporation Ayres Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer owned and run by Fred Ayres. History In 1977, Ayres bought the Albany, Georgia division of Rockwell International, which made the S2R Thrush Commander agricultural aircraft. Before this, ...

in 1998. In 2001, it merged with Morovan Aeroplanes. Following bankruptcy, it was purchased by Aircraft Industries in 2005. The

Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC or UGMK russian: Открытое акционерное общество «Уральская горно-металлургическая компания») is a Russian metallurgical company based in ...

(UGMK) purchased 51% of the company's shares was in 2008; UAC had shown interest in acquiring the control of the company as well. UGMK purchased the remaining shares in 2013. In April 2022, Aircraft Industries was acquired by the

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

-based company, Omnipol Group.

Products

Powered aircraft

Gliders

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Company website

Company website
{{Authority control Aircraft manufacturers of the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia Czech brands Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1936 Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company 1936 establishments in Czechoslovakia