The L-40 Meta Sokol was a

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n sports and touring four-seat single-engine low-wing aircraft of the late 1950s.

Development

A predecessor of the L-40 was a sports and touring plane M-1 Sokol of wooden construction. Next there was a sports plane with

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LD-40, designed by Zdenek Rublič. Its prototype XLD-40 was flown on 30 July

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, however, it did not meet required performance and was abandoned. In 1954 the design of a further improved variant, the LD-40 started again, with the

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...

changed to a conventional one. The plane had a number of shortcomings, and further work continued. Eventually the aircraft was redesigned as a four-seater touring aircraft, under the designation L-40 Meta Sokol. The prototype of the L-40, the XL-40, flew first on 29 March 1956. Another prototype flew in August 1956, introducing some simplification of construction. In

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the aircraft entered production, and by

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, 106 were built. The first series of 10 aircraft had 77 kW (103 hp) Walter Minor III-4 engine, with the remainder powered by more powerful (103 kW (138 hp)) Walter M-332 engines. Four persons sat in two rows, with dual controls. An unusual feature is the reversed

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 ...

, with main gear near the wing's leading edge and relatively big rear wheel near the wing's rear edge, which resulted in the fuselage being almost horizontal on the ground.

Use

The primary user was the Czechoslovak civilian aviation. Over half of production was exported to 16 countries, among others to Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and Australia. Several FAI world records were set on the L-40.

Description

The L-40 Meta Sokol is a single-engine low-wing cantilever monoplane of metal construction. It features a fuselage built of a frame in the front part, of semi-

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

in rear part, and is duralumin covered. Additionally, it features a duralumin covered trapezoid three-part wing, fitted with split flaps. It has a conventional tail, with its steering surfaces covered with canvas. The tail fin is high and trapezoidal. The plane has four seats in two rows, with twin controls in front. All are placed under a slim, partly glazed, rearwards-sliding

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. At the rear, there is some luggage space. It has an inline engine in front, with a two-blade V-410 tractor propeller of a variable pitch. An unusual feature is its retractable reversed

. The main gear's wheels are only half hidden in wings, making emergency landings safer. The aircraft's fuel tanks are in the wings, and small, teardrop-shaped tanks could be fitted to the wingtips.

Specifications

References

External links

Photos at Airliners.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlican L-40 Meta Sokol 1950s Czechoslovakian civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1956

Development

Use

Description

Specifications

See also

References

Further reading

External links