The Aero L-60 Brigadýr ( cs, Brigadier) was a small, high-wing propeller-driven

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n STOL utility aircraft developed for both civil and military use. A prototype, designated XL-60, with Argus As 10C engine, first flew on December 24, 1953, but it was not successful. The plane was thoroughly redesigned and the second improved prototype, with M-208B flat-six engine, flew on June 8, 1954. The aircraft's configuration bears a strong resemblance to the

Fieseler Fi 156 The Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (, "stork") was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short fie ...

"Storch" licence-produced in Czechoslovakia during and after

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 opposing ...

(as K-65 Čáp), and which this aircraft was intended to replace. By the end of production in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

, 273 had been built by

Aero Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero ...

, including an improved version, the L-160 with an all-metal

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 ...

. Aircraft retrofitted with a PZL-built Ivchenko AI-14R radial engine are known as the L-60S.

Variants

* XL-60 : Prototype. * L-60 : Single-engined light utility transport, observation aircraft. * L-60A : 50 production aircraft for the Czech Air Force. Also known as the K-60. Armed with MG-15 7.92 mm machine gun in a rear cab. First flew on June 24, 1955. * L-60B : Agricultural crop spraying aircraft (300 L chemicals tank). * L-60D : Glider tug aircraft. * L-60E :Air ambulance aircraft. * L-60F : Glider tug aircraft. * L-60S : Aircraft fitted with the PZL-built 260-hp Ivchenko AI-14R radial piston engine. * L-60SF : Fitted with the M-462RF radial piston engine. * L-160 : Improved version with all-metal tail.

Operators

Civil operators

; ; ; ; ; * Slov-Air ; ; * MÉM Flight Service used 2 L-60 (registered: HA-BRA, HA-BRB) from 1959 for short period. ; ; ; * Polish Air Ambulance Service used 3 L-60F in 1957–1974 ; ;Sri Lanka ; ; ; Krzyżan, Marian, ''Samoloty w muzeach polskich'', Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i Łączności, 1983,

Military operators

; * Czechoslovakian Air Force ; * Air Forces of the National People's Army, East German Air Force

Specifications (L-60)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * John W. R. Taylor, Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1961.

External links

Specs & Photo at Flugzeuginfo.net

Aero L‑60 Brigadýr article at AirHistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aero L-60 Brigadyr Aero Vodochody aircraft, L-60 1950s Czechoslovakian civil utility aircraft 1950s Czechoslovakian military utility aircraft Glider tugs Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1953