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 (before December 1992 Czechoslovak) civil

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

manufacturer. Its most successful design has been the

L-410 Turbolet The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engine short-range transport aircraft, manufactured by the Czech aircraft manufacturer Let Kunovice (named Aircraft Industries since 2005), often used as an airliner. The aircraft is capable of landing on short a ...

, of which more than 1300 units have been built. Its head office is in

Kunovice Kunovice (, german: Kunowitz) is a town in the Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,500 inhabitants. Geography Kunovice forms a conurbation with neighbouring Uherské Hradiště. It lies on the b ...

, Zlín Region. 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

started in 1936, as a part of the Škoda Works 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 The Yakovlev Yak-11 (russian: Яковлев Як-11; NATO reporting name: "Moose") is a trainer aircraft used by the Soviet Air Force and other Soviet-influenced air forces from 1947 in aviation, 1947 until 1962 in aviation, 1962. Design and de ...

(under a designation C-11) and the Aero Ae 45 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

, 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, 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 sailplane 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 Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in ...

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 i ...

(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