Czech Air Force to say goodbye to L-39 at the Caslav Open Day 2019

Czech L-39ZA with special celebrative livery.

The Caslav Air Base, Czech Republic, will open its doors on May 25, 2019 to show the public the aircraft and abilitiess of the Czech armed forces. It will also be the occasion to say goodbye to the L-39ZA jet of the Czech Air Force. Symbolically this day will mark the end of the service of the light aircraft.

In 2018, the Czech Air Force celebrated the 50th anniversary of the L-39 by unveiling an L-39ZA special color. The jet received the image of the Aero test pilot, Rudolf Duchoň, on the tail rudder, who took the L-39, X-02 prototype to the sky for the first time on 4 November 1968. Furthermore, recently Aero Vodochody painted the tail rudder of its L-39CW 2626 to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary. Both special aircraft will be on display at the Open Day.

The event will mainly focus on a flying display that will include tactical demonstrations conducted by personnel and aircraft of the Czech armed forces. Caslav AFB is the main air base in the Czech Republic and hosts the Gripen and L-159 combat aircraft.

By Karel Kundera