Aircraft model
AERO VODOCHODY L-39
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Aero L-39 Albatros replaced the L-29 as the Warsaw Pact's jet trainer and is by a wide margin the most common privately owned jet warbird in the United States. It is a genuinely capable aeroplane: 380 knots, 4,000 fpm, ejection seats, and handling good enough that it was used by display teams.
The engine is the problem and it has become much worse. The Ivchenko AI-25TL is Ukrainian and Russian in origin, its overhaul life is short, and the war has severed or badly disrupted the supply of new parts and overhaul capacity. Owners are working through existing stocks and alternative shops, and anyone buying now should investigate that position specifically rather than assume it. In the US these fly on experimental exhibition certificates with operating limitations and require an FAA Letter of Authorization rather than a type rating.
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Put AERO VODOCHODY L-39 side by side with up to two other models.
- AERO VODOCHODY L-39
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Ivchenko AI-25TL |
| Horsepower | — |
| Fuel | JetA |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1971 |
| Production end | 1999 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 380 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 590 nm |
| Service ceiling | 37,700 ft |
| Climb rate | 4,130 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 85 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 2,745 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 836 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 10,362 lb |
| Empty weight | 7,617 lb |
| Usable fuel | 285 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 180 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $475,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $1,100,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 750 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $150,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $300,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 84 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 63 |
| Median year built | 1982.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 63.49 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 15.87 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 18 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 28.57 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 63 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 63 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 63 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, turbo-fan, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | —4 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 15.87 · 3 models in class.
- Severity: class median 25.
- Access: class median 3,775.
- Support: class median 25.
- Liquidity: class median 27.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.