Aircraft model
AERO VODOCHODY L-39ZA
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The L-39ZA is a Czechoslovak jet trainer with an Ivchenko AI-25TL turbofan, and it is by a wide margin the most common jet on the US civil register that was never a civil aeroplane. It is docile, it has a pressurised cockpit and ejection seats, and it burns fuel at a rate that concentrates the mind.
Owning a jet warbird is a different activity from owning an aeroplane. The AI-25TL is supported by a specialist trade rather than a manufacturer's network, its published life is short by Western standards, and the ejection seats and their cartridges are a maintenance and legal item of their own. Fuel burn is the running cost that dominates everything: this is not an aircraft anybody flies for an hour on a Sunday without thinking about it. Against all that, an L-39 is the cheapest way into jet ownership by a long way and the type has an active, well-organised community.
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Put AERO VODOCHODY L-39ZA side by side with up to two other models.
- AERO VODOCHODY L-39ZA
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 | complex;high-performance;pressurized/high-altitude |
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 | 4,920 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 3,010 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 12,787 lb |
| Empty weight | 7,867 lb |
| Usable fuel | 285 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 180 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $500,000 |
|---|---|
| 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 | 29 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 25 |
| Median year built | 1983.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 40 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 40 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 1 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 4 · 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 25 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 25 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 25 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.