Aircraft model
AERO VODOCHODY L39C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Aero L-39 Albatros is the Czech jet trainer that equipped most Warsaw Pact air forces and many others, with more than 2,800 built. It is a tandem two-seat pressurised jet with an Ivchenko turbofan, and large numbers came onto the Western civil market after 1990 as the cheapest way for a private individual to own a jet.
That is exactly how it should be assessed. The AI-25TL engine has a short life by Western standards, parts come from a small specialist network with supply complicated by the aircraft's origins, and documentation is translated. It operates on the US experimental exhibition register, which carries operating limitations on where and why it may be flown and requires a letter of authorisation rather than a conventional type rating. Insurance is a specialist market. Running costs are jet costs on a warbird support base.
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Put AERO VODOCHODY L39C side by side with up to two other models.
- AERO VODOCHODY L39C
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 | 616 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 | $250,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $600,000 |
| 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 | 156 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 100 |
| Median year built | 1983.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 201 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 102 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 27 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 273 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 100 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 100 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 100 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.