Let L-610

infobox Aircraft
name = Let L-610
type = Airliner, transport aircraft
manufacturer =Let Kunovice



imagesize = 249px
caption =The Czech L 610 aircraft
designer =
first flight = December 28 1988
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user =Czech Republic
more users =
produced =
number built =
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =The Let L 610 is a prototype aircraft for the Czech civil aircraft manufacturer Let Kunovice.

History

In the late 1970's, after the success of the LET L-410 twin engine turboprop, the Soviet airline Aeroflot requested that LET design a replacement for the Antonov An-24 aircraft.

LET's L-610 was designed as a twin engined turboprop aircraft powered by the new Czech engine, Motorlet M 602, with a seating capacity of 40. Regrettably the fact that engine development always takes longer than airframe development was not taken into consideration. Eventually the 1,358 kW (1,822 shp) Motorlet M 602 turboprop engines were finished and the aircraft first flew on 28 December, 1988. No aircraft was ever delivered to any commercial customer, although one aircraft was shown in Aeroflot markings during the Paris Air Show in the 1990s. One Let 610 M was delivered to the Czech Air Force [ [http://www.army.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=6214 Ministry of Defence - L-610 Transport Aircraft ] ] , to support manufacturer's certification and test flights process.

After the Soviet collapse LET tried to westernize the plane in order to widen the aircraft's sales appeal. The result was a new model, known as the L 610G, which had General Electric CT7 engines, Collins Pro Line II digital EFIS avionics, Collins weather radar and autopilot. The L 610G prototype flew its maiden flight on 18 December, 1992; four years after the L 610M.

The choice of GE CT-7 engines was not suitable for the aircraft, which originally intended to use Pratt & Whitney PW 100 family engines. This led to further delays in the project, leading to its final rejection at the beginning of 2006 by the new owners of LET factory.

During the time that the now-defunct Ayres Corp. owned LET, the aircraft was also known as the Ayres L-610, and for a time was marketed as the Ayres 7000. The customer for the Ayres 7000 was to have been City Connexion Airlines before bankruptcy problems sidelined the program.

pecifications (L-610)

Aircraft specifications
ref=Brassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directorycite book |last=Taylor|first=M J H (editor) | title = Brassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directory 1999/2000 Edition | year = 1999 | publisher = Brassey's | isbn = 1 85753 245 7 ]
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

crew=2 (pilot, co-pilot)
capacity= 40 passengers
length main=21.72 m
length alt=72 ft 3 in
span main=25.60 m
span alt=84 ft
height main=8.19 m
height alt=27 ft 10 in
area main=56 m²
area alt=603 ft²

empty weight main=8,950 kg
empty weight alt=19,730 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=14,500 kg
max takeoff weight alt=32,000 lb

engine (prop)=General Electric CT7-9D
type of prop=turboprop engines
number of props=2
power main=1,305 kW
power alt=1,750 hp

max speed main= 490 km/h cite web |url= http://www.luftfahrtmuseum.com/htmi/itf/le610.htm|title= The Virtual Aviation Museum - Let L 610|accessdate=2007-07-21 |format= |work= ]
max speed alt=265 knots, 305 mph
cruise speed main= 438 km/h
cruise speed alt=236 knots, 272 mph
range main=2,420 km
range alt=1,305 nm, 1,503 mi
range more=
ceiling main=10,250 m
ceiling alt=33,700 ft
climb rate main= 8.5 m/s
climb rate alt= 1,673 ft/min
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=

References

External links

* [http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=51 Plane Stats]
* [http://www.marecek.cz/view.php?cisloclanku=2006012501 More photos]