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By
Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_L-610
The Let L 610 is a prototype aircraft for the Czech civil aircraft manufacturer Let Kunovice.
History
In the late 1970s, 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 , 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.
Specifications (L-610)
Data from Brassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directory
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 (pilot, co-pilot)
- Capacity: 40 passengers
- Length: 21.72 m (72 ft 3 in)
- Wingspan: 25.60 m (84 ft)
- Height: 8.19 m (27 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 56 m² (603 ft²)
- Empty weight: 8,950 kg (19,730 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 14,500 kg (32,000 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× General Electric CT7-9D turboprop engines, 1,305 kW (1,750 hp) each
Performance
External links
Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply.
Published in July 2009.
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