Let L-33 Solo

The Let L-33 Solo is a Czech shoulder-wing, single-seat, glider, designed by Marian Meciar and Vaclav Zajic, and produced by Let Kunovice. The L-33 first flew in 1992 and remained in production through 2012, supplied as a ready-to-fly aircraft.

Design and development

The L-33 is a development of the two-seat LET L-23 Super Blaník for use as a student solo aircraft. The L-33 features a cantilever wing, a T-tail, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy and fixed monowheel gear.

The semi-monocoque design is made from flush riveted aluminum sheet. The rudder is covered with doped aircraft fabric. Its 14.12 m (46.3 ft) span, semi-tapered wing employs a Wortmann FX-60-17A11-182 airfoil at the wing root, transitioning to an FX-60-126 at the wing tip. The wing has an area of 11 m² (120 sq ft) and mounts top surface Schempp-Hirth-style air brakes.

The L-33 was a competitor in the IGC World Class sailplane design competition, but lost to the Polish Politechnika Warszawska PW-5. The design is type certified to JAR 22 in Argentina, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.