Photograph:
Zlin Z 50 ZK-ZSO (c/n 0070) at Taupo, New Zealand in March 2012 (Henry M – NZCIVAIR)
Country of origin:
Czech Republic
Description:
Single-seat high-performance aerobatic monoplane
Power Plant:
One 194 kw (260 hp) Avco Lycoming AEIO-540-D4B5 six-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 8.85 m (29 ft 0¼ in)
- Length: 6.51 m (21 ft 4⅓ in)
- Height (tail down): 1.86 m (6 ft 1¼ in)
- Wing area: 12.50 m² (134.55 sq ft)
- Max speed: 285 km/h (177 mph)
- Max cruising speed: 255 km/h (158 mph)
- Stalling speed: 90 km/h (56 mph)
- Max rate of climb: 900 m/min (2,953 ft/min)
- Fuel capacity [normal]: 60 litres (13.2 Imp gals)
- Range [standard fuel]: 250 km (155 miles)
- Range with optional 50 litre (11 Imp gal) wing tip tanks: 760 km (466 miles)
- Empty weight: 510 kg (1,124 lb)
- Loaded weight: 650 kg (1,433 lb)
- Max loaded weight in ferry configuration: 750 kg (1,653 lb)
History:
The Zlin Z 50 series of high-performance aerobatic monoplanes was introduced to the Moravan Narodni Podnik of Otrokovice range of light aircraft in 1976 and was successful for some years in unlimited aerobatic competition. Powered by a 194 kw (260 hp) Avco Lycoming AEIO540-D4B5 engine, the prototype (registered OK-070) was first flown in July 1975 and on 14 September that year was displayed at an aviation event at the BRNO Engineering Fair. By March of the following year, two more prototypes and seven production aircraft had been completed.
In the 1976 World Aerobatic Championships at Kiev in the Ukraine a Zlin Z 50 gained 2nd place in the team events, and 3rd in the men’s individual competition. Some 80 Model Z 50Ls were completed, many for export. During early testing the Company envisaged building two models, one a fully aerobatic model for competition, and the other primarily for touring.
In 1981 the Z 50LS was made available, this model being used to win the European Aerobatic Championships in 1983, and the World Championships in 1984 and 1986.
Final development was the Z 50M fitted with a Czech-built Avia M-137A2 engine with a constant speed propeller. Production of this model began in 1989 but only a small number were completed.
The Z 50 series was of all metal construction, having a single main spar with aluminium-clad duralumin sheet skinning and having 1.4 m² (15 sq ft) mass-balanced all-metal slotted ailerons. The fuselage was of semi-monocoque structure, the tail surfaces being metal framed, the leading-edge of the fin and tailplane being duralumin-covered, and the remainder of the fin, the rudder and elevators being fabric covered. Power plant was the Avco Lycoming AEIO-540-D4B5 six-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine rated at 194 kw (260 hp) at 2,700 rpm at sea level driving a three-blade wood constant speed variable-pitch Hoffman HO-V 123 propeller.
In late 2003 a Z 50LS, built in 1992, was imported to New Zealand where it became ZK-ZSO (c/n 0070 – ex OK-XRG, SE-KMY, OK-WRN). This particular aircraft had been fitted with a 224 kw (300 hp) Lycoming AEIO-540- L1B5D engine driving a three-blade composite Hoffman HO-V123K-V/200AH propeller. Its owners have included SAAB Nyge Aero of Nykoping, Sweden in 1992, Letecke Akrobaticke Centr in the Czech Republic, and a Swiss business-man in the Czech Republic. It was first registered in New Zealand on 20 October 2003 and has been based in Auckland.