Zlin Z 142

Infobox Aircraft
name=Zlin 42, 142 and 242 series


caption= Moravan Zlin 242L
type=Sport, personal and trainer aircraft
manufacturer=Moravan Otrokovice
designer=
first flight=
introduced=
retired=
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The Zlin Z 142 is a single-engine two-seat Czechoslovakian trainer aircraft manufactured by Moravan Otrokovice. The Z 142 is the most popular aircraft variant in its aircraft line, with the base model being the Z 42. In contrast to the older Z 40 which had both seats in tandem, all Z 42 series aircraft use side-by-side seating.

Design and development

The aircraft were built by Moravan Aviation, founded in 1934 in aviation by Tomas Bata in the Czech Republic.

The aircraft fuselage center section is of welded steel tube, covered with sheet metal and fiberglass panels. The tailcone is of monocoque construction. The empennage is of sheet metal, and incorporates an all-flying tail. The two-spar wings are of all-metal construction. The tricycle landing gear is fixed, with a steerable nose wheel. The Z 42 is powered by a Walter inverted six-cylinder engine rated at 134 kW (180 hp).

The prototype Z-142 first flew on December 28, 1978.

The Zlin Z 142 is a development of the Zlin Z 42 M platform, equipped with a Walter (now LOM) fuel-injected inverted 6 cylinder, supercharged air-cooled engine rated at 157 kW (210 hp), driving a constant speed propeller.

Designed for aerobatics instruction, it was certified to +6.0 and -4.0 limit maneuvering load factors, and was equipped with full inverted fuel and oil systems permitting extended inverted flight.

In the late 1980s further development work was initiated. The inverted inline engine was replaced with a four-cylinder horizontally-opposed Lycoming IO-360 engine. This variant is designated the Z 242, and is immediately distinguishable by its relatively wide cowling which houses the flat-four engine.

Operational history

The Z 42 variants are used for basic and intermediate VFR flight training, for basic aerobatics training, for night and instrument flight training, and for glider towing.

The aircraft were largely used in former COMECON countries for air club and basic air force training. It was also used by the air forces of Algeria, Mexico and Slovenia. According to the LTTE, it was used in bombing sorties on the Sri Lankan airforce bases in Sri Lanka. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2.hi/south_asia/6496381.stm] [http:www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21672616-2703,00.html]

There have been wing difficulties resulting in restriction of permitted aerobatic flight time for original aircraft. The factory offers a retrofit package of replacement wings and an AMU-1 fatigue monitoring system, which extends overall airframe life to 5 500 hours, all of which may be aerobatic.

Aerobatics and maneuvers

The Zlin Z 142 was not designed as a fully-aerobatic plane, but it is equipped for inverted flying, and can be used for aerobatic instruction. The following figures are allowed:

* Spins (normal and inverted)
* Loops (except inverted)
* Barrel rolls (except snap rolls)
* Immelmanns
* Wing-overs
* Split-s slides and Tail-slides
* Inverted flight

pecification (Z42)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Fact|date=August 2008
crew=1
capacity=1 passenger or student
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 7.07 m
length alt=23 ft 2 in
span main=9.11 m
span alt=29 ft 9 in
height main=2.69 m
height alt=8 ft 8 in
area main= 13.15²
area alt= 141.55 sq.ft
airfoil=
empty weight main= 600 kg
empty weight alt= 1,323 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 920 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 2,028 lb
more general=
engine (prop)=M137A
type of prop=6 cylinder
number of props=
power main= 134 kW or
power alt=180 hp
power original=
power more=
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propellers=
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propeller diameter main=
propeller diameter alt=
max speed main=
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cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
cruise speed more
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main= 315 km/h
never exceed speed alt= 170 kt IAS
range main=
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Variant specifications

Military Operators

*
*
* - operates 5 Zlin 242Ls
*
*
*
* - operates 9 Zlin 242Ls
*
*
*

;Rebels
*

Former Military Operators

* - Z-42
* - Z-42

References

* [http://www.moravan.cz Moravan official site] . Accessed October 31, 2005.

External links

* [http://www.easa.eu.int/doc/Certification/Design_Appro/Aircrafts/TCDS_A_027_Z242_L.pdf European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Type-Certificate Data Sheet]