Following the recent certification of the L-39NG training version by Czech authorities in accordance with the EMAR-21 standard for the EU and NATO (Militär Aktuell reported), an important milestone in the development of the armed version has now also been reached with the aerodynamic tests. The tests took place in the wind tunnel of the Czech Aerospace Research Center in Prague (VZLU) and focused on the aircraft’s ability to carry various weapon systems.
“In cooperation with VZLU, we have completed the data acquisition phase from the wind tunnel before the aircraft is converted to the Light Attack version and before flight tests begin next year. Our goal was to experimentally verify the expected deviations of the aerodynamics, which could differ from the training version,” said the head of the L-39NG program, Vojtěch Labuda from Aero Vodochody. For the measurement requirements, a 1:6.6 scale model of the aircraft was 3D printed. First, measurements were taken with the model using an internal six-component strain gauge scale without pods, and then the aircraft was measured with different types of pods, weapons, flap settings and different types of wingtips. All weapon models were also 3D printed. The L-39NG has a total of five pods for a variety of weapons, starting with a 12.7 millimeter caliber machine gun and 20 millimeter caliber cannons, bombs up to 250 kilograms, unguided air-to-ground missiles or air-to-air missiles. According to Aero Vodochody, the integration of laser guidance of weapons is also being considered. In addition to static measurements, which determine the forces and momentum on the aircraft, dynamic measurements were also carried out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP2R8_7IX1I&feature=youtu.be
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