The L.O.O.T.M. Archive

Lust Object of the Month

October 2007

Rob Harrison's 300HP Zlin 50LS, the "Tumbling Bear."  http://www.harrisonairshows.com

The Mazda Aerobatic Team out of South Africa.  They are now flying Extra 300s.

          http://www.aerobaticsextreme.com/aboutmazda.html

Aerotriga is a team of 3 Zlin 50 flying for Malev, a Hungarian airline.  They have the removable wingtip tanks installed here.

Skybox Team, a formation aerobatic competition team flying in Europe. 

http://www.skybox.cz

Zlin 50M with an Avia 180HP inverted inline engine instead of the Lycoming--completely changes its looks.  Only 8 were produced.

The Zlin (Moravan) company from the Czech Republic is known for building aerobatic aircraft that are stout and perform well.  Great handling and easy to fly, the Zlin 50 fills the gap between biplanes and monoplanes--sort of a missing link.  It was a world-class aerobat in the 70s, but was eclipsed by the Sukhois, Yaks and Extras.

Since the airplane boasts a Lycoming AEIO-540 (260 - 300 HP), western pilots may find it less intimidating than aircraft with Russian radial engines.  It is also the plane of choice for several European formation aerobatic teams.

For more on this capable machine, the October LOOTM,

 http://www.aerobaticsaircraft.com/zlin50 

Enjoy!