Ed McDonald's Aero Vodochody L-39 ZA Albatros

Ed McDonald is the owner and operator of this beautifull Aero Vodochody L-39ZA Albatros, which is based at St. Albert, Alberta, Canada and is available for airshows, flybys and film.

The L-39 Albatros, a high-performance jet trainer, was developed by Czechoslovakia during the 1960's as a successor to the L-29 Delfin. Built by Aero-Vodochody, it entered full-scale production in late 1972. It was designed for basic, advanced, and operational pilot training and for light attack missions.

It was highly successful as the basic jet trainer for the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and many other Warsaw Pact countries. It is still the most widely used jet trainer in the world. Today, more than 2,800 are still in service with over 30 air forces from around the world.

While newer versions are now replacing older L-39s in service, thousands remain in active service as trainers, and many are finding new homes with private owners all over the world. This is particularly evident in the United States, where their $200,000-$300,000 price puts them in range of moderately wealthy pilots looking for a fast, agile personal jet. Their popularity has led to a purely L-39 'Jet Unlimited' class at the Reno National Championship Air Races. As of mid-March 2006, there are 257 L-39s in the US Federal Aviation register.

Two L-39 ZOs were featured in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, while one made an appearance in Lord of War.

Ed's L-39 ZA is originally a Romanian Air Force ZA model built in 1983 and retired from service shortly after 1989. Original Romanian L39 Number: 138, 2000 airframe hours. It has been modified for instrument approach flight checking. Specialized equipment is installed in this aircraft to flight check WAAS instrument approaches as well as other RNAV type instrument approaches. So, in addition to being a beautiful aircraft, it is also a working aircraft.

This aircraft is also used for charity funding raising. Since 2007, this aircraft has raised over $500,000 for a variety of charitable causes by allowing these organizations to auction "Thrill of a Lifetime" flights in the aircraft. These flights have been won for amounts ranging from $7,000 to $25,000 per flight.

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