Despite being built in 1973 and first flying in 1975, the Zlin is still a competitive aerobatic airshow machine – particularly in the right hands! 

The Zlin may lack the speed, power and agility of modern aerobatic planes, but that’s no reason to write it off. In the hands of a creative and skilled aerobatic display pilot, it can certainly hold its own as a solo ship, and even more so in the formation aerobatic display arena.

All in all, it’s a very robust, well-engineered and well-built aircraft.

The Zlin is a cantilever, low-winged, single-seat monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Apart from the fabric-covered rudder, it’s entirely of metal construction. The earlier models ran 260 horsepower engines, while the later Zlin 50LS model was fitted with a 300 horsepower engine.  All in all, it’s a very robust, well-engineered and well-built aircraft.

A generous cockpit

One of the features I love about this aircraft, is its large cockpit. Being north of 6 foot 3 inches, I’ve always struggled to get comfortable in the cockpits of aerobatic aeroplanes. With a parachute strapped on, a bit of shoe horning is always required for me to get into most cockpits, but not this one.

The Zlin’s seat is adjustable and allows for a big person to sit comfortably with a parachute. Everything on and in the aeroplane is over engineered, and you can’t help feeling like you’re in a military type aircraft.

A small fuel tank

One of the downsides of the Zlin is limiting amount of fuel it can carry. Being an Eastern Block aircraft, the Acro tank was limited to 60 litres. With so little fuel onboard, a pilot couldn’t get very far if they wanted to defect. One could get out to the GF, practice a sequence and come back − nothing more.

The Zlins do have ferry tanks that can be fitted to the wing tips for long journeys. However, you can’t fly aerobatics with these tanks fitted.  It’s a mission to fit them and take them off at destination, so certain Zlins have been modified or “westernised” with integral tanks, which give the Zlin longer legs.

The pleasure of take-off and landing

Of all the taildragger-type aerobatic aircraft I’ve flown, the Zlin is the easiest to take-off and land, much like a Super Cub.

With its thick leading edge, the take-off roll is very short. By the time the throttle is fully open, and you have the tail up, it’s time to rotate. The speeds at which things are done in a Zlin is typically slower than in most other aerobatic aircraft. It’s difficult to give exact speeds because the airspeed indicator shows kilometres per hour. I eventually got a sense of where the needle should be for take-off, landing and various maneouvres, instead of focusing on exact speeds.

Powerful control surfaces

All the control surfaces are powerful! It has huge, full-span ailerons, as well as a big elevator and rudder.

She’s very sensitive in pitch. Most pilots can’t help porpoising just after take-off on their first flight. It takes a couple of minutes to settle down in the pitching plane. Her slow speed characteristics and capabilities are impressive, especially for an aircraft built in the ’70s.

The Zlin is at her best from a manoeuvering point of view in the middle to the top of the green arc. When you move into the yellow and let the speed build up, the big control surfaces create heavy stick forces that make the aircraft a little more difficult to fly.

Her slow speed characteristics and capabilities are impressive, especially for an aircraft built in the ’70s.

The advantage of the slower speed

From a display point of view, you can capitalise on the slower speed of the Zlin. Modern aerobatic aircraft chew up the box with their high speeds. It’s far easier to keep your display contained with the Zlin and, although you don’t have the performance and manoeuvre capabilities of modern aircraft, with a bit of creativity you can put on a well-contained, somewhat high-performance, low-level display.

The Zlin is a great gateway aircraft to the world of gyroscopics. It has a very consistent and somewhat slower tumble and predictable recovery compared to the likes of the Pitts Special and Extras. This allows the pilot to perform these manoeuvres more safely at lower altitudes than they would in some other aerobatic planes.

All in all, the Zlin is great “bang for your buck” and, although it’s an old aircraft, its time is certainly not over. Pilots still fly them in the Advanced Class at aerobatic competitions, putting on world-class solo and formation aerobatic displays.

I enjoyed every second I spent in our Zlin and, if the right one comes up at the right time, I’d love to own and fly one again.