1. AIRCRAFT FACTORIES 2. RUDY LETOV PLANT, LETNANY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A002200050017-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 17
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2006/11/08: CIA-RDP80-0081OA002200050017-3
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
This Document contains information affeci ing the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
SECRET/CONTROL - U. S. OFFICIALS ONLY
SECURITY INFORMATION
COUNTRY Czechoslovakia
SUBJECT I.' Aircraft Factories
2. Rudy Letov Plant, Letman.y_,c.t_nany
REPORT I I
DATE DISTR. 4 September .1953
NO. OF PAGES 6
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
Aircraft Factories
1. The J. Dimitrov Plant of Avia in Letx~>~ny1 a8?mble ;aii?raft of they
Russian Ilyushin (IL) type. Parts for conventional fighters are also made
here, and since 1 February 1953 this plant has also been making parts for
jet fighters.
2. The Jan Sverma Plant,of Motorlet (forn36rly-Wal4er)1.in: Prague .J.inonice, manu-
4. The Let factory at Prague-Males ice. produces gasoline operated aircraft
5. The Let factory at Chooen,mennfactpres,>dursIum-n struts for jet aircraft,
factures both gasoline and jet motors. The jet motors-are for MIG-15s.
The Aero factory in Prague Vysocany produces parts and assembles aircraft
of the Sokol, UP9, 'and'Baby (sip) ',type's
6. The new Let factory at Kunovice, formerly 'an; Avia factory, was not yet in
production at the time of observation, but it was rumored among the employees
that the plant is to be engaged in assembling jet aircraft.
7. Kovohute, formerly the Moravian Metal Rolling Mills, at Bridlicna (P 50/0 09),
formerly Frydlant nad Moravici, is a rolling mill which produces dirralumin
and aluminum sheets of all dimensions for the manufacture of aircraft.
8. PAL', at gbellg9'1r Tra lass, radio transm&tters aia& receivers and radar
aircraft control stations.
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l4int or tet0 National C
9. The Rudy Letov Plant of Let in Letnany assembles MiG-l5 jet aircraft and
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makebuse of (Ausschlachtung) old weapons of large caliber for Messersohmidt
Aircraft by, installing them in the planes.
10. Nearly 9,000 persons are employed at this plant, and there are also 700 Czech
soldiers working there. The soldiers are quartered outside of the plant in
barracks near the Prague-Cakovice highway, The a.re Air Force ground personnel,
11. There are also 14 Soviet -test pilots at the plant. They are members of the
Soviet Air Force,
12. The plant is under the direct supervision of the Minister of National Defence.
Civilian employees are under the direct control and jurisdiction of the
military authorities.
13. All sections work three shifts.
14. Sheet aluminum 2,5 mm. thick and duralumin rods (Stangen) are delivered to the
plant from the Let plant at Chocen0 Radio and electric apparatus comes from the
PAL plant in Prague-Letnany. Jet motors are delivered from the Jan Sverma
Plant at Prague-Jinoniace. Weapons for the aircraft come from the Zbrojovka Brno
factory, The airplane fuselages are said to come, in part, from East Germany,
15. Electricity for the Rudy Letov Plant comes from the Prague-'Holesovice electric
works. Gas comes from the Prague Gas Works and from the CKD-Stalingrad plant,
near Prague. The plant does not use coal; it 'is heated by a central heating
plant,
16. The Rudy Letov Plant does not have its own railroad spur line; materials are
brought in by truck. Finished aircraft are taken from the plant's airfield
to the nearby Prague,-Kbely field,
17. This plant has the following motor vehicless
10 five-ton trucks, Praga and Skoda makes
1 ambulance
1 fire truck
80 electric dollies
15 Zetor-type tractors for towing aircraft
18. The plant also has the following motor-driven equipments
1 elevator in the central storehouse
19. Rudy Letov manufactures MiG-15s, and is the only plant in Czechoslovakia doing
final assembling of these aircraft. Daily capacity is seven aircraft. The
finished planes are picked up once a month at the plant's airfield. They stand
outside the buildings under canvas covers without numbers or insignia, until
picked up. They are built for use by Czechoslovakia, the USSR, and Communist
China,
20. This plant also works on Messersohmjdt aircraft, often only to the extent of
installing heavier weapons in them, however,
21. In the main assembly hall (No, 7 on the annexed sketch), Messerschmidt air-
craft are rebuilt. The old German motors are removed and replaced by new,
stronger ones provided by the Jan Sverma Plant, Prague-Jinonice, 44-mm, cannon
and 22-mm, heavy machine guns are installed in them. These aircraft are towed
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to the Prague-Kbely airfield by tractor when finished.
22. The following is an explanatory legend to accompany the annexed sketch; the
numbers here given correspond to those appearing on the sketch-.
(1) Barracks for Czechoslovak soldiers. These are old wooden buildings
about 15 by 60 in. in size. They are full of soldiers.
(2) Headquarters of the military commander. in an old two-story
structure. The Soviet test pilots live here and the radio
station is also in this building. There is a glass turret on
the roof and a circular antenna (Kreisantenne) on a mast; the
mast is of steel and is six m. high.
(3) Wooden barracks about 15 by 35 in. in size. Military personnel
here check the radio apparatus and switchboards (Kontrolle von
Radioapparaten and Schaltbrettern) which are installed in the
aircraft.
(4)
(5)
Wooden building on a brick or stone foundation, about 13 x 25 in.
in size. Location of testing instruments for completed aircraft
(Kontrollmessgeraete fuer fertige Flugzeuge). Testing is done
by Czech Air Force personnel. The aircraft being checked are
outside this building on a concrete hardstand.
A three-story building which was completed during World War II.
Location of the Rudy Letov Plant administration.
(6) An old wooden building. Batteries for the factory's vehicles
are charged here.
(7)
Main assembly hall, which was formed by making one large building
out of what formerly were six airplane hangars.
as The machine tool hall (soustruzna). Strips, ends of com-
bustion chambers or tubes (Leisten,'Endungen von Verbren-
nungsroehren) 22 mm., 32 mm?~and 45~mn. in diameter, and
various pistons are the duralumin parts which are made
here. This hall has the following maohinerys
about 70 turret lathes, Skoda and Vollman makes
40 automatic turret lathes, Swiss make
8 electric welding apparatuses
20 drills
20 semi-automatic turret lathes
b. Grinding hall (Brursfna). Rudder stripe for aircraft
(Leistenflugzeugsteuer), pistons for suspension of landing
gear (Kolben fuer Federung der Fahrgestelle) and pistons
for'MotorwalzerP are ground (geeohliffen) here. This
hall has the following maohinerys
40 automatic grinding machines (of Swedish,
German and Swiss provenience)
30 abrasive polishing machines (Sohmirgelmaschinen)
Go Technical electrical workshop. Radio apparatuses which have
been tested by military personnel are mounted in their frames
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here. They are then installed in the aircraft in the auxi-
liary assembly shop (No. 7e)o The technical electrical work-
shop has the following machinerys.
hand-operated drilling machines
tool benches (Werkzeugtische)
d, Final assembly hall for aircraft., assembly of auxiliary firing
mechanisms; springs (Federn) are mounted here for discharging
air pressure (Luftdruckausuurf) under the pilot's cabin. The
protective paper wrappings are removed from the aircreft here
and the entire plane is polished. This hall has the following
machinery:
1 crane (bridge construction)
30 polishing machines
eo Auxiliary assembly workshop. Final assembly of electrical
and radio apparatus is done here.
f. Weapons forge. Weapons are here mounted in the turbines
(Turbinen) on the left side of the aircraft. The weapons
4,re rapid firings. one 44-mm, cannon, with a heavy 22-mm.
machine gun mounted above it. A connecting cable (Verbin-
dungeseil) runs from these weapons to the middle of the
machine and is connected automatically with a photographic
lens (Photolinse)o
(8) Garage- an old building.
(9) Former hangar; now a storehouse for materials.
(10) Cabinet maker's shop; an old, one-story building. Wooden patterns
(Holzkonstruktionen) for gliders and various dies (Matritzen) are
produced here.
(11) Former hangar, now an auxiliary shop to the main assembly hail, No.
1. This shop has the following machinery:
3 large drills
shapers, turret lathes, planers
(12) Former hangar, now the, molding shop (Presswerkstaette). Aluminum
sheets for lifting surfaces, rudders and fuselages are worked here.
The aluminum sheets are already provided with protective paper
covering. This shop has 35 air presses of various sizes.
(15)
Varnish shop.
Plant machinery repair shop (udrzba)0 This shop is intended to
do repairs on all machinery in the whole factory. Smaller
repair jobs are done in the various halls of the plant. This
shop also was formerly a hangar.
Transformer for the whole factory, three meters long.
(16) Water tank for fire-extinguishing purposes.
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(17) New structure which was only finished in May 1952; has three
floors and is about 50 meters square. This is the central
storehouse and supply room. The administration of this store-
house is exclusively in the hands of the military authorities.
Issuing of materials is done by Czechoslovak soldiers.
(la) Smithy, formerly a hangar. Production of machinery parts such
as turning tools (Messer) for lathes. Equipped with eight
forging furnaces.
(19) Residence of the gardner of the Rudy Letov factory.
(20) New building which was not finished until after 1945. Has two
floors and is about 30 meters square. Houses the Works Council,
the ambulance, plant militia and fire-fighting section.
(21) Formerly a hangar; now the plant canteen.
(22) Formerly a hangar; now the drawing room (Zeichensaal).
(23) Guard shelter for the plant militia and the Czech soldiers.
(24) Factory wall.
(25) Barbed wire.
(26) Fence.
(27) Factory entrances.
(28) Connecting road to the airfield.
(29) Factory airfield.
(30) Runway of the; factory airfield,
(31) Old hangars.
(32) Barracks.
(33) PAL National Enterprise.
(34) Kbely airfield.
(35) Avia factory airfield
(36) Prague-Cakovioe highway.
(37) Prague Vinor-Brandy+s highway.
Notes No. 9 is not indicated on'the sketch.
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RUDY LETOV AIRCRAFT FACTORY AND AIRIELD
PRAGUE-LETNANY
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