Afghan Cessna T182Ts Arrive at Shindand AB

摘要

The first three Cessna T182T Turbo Skylanes on order for the Afghan Air Force have been delivered. The initial batch comprised YA19029 (c 09029, ex N9108T), YA19030 (c 09030, ex N91085) and YA19031 (c 09031, ex N9109N). They departed Wichita, Kansas, on September 12 and flew via Winchester-Randolph County Airport, Indiana, to Bangor, Maine, where they night stopped. The next day they left for St John's in Newfoundland, from where they began their transatlantic crossing on September 15, arriving at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, in the early hours of the next day. They arrived at Shindand Air Base on September 18, after a further stop over at Ankara in Turkey. Shindand is the air force's training facility and the newly delivered Cessnas will be used by the Afghan Flight School in the basic training role. The aircraft were ordered via the Foreign Military Sales programme on May 26 (see Cessnas for Afghanistan, July, p20) along with 26 Cessna 208B Grand Caravans. Initial rotary-wing training will also be undertaken there using six MD Helicopters MD53OFs, which have also recently been delivered, while the advanced segment of the syllabus will use six Mil Mi-17s.