Civil aviation training in mainland China has come a long way since the early post-war years of basic flying with Yakovlev Yak-18s and llyushin II-12s from Tianjin, progressing to Antonov An-2s and eventually on to ll-14s followed by line training on selected routes. Flying training was reorganised in 1953 when the CAAC Flight Institute was founded as a state-operated authority, developed to teach all aspects of flying, both civil and basic military procedures. Civil and military training has now been separated and all civil training is now carried out under the auspices of the CAFC (Civil Aviation Flying College) from the four bases of Guanghan, Xinjin and Mianyang, all in Sichuan Province, and Luoyang in Henan Province. Each college base covers a different level of training, from basic single-engine flying to twin turboprop ratings, to simulator training, to Air Traffic Control and maintenance of its aircraft. The CAFC fleet consist of six Yunshuji Y-7s (basically licensed-built Antonov An-24s), 12 Y-5s (licenced-built Antonov An-2s) , five Piper PA-42 Cheyennes, 32 Socata TB-20 Trinidads and 39 Socata TB-200 Tobagos. The helicopter element consists of five Bell 206B JetRangers.
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