AirForces Monthly – September 2019

#378 September 2019 // 73

in two tactical missions. During Phase

III, 55hrs 50mins of flying is conducted

across 46 days. Including screening and

successfully passing all three training phases,

the student will have accumulated 245hrs

15mins of flying during 474 flights. They then

receive their ‘wings’ and are assigned to

one of the HRZ’s fixed-wing squadrons.

Not just a trainer

The main task of the Fixed-Wing Squadron

is to provide basic and advanced instruction

for student pilots, but it’s also responsible

for training QFIs, the Krila Oluje aerobatic

team, demonstration pilots and test

pilots. The EA teaches aircraft personnel/

technicians and provides close air support

pilot training. Furthermore, the unit conducts

air reconnaissance flights for the firefighting

task group and has two aircraft available

round the clock for coast guard duties.

Harapin explained: “We patrol the

seas searching for pollution, such

as oil leaks, and illegal fishing.

We also have at least one flight

per week along the 12-mile economic zone

off the coast. We have to check the plates of

the ships, take pictures and report them to

the coast guard who will take further action.

Patrolling the seas with a PC-9 is cheap and

fast. When you send a coast guard ship it will

cost a lot in terms of fuel and time. Due to high

waves and a lot of birds over the sea, those

flights can sometimes really be a big challenge,

as we need to fly as low and slow as possible

to see and photograph the names of the ships.

“Our PC-9s are regularly used as practice

targets for ‘Tango’ [training] scrambles by

the MiG-21s at Zagreb-Pleso and for other

air defence units, as well as being used in

support of navy exercises in which we conduct

simulated attacks on ships. Increasingly, we

also participate in joint exercises in the COIN

and CAS [counter-insurgency and close air

support] roles, as we did last year in the

national Patria 18 exercise. Our PC-9s were

in close contact with JTACs [Joint Terminal

Attack Controllers] and we conducted

simulated strikes on targets. Sometimes

during exercises our PC-9s are called in for

performance aircraft. We found

that the Brazilian Air Force display

team, the Esquadrilha da Fumaça,

operating the EMB-312 Tucano,

has a very similar display to ours. We

adopted and upgraded some elements from

them. It’s a process that never ends. When we

see something interesting, we try it! We certainly

have restrictions in what we can do: from -3.5G

to +7G. The biggest disadvantage of the PC-9

during aerobatics is the lack of power. It’s very

difficult for the outer pilot to maintain the formation,

especially during the formation changes. So, if we

do a barrel roll, we do it in a rocket formation so

that the aircraft are really close to the axis. As a

team leader I have to make constant corrections.

Usually, when performing the simple barrel roll, I

select the power setting and do the roll. But now I

have to change the power setting constantly during

the barrel roll, to make sure that my outer wing

is actually capable of maintaining the formation.

That takes a lot of co-ordination. That is why our

formation is pretty low on the vertical separation

and that is why we have to change formation to

the narrow formation in some types of rolls. That

is simply due to the limitations of our airplane.”

round the clock for coast guard duties.

Harapin explained: “We patrol the

seas searching for pollution, such

as oil leaks, and illegal fishing.

We also have at least one flight

adopted and upgraded some elements from

Above:PC-9Ms are prepared for the day’s fl ying on the fl ight line of the Fixed-Wing Squadron at Zadar-Zemunik. In 2015 the EA’s PC-9M fl eet reached the

50,000 fl ying-hour mark and aircraft ‘059’ was decorated with special markings and the insignia of the Krila Oluje, Fixed-Wing Squadron and Pilot School.

Left:Pilots of the Fixed-Wing Squadron use their PC-9s for a wide variety of roles besides pilot training, including air reconnaissance for the fi refi ghting task

group and the coast guard, and providing practice targets for air defence units.

A PC-9M fl ies north of Zadar. On July 11, shortly

before AFM went to press, the Fixed-Wing Squadron

completed 60,000 fl ying hours on the type.

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70-74 CroatianTraining AFM Sep2019.indd 73 02/08/2019 17:27:53