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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #365 AUGUST 2018 // 13

First Enstrom 480s arrive with CLV

LOM PRAHA’S Centrum
leteckého výcviku (CLV,
Flight Training Centre)
at Pardubice officially
took delivery of its first
two Enstrom 480B-Gs
on June 21. The pair
comprised 0473 (c/n
5240) – which was still
registered as N829JK
when it appeared at the
airshow there on June 1

• and 0 474 (c/n 5241).
  The company confirmed
  in October that it would
  receive six of these new
  training helicopters – four
  military examples and two
  civilian. The latter will
  enable the company to
  expand its general training
  operations, including
  night flying, which is often
  restricted under military
  rules. Three CLV instructor
  pilots are qualified to fly the

Enstrom. They will train the

first class of six helicopter

pilots recently graduated

from the Military Academy

in Brno. The course is

scheduled to commence

in August, by which time

the second pair of military

Enstroms (0459 and 0460)

will also have arrived.

The two civilian

helicopters on order are

expected to be based

at Hradec Králové.

Delivery of the new

helicopters signals the

withdrawal of the Mi-2,

which has been used

for initial entry rotary

wing (IERW) training in

Czechoslovakia and the

Czech Republic since 1972.

CLV took over the training

of new Czech military

pilots (helicopter, fixed-

wing and jets) in 2004.

At the time of the Enstrom

handover, one Mi-2, serial

0718, was still flying but will

shortly need an overhaul.

LOM Praha plans to

transplant its engine into

another Mi-2, serial 0711,

which still has hundreds of

hours left on its airframe.

It will then be flown at

airshows and other special

occasions. Alan Warnes

First Irish Air Corps

PC-12 fl own

THE FIRST Pilatus

PC-12NG for the Irish Air

Corps (IAC) has made

its maiden flight from the

factory at Stans-Buochs,

Switzerland. The aircraft,

HB-FSF (c/n 1795), will now

be outfitted with its role-

specific equipment before

being delivered early next

year. The IAC’s General

Officer Commanding,

Sean Clancy, announced

the first flight on June 2.

A contract for three

PC-12NGs for the IAC

was signed on December

19 last year – see Ireland

orders three PC-12NGs,

February, p11. They

will be equipped for the

intelligence, surveillance,

target acquisition and

reconnaissance (ISTAR)

role, while also being

used for logistics support/

transport and medical

evacuation missions. The

second aircraft is also

due for delivery next year,

while the third will follow

in 2020. Dave Allport

Spanish Cougars and Chinooks deploy to Iraq

Above: Spanish FAMET/Task Force Toro CH-47D HT.17-08 ‘ET-408’ lands at Camp Taji, Iraq,

on May 29. The helicopter arrived in formation with two other FAMET Chinooks and two

Cougars, along with a pair of US Army Black Hawks. US Army/Spc Audrey Ward

The fi rst Irish Air Corps PC-12NG, HB-FSF (c/n 1295), still only painted in primer, at the

factory in Stans. GOC IAC Sean Clancy

Alan Warnes

SPAIN’S FUERZAS
Aeromóviles del Ejército
de Tierra (FAMET, Army
Airmobile Forces) has
commenced its T ask Force
Toro deployment to Iraq
with a contingent of five
helicopters. These comprise
two AS532UL Cougars and
three CH-47D Chinooks,
which touched down at Camp
Taji, Iraq, on May 29. They
arrived in formation, escorted
in by US Army UH-60s from
the 1st Battalion, 244th
Aviation Regiment, 449th
Combat Aviation Brigade.
The helicopters had
been transported to the
region by sea on board the
Spanish Navy’s amphibious
assault ship Juan Carlos
I (L 61), which left Naval
Base Rota, Spain, on May
1 and reached Kuwait
Naval Base on May 24.
Transport by ship had
been selected as the best

option to reduce logistical

demands, but after nearly

a month at sea partially

dismantled, the helicopters

had to undergo reassembly,

maintenance and engine

testing before flying off the

vessel. They departed from

the LHD with their UH-

escorts on May 24, initially

making the ‘hop’ to Camp

Buehring, Kuwait, before

heading for Camp Taji.

TF Toro, which was

declared fully operational

on June 15, is tactically

controlled by the US Army’s

449th CAB and will provide

intra-theatre aviation

support with its Cougars

and Chinooks for Combined

Joint Task Force-Inherent

Resolve. The mission

was agreed to following

a request from the US for

more transport helicopters

to support operations

in Iraq. Dave Allport