Kazakhstan Air Force pilots start training on Spanish C-295

Kazakhstan Air Force pilots have started training flights on new Spanish C-295 turboprop transport aircrafts, Tengrinews.kz reports. The training flights are made from Almaty airport. The pilots are working on landing and takeoff from a short runway, as well as on aircraft control in cases of an engine failure. "We flew flight simulators in Spain, then flew the aircrafts in Seville and received certified permits from the manufacturer of Airbus Military. We are continuing the training in Almaty, as the conditions here are different from Spain. Our winters are more severe. This is a modern new-generation aircraft. It is different from our An-26 in many ways. It is fully equipped: avionics, computers and automatics. It is very comfortable for operation but difficult to learn," senior pilot-inspector of army military-transport aviation of Kazakhstan Air Force Rustem Tleumagambetov said. Yerken Dzhumagaliyev, the Air Forces' Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Eduction, Social and Legal Work said that operational life of the An-26 aircrafts in Kazakhstan's fleet expires in 2014-2015. To replace them, the militarymen made a survey of the market of military aircrafts with the carrying capacity up to 10 tons (60-70 seats). The analysis included criteria like modern navigation system, ability to takeoff and land on artificial, soft and short runways, ability to reach to any destination point in Kazakhstan without additional filling, operation in sharply continental climate conditions, etc. C-295 aircrafts were selected. Their main purpose is transportation of personnel, cargoes and airmobile inserts. Besides, the plane can be used for medical purposes. The C-295s were delivered to Astana on January 17, 2013. Thus, Kazakhstan has become the first user of these aircrafts in CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). "Updating the Air Force fleet will significantly improve mobility of our Armed Forces. These are the first birds, but the fleet will be further expand. We are planning to purchase the total of 8 aircrafts of this kind. They can fully replace the An-26 planes," Dzhumagaliyev said. C-295 airplanes are successfully used in the air forces of Spain, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, Columbia, Chile and Ecuador. The plane is able to transport 9,700 kg of cargoes to up to 1,300km. Its hourly fuel consumption is twice less than in aircrafts of similar class. The aircraft has a high ferry range: over 5,500km. Major tactical-technical characteristics of C-295: Length: 24.4m; Height: 8.66m; Maximum takeoff mass: 23.200kg; Empty weight: 11,200kg; Engine capacity: 2,645 hp; Expected operational lifetime: 56,000 hours or up to 30,000 sorties in combat conditions; Operation temperature range: from minus 45 to plus 50 degrees Centigrade. By Vladimir Prokopenko