The first of two new CASA aircraft landed at Prague-Kbely Airport. To complement the existing fleet Home
The plane was originally scheduled to land in the afternoon. However, during the conversion flight, the crew discovered faults that the manufacturer had rectified in his plant. Therefore, the machine landed after a five-hour flight from Seville, Spain, until the evening. The commander of the 242nd Transport and Special Squadron, Lieutenant Colonel Milos Domin, told reporters that there was a shortcoming in the de-icing system. “Of course, we wanted to bring the plane in perfect condition, or the Spanish side came to our aid and tried to repair the plane as soon as possible, and that caused the delay,” he said.
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A conversion course for a new aircraft, a take-over flight and retraining for new task software were held in Seville. “The main change, at first glance, is in the winglets, which are at the end of the wings, which have an increasing range. The plane seems to be more stable, but that can only be my feeling, “Domin described. Winglets are smaller curved surfaces at the end of the wings.
According to Domina, piloting a new aircraft is similar to that of existing machines. “There are small changes in the performance of aircraft, it’s not due to brand new engines, the engines are the same, but it’s the winglets that we are able to climb to a higher position, and therefore have a longer range. This is the biggest change, “said Domin. According to him, the range will be extended by five to ten percent. The change is also represented by the Satcom system, which makes it possible to solve problems arising anywhere in the world based in Prague.
The new aircraft are to be one of the replacement Jak-40 transport machines decommissioned last year. After training flying and ground personnel on new and modernized systems, the aircraft will go through military tests to verify all declared capabilities, performance and parameters, it represents the army. In Seville, where the army took over the new aircraft at the beginning of May, the four CASA aircraft owned by the armies will be gradually modernized. One of them is already there and at the end of the year all six aircraft should be in the same avionic configuration.
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Domin thinks that the new aircraft will be used in the same way as the existing machines, but the transport of VIPs will be added to its tasks, because it is a new machine that will replace the decommissioned Jak-40. All crews, ie the entire squadron, will be retrained for the new aircraft.
According to an earlier statement by the Commander of the Air Force of the Czech Army, Major General Petr Mikulenka, the new aircraft will perform the same tasks as the existing machines. They will take part in arranging foreign missions, transporting people and material, and assisting in humanitarian missions. CASA aircraft have been operating since 2013 in various MFOs in the Sinai Peninsula. They transported hundreds of tons of material, thousands of people in transport missions, paratroopers or in transporting patients under the Medevac program. They are also used to transport organs for transplantation or in the non-traditional transport of Przewalski’s horses to Mongolia, the army said.