TSAMTO, August 27. The Spanish Air Force Command expects to receive the first new PC-21 training aircraft (national designation E.27) produced by Pilatus in mid-September 2021.
These TCB will replace the outdated C-101 in the fleet of the General Air Academy (AGA) Air Force Training Academy.
As reported by Infodefensa.com with reference to the statement of the representative of the Air Force, the delivery of the PC-21 will entail a radical change in the concept of training. Four of the eight instructor pilots recently completed the first flight course on the PC-21, which took place from May 25 to July 29. During this period, the pilots spent 90 hours in the air and 32 hours trained on simulators. The second course, which will be attended by four more instructor pilots, began on August 23 and will end on October 22, 2021.
As reported by TSAMTO, in November 2019, the Spanish Ministry of Defense chose the PC-21 aircraft as a replacement for 66 outdated C-101 TCB, which were used for about 40 years. It will be used as a vehicle for advanced training of pilots of the Spanish Air Force.
Under the contract signed on January 30, 2020 with a Swiss company worth 204 million euros ($247 million), the Spanish Air Force will receive 24 PC-21 turboprop TCB, as well as spare parts, an integrated training system including simulators developed and manufactured by Pilatus, and related services.
Payments under the contract will be made within three years (71.5 million euros in 2020, 71 million euros in 2021 and 62.5 million euros in 2022). It was assumed that the first 6 aircraft and one simulator would be handed over to the customer in March 2020, and the full delivery would be completed by the end of 2022, but the coronavirus probably made its adjustments.
