Morocco ready to welcome first T-6C trainers

Morocco is preparing to welcome the first of its 24 T-6C training aircraft to its Marrakesh training base.



The first aircraft is one of a batch of four that left the Hawker Beechcraft factory in Witchita USA last week for Morocco.

The Royal Moroccan Air Force has ordered 24 of the aircraft - the first international customer for the type - in a contract valued at $185 million.

The T-6C - based on the successful T-6 Texan trainer - can carry external fuel tanks and weapons for mixed use but will primarily be used by RMAF to train pilots who will be stepping up to the Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds.

Morocco has 24 F-16s on order.


Photo Story: Royal Moroccan Air Force T-6C trainers

By Andrew Cline

Morocco's first T-6C trainers head for home

Morocco's first four Beechcraft T-6C trainers departed the manufacturer's Wichita site in Kansas on 14 January for their delivery to the African nation.

Each flown by two Hawker Beechcraft pilots, the aircraft were transferred carrying their Royal Moroccan Air Force markings. The nation - the first to have acquired the T-6C - will eventually receive 24 of the type under a September 2009 contract worth more than $185 million.

Morocco's new aircraft will enter service at its air force's training school at Menara-Marrakesh air base. The turboprops will be used to prepare pilots to fly the service's new fleet of 24 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds, deliveries of which have yet to start.

Featuring a CMC Electronics-supplied glass cockpit, hands on throttle and stick controls and a head-up display, the T-6C can be equipped with external fuel tanks or weapons using its underwing hard points.

SOURCE: Posted on 24 January 2011 in Defence - Arabian Aerospace News - Flight International News

(10.02.2011)