Ceremonial conclusion of the 3rd military pilot course in Viterbo: At the Aeroporto Militare “Tommaso Fabbri” in central Italy, around 70 kilometers north of Rome, six additional pilots from the Austrian Armed Forces the advanced flight training program for the AW169B of the Italian Italian manufacturer Leonardo successfully completed the advanced flight training program.
The Austrian Armed Forces have ordered a total of 36 helicopters of this type, Only recently, aircraft seven and eight were officially handed over to the red-white-red armed forces.
The ceremonial awarding of the certificates in Viterbo was attended by high-ranking representatives from Italy and Austria, including Lieutenant General Gaetano Zauner, Commander of the Italian Land Operations Forces, the Deputy Director of the Directorate of Air Armament and Airworthiness, the Commander of Army Aviation and Brigadier Wolfgang Luttenberger, Commander of Air Support of the Austrian Armed Forces. Also present were the Deputy Austrian Ambassador to Italy and representatives of the Leonardo Helicopter Division.
The eight-week course at the Centro Addestrativo Aviazione dell’Esercito (CAAE) – the training center for army pilots – included an intensive theoretical and practical training program. The pilots completed exercises on mission planning, advanced flight maneuvers and complex operational scenarios, both in the flight simulator and in the helicopter. Special emphasis was placed on tactical flight operations at low altitude, night missions with night vision goggles (NVG) and take-offs and landings in snow-covered terrain. Day and night flights for material transportation and rescue missions with rescue winches and external load hooks were also trained.
In the final phase of the course, the six pilots mastered a challenging flight mission, which was carried out in cooperation with other aircraft and ground units. Among others, the 7th AVES Regiment “Vega” and the 66th Airmobile Infantry Regiment “Trieste” were involved.
The ceremony not only marked the end of the course, but also the conclusion of the joint training program. In future, training for the AW169B will take place in Austria at the Aviation and Air Defense Troop School at the Leopold Figl Air Base – General Pabisch Air Base in Langenlebarn near Tulln.
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A total of 20 Austrian pilots completed the training program in Viterbo. 15 of them are now qualified flight instructors for the AW169, four were trained as test pilots. In addition, eight aviation technicians have been certified as on-board technicians for the AW169B. This required 800 hours of theoretical training, 120 hours in the simulator and 850 flight hours with Austrian AW169B helicopters.
However, there is not much time to take a deep breath: the Austrian Armed Forces’ annual high mountain landing course has been running since February 10 and will continue until February 21 – an essential advanced training program for military pilots on helicopters. The Aigen airbase in the Enns Valley serves as the starting point, with flights taking place both in the morning and in the afternoon.
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