Friday, June 21, 2013

66 aircraft to do flyby for PAF's 66th anniversary

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 22): 66 aircraft to do flyby for PAF's 66th anniversary

In honor of its 66th founding anniversary, 66 Philippine Air Force (PAF) planes will be conducting a flyby over the skies of Clark Air Base, Pampanga on July 1.

Col. Miguel Ernesto Okol, PAF spokesperson, said the flyby, weather permitting, shall consist of nine T-41D Mescaleros, three S-211 jet aircraft, two OV-10 Broncos, two Aermacchi SF-260TP, three NOMADs, three Fokker F-27, three Lockheed C-130s, six UH-1Hs, one Sikorsky S-76A, one Bell B-205 helicopter, one Huey II, six W-3A Sokols, and four MG-520 attack choppers.

Expected to grace the occasion are President Benigno S. Aquino III, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista.

This year's fly-by is larger by 23 aircraft than the 43 participating planes in last year's 65th anniversary of PAF.

The PAF was founded on July 1, 1947, two years after the end of World War II. It can trace its lineage to the Philippine Army Air Corp which was established in 1941.

Under the leadership of then Capt. Jose Villamor, Filipino fighter pilots flying obsolete Boeing P-26 "Peashooters" managed to down three Japanese aircraft during the first days of World War II before being overwhelmed by the superior invading force.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=537037

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