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Chinese facilitate $100M training course for GDF pilots, engineers
Over the next six weeks, five pilots and 23 ground staff from the Guyana
Commodore Gary Best and China’s Ambassador to Guyana His Excellence Yu Wenzhe (sitting fifth from right) flanked by facilitators and participants of the Y-12 Pilots and Engineers training programme.
Defence Force (GDF) Air Corps will undergo training, courtesy of the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), in the operation of Y-12 aircraft.
On Tuesday, Commodore Gary Best officially declared the programme open, following a simple ceremony held at the GDF Air Corps Hangar, CJIA. The programme will be facilitated by a six-member team from the People’s Liberation Army, China, at a cost of $100 million Guyana dollars.
In his remarks to the gathering, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, His Excellency Yu Wenzhe first congratulated the local Army on the launching of the project.
“Over the past years, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) enjoyed very good relations and close cooperation. There have been regular exchanges of high level delegations between PLA and GDF.”
Ambassador Yu said more and more GDF officers are taking advantage of the full scholarships offered by the Ministry of National Defence of China.
“Another batch of three GDF officers is scheduled to leave for China to attend another military training course soon…the GDF is expected to send a senior officer to attend the Defence Seminar for Caribbean Countries, to be held in June in China,” the envoy revealed.
He further pointed out that only two months ago, military band instructors from China completed their mission with the GDF and left Guyana with reluctance.
“We hope the technical cooperation between the two militaries will be further enhanced and expanded. Upon completion of the training project, the GDF’s pilots and engineers will have a better understanding of the technical know-how of Y-12 aircraft, and will be able to fly and maintain the Y-12 aircraft more efficiently. This will greatly help enhance the GDF’s ability in transport and surveillance.”
Also speaking at the opening ceremony was CATIC Project Manager Mr. Li Ning, who took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the Defence Ministry of the People’s Republic of China & Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Guyana.
“With your kind support and assistance, the training could start and go on smoothly…besides, we really appreciate the thoughtful work from Guyana Defence Force…thanks for your prompt preparation for the training and daily-life care to us”.
Giving a background on CATIC, Mr. Li said CATIC is a state-owned company, which exports fighters, trainers, bombers, helicopters, unmanned air vehicles, transport aircraft, civil aircraft, general aviation aircraft, missiles, and associated airborne equipment and ground support equipment as well as various components and spare parts required to support these products all their lives.
He pointed out that currently, more than 1,500 China-made aircraft are flying in 50 countries, and that CATIC provides multi-aspect customer support.
“Moreover, there are five pilots who will soon become qualified Y-12 flying instructors, which means the GDF will be able to instruct more air crew to become co-pilots/captains by yourself.”
Meanwhile, Commodore Gary Best in his remarks, thanked the People’s Republic of China for “pulling of such and beneficial and timely initiative” while calling on the participants to make the best of their opportunity. Best emphasised that the training course is proof that a high premium has been placed on the importance of air transport for the army.
This training programme was birthed in 2007 when an agreement was entered by the two countries. Already the ground staff training has begun and will conclude on March 23. Having completed the training, the ground staff will be eligible to have their Airframe licences endorsed with the Y-12 rating. However the Pilot training will commence on March 17 and will run for six weeks. This aspect of the training will be done in two parts, captaincy and flight instruction for co-pilots. The two levels are meant to prepare the pilots to function as captain and to provide training for other pilots.
The GDF’s Y-12 aircraft was purchased in 2001 and after a period of training was placed into service in March 2002.
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