Croatia has ordered ten Bell 206B-3 JetRangers, worth $15 million with training and support, for initial-entry helicopter pilot training in its air force. The deal is the first major aircraft purchase by Croatia since the signing of the US-brokered Dayton peace agreement on Bosnia.
Pilot and maintenance training will begin in January at Bell's Fort Worth, Texas, training centre. Deliveries will also begin in January, to the Croat air force helicopter training squadron based in Zadir. The unit is to be operational by the end of May 1997.
The single-turbine 206B is already being widely used as a training helicopter and is in service with the US military as both the TH-57 and TH-6.
Source: Flight International
