Afterburner.nl - Egyptian surprise!

C-130 brings Gomhouria Mk.8 Updated: 27 June 2005
Today the first aircraft arrived for the Gilze-Rijen open days on 17 and 18 June 2005. Although many participating aircraft were already announced to the public, the organisation still seemed to have a surprise. Suddenly there was a rumour about a Egyptian C-130 going to Gilze. Someone from the organisation told us there would be an aircraft inside the Hercules which was meaned to participate in the static display. Which ever aircraft this could be, remained a guess. Of course our fantasy took us to higher levels and unrealistic as it is, we already saw a MiG-21 coming out of it...

However, around 15.40 hours local time a desert coloured C-130 appeared on the horizon. The Egyptian Air Force aircraft arrived on runway 28 and taxied to the cross-servicing line. As soon as it came to hold, the ramp went down. We tried to get a glimp inside and we discovered a small yellow coloured trainer like aircraft. We were unable to identify it straight away. A phone call to a friend who was able to search on the internet learned more. The aircraft seemed to be a Gomhouria Mk.6 trainer.

Its wings and stabilos we seperated from the fuselage. Rapidly everything came out of the Herc. The technicians immediately started connecting the loose stuff to the aircraft. Within approximately one hour they fixed the plane to a complete version. The aircraft looks very operational, carries roundel and an Arabic style serial. One of our colleagues identified the serial as 285. Honnestly we don't have a clue wether this is correct or not. But we really appreciate the presence of this aircraft. A big compliment goes out to the organisation who apperently managed to get this machine from a country which almost never shows of anything of its inventory! Update: The aircraft type was withdrawn from service in 2004. According to the crew this was one of the last three still in service.