The Colombian Air Force is scheduled to receive its first two T-6C Texan II training aircraft this week, just over six months after the announcement of the eight-unit purchase deal.
The training turboprop, registration FAC2350 and FAC2351, left the city of Vera Cruz, Mexico on Thursday, after leaving the Beechcraft facility in Wichita on May 4, as revealed by the website Zona Militar.
The next stopovers of the aircraft will be the Tapachula International Airport, on the border between Mexico and Guatemala, and afterwards they took off towards Liberia (Costa Rica) ending the trip in Panama City.
On Friday, the T-6Cs must depart for the last part of the flight when arriving in Colombia.
Fuerza Aerea Colombiana acquired 8 T-6C Texan II aircraft in October 2020 and will replace the Cessna T-37B “Tweet” used in the training of pilots in the South American country. The agreement, which would have had support from the US government, includes the option to purchase eight more aircraft.
Side by side with its rival Super Tucano
The choice of Beechcraft’s aircraft expands the presence of the T-6 Texan II in Latin America, where it already operates in Mexico and Argentina. And it is also a victory against Embraer, manufacturer of the main rival of the turboprop, the A-29 Super Tucano.
The Brazilian aircraft is used by the Colombian Air Force, both in the previous version EMB-312, for training, and in the EMB-314, for advanced training and light attack.
Colombia operates 24 A-29 Super Tucanos and 14 ATM-27 Tucanos, which will coexist with the new T-6Cs.
