Bahraini Military pilots graduate from EHC

After two months of intensive training, three Naval aviators from the Bahrain Navy graduated from the European Helicopter Center AS’ integrated multi engine military IFR training course.

The course is developed by Capt. C.B. Christoffersen - a former Danish Airforce fighter pilot and instructor. He has flown more than 30.000 hours on everything from military fighters, Boeing 767, Airbus 330 and helicopters. He is a trained simulator instructor on the S-61 Seaking and the AS350.

The course consists of two weeks of intensive IFR theoretical knowledge classroom tuition, followed by 40 hours simulator training for each pilot. The simulator training is flown on the S-61 Seaking or the AS350 Ecureuil simulator, followed by real helicopter instruction on the MBB BO-105 or the AS355.

Bahrain, officially Kingdom of Bahrain, is a small island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain.

Bahrain is known for its oil and pearls. The Bahrain International Circuit is very famous, and is the place where the popular Bahrain F1 Grand Prix takes place.

The Royal Bahrain Navy is a branch of the military of Bahrain which is called the Bahrain Defense Force. The navy consists of 11 combat vessels, 22 patrol craft and over 700 personnel. The Fleet is based at Mina Sulman Naval Base and has a armed (missile and canons) flight wing which normally operates off the corvettes, with two MBB BO-105 helicopters.

All three officers passed the graduation with "flying colors" - and as stated by Capt. Christoffersen (quote)  "These are probably the best students I have ever trained".