MFI-17 Mushshak ZS-OKR
Saxat från PIA & Pakistan Aviation Forums
Pakistan-built Mushshak Aircraft in South Africa
Mumtaz Muzaffar
Multi-purpose trainer aircraft Mushshak (meaning proficient) was originally designed and manufactured by Swedish aerospace company, SAAB. In its early days, it was known as Safari and in this semblance, it is still used in Africa. During mid-1970s, the licence to produce Mushshak was sold by Swedish company to Pakistan’s Aircraft Manufacturing Factory (AMF).
AMF took the original design, modified and developed it to suit its needs in accordance with the US Federal Aviation Regulations, and then had it approved by both the Swedish and Pakistan civil aviation authorities. The construction of Mushshak was concentrated to meet the needs of both the army and the air force with both having received upwards of 250 aircrafts a piece to date. In recent years, though the AMF started looking round for potential civilian markets and it displayed the aircraft for the first time in South Africa at the Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition in 2002. In that exhibition a former South African General Deon Steyn, first saw Pakistani Mushshak and realized that it had a potential as trainer in the country. It took him and a colleague, Asin Dockrat, four years to get all the procedural wrangles untangled. Subsequently Pretoria-based Falco Aviation and Leasing CC were set up with Naweed Akbar and Imran Khan as the business partners. The company completed all the arrangements and paperwork and then had the first prototype shipped to Wonderboom Airport. There it was unveiled to the aviation press in June 2006, going on record that this particular aircraft, now registered as ZS-OKR, is the first “civilianized” aircraft to have come off the AMF production lines. Simultaneously with the unveiling, the Mushshak joined the training fleet of Blue Chip Aviation where it will be deployed, initially at any rate as an ab initio and advanced trainer.
South African Blue Chip Aviation was very impressed by the proficiency of Mushshak. Now this company is considering to open an aerobatics course in its flight school. As mentioned earlier, the pedigree of Mushshak dates back to its SAAB MFI 15-200A, the civilian version and MFI 17-200A, the military version commonly know as the Safari. The aircraft has a reputation for its immensely strong strut-braced wing, a necessary feature in order to carry the six hard points. Hard points under each wing can carry a wide variety of ordnance as well as other supplies.
Pakistani Mushshak which joined the Blue Chip Aviation fleet is equipped with a fairly comprehensive set of instrumentation, avionics and night flying gear, and is also fully rated for Instrument flight training. Chief flight instructor of Blue Chip Aviation, Brian Wilford and test pilot of Pakistan-built Mushshak Tom Chalmers both appreciated the ingenuity of Pakistani minds that made this multi-purpose aircraft one of the safest aircrafts of the world. Test pilot Tom Chalmers narrated his experience during test flight of Pakistan-built Mushshak that take off was very smooth at 60 knots, the aircraft left the ground without fuss and quickly settled into a 75 – knot cruise climb. According to Chalmers the Mushshak has exceptionally good handling manners in all other fields, input of rudder for takeoff and climb is excellent, the aircraft trims out for a sedate hands-and-feet-off flight, set it into a turn and it will stay there without resistence and landing of aircraft was also smooth.
When test pilot Tom Chalmers was leaving the cockpit after landing of the Mushshak he appreciated the aircraft in these words “It is one of the most forgiving, user-friendly types I have yet had the pleasure of flying. It will certainly not frighten any student. It may not be prettiest of aircraft around and certainly looks like no other trainer currently in operation in South Africa, but is strong, well-mannered in all phases of flight, and above all, has a safety record which must rank as among the best – if not the best – in the world”.
Source: The Daily Mail
Denna artikel publicerades 2006. MFI-17 ZS-OKR används numera i aerobatic-skolning hos Cape Town Flight Training Center. Tillverkningsnumret är 06-5431 där 06 står för året 2006. På "svenskt MFI-manér" hade c/n annars angivits som 15431.
Mumtaz Muzaffar
Multi-purpose trainer aircraft Mushshak (meaning proficient) was originally designed and manufactured by Swedish aerospace company, SAAB. In its early days, it was known as Safari and in this semblance, it is still used in Africa. During mid-1970s, the licence to produce Mushshak was sold by Swedish company to Pakistan’s Aircraft Manufacturing Factory (AMF).
AMF took the original design, modified and developed it to suit its needs in accordance with the US Federal Aviation Regulations, and then had it approved by both the Swedish and Pakistan civil aviation authorities. The construction of Mushshak was concentrated to meet the needs of both the army and the air force with both having received upwards of 250 aircrafts a piece to date. In recent years, though the AMF started looking round for potential civilian markets and it displayed the aircraft for the first time in South Africa at the Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition in 2002. In that exhibition a former South African General Deon Steyn, first saw Pakistani Mushshak and realized that it had a potential as trainer in the country. It took him and a colleague, Asin Dockrat, four years to get all the procedural wrangles untangled. Subsequently Pretoria-based Falco Aviation and Leasing CC were set up with Naweed Akbar and Imran Khan as the business partners. The company completed all the arrangements and paperwork and then had the first prototype shipped to Wonderboom Airport. There it was unveiled to the aviation press in June 2006, going on record that this particular aircraft, now registered as ZS-OKR, is the first “civilianized” aircraft to have come off the AMF production lines. Simultaneously with the unveiling, the Mushshak joined the training fleet of Blue Chip Aviation where it will be deployed, initially at any rate as an ab initio and advanced trainer.
South African Blue Chip Aviation was very impressed by the proficiency of Mushshak. Now this company is considering to open an aerobatics course in its flight school. As mentioned earlier, the pedigree of Mushshak dates back to its SAAB MFI 15-200A, the civilian version and MFI 17-200A, the military version commonly know as the Safari. The aircraft has a reputation for its immensely strong strut-braced wing, a necessary feature in order to carry the six hard points. Hard points under each wing can carry a wide variety of ordnance as well as other supplies.
Pakistani Mushshak which joined the Blue Chip Aviation fleet is equipped with a fairly comprehensive set of instrumentation, avionics and night flying gear, and is also fully rated for Instrument flight training. Chief flight instructor of Blue Chip Aviation, Brian Wilford and test pilot of Pakistan-built Mushshak Tom Chalmers both appreciated the ingenuity of Pakistani minds that made this multi-purpose aircraft one of the safest aircrafts of the world. Test pilot Tom Chalmers narrated his experience during test flight of Pakistan-built Mushshak that take off was very smooth at 60 knots, the aircraft left the ground without fuss and quickly settled into a 75 – knot cruise climb. According to Chalmers the Mushshak has exceptionally good handling manners in all other fields, input of rudder for takeoff and climb is excellent, the aircraft trims out for a sedate hands-and-feet-off flight, set it into a turn and it will stay there without resistence and landing of aircraft was also smooth.
When test pilot Tom Chalmers was leaving the cockpit after landing of the Mushshak he appreciated the aircraft in these words “It is one of the most forgiving, user-friendly types I have yet had the pleasure of flying. It will certainly not frighten any student. It may not be prettiest of aircraft around and certainly looks like no other trainer currently in operation in South Africa, but is strong, well-mannered in all phases of flight, and above all, has a safety record which must rank as among the best – if not the best – in the world”.
Source: The Daily Mail
Denna artikel publicerades 2006. MFI-17 ZS-OKR används numera i aerobatic-skolning hos Cape Town Flight Training Center. Tillverkningsnumret är 06-5431 där 06 står för året 2006. På "svenskt MFI-manér" hade c/n annars angivits som 15431.
