PICTURE: Morocco's first T-6C trainers head for home

© Andy Cline

BY ADMIN -Morocco's first four Beechcraft T-6C trainers departed the manufacturer's Wichita site in Kansas on 14 January for their delivery to the African nation.
Each flown by two Hawker Beechcraft pilots, the aircraft were transferred carrying their Royal Moroccan Air Force markings. The nation - the first to have acquired the T-6C - will eventually receive 24 of the type under a September 2009 contract worth more than $185 million.
Morocco's new aircraft will enter service at its air force's training school at Menara-Marrakesh air base. The turboprops will be used to prepare pilots to fly the service's new fleet of 24 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds, deliveries of which have yet to start.

Featuring a CMC Electronics-supplied glass cockpit, hands on throttle and stick controls and a head-up display, the T-6C can be equipped with external fuel tanks or weapons using its underwing hard points.