The Finnish air force used this year’s Royal International Air Tattoo to show one of its new EADS Casa C-295 tactical transports on the international stage for the first time, with its second production example participating in the static display.
Acquired as a replacement for Finland’s current inventory of two Fokker F27 transports, the C-295 entered service with the nation’s air force at Tikkakoski airbase last March, and Helsinki retains an option to potentially expand its fleet of the type to total seven aircraft.
Current activities for the air force’s transport community include training pilots to operate the new aircraft, while its first production C-295 has been returned to EADS Casa’s Seville production plant in southern Spain to receive unspecified modifications.
Finnish participation in the RIAT show also included the deployment of two Boeing F/A-18C Hornet fighters, one of which opened the event’s almost 9h-long flying display on 14 July.
Source: Flight International