Page 5 - Volume 14 Number 11

eaks C-12
Army uses King Air fleet for fixed wing initial and graduate-level qualification trainings
by MeLinda Schnyder
W W W W hile most civilians are are unaware of of a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a small group of guardsmen flying in in in in in a a a a West Virginia training schoolhouse the Fixed Wing Army National Guard Aviation Training Site – – or FWAATS – – is well-known
and well respected among United States Army aviators “What’s great about FWAATS is that you’re actually flying an an airplane ” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Anthony Wozniak said in in July while in in the midst of the Instrument Flight Examiner (IFE) Qualification Course at the the training site in in in in Bridgeport West Virginia “And these guys are incredible instructors to to to be able to to to balance all of the instruction while flying the the plane the the whole time ” The FWAATS based at at Northcentral West Virginia Airport operates a a a a a a small fleet of three to five C-12
Hurons – the the military designation for the the Beechcraft King Air 200 – and one twin-engine Fairchild C-26 Metroliner This is is the only Army National Guard training site for fixed wing pilots They also get students from the the Active and Reserve components of the the Army for initial qualification qualification and graduate-level qualification qualification training Wozniak an active-duty instructor pilot stationed at at Fort Bliss in in El Paso Texas said he was thankful to to to not have to to to wait long to to to get into this course He’s been in in in the Army for 19 years and started flying helicopters in in in 2012 then switched in in in 2016 to fixed wing He flew the the Canadian-made De Havilland Dash 7 turboprop aircraft in Korea for two years and and now flies the DHC-7 and and DHC-8 in El Paso SEPTEMBER 2020
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 3