RNAF Retires Alouette IIIs

RNAF Retires Alouette IIIs

After a service life spanning 51 years and more than 450,000 flight hours, the Royal Netherlands Air Force will retire its last four Aérospatiale SA316 Alouette III helicopters from use on Jan. 1.

An official transfer from the air force’s 300 Sqn to the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) took place at Gilze Rijen air base on Tuesday.

The DMO will be responsible for the sale of the surplus rotorcraft, all of which are close to their 10,000-hour service mark and would require a scheduled overhaul to remain in use. The cost of conducting this work was no longer deemed economical by the nation’s defence ministry.

For the complete story by Anno Gravemaker of Flightglobal, click here.

Photo by Anno Gravemaker

 

Updated: December 18, 2015 — 12:22 PM
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