The Lebanese Air Force successfully completed their first training class at MD Helicopters, Inc. (MDHI) Flight Training Academy. This was the first of three classes that included pilots, maintainers, and armament personnel, which took place in Mesa, Arizona, and an off-site location for gunnery training.

Utilizing the Lebanese Air Force’s MD 530Fs for the training allowed the customer to become comfortable in their own aircraft and ensure the aircraft will maintain a high rate of readiness during all phases of training and after delivery. Pilot training consisted of aircraft qualification, including touchdown emergency procedure training, basic combat skills, and tactics conducted during daylight and night time utilizing night vision goggles (NVG). Tactical training included single ship and team tactics and culminated with day/NVG aerial gunnery utilizing the customer’s pilots, maintainers, and armament personnel, training as they would in combat. Additional training was conducted for the instructor and maintenance test pilots, and supplemental quality control classes allowed the customer to become more familiar with both flying and maintaining the aircraft.

Although travel restrictions have increased due to COVID-19, MDHI remains open for training our customers both in the hangar and the classroom. MDHI adheres to strict social distancing practices and has deployed strong cleaning procedures to ensure training areas and aircraft are sterilized for the safety of our customers.

MDHI Flight Training Academy is proud to provide a complete training solution for customers and operators worldwide. We customize all training to the customer’s required end state and perform training at MDHI’s facilities in AZ or in-country at the customer’s training location.