359 MAEDY

351 Air Applications Squadron (351 AAS)

The primary mission of the 351 AAS is to provide experienced pilots to fly the unit's planes.

Although the squadron includes the flying personnel of 359 MAEDY it doesn’t include the airplanes which belong to the unit’s Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMS).

The major activities of the 351 squadron operations and the training and support of the flying personnel. The operations are carried out through special detachments which are formed for this purpose throughout the country.

The 351 AAS operates annually from November to May as a training squadron, while from June to October the whole squadron redeploys at forward locations all over the mainland and the islands.

Large flight experience characterizes the squadron’s personnel. Those pilots are trained in two airplane types of 359 MAEDY and of course in air fire fighting. They are all trained on the PZL M.18 and on either the G.164A or the Bell 47G helicopter.

The squadron’s personnel is distributed in three flights: PZL, Grumman and Helicopters, for the better planning and control of the training program.

Training

The training program provided in 351 AAS has two terms: a short-term ground instructional course and air training.

The flight training starts with the adaption and familiarization to the new airplane type. The next step is the operational training. During this phase the pilot learns the specifics of aerial fire-fighting, starting at first dropping a small  water load and gradually learning to operate with the maximum water load, while his experience grows.

The flight activity of new pilots to the PZL aircraft type, starts with training in the two-seater PZL and advances to the single-seater PZL. The training comes up to a total of 40 flight hours.