Eleven months after acquiring their first two Robinsons, the Lebanese Army increased their training fleet by taking delivery of two more R44 Raven II helicopters. General Nouhad Zebian, Lebanese Air Force Commander, was joined by Colonels Youssef Al Sebaali, Mohamad El-Hage, and Habib Abou Rjeili to visit Robinson Helicopter Company and take acceptance flights in their new helicopters.

In January 2005, General Zebian and other executive officials of the Lebanese Army took delivery of their first two Robinson helicopters. The Raven II helicopters have since been incorporated into the pilot training program at Rayak Air Force Base in Bekka Valley. During the second year of their program, students fly the R44 Raven II to complete their first 100 hours of flight training.

“We are very happy with the performance of our helicopters and know that the Raven II was the best choice for our pilot training program,” said General Zebian.

Training in the Robinson helicopters now takes the place of large military helicopter instruction which had proved to be very costly with regard to fuel, maintenance and manpower. “The use of Robinson helicopters has been very cost effective and allowed the students to become experienced pilots before moving on to flying larger military aircraft,” said General Zebian, “We hope to expand our Robinson fleet with even more helicopters in the future.”

FMI: www.robinsonheli.com