How Are Our Choppers Kept Flying ?

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By 1st Lieutenant J.K. Ginting, Engineering officer of 6th squadron, Atang Sendjaja Air Force

It is still fresh in our minds when the Indonesian Air Force (IDAF) officially accepted two NAS-332 Super Puma helicopters produced by PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) on September 2001 and two EC-120 Colibri produced by French Eurocopter afterwards. They reinforce the existence of IDAF helicopters which have formed 3 squadrons : 6th SQN (S-58T-Twin Pac),7th SQN (Bell-47G Soloy) and 8th SQN (SA-330 Puma). The 6th and 8th SQN's are placed on Atang Sendjaja AFB, Bogor while the 7th SQN is on Suryadarma AFB, Subang.

The existence of helicopters in IDAF began from 1951 when Wiweko Soepono became the first "chopper" flyer in Indonesia. From that time, helicopters have never been absent in every part of Indonesian national struggle series. They have been involved in many operations : West Borneo, Papua, Aceh, East Timor, etc. Therefore, the crews may be proud since there is "no spot is out of reach" for helicopter.