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Message: <blockquote data-quote="imhotep" data-source="post: 25962826" data-attributes="member: 562115">As I posted on another thread this aircraft could be new. A brief search shows that (Daily Mirror - 19 Oct 2018)....<snip>"Six brand new PT-6 aircraft purchased from the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) for primary training of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has joined the SLAF fleet.Air Force Commander Kapila Jayampathy signed the formal final acceptance of the aircraft after they were assembled at the Aircraft Engineering Wing (AEW) at SLAF Base, Katunayake on Wednesday.Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy signed the acceptance of the aircraft at AVIC Hongdu in Nanchang, China on May 15.In 2015, the National Security Council approved the request to purchase the six PT-6 aircraft at a cost of more than USD 5 million.PT-6 has been widely used by China’s Air Force and countries such as the United States, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.PT-6 aircraft is a single-engine, tandem seat propeller trainer capable of performing primary flight training. "<snip>That's what was published in the Daily Mirror. However, please note that, apart from the above the PT-6 is quite old. Here's a brief history on the PT-6.It was first designed & built by Pratt & Whitney of Canada in the 1960's, when the piston engines went almost obsolete.The prototype of the PT6, an engine originally known as the DS-10, ran on a test bench in February 1960. Subsequent improvements were made and the engine was ready by mid - 1961.Around May 1986, Pratt & Whitney Canada Incorporated, and a Chinese state-owned firm, Zhōngháng Jì Jìn Chūkǒu Yǒuxiàn Zérèn Gōngsī, or China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC), signed a 5-year agreement to assemble a version of the PT6 from sub-assemblies made in Québec.  This is where the Chinese version originated.In the 1990's the PT-6 was replaced by the improved PW-200. But having said that, in 2020, nearly 60 years after its first bench test, the PT-6 remained one of the most popular turboprop / turboshaft in its class. In Business Aviation alone, there are over 20,000 units of the current series PT-6A engines have been installed in 54 different makes/models - eg: Beech King Air series the most prolific platform (10,774+ engines and counting), followed by the Cessna Caravan series (2,573+). The out-of-production Piper Cheyenne comes in third with 1,954 engines.  This count does not include the units purchased by several countries for military use.Our "Air Farce" (not a typo) had paid 5 Million for six units... I am not so sure about the purchase price though. When it comes to purchasing stuff we know what usually happens... Remember the infamous Mig deal and others. <img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/oo.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":oo:" title="Oo    :oo:" data-shortname=":oo:" /></blockquote>

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