Each year Slovenian Army celebrates its day (15th May) by opening doors of its barracks and bases. Military part of the Cerklje airfield is no exception. Based in SouthEastern part of Slovenia, this used to be Yugoslav AF base equipped with J-21 Jastreb and J-22 Orao jet attack planes in 1991. After the war, airfield was taken over by Slovenian Army and it became its main aviation base with just a small detachement based at Ljubljana International aerodrome. Today it is home to Aviation School equipped with Zlin 242L and 143 light aircraft and Bell 206 JetRanger helicopters. Advanced turboprop trainers/light attack aircraft Pilatus PC-9M “Swifts” are also based there. Other assests like Cougars, Porters, B412s and Turbolet also visit the base frequently.

As I was working that day, I only managed to take some of the aircraft pictures.

Pilatus PC-6 Turbo-Porter

The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 has been built in both piston engine and turboprop powered versions, and has been built both by Pilatus and by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. It remains in production as of August 2011.

Zlin 242L

In the late 1980s further development work to the Zlin 142 was initiated. The inverted inline engine was replaced with a four-cylinder horizontally opposed Lycoming IO-360 engine. This variant is designated the Z 242, and is immediately distinguishable by its relatively wide cowling which houses the flat-four engine.

Pilatus PC-9M

 The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The PC-9 is a more powerful evolution of the PC-7. It retains the overall layout of its predecessor but has very little structural commonality with it. Amongst other improvements, the PC-9 features a larger cockpit with stepped ejection seats and also has a ventral airbrake. Slovenian PC-9Ms are further modernized (hence the nickname “Swift” – “Hudournik”).