The biennial Air & Tech show in Cambodia is held at the military side of Phnom Penh International airport, Pochentong Air Base. Aviagraphers visited the fourth edition, held from 13 to 15 December 2024. Pre-registration can be done through their facebook site and then you can go and enjoy the airshow and indeed enjoy the rest of the country. The atmosphere is very friendly, although some parts of the the flight-line were not accessible because of safety precautions.
The main reason to go there was to see the MiG-21s that used to form the backbone of the Royal Cambodian Air Force. Alas, no MiG-21 was on the static.
The Static display
Nonetheless, the static display had a good variety of civilian and military aircraft. The first aircraft encountered was this slick looking Mi-8AMT MH-806. This is the most modern helicopter of the infamous Mi-8 family. Two of these were obtained by the Royal Cambodian Air Force in July 2021. They used a substantial number of Mi-8/17s and around ten should still be in use.
Next up was one of the Harbin 425s, also known as Z-9. This Chinese license-built version of the Aerospatiale SA.365 Dauphin was the most numerous helicopter present at Phnom Penh. They received a dozen in November 2013. Eight of those were the standard H425 like this MH-905...
...while four Z-9WE armed multi-role versions were also delivered. This MH-909 is one of those as can be seen by the weapons pylons mounted on its sides.
Yet another product sourced in China is this MA-60. Two of which equip the based Transport squadron. These An-24 derivatives were delivered in May 2012.
Exotic visitor was this 'warbird' from Thailand. The Cessna 180 is a short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft that was widely used in South East Asia, both in civil as military guise as U-17. Not to mention its use for more illicit tasks...
Bell Helicopters presented two of its newest and most popular range of helicopters. The larger Bell 429 GlobalRanger is a multi-mission helicopter that can seat up to seven passengers, or less when in corporate configuration or as dedicated search- and rescue or security forces platform. The Bell 505 is the successor to the hugely popular Bell 206 and is widely used as training helicopter. It also found its way to various law enforcement agencies.
On the static most of the time, but also flying at least once every day, was this H125 (AS350B3e) XU-288 operated by HeliStar. They have a hangar at the northeast end of the ramp where they keep their fleet and perform maintenance on various other helicopters too.
In one of the hangars were technical demonstrations were given, these two Pandas could be found. These Y-12-II found their way to Cambodia in early 2000 as XU-701 and XU-702 and were re-registered XU-016 and XU-017. Later, by 2009, they received military serials RCAF-601 and RCAF-602.
As the name of the airshow suggests, its prime goal is to fuel interest and animate young Cambodians to take up a career in aviation. Therefore one of the hangars was filled with numerous booths were the latest technologies were demonstrated, flight and aviation technical schools provided information about appropriate education and gadgets could be bought.
The Flight-line and adjacent areas
So far so good, but hey, there was a lot more to be seen, albeit cordoned off. One of the eye-catchers was this MiG-21bis on jacks. It may be prepared for a monument or was just being worked on. If you look carefully, you can see the P92 Echo 3 MO-401 parked behind it.
This motly line-up includes various mouth-watering aircraft. On the active side of the ramp were two Mi-8 (Mi-8PS MH-824 and Mi-8T MH-822) and, the second MA-60 MT-302. Behind that was a line-up of aircraft parked on the edge of the ramp. Two Mi-26 helicopters (MH-268 and MH-269, with their XU prefixes applied over the MH-prefix), a BN-2 (ML-501) and, just visible, the start of a line-up of L-39s.
Here are four of the five in the line up. They wore a variety of markings. The covers over the noses obscured blue codes. Some had MT-serials on the tail and one wore the letters ML there. Also, the former Soviet star was shining through the paint, as was a Ukrainian shield on one of them. In total, six were procured by Israel Aircraft Industries in Ukraine as part of the refurbishment programme of the Cambodian MiG-21 fleet. They were delivered in the late nineties and one crashed on 12 December 1997. The other five have been withdrawn from use and were offered for sale in 2019. As you can see, there were no takers.
Behind the storage line-up, parked close together, were a bunch of MiG-21, also off limits and obviously withdrawn from use long ago. They await their final fate.
More helicopters were visible, two Z-9 were on the active ramp for example.
Let us have a closer look at Mi-8T MH-822, it has a stunning camouflage colour scheme.
Two more Z-9s, MH-903 and MH-906 and this diminutive Sling 2 MLT-01, along with another kit-plane, Magnus Fusion MLT-02, were tucked away out of view for most visitors alas.
And with this shot of the shiny VIP-terminal that is adjacent to the HeliStar facilities, we end or report of the 2024 Air & Tech show. Highly recommended!