The Princess of Asturias flew solo this Thursday, December 18, as part of her military training at the General Air and Space Academy of San Javier (Murcia), where she is already completing her fourth month of theoretical and practical training as a second lieutenant of the Air and Space Army. As reported this Friday by the Palacio de la Zarzuela, during this quarter they have carried out “intensive training to acquire aeronautical knowledge and the model of aircraft in which they are trained and fly, the Pilatus PC-21 (E.27), in addition to attending to other aspects that improve their knowledge of the organization and structure of the Air and Space Army.”
As indicated by the King’s House, in order to fly solo, the princess “has completed the theoretical training and the simulator and real flight sessions in Pilatus established to achieve the necessary skills that have allowed her to carry out ‘the release’ safely.”
She entered the General Air and Space Academy on September 1, as a Student Ensign, beginning her training in the Air and Space Army in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 173/2023, which regulates her military training in the three Armies. On her first day, the Princess visited the Air Force building where the second lieutenants carry out their flight training. There he was able to take the controls in the flight simulator and board the PC-21 Pilatus training aircraft, in whose static display he was able to access the cockpit and receive technical explanations from an instructor commander.
Among the instruction and training activities carried out by the princess in the last four months, she has practiced survival at sea – time to equip herself with the suit anti-g— and has participated in the traditional flag swearing ceremony at the General Academy of Air and Space on the festival of the patron saint of aviators, the Virgin of Loreto, celebrated this same month of December.
As a general rule, Air and Space Army students usually make their first flight together with an instructor a month or a month and a half after arriving at the academy, with no fixed deadlines for this to occur and only once the instructor considers that they are sufficiently prepared does the first solo flight take place. Before doing so, it is necessary to receive theoretical training regarding the device, which has replaced the C-101—popularly known as Culopollo—and then put it into practice in the simulators. First in the CBT (Computer Based Training), which is simpler and has three screens that provide images of what the exterior would be like, as well as a replica of the controls. They then move on to the FTD (Full-flight Training Device), an advanced simulator that replicates the Pilatus cockpit and provides a 180-degree view that allows you to have a practically real experience of what it means to pilot one of these devices. In addition, they train with all the equipment that they will carry on board and which weighs about 7 kilos.
