Back in 1950 – the date of May 25 (the day of the tragic death of the leader of the April Uprising) was declared the patronal holiday of the Bulgarian Air Force Academy “Georgi Benkovski” (BAFA). The school itself was established five years earlier.
Proud heirs of Benkovski and of all those who have linked their fate with our Academy are today’s eagles in the Aviation Training Group “Georgi Benkovski”, recalls Pan.bg.
The holiday was marked with a solemn ritual performed by the cadets of BAFA, who paid tribute and laid wreaths and flowers at the monument of Georgi Benkovski at his burial place in Kostina near the village of Ribaritsa.
“On the 24th in the evening a ritual is performed – an evening solemn ceremony and a firework display in the memory of those who gave their lives for the freedom of the fatherland, and on the 25th in the Kostina area near the village of Ribaritsa, where our patron Georgi Benkovski died, there will be a reenactment of the events from 146 years ago,” said Valya Minkova from the university.
2022 is a historic year for Georgi Benkovski Air Force Academy. On the eve of the school’s celebration, first-year cadets made their first flights with the new ZLIN aircraft. Thus began the flying experience of the cadets of the “Pilot” specialization of the class of 2024.
For the first time in the school’s history, flight training is conducted under a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved flight training program for pilots to obtain a PPL(A) license.
“This day will be remembered in the history of the Air School with some of the newest aircraft that arrived in Bulgaria. This aircraft is equipped with the best communication system,” Brigadier General Julian Radoisky, the head of the Air Force School, told BNR.
According to him, the military school’s ambitions are to purchase other light propeller aircraft to be able to train civilian pilots.
“In the new school year we will accept 29 pilots. The 2 planes they have provided us are extremely few. We are making representations to the Ministry of Defence to provide at least two more aircraft.”
