Today (Wednesday) I saw a large aircraft, either an airliner or cargo plane, fly out of the Valley, presumably from NAF. It was wearing the colors of Polet Airlines, a Russian carrier. Why was it here? — Up in Sky, Imperial County
It was not a scene reminiscent of the movie “Red Dawn.” Much the opposite, in fact.
Polet Airlines, out of Russia, is the DHL of moving big equipment across the world, and it is the company that transports the British military to Naval Air Facility El Centro, said Kristopher Haugh, deputy public affairs officer at NAF.
He said since 2010 the Brits have had a heavy presence in Imperial County, training almost year-round. Since that time, it hasn’t been uncommon to see six to eight Polet Airlines Antonov 124 cargo airplanes coming and going.
This latest plane brought with it the British Army Air Corps Apache helicopter division. Haugh said on board the Antonov were “men, machines and material.”
The AN-124-100, which is how Polet Airlines describes the plane on its website, is one big flying bird. With a payload of 120 tons, its interior cargo dimensions are 120 feet long, 21 feet wide and 14.5 feet high. Basically, a semi truck could drive into the mouth of the cargo hold, and some photos on the website show that very thing.
“It’s cavernous,” Haugh said.
And yes, the British team dropped off Wednesday is the equivalent of the unit that brought Bonnie Prince Harry, of Capt. Wales, to the Imperial Valley last year.
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