Iraqi AF Makes Warbirds Out of GA Planes

When most people think of warbirds, planes such as the P-51, B-17, F-86 and F-4 come to mind. The newly reformed Iraqi Air Force doesn't have access to anything on that scale yet. Instead, they've started using aircraft such as the Cessna C-172S and C-208 as well as the Zenair CH2000 Alarus we recently mentioned in an article of our own.

Cessna's aircraft are no strangers to military work. As Defense Industry Daily relates, Cessnas did plenty of flying in Vietnam. The Cessna T-37 Tweet spent decades as the USAF's primary pilot trainer. As far as I can tell, the Alarus looks like it would make a great trainer and could even be an efficient observation aircraft. Hopefully it will serve well too. If you get one, consider having it painted desert brown and you'll at least have a reason to ask to park it with the warbirds at Oshkosh this year.