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The Navy's flying boat has reappeared after 10 years on the ground, solving a spare parts problem by keeping a second aircraft grounded.

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After being grounded for about a decade, the Thai navy's only operational flying boat has returned to action. THANARAK KHOONTON

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Navy's flying boat back in action

The Royal Thai Navy began a two-month naval exercise yesterday, involving more than 3,000 navy servicemen, and 15 warships led by HMTS Ang Thong.

One of the highlights of day one was a flight by the Thai navy's only operational flying boat.

This is not exactly a success story, however, as it was the first time its Canadair CL-215 twin-engined aircraft has been able to fly in 10 years.

The navy obtained two of the planes in 1978, but grounded both more than 10 years ago because of a lack of spare parts.

The navy lacks the budget to buy the new version of the aircraft, the CL-415 (later renamed the Bombardier 415 Superscooper), which has a price tag of 10 billion baht.

Instead, the navy decided to keep one of its CL-215s flying and use the other for spare parts, navy chief ACM Surasak Rounroengrom said while observing the drill at the naval base in Chon Buri's Sattahip district.

The CL-215 is taking part in the two-month exercise as a search and rescue plane, he said.

Adapted from a story in today's Bangkok Post by Wassana Nanuam

ground – to prevent an aircraft from taking off ไม่อนุญาตให้เครื่องบินบินขึ้น
decade – a period of ten years  ทศวรรษ
operational – able to work normally ที่สามารถใช้งานได้
exercise – a set of activities for training or testing การฝึกฝน
highlight – the most exciting, impressive, or interesting part of an event เหตุการณ์สำคัญ, จุดสำคัญ
twin – forming a pair (two) of two similar things เป็นคู่กัน
obtain – to get something that you want or need, especially by going through a process that is difficult ได้มา, ได้รับ
lack – to not have something needed  ขาด
spare parts – pieces  that can be used to replace another similar pieces in a car, plane, or other device ของอะไหล่, สิ่งที่เก็บไว้สำรอง
budget – an amount of money able to be spent on something งบประมาณ
version – a particular form of something which varies slightly from other forms of the same thing – ชุด, เวอร์ชั่น
price tag – price; cost (usually indicated by the small piece of paper attached to a product)  ราคา, ค่าใช้จ่าย, จำนวนเงินที่ต้องใช้
observe – to watch or study someone or something with care สังเกตการณ์
drill – an activity which practises a particular skill or procedure การฝึกหัด
base – a place where an army, a navy, etc. operates from ฐานทัพ, ฐานที่มั่น
search – looking somewhere or through something carefully in order to find something การค้นหา
rescue – saving a person or animal from a dangerous or unpleasant situation การช่วยชีวิต

Related search: Royal Thai Navy, flying boat, spare parts