An extremely rare colour photograph showing the various types in service with the AVRK in 1968. Lined up on the taxiway at Pochentong are a total of seven Douglas C-47s; two Ilyushin Il-14s; four MD.315 Flamants; four T-28D Trojans, ten AD-4N Skyraiders and two MiG-17Fs - an extraordinary mix of Western and Soviet aircraft types

A flight of MiG-17s taxy in at Pochentong after a sortie. By the mid-1960s, the AVRK’s MiG-17s were a mix of Soviet-built MiG-17Fs and Chinese Shenyang J-5s, essentially identical licence-built versions. The MiG-17s, Nato reporting name Fresco, were regularly engaged in patrol missions along the South Vietnamese and Thai borders.

Soviet advisers pose for a photograph beside AVRK MiG-17Fs during an inspection at Pochentong, along with Major So Satto, fourth from left, CO of the Groupement Aerien Tactique, in 1966. Uniquely during the Cold War, neutral Cambodia obtained the support of military advisory missions from France, USA, USSR and China.

AVRK MiG-17Fs being prepared at Pochentong in March 1970 for another ground-attack sortie against North Vietnamese forces, for which each was fitted to carry two Soviet-built FAB-250 250kg (550lb) bombs. Parked in the background are a pair of Gardan GY-80 Horizon trainers, acquired to replace the AVRK’s obsolete Alcyons.

Fouga CM.170 Magister “3” of I’Ecole Royale de I’Air Khmere (ERAK - Royal Cambodian Air Academy) circa 1966. The AVRK operated a total of four Magisters, the type being used initially for training, but later also for ground-attack duties.

Su Sampong seen in the cockpit of a Fouga CM.170 Magister in the late 1960s

An AVRK North American T-28D Trojan departs for a patrol mission over Cambodia in 1969. The AVRK had originally attempted to acquire T-28 Fennecs from France in early 1962; but, after the deal fell through, the air arm’s first 16 T-28Ds were acquired in August that year, courtesy of the USA’s Military Advisory & Aid Group (MAAG).

By mid-1965, following a number of friendly-fire incidents, all AVRK AD-4Ns, including Bu No 125762 seen here, received an oblique identification band - red outlined in blue, Cambodia’s national colours - around the rear fuselage to distinguish them from South Vietnamese and American Skyraiders.

Камбоджа получила несколько бывших французских Skyraider; весьма вероятно, что камбоджийский Skyraider в 1964 году сбил O-1 ВВС США над территорией, контролируемой кхмерами.
The AVRK received ten AD-4N Skyraiders from France, delivered in crates by sea between December 1964 and February 1965. The Cambodians requested a minimum of four additional airframes by the end of 1967 but to no avail. Instead, the French delivered additional spare parts as well as seven new engines the same year. The AD-4Ns operated alongside two former VNAF A-1Hs (AD-6s) that defected to Cambodia.

A poor-quality but rare photograph of Su Sampong (holding propeller tip) in front of one of the AVRK Sky raiders delivered during November 1964 - October 1965, an action vehemently protested by the American government, which reportedly had expressed an interest in acquiring them for use in neighbouring Vietnam.

A French instructor pilot climbs aboard an AVRK Morane-Saulnier MS.733 Alcyon for a training sortie. The Alcyon (Kingfisher) made its maiden flight in 1949, and a batch of 19 was acquired by the AVRK in the 1950s. France despatched around 30 military instructors to Cambodia until March 1970.

Graduates of the AVRK’s 5th Pilot Class stand smartly to attention at their graduation ceremony at Pochentong airfield on April 12, 1964. Su Sampong, who finished in the top ranking of the class, is at the far left of the group. Several of the AVRK’s six Dassault MD.315s are just visible lined up for the occasion in the background.

During his fighter training in France, Su Sampong was able to make a direct comparison between the MiG-17s he flew with the AVRK and France’s Dassault Mystere IVA, seen here, the first transonic aircraft to enter service with I’Armee de I'Air. He found the latter “smooth and precise”, but preferred the rugged agility of the MiG.