i spent 6 yrs living in both Al Ain and Thumrait and saw some weird and wonderfuls operating out of the desert, we had an Antonov 12 that used to move oil drilling kit into the empty quarter, Cooper Air Services from Wickenby used to have an Aerocommander bombing around the place, the old Al Ain airfield is still in use by the Royal Family and a certain branch of the armed Forces trained at Al Ain Army base, when you fly up from Salalah to Muscat, the number of fields visible is mind boggling