Traffic

King Air 200C N723RK c/n BL. 50 arrived in Sydney on May 19th and it has since been delivered to the NSCA as VH-NSF.

To replace Queen Air aircraft in their fleet the NSW Health Administration ordered 2 King Air B200C’s. Both aircraft arrived in Sydney on June 25th after their Trans-Pacific terry flight. Registered N72381 c/n BL. 125 and N72385 c/n BL. 126 they are both brand-new aircraft off the King Air production line. In a ceremony held at Sydney Airport on July 16th they were handed over to the NSW Health Administration (refer p32 Sept AA). They were then flown to Bankstown for fitting out and were expected to enter service in October. Both aircraft will take up registrations in the VH-AM. block.

Hawker Pacific have also sold a second-hand King Air 200 to the NSCA. VH-THS was the first of its type on the Australian register when it was imported by Theiss Brothers, the Queensland construction company. VH-THS was handed over to the NSCA early in September and will be used by them as a communications aircraft.

B737-300 for Australia

July 1986 will see the arrival in Australia of the first of 24 B737- 300’s that are presently on order for Ansett and TAA.

The Ansett aircraft will take up the registrations VH-CZA thru VH-CZL which were last used by their DC-9-30 fleet. As the B737-300s are delivered the Dash 200’s will be withdrawn from service. Latest reports indicate that they are to be sold to the United States operator America West Airlines.

TAA will register their B737-300s in two blocks of six – VH-TAF thru VH-TAK and VH-TAU thru VH-TAZ. For the older members of TAA and tor ‘propliner’ buffs these registrations will evoke pleasant memories as they have not been used since the days of the DC-3 and DC-4.

The last three registrations are perhaps the most interesting. VH-TAX for some reason was never used by TAA even though they filled up the remainder of the VH-TA- block. VH-TAY was initially a DC-3 which was owned by TAA for a very short period of time before it was returned to the RAAF. In 1952 VH-TAY and VH-TAZ were used for a couple of very unique aircraft in the TAA fleet – the Lockheed Lodestar.

Previously operated by the RAAF and the Department of Civil Aviation they were part of the TAA fleet for just over 12 months before being sold in the United States. In fact VH-TAY is still going strong in the United States. With TAA the Lodestars were named ‘Lindsay’ and ‘Stockdale’ and it would be nice to see these names revived again on the B737-300

Qantas and the Boeing 707

Between June 1959 and March 1979 QANTAS operated a fleet of 36 Boeing 707’s of various models. On retirement from the Qantas fleet new owners were found for all these aircraft. Since then they have continued to generate an endless stream of information for the Aviation Historian as they move from one operator to the next. In future issues of Traffic, I hope to keep readers up to date with their various movements.

Earlier this year in a well-publicised sale Shanghai Airlines purchased 5 B707-300s from International Air Leases of Miami. Included in the deal was the former VH-EBU which was delivered to Qantas in March 1967 as ‘City of Broken Hill’. Since its sale by Qantas Boeing has seen service in New Guinea, United States and Peru.

Also on the move are the former VH-EAA ‘City of Toowoomba’ and VH-EAB ‘City of Canberra’. Earlier this year these two aircraft were retired from service by Air Niugini and sold to a dealer in Brussels. In late June both aircraft were sold to a new Icelandic airline – Air Arctic. VH-EAA is now registered TF-AEB and VHEAB is TF-AEC.

First Iai Arava’s in the South Pacific Region

In March this year the Papua New Guinea Defence Force took delivery of 3 Israeli Aircraft Industries Arava aircraft. This was the f!rst delivery of this type to the South Pacific Region and the first time the PNGDF have purchased aircraft from an overseas country. Previously their aircraft had been supplied by the Australian Government.

Nsca Fleet Changes

It was recently announced that the National Safety Council of Australia – NSCA, were to evaluate a Dornier 228-200 on behalf of the Australian distributors for the type, Aviation Marketing Service of Moorabbin. For those in the industry, this came as no surprise as since its inception the NSCA has bee rather keen on the 228 and have had a constant turn-over of aircraft in their fleet. In recent months besides taking delivery of the Dornier they have added 2 Bell 412’s and 3 King Air 200’s and disposed of a Bell 212, Baron 58 and 3 Nomads. It therefore seemed as good a time as any to have a look at their current fleet and where they are based. Australian Aviation will be featuring an in-depth story on the NSCA in our January issue.

VH-NSA Bell 212 – based at Latrobe Valley where it is used on Search & Rescue missions. VH-NSB Bell 212 – based at Townsville on Search & Rescue. VH-NSC 00228-200 – Arrived Latrobe Valley on September 13th after its ferry flight from West Germany. VH-NSD King Air 200C – based in Wollongong. VH-NSE King Air 200C – based Latrobe Valley. This aircraft has just returned to Australia after operating on charter to Connair during the Northern summer. Connair who are based at Abbotsford in British Columbia are the largest aerial firefighting company in Canada. VH-NSE is fitted with special Remote Sensing Equipment for combatting bushfires. VH-NSF King Air 200C – based Latrobe Valley. A recent addition to the NSCA fleet the King Air was imported from the United States. VH-NSG King Air 200C – based Townsville. Another addition to the NSCA fleet this year. VH-NSG was previously registered in Australia as VH-KZL. VHNSH Bell 205A – based Latrobe Valley. Carries markings of the DCFL – Department of Conservation, Forest & Lands. VH-NSI Bell 205A – based Latrobe Valley. Carries markings of the Country Fire Authority. VH-NSJ Bell 205A – based Latrobe Valley.

The 3 Bell 205A’s were imported from the UK in October 1984 where they were previously operated by Bristows. They are all fitted with Connair-designed 1400-litre belly tanks and were used extensively last summer in fighting bush fires in Victoria and Southern NSW.

VH-NSO Bell 412 – based Wollongong on Search & Rescue.

VH-NSP Bell 412 – based in Latrobe Valley where it operates on behalf of the Victorian Ambulance Service. The two Bell 412’s were added to the fleet this year – VH-NSO in March and VH-NSP in January.

VH-SNX N-22SB – based at Latrobe Valley. VH-SNZ N-22SB – based at Latrobe Valley. VH-THS King Air 200 – based at Latrobe Valley as a Communications Aircraft. Delivered to NSCA in September.

Finally Bell 212 VH-NSC was withdrawn from service in April and sold to a Canadian Operator.

Commanders on the Move

Though production of the Gulfstream Commander terminated earlier this year there is evidently still a continuing market for this popular type on the Australian market. Since our first Aero Commander was imported in May 1959 we have seen a steady stream of various models arrive in Australia so that to date we have had nearly 100 registered in this country.

Present Australian distributors are Civil Flying Services at Moorabbin and they have recently announced the sale of a 6th Commander 1000• to the Department of Aviation. This aircraft, which will be registered VH-LTM, will join the Flying Unit next February and will replace the 2 Merlin 111’s VH-CAL and VHCAM.

Civil have also recently placed 2 Commander 1000’s with operators in Western Australia and North Queensland. Wigmore Air Services, Perth have operated Commander 690 VH-BLH for a number of years. In March they traded it in on Commander 695A VH-GAB, which had previously been used as a demonstration model by Civil Flying Services.

With its twin engines and high wing design the Commander is used in Australia by a number of operators who are involved with the fishing industry. Raptis are based at Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria and they have used Commander’s for a number of years for this type of work. In August they traded their model 690 Vh-SFV for a Commander 695A VH-NCM. This aircraft was imported in 1984 for use by Austcott, Canberra and was now surplus to their requirements. Civil Flying Services in turn found a market for VH-SFV in New Zealand and on August 18th rt was flown to Wellington on delivery to Capital Helicopters.

Other Commanders to recently change hands have been – 690 VH-BSS to Gold Crown Aviation at Moorooduc, Victoria. 680FLP VH-DCE after a very attractive repaint to George Harris, Australia at Essendon.

Previously operated by SAFCOL out of Port Lincoln Commander 500S VH-SDI and VH-SDO have been sitting idle at Moorabbin awaiting sale. Ian Baillie Aircraft Sales have recently moved VH-SDO to an Essendon-based operator while its sister ship VH-SDI has been regaled in a new paint scheme but still awaits sale in their Moorabbin yard.

Import/Export Connection and the South African

Australia’s traditional market for second-hand aircraft is the United States however with the recent dollar imbalance our importers have been seeking new markets. This market has apparently now moved to South Africa as in the last few months we have seen a number of aircraft from that country appear at our airports. For political reasons these aircraft are generally registered in the United States before being ferried to Australia. Recent imports have included – BN-2B N129SP c/n 857 ex ZS-KMG: PA31-350 N305SP c/n 7305088 EX ZS-PJS now registered VHLCG. All with Civil Flying Services, Moorabbin.

PA32R-300 N630A c/n 7680030 ex ZS-JTT to VH-JVA:

PA32R-301 N740A c/n 8113047 ex ZS-KWU to VH-LTC: C210N N670A c/n 64679 ex ZS-LOU to VH-LTB. All with Pacific Aviation, Bankstown.

Civil Flying Services also prepared the last Merlin 11B on the Australian register for its ferry flight to the United States. This was VH-CAK which became N309SP before leaving Moorabbin in mid-September. Like the previous 2 Merlin 11B’s exported by Civil – VH-CAH/N135SP and VH-CAI/N136SP its final destination was to Opex Aviation at Santa Paula, California.

In return Opex Aviation provided an interesting PA31 for the Australian register. Flown into Moorabbin in late July was PA31- 350 N49EX. A closer inspection revealed that it was actually an Embraer 820C which is a PA31 assembled in Brazil from. components built in the United States. This particular aircraft was built in 1977 as PT-EHi c/n 820. 045 and has since been registered in Australia as VH-HVA.

Another interesting PA-31 to appear at Moorabbin was OYCEM. This aircraft was built as a PA31-310 c/n 7912084 and was exported to the West African State of Mauritania as 5T-TJZ. Earlier this year it appeared on the Danish register for a short period before being exported to Australia, where it has now become VH-OYM