The Squadron With a Difference

No 34 Squadron dates back to the dark days of March 1942 when it formed as a transport and liaison unit based at war-torn Darwin. The unit served with distinction throughout the war and operated a number of interesting aircraft such as Ansons, Tiger Moths, Dakotas and Dragons. Following the cessation of hostilities, the squadron was disbanded on two occasions only to become the official VIP unit in 1956 based at Fairbairn, ACT.

During its post-war period, the unit operated a number of aircraft including Vickers Viking, Bristol Freighters and the Percival Prince. As an official VIP transport unit, tasked with providing transport for visiting heads of State and senior politicians, No 34 Squadron has more recently been equipped with the Convair 440 Metropolitan and Viscount aircraft. The reliable Convairs served from 1956 through to 1969 while the two Viscounts served between 1964 and 1969.

As the sixties closed the RAAF realised that it needed new, more modern aircraft able to perform a wider diversity of tasks than previously required and so three new types were introduced into service to make up the VIP fleet which still flies today.

Replacing the turboprop Viscount, which by that stage had lost its Australian civil Certificate of Airworthiness following a number of fatal crashes (refer p128 June 1985 AA), was the BAG 111. Meanwhile, the venerable piston-engined Metropolitans would be replaced with similar-sized aircraft in two Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (now BAe 748s) as part of an order for a dozen such aircraft.

The third type was an all-new executive jet in the French Dassault Mystere, better known nowadays as the forerunner of the elegant Falcon 200.

Great aircraft as they were during the late sixties each type is now rapidly approaching its twentieth birthday with the resultant increase in maintenance manhours required to keep them operational and the inevitable drying up of the availability of some spare parts. Despite their age though, each has flown sparingly compared with their civil airline counterparts.

Flagships of the fleet are two BAC 111 twinjets. These aircraft were delivered to the RAAF in early 1968 and have flown 11,200 and 11,700hrs respectively. Powered by two Rolls Royce Spey Mk511-14 turbojets, the 111s are crewed by a pilot, co-pilot, navigator and various flight stewards as required. The 111 can cruise at altitudes of 40,000ft and has a range of just over 2000nm at max payload. Configured to seat up to 27 passengers the 111s are primarily used on the longer haul Australian and Pacific/Asian routes or for shorter flights where a large passenger complement needs to be catered for.

The 111s were budgeted for 600 flying hours per aircraft during 1985 and their primary drawbacks nowadays are excessive noise and an extremely high fuel burn compared with the present generation of twinjets. One way around this would be to reengine the 111s with Rolls Royce Tay turbofans (refer p5 & p9 June 1985 AA) which would give a range increase of more than 25%, reduce noise to below ICAO Stage Ill levels and vastly improve field performance. However, this would cost a minimum of $5m per aircraft and despite their relatively low hours the overall wisdom of such a major conversion on eighteen-year-old airframes is debatable to say the least.

Second in line at 34 Squadron is the BAe 748. The two 748s entered service in April 1967 and with 600hrs each flown in 1985 both examples have now only recorded 12,600hrs in their log books. The 748s accommodate 18 passengers and are used throughout the region particularly where short and rough field capability is required.

The smallest member of 34 Squadron is the Dassault Mystere, indeed this is the smallest passenger aircraft in the RAAF. The three Mysteres are configured for eight passengers and with their range limited to around 800nm are restricted primarily to the shorter haul eastern seaboard routes as low-volume high-speed shuttle aircraft. The first Mystere arrived at Fairbairn in June 1967 and today the fleet has logged between 8400 and 9200hrs with an average of 450hrs flown by each aircraft per annum. Like the BAC 111, the Mystere’s downfall is its extremely high fuel burn and relatively large noise footprint.

Number 34 is certainly a unique RAAF unit. One of the interesting points is that it is responsible for all its own maintenance whereas most RAAF flying squadrons have this task performed by specific base maintenance squadrons, which in effect ‘own’ the aircraft in question, Additionally, 34 Squadron has three distinctly different types in inventory and must provide full crewing and support facilities for each individual type.

While the RAAF operates the aircraft, it is the Governor-General, Prime Minister or Minister for Defence who are actually responsible for their deployment. Requests for the use of 34 Squadron aircraft are usually processed through the Office of the Minister for Defence which liaises directly via a specially appointed officer within 34 Squadron. The use of VIP aircraft is heavily- vetted by the government and the aircraft are only used if civil transport is either not available in a reasonable time frame or unacceptable for reasons of security or convenience.

So what of the future? With three types rapidly approaching their third decade of service it is safe to assume that a decision will have to be taken in the next few years as to their replacements, Nowadays though with the giant leaps taken in aircraft design and fuel efficiency in the past decade it is perhaps possible to again reduce the unit to two, rather than three, types of aircraft.

What is required specifically is a medium-sized jet with good payload/range capabilities (2500nm+) that can also operate out of short and unpaved strips. Such an aircraft would be the Fokker 100, F28-4000, MD-87, BAe 146-100 or even the Boeing 737- 300, some of these aircraft would use long-range tanks. Three of these aircraft are available today while the others will be fully operational before the end of this decade. All of them are more than twice as fuel efficient as the present BAC 111, significantly quieter and more maintainable requiring less investment in Support and manpower per flight hour.

The 748 and the Mystere could theoretically be replaced by either an executive jet in the Canadair Challenger, Falcon 900 or Gulfstream GIV range or by a high-speed turboprop in the Piper Cheyenne 400LS mould. We mention the latter as the cost savings to be gained through using an advanced technology turboprop (which are now capable of cruising at up to 400mph) are vast in comparison to the larger jets and indeed the present fleet. As their primary role is regional, with short-field capability. then an aircraft like this would be acceptable for the task in being. Other similar aircraft would most certainly be the Beech King Air 300, BAe Jetstream 31 and perhaps the Cessna Citation Sil jet. Any one of these aircraft types operated with a larger jet would provide the same tactical capability as achieved with the present three-aircraft type fleet, but at a fraction of the operational cost.

The fourth type performs occasional VIP duties but officially has nothing to do with 34 Squadron, is of course the Boeing 707s of No 33 Squadron, based at Richmond, NSW. Though the four 707s dedicate a small percentage of their annual flying time to VIP duties, their capability in heavy uplift and long haul flying reduces the task of the ageing BAC 111s, and even, if used more frequently could virtually replace the role now undertaken by the British twinjet. All this is being considered at a requirement level at Russell Hill and hopefully might tie in with the long-mooted light Corporate jet type that the RAAF is seeking for a high-altitude photographic capability in addition to the role of low-level RAN fleet support. Both these tasks are presently being undertaken under contract by Pacific Aviation Learjet aircraft.

Irrespective of which path the government and their Department of Defence choose to travel in the years ahead, No 34 Squadron will remain the unit with a difference!