Traffic

A97-205: became N22660 but this later removed on cancellation of sale. The aircraft remains in storage at Laverton. A97-206: became N22669 but this later removed. Aircraft remains in storage at Laverton.

A97-207: became N2267B but this later removed. First of two aircraft to be donated by the Australian Government to the Red Cross for work in Ethiopia. Registered N22FV on 5th January and flown the following day from Laverton to Richmond. The aircraft will later be ferried to the U. K. for further maintenance and painting before entering service in Ethiopia.

A97-208: became N2267N but this later removed. Noted Laverton June 1983 carrying incorrect marks ‘SH3017’. This later changed to HK-3017X for sale to a Colombian operator. A97-208 later replaced in sale by A97-216. In August 1983 aircraft was registered N4445V to Ford & Vlahos, San Francisco and departed for Richmond on the 3oth. Departed Richmond on 3rd November on delivery to the French Government still as N4445V. Noted Le Bourget Airport, Paris 13th December 1983 carrying markings of the Chad Air Force and serial TT-PAA.

A97-209: became N2267P but this later removed. Aircraft is still resident at Richmond where it is used by the RAAF for Loadmaster training. The C-130 is minus its fin, outer engines and wings.

A97-210: became N2267U but this later removed. Aircraft remains in storage at Laverton and is believed to be the number 2 aircraft for Ethiopia.

A97-211: became N2267W but this later removed. Flown from Richmond to Wagga on 21st August 1980 and used there as a training aid by RAAF Apprentices. Later flown to Laverton for storage. In July 1984 was registered N5394L to Ford & Vlahos but the aircraft never painted as such. Remains in storage at Laverton.

A97-212: became N2268A but this later removed. Noted Laverton June 1983 carrying incorrect marks ‘SH3016’ but this later changed to HK-3016X for sale to Aviaco, Eldorado Colombia. Departed Laverton 28th October on its Trans-Pacific ferry. Sale to Colombia was later cancelled by the U. S. Government and the aircraft remained in storage in the United States. Registered N13FV to Ford & Vlahos in February 1985. Present whereabouts unknown.

A97-213: became N2268G but this later removed. Remains in storage at Laverton.

A97-214: became N2268N but this later removed. Remains in storage at Laverton.

A97-215: became N2268V but this later removed. Flown to Richmond late 1983 and registered N4469P to Hayes Aircraft Corp. , Alabama. Noted Birmingham, Alabama December 1983. Later operated by the National Atomic Agency, Alabama and in June 1985 transited to the U. K. en route to Africa. Present whereabouts unknown.

A97-216: became N2268W but this later removed. Noted Laverton June 1983 as HK-3017X on sale to Aviaco, Colombia. Flown to the United States but sale to Colombia was cancelled by the U. S. Government. Registered N15FV to Ford & Vlahos in February 1985. Present whereabouts unknown.

Falcon 20 Jet Fleet Leaps Ahead

Though the first Falcon 20 came on the Australian register as long ago as July 1967 it has never been a type that has seen much sales success in this country. Over the years, excluding the 3 Falcon 20’s operated by the RAAF, there have only been 6 registered in Australia. December and January however saw the arrival of 3 Falcon 20’s for Australian operators.

Hawker Pacific are the Australian agents for the Falcon and have imported a model 20F which they will use as a demonstrator. N876SC c/n 391 arrived at Bankstown just before Christmas. It was delivered in September 1979 as N175F to Steelcase Inc. , Michigan and they re-registered it N376SC. It operated with Steelcase till May 1985 when it was traded in to Cessna Aircraft on a Cessna 650. With the trade-in came a change of registration to N876SC. Hawker Pacific intends at present to keep the Falcon on the American register.

Arriving in Australia in January was the first Falcon 200 to be operated in this country. N21 0FJ c/n 495 will be used by Castlemaine-Tooheys and is to fly under its United States registration. This Falcon was delivered in July 1984 to the Falcon Jet Corporation of Teterboro, New Jersey who then intended to sell it to Boise Cascade of Idaho however I believe that the sale was later cancelled.

Perth charter operator Flightways took delivery of a Falcon 20C in late January. This aircraft, which was previously operated in Canada, will be registered VH-FWO.

Other news from this sector of the industry includes – Cessna Aircraft demonstrated one of the new model Citation 550/S2 in several South Pacific countries in December. N1256Z c/n 0009 started its tour in Port Moresby before visiting New Zealand and Australia. It is believed that this aircraft will be operated by a Philippines based company on termination of the tour.

Recent changes in the prop-jet fleet have included the sale by Air North Queensland of their Commander 6908 VH-PCD to an Essendon-based company. Before delivery in late December VH-PCD was painted in an attractive new scheme by Aviation Refurbishers at Moorabbin. This company also had Civil Flying Services Commander 6908 VH-BLH through their paint shop. Norfolk Air took delivery of King Air 200 VH-KNR in early January. This aircraft which was previously operated by Lloyd Aviation out of Darwin is the 4th of its type in the Norfolk Air fleet. Another King Air 200 to recently change its livery was VH-AIH. It has been flying for some months with Skywest in an all-white colour scheme. In late December at Darwin it had the titling Skywest-Darwin and a large Northern Territory flag painted on it. Finally the Department of Aviation are planning to take delivery of a 6th Commander 695B in early March. This aircraft will be registered VH-LTM c/n 96208. When it enters service the Department will retire their 2 Merlin Ill aircraft VH-CAL and VH-CAM.

Overseas Visitors

Perth always manages to get a good mix of visiting civil and military aircraft from overseas. On November 30th the Commander in Chief U. S. Pacific Fleet flew in from Sydney in US Navy VP-3A 149675. The Orion arrived with engine problems which resulted in an unscheduled engine change. The replacement engine was flown down from the Philippines in C-141B 50245 with the VP-3A finally leaving for Bangkok on December 4th. Another U. S. military visitor at Perth was USAF ‘Weather’ Boeing WC-135B 12674. It arrived from the Philippines on December 12th, and left for Diego Garcia on the following day. On November 26th G-BFEO B707-323C of Tradewinds arrived from Singapore and on December 17th Air Mauritius flew in on their annual passenger charter from Mauritius. The flight was operated by 8707-3448 38-NAF ‘Ville de Curepipe’. To finish the year off on a high note on December 28th Thai International substituted one of their brand new A300B4-602’s HS-TAC for the normal DC10-30.

Another ‘Round the World’ charter flight was noted at Sydney on December 4th. It was operated by Swissair 8747-357 N221GF which arrived from Papeete using call sign ‘Swissair 2022’. The Boeing left Sydney on the 6th for Denpasar. Also noted at Sydney was executive 8727-21 N727RF. This aircraft was built on order for Pan American and was delivered to them in June 1967 as N359PA. While in Australia the B727 also visited Perth and Adelaide.

During December, Adelaide had a visit from Air Canada DC-8- 73F C-FTIR. Overseas reports have suggested that Air Canada are to operate a series of livestock charters from Adelaide with the aircraft coming from Hong Kong and departing for Peking.

Another interesting DC-8 in the country during December was Royal Thai Air Force DC-8-62 60112/HS-TGQ. The aircraft is unusual in that it carries both a military serial and a civil registration. The DC-8 was noted at Melbourne on December 12th and was also seen in Sydney, Canberra and Perth. Also at Melbourne during December was Indonesian Gulfstream 3 PK-PJA. It flew in from Denpasar on the 18th to pick up the Indonesian Foreign Minister.

Welcome Addition to the South Pacific Heron Fleet

One of the classic British post-war airliners was the De Havilland DH114 Heron feederliner. Over the years a number of these aircraft have seen service with operators in this part of the World, however the fleet has slowly dwindled to the point where today, we only have 7 aircraft of this type remaining. In Australia, Airlines of Tasmania operates 5 – VH-CLT, VH-CLV, CH-CLX, VH-CLZ and VH-KAM. Sunflower Airlines in Fiji operate DQ-FDY while in New Zealand ZK-BBM remains as their last airworthy Heron.

It was welcome news when Fiji Airways announced that they had purchased 3 Riley Herons in the United States. The first of these N15FB c/n 14061 made a dramatic arrival at Nausori on 9th December. On letting down after the flight from Pago Pago the crew found they were unable to lower the nose wheel properly. After circling the airport for over an hour the Heron landed safely even though it tipped on its nose at the end of the landing run. N15FB was previously operated by Fischer Brothers Aviation of Galion, Ohio and they used 3 Herons on the Allegheny Commuter network. It would therefore seem safe to presume that Fiji Airways’ second and third Herons will be N14FB c/n 14078 and N25FB c/n 14076. As a matter of interest, Fischer Brothers operated the former Associated Airlines Heron VHASH. As N3FB it ended its life in December 1978 when on landing at Cleveland, Ohio it struck a maintenance truck and severed its port wing.

For what is normally a quiet time ot the year there have been a number of interesting aircraft making the Trans-Pacific crossing. The first Cessna 208 Caravan has been delivered to an operator in our region. Arriving in Auckland on 6th November from Pago Pago were N9426F c/n 00051 and N9461F c/n 00059. Both were on delivery to Outdoor Aviation, Marlborough Sounds and have been registered ZK-SFA and ZK-SFB. Southernair of Invercargill have added another BN-2A Islander to their fleet which they purchased from Air Caledonie. F-OCFQ c/n 104 departed Noumea on 16th November and arrived in Invercargill on the 19th. The BN-2A will be registered ZK-FLU with Southernair. Arriving in Auckland on 22nd November was DHC6-300 N25OCM c/n 250. The Twin Otter was on delivery to Coastair of Greymouth and will be registered ZK-OTR. On 1oth December PA31P-350 N9209Y c/n 8414006 arrived at West Beach after a direct flight to Nadi. The aircraft will be based at Parafield. On December 1st two Piper aircraft made the Trans-Tasman crossing. PA31-350 VH-CFP transmitted through Norfolk Island on its delivery flight to Air Nelson with whom it will be registered ZK-NSN. PA23-250 c/n 7305105 N165SP flew from Sydney to Auckland on delivery to a New Zealand operator as ZK-KWI.

This aircraft originated its ferry flight in South Africa. Coming the other way on 5th December was Aerostar 600 N143SP c/n 60-0506-164. Previously registered ZK-WAS to Thomas Corson Holdings of Gisborne, New Zealand it has been replaced by a Cessna 4218. That aircraft N123SP arrived in New Zealand in early December and has been registered ZK-TCS. Meanwhile, the Aerostar has taken up residence in Civil Flying Services used aircraft lot at Moorabbin.

Another overseas registered aircraft that Civil’s are offering for sale is Cessna 421 N69EX which is yet another South African import. The Cessna arrived in Port Hedland on 31st October after its Indian Ocean ferry. Civil have also recently imported Partenavia P-68C VH-ICM c/n 356 and it is now based at Essendon.

Transcorp Airways Commence Operations

In early December Ansett Transport Industries (Operations) Ltd. , announced that they had purchased 51% of the Perth-based International freight charter operator, Transcorp Airways (HK) Ltd.

Transcorp were initially conceived to promote the freight market between Western Australia and Brunei. Their efforts to commence operations were thwarted when Qantas scheduled a weekly 8747 freighter between Perth and Brunei from mid-September last year. After a few weeks Qantas withdrew from the route thus allowing Transcorp to commence services in late November.

To operate their flights Transcorp purchased an 8707 freighter from German Cargo however to date this aircraft has not been used on their services. Instead, another B707 was leased from West Coast Airways of Ghana. The Boeing 9G-ACY c/n 19212 is a model 707-331C and was built on order for Trans World Airlines. It was delivered to them in June 1967 as N5771T and remained in service till April 1978 when it was sold to Guinness Peat Aviation. Since then it has seen service with a number of

operators in various parts of the World. Transcorp flew their first service into Australia on November 28th when 9G-ACY arrived in Melbourne from Amsterdam via Darwin. After taking crew rest the Boeing flew across to Perth and shortly before midnight departed on the inaugural service to Brunei. Since then Boeing has basically maintained a weekly schedule through Australia and now appears to have settled down on the route Singapore/Sydney/Melbourne/Perth/Brunei/Singapore. Call sign used is ‘Transcorp 100’.

The Boeing that Transcorp purchased from German Cargo is D-ABUA a model 707-330C c/n 18937 that was built on order for Lufthansa and was delivered to them in November 1965. It remained in service with Lufthansa till April 1977 when it was transferred to German Cargo. After purchase by Transcorp DABUA was overhauled and painted in its new owner’s colours by MBB at Hamburg. On October 16th last it was flown from Frankfurt to Hong Kong where HAECO were to do hush kit modifications on the engines. Initially, it was planned that Boeing would operate on the Brunei register however this has evidently changed as on October 17th it was noted at Kai Tak carrying the Hong Kong registration VA-HTC.

What’s in a Name

Once upon a time when you booked a seat on the airline of your choice you expected to see an aircraft in that airlines colours roll up to the boarding gate. I recently had occasion to spend an hour or so in the Ansett terminal at Melbourne Airport and what I saw must make life very confusing for the travelling public, never mind the aviation historian. In this day and age however it seems that anything goes as the following shows.

Ansett Airlines flight 1884 from Devonport landed and the F27 taxied to the terminal. The flight was operated by VH-FNR wearing the colours of Airlines of South Australia. A few minutes later Ansett Airlines flight 886 arrived from Wynyard. Another F27 and yet another colour scheme. This time it was VH-FNU in the colours of Air Queensland. About 30 minutes later Ansett Airlines flight 1027 landed from Sydney. From a distance all looked well with the 8737 as it taxied to the terminal, however as it came closer it was seen to be VH-CZM carrying Polynesian and Air Vanuatu titles. Air NSW flight WX874 then arrived from Hobart and Devonport operated by F28-1000 VH-FKA and it was pleasing to see that the aircraft had Air NSW titles. All was not lost however as outbound the F28 boarded as Ansett Airlines flight 891 to Devonport. Finally I awaited the arrival of Air NSW flight WX865 from Sydney and Albury. Another F27 and another colour scheme with the operating aircraft being VH-MMS in the colours of Ansett Airlines.

Airliner Movements

Qantas took delivery of their 4th B767-238ER at Sydney on December 14th. VH-EAM ‘City of Lake Macquarie’ using call sign Qantas 7674 was flown from Seattle to Sydney by way of Honolulu.

Air Nauru have sold one of their B737 fleet to CP Ail\B737-2L9 C2-RN9 ‘Chief Gadabu’ was registered to CP Air in la,e October as C-FACP.

Air Pacific have leased a BAe 748 from Mount Cook Airline for a period of nine weeks over the Christmas and New Year traffic period. ZK-MCP departed Christchurch on December 4th en route to Auckland and Suva.

In Traffic January 86 we mentioned that Ansett Airlines had leased B727-277 VH-RMY to Air Jamaica for twelve months, but at the time we were unsure whether it would fly under Jamaican or United States registration. On October 18th the Boeing was noted at Miami Airport carrying Jamaican registration 6YJML. TAA have confirmed an order for 3 BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft to replace their F27’s on operations in Western Queensland. The Jetstream which are due to be delivered in August and September will be registered VH-TQJ – TQK – TQL with construction numbers 703-5 and 7.

Kendell Airlines will take delivery of their second SAAB SF340 in late April. To be registered VH-KDI it will be number 52 off the production line.

After a long period of inactivity, it would appear that Australian Aircraft Sales have sold their F27-100 VH-NLS. It has been fairly static since arriving at Tullamarine in November 1983 as ZKNAH. The aircraft is significant as it was the first production F27 and was delivered to Air Lingus as El-AKA in November 1958. After being traded back to Fokker in June 1966 it was sold the following month to NZ NAG as ZK-NAH. The buyer of the F27 is believed to be Sydney Express. This company received Government approval in 1985 to import an F27 aircraft which would be used on Round Australia Tours for such organisations as the Women’s Weekly and Bill Peach. On January 1st VH-NLS was flown from Tullamarine to Essendon for some pre-service maintenance.

Nsca Fleet Changes

After publishing a fleet list for the National Safety Council of Australia in Traffic November 85, a visit to their base at Latrobe Valley in January found numerous changes taking place.

Two Bell 205A’s have been purchased from Esso/BHP and both have entered service with the NSCA. These aircraft are VHUHN/04 and VH-UHP/05 and both are used as fire bombers. It is believed that a further 5 Bell 205A’s will be purchased from a South East Asian operator. Noted at Latrobe Valley was PK-HCE a Bell 205A c/n 30032 of Bristow Masayu and this helicopter will be registered VH-NSQ with the NSCA. Like the 2 Bells purchased from Esso/BHP it will also be used as a fire bomber.

To cover operations for the 1985/86 fire season a Bell 205A has been leased from the Canadian operator, Frontier Helicopters. Noted at West Sale this helicopter is registered VHHHM c/n 30289 ex C-GFHM.

A new type in the NSCA fleet is the MBB Bolkow 105S. Flying under its West German registration D-HDSU the Bolkow has been in the country for several months under evaluation by the NSCA operating from their base at Albion Park. When noted at Latrobe Valley in mid-January it was carrying the Australian registration VH-NSL.

Bell 212 VH-NSB which was based in Townsville has been sold to a New Guinea operator. Its place on Search & Rescue missions will be taken by Bell 212 VH-NSA.

In the fixed-wing field, N-22SB VH-SNX has been withdrawn from service. It was noted at Latrobe Valley with its NSCA titling removed. Beech King Air 200 VH-THS has recently been painted in NSCA’s yellow/black colours while two of the other King Air 200s were wearing large fuselage numbers – VH-NSE/22 and VH-NSF/23.

NSCA are in the process of moving their base from Latrobe Valley to West Sale as this airfield offers better facilities for their move into jet equipment.

Ntms Dove Disposal

The arrival at Casey Airfield, Berwick of the former NTMS DH104 Dove VH-DHE and the recent segment of ‘In Australian Service’ on this type has led to some research to find out what happened to the 6 NTMS Doves after they were withdrawn from service in the mid-1970’s. Though there is only 1 airworthy Dove on the Australian register, VH-ABM, our records show that at least another 14 can be found around the country. The Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service used the Dove for some twenty years and when they were replaced in service by the N-24 the 6 remaining aircraft were offered for tender. What follows is a potted history of where these aircraft have been over the past 1 O years –

VH-DHA was delivered to Bassair at Moorabbin in early 1978 and while with them was painted in a new red/white/blue colour scheme. After terminating service with Bassair it sat at Essendon for a couple of years before being flown to Kyneton, Victoria in December 1982. The Dove, which was purchased by a TAA Captain has had a lot of work done on it over the last 3 years and it is now hoped that VH-DHA will fly again in April. While under overhaul the Dove has been painted in the original 1946 Dove colour scheme.

VH-DHD was the first Dove to be disposed of by the NTMS. It was flown to Bankstown and soon appeared in the colours of MacArthur Airways who used it on their commuter run between Canberra and Camden. With the termination of services by MacArthur VH-DHD continued to fly on charter work. At present, it sits at Wedderburn Airfield near Campbelltown.

VH-DHE was removed from the register in November 1976 and disappeared. In November 1985 it arrived at Casey Airfield, Berwick by road and was offered for sale at an Auction held there on 18th January. Apparently, VH-DHE has been resident all these years at the Sydney Institute of Technology where it is used by the engineering apprentices.

VH-DHH remained at Alice Springs till October 1980 when it was flown to Parafield. The Dove was then acquired by the Central Australian Aviation Museum and on 11th December 1982 made what will probably be its last flight, when it departed Parafield for the gliding strip at Bond Springs. There the Dove was moved by road to the CAA museum on the old Connellan Airways airstrip in the centre of Alice Springs.

VH-DHK was flown to Parafield on delivery to the CSIRO Soils Division. With its new owners, it did very little flying and up to May 1984 saw only 8 hours in the air. In late April 1985 VH-DHK was dismantled before departing Parafield by road. Its destination was given as Canberra where it will be held in storage for display in the proposed Museum of Australia. VH-DHN was flown to Bankstown after withdrawal from service in July 1975. The Dove apparently never flew again and it is slowly deteriorating in the Bankstown ‘graveyard’.