Traffic

King Air 200 ZK-PBG c/n BB-866 arrived in Australia in September as a trade in to Hawker Pacific. Operated by the Goodman Group it has been replaced in service by King Air 300 N69264. Hawker Pacific have now sold ZK-PBG to the NSW Division of the RFDS. Registered VH-MSZ the King Air was scheduled for delivery to their Broken Hill base in mid November and on entry into service will replace one of the N-22B’s.

This brings to seven the number of King Air’s used for Aeromedical work in Australia. RFDS Queensland Division have King Air 200C VH-FDB based in Cairns, King Air C90 VH-FDP in Charleville and King Air C90 VH-FDZ in Mount Isa. NSW Division have King Air 200 VH-MSZ in Broken Hill while Victorian Division have King Air C90 VH-FDT based at Derby in Western Australia. Finally, the NSW Health Commission have King Air B200Cs VH-AMM and VH-AMR based in Sydney.

In Tasmania the State Air Ambulance contract has been awarded to Airlines of Tasmania. Previously held by SP Aviation the two year contract changed hands in early October. Airlines of Tasmania have added PA31P VH-BSF and PA31-350 VH-NPC to their fleet to be used as air ambulance aircraft. SP Aviation have sold their three aircraft, PA31-350’s VH-BKE and VH-FDF and PA31-T2 VH-TNZ. In early November all were noted at Moorabbin with lan Baillie Aircraft Sales.

Other propjet news is as follows. Noted at Brisbane Airport on November 10th was MU-2K RP-C575. Whether this aircraft was on delivery to an Australian operator or just visiting remains to be seen. The former New Zealand MU-2B ZK-WAL which arrived in Australia on July 11thwas noted at Cairns on November 2nd now registered VH-JWO. The MU-2 is now operated by Heli-Muster, Victoria River Downs Station in the Northern Territory.

King Air 200 C-FCOS c/n BB-690 which arrived in Christchurch on August 31st has been registered ZK-WNL or CF Herbert of Dunedin. The registration reflects the major shareholder in the group Wilson Neill Ltd.

Meanwhile. Beech 1900C N72391 which has been brought to Australia on a demonstration tour by Hawker Pacific flew into Bankstown on November 7th.

Little to report on the local bizjet scene this period except to amend some information we published in the November Traffic. We were correct in saying that Ariadne (Australia) would take delivery of Falcon 200 VH-PDJ. However, the previous identity we quoted for the Falcon was incorrect. VH-PDJ is c/n 491 ex N120FJ. It was first noted in our area as N120FJ at Brisbane on October 8th and as VH-PDJ on November 6th when it flew Sydney/Brisbane/Wellington.

Pacific Islands Airliner Movements

It is not only the Australian domestic operators that are busy with their fleet changes as several new aircraft have recently been delivered to other airlines in our region.

Air New Zealand took delivery of their third 767-219ER when ZK-NBC ‘Atarau’ flew into Auckland on September 11th. ZK-NBC was the 149th 767 off the production line and was rolled out on July 22nd. As N6099F it made its first flight on August 8th before handover to Air New Zealand on September 8th. Noted at Brisbane on November 10th was Air New Zealand 737-219 ZK-NAP. No doubt Air New Zealand would like to think of it as an omen for the future however the reason for its visit was that it was operating Air Pacific flight FJ713 from Nadi.

As reported in the Ansett fleet changes the 737-277 VH-CZM that was used by Polynesian Airlines has been sold in the United States. Polynesian in turn have had their former 737-2U9 5W-PAL returned to service. It flew into Melbourne from Nadi on October 5th for some pre-service maintenance by Ansett. An interesting report in an overseas magazine states that this aircraft was seen at Everett, Washington in early September. It was carrying Polynesian titles, had an Ansett Southern Cross tail and was registered ZK-POL! Air Pacific took delivery of their first ATR42-300 on November 6th when DQ-FEJ c/n 016 arrived in Nadi. DQ-FEJ and their second ATR42 DQ-FEK c/n 025 which was scheduled for delivery in mid-December have been leased from Air Queens- land for two years.

On September 11th Fiji Air lost one of their Riley Herons when DQ-FEC crashed on takeoff from Vanuabalavu. One passenger was killed in the crash which broke the fuselage of the Heron into two parts. DQ-FEC c/n 14078 was one of three Riley Heron’s delivered to Fiji Air from the United States in December 1985. The first DHC 8-100 in our region was delivered to the Goroka-based Talair in early November. Due to delays with Talair’s own aircraft De Havilland Canada arranged for a DHC 8-100 to be leased in the interim. Tyrolean Airways OE-LLR c/n 010 will be operated by Talair as P2-RDY with entry into service planned for November 24th. Talair’s own DHC 8-100 P2-GVA is scheduled to arrive in Port Moresby in early December on completion of its Trans-Pacific ferry flight.

Air Niugini have taken delivery of an F28-1000 on a twelve-month dry lease. The F28 registered P2-ANL transitted Darwin on November 8th en route from Denpasar to Port Moresby. P2-ANL has been leased from the French operator TAT.

Australian Airlines Fleet Changes

In this period Australian Airlines took delivery of three Jetstream 31s, retired and disposed of three DC9-31s and added two more 737-376s to their fleet.

The first of three Jetstream 31s, ordered to replace the F27s in western Queensland and on the Townsville to Mount Isa route, flew into Brisbane on September 19th. VH-TQJ departed Prestwick Airport, Scotland on September 9th and was ferried to Australia via the Middle East and Indian ferry route. On October 3rd VH-TQK and VH-TQL arrived in Brisbane. They left Prestwick on September 22nd with their first stop being Stuttgart in West Germany. Earlier that month VH-TQK was displayed in the static park at the Farnborough Air Show. Australian Airline’s first Jetstream 31 service was flown on October 1st by VH-TQJ which operated TN244 from Brisbane while the third operates out of Townsville. With the entry into service of the Jetstream, Australian Airlines have transferred two of their remaining three F27s to Air Queensland. Both VH-TQS and VH-TQT carry the new Air Queensland colours though they differ in that VH-TQS has Air Queensland titles above the forward cargo door while VH-TQT has its titles painted under the cabin windows.

Australia also retired three DC-9-31s from service and sold them to overseas operators. Since entering service in 1967 the DC-9-31 has given sterling service to TAA/Australian. No other type has remained in front-line service with an Australian domestic operator as long as the DC-9. First to depart was VH- TJL which was withdrawn from service on September 29th. It was sold through Australian Aircraft Sales to Airborne Express of Wilmington, Ohio. Before departing on October 7th VH-TJL had its TAA titling removed and the AAS logo painted on the forward fuselage. Final destination for VH-TJL was Maran Air Park, Arizona. When it eventually enters service with Airborne Express VH-TJL will join former TAA DC-9s VH-TJK, VH-TJM and VH- TJN which have been flying with this freight company since 1982/ 83.

Second DC-9 to depart was VH-TJO which has been parked at Tullamarine since June 25th when it operated its last flight for TAA. VH-TJO also had its TAA titles removed before flying out of Melbourne on October 21st on delivery to the Los Angeles-based leasing company ILFC. Final destination in the United States was Phoenix, Arizona where the DC-9 will be overhauled before commencing operations with the Las Vegas-based Sunworld International Airways.

Final DC-9 to depart was VH-TJP which operated its last service for Australian Airlines on October 29th. Like VH-TJL this DC-9 was sold through Australian Aircraft Sales to Airborne Express. Departure from Melbourne was November 4th with final destination in the United States being Phoenix, Arizona.

Two more 737-376 aircraft were delivered to Australian Airlines in this period. VH-TAF ‘Courageous’ flew into Melbourne on October 7th on the delivery route Seattle/Hilo/Pago/ Noumea. VH-TAK ‘Daring’ arrived on November 7th.

Australian Airlines also announced that they have sold their A300B4-203 VH-TAB to the Japanese operator TOA Domestic Airlines. Delivery of the A300 is not planned until March 1987.

Ansett Airlines Fleet Movements

Another extremely busy period for Ansett Airlines as they continue to roll over their Boeing 737 fleet and finally dispose of their Sikorsky S-61Ns. Deliveries of the 737-377s continue at a startling pace with the following arriving in Melbourne in this period: VH-CZB on September 19th, VH-CZC on September 28th, VH-CZD on October 12th, VH-CZE on October 18th and VH-CZF on October 26th.

As the 737-377s are being delivered the 737-277s are being taken out of service and delivered to America West Airlines. First of the Dash 200s to depart was VH-CZX which flew out of Melbourne for Nadi on September 19th. VH-CZM which carries Polynesian titles left on October 3rd, VH-CZP on October 17th VH-CZO on November 15th and VH-CZQ on November 20th.

Flying into Melbourne from Nadi on October 17th was 727-277 6Y-JML. This is the former VH-RMY which had just completed a months lease to Air Jamaica in Kingston. 6Y- JML using callsign JMF101 arrived in an all white colour scheme and since then has remained static outside the Ansett maintenance hangar.

The two ex Ansett S-61Ns that have been part of the Tullamarine scene for some months have finally found a new home. Earlier this year VH-BRH and VH-BRI were sold to the El Paso, Texas-based company Grecoair. They were allocated US registrations N17AZ and N16AZ respectively though Ansett for reasons known only to themselves painted them as N-AZ17 and N-AZ16. Both helicopters remained static at Tullamarine even though there were rumours of an imminent departure to service an oil industry-related contract in India. The S-61Ns have now been sold to the Perth based Barrack House Group and will evidently be used during the forthcoming America’s Cup. N16AZ previously VH-BRI was registered VH-BHO before departing on November 1st carrying Barrack titles. The second S-61N N17AZ which was previously VH-BRH has been registered VH-BHJ and it was due to be delivered in late November.

Air New South Wales F27-500 VH-FCE departed Melbourne November 19th on delivery to Air UK in Norwich, England. Ansett Worldwide Leasing have meanwhile purchased four Boeing 737-100s from American West Airlines and these aircraft will be used in the forthcoming battle with Air New Zealand. The four aircraft concerned are N701AW c/n 19013, N702AW c/n 19015, N703AW c/n 19016 and N708AW c/n 19771. The first three of these Boeings are very early production aircraft being number 2, 4 and 5 off the line and all were built on order for Lufthansa. C/n 19016 as D-ABED had the honour of operating the first commercial flight by a Boeing 737 on February 10th 1968.

Helicopter Movements

The main centre of interest in this issue is the National Safety Council of Australia base at West Sale, Victoria where seven Bell 205A fire bombers have recently arrived from Canada. Four of these are owned by the NSCA while the other three have been leased from Frontier Helicopters of British Columbia.

On October 7th C-GFHT and C-GFHU were noted as being restored to the NSCA fleet as VH-NSQ and VH-UHP respectively. By November 2nd they had been joined by C-GFHW and C-FNSJ which will once again become VH-NSI and VH-NSJ. Also noted were three Frontier Bell 205As C-GFHA c/n 30086, C-GFHC c/n 30038 and C-GFHD c/n 30017, which will be registered in Australia for the summer fire season. It is interesting to note that these Bell’s were purchased earlier this year by Frontier from Bristow, Indonesia and are sister ships of NSCA Bell’s VH-NSQ and VH-NST. Noted at Bankstown in mid October was Bell 205A ZK-HUE c/n 30091 of Heavy Lift Helicopters, New Zealand. On September 26th ZK-HUE was flown from its base at Fielding to Mount Maunganui for shipment to Australia.

In the November issue of Traffic, we mentioned that the Victorian Government had purchased two SA-365C1’s in Romania for use by the Victorian Police. Our original information stated that the second SA-365C1 would be registered VH-PVM however when first noted at Essendon in late September it was found to be VH-PVA.

Noted at Station Pier, Melbourne on October 11th were USN SH-3G 149679 which belonged to the Commander US Seventh Fleet and was on board the USS Blue Ridge while on the USS Paul F Foster was SH-2F Seasprite 152204.

Boeing 757 Visits Australia

The first recorded visit by a Boeing 757 to Australia was made on October 26th when Royal Brunei Airlines 757-2M8 V8-RBA flew into Brisbane. Using call sign Brunei 939 the Boeing took 6 hours 40 minutes for its direct flight from Bandar Seri Begawan. The reason for the visit was to bring in troops for a military exercise in Queensland. The Boeing was fitted out in a very attractive 16-20-108 configuration.

Round the World charters seem to be in vogue these days with three overseas airlines bringing groups to Australia in this period. Lan Chile 707-321B CC-CEK was noted at Melbourne on November 2nd, while at Sydney on November 8th Swissair DC- 10-30 HB-IHF departed for Denpasar. On November 9th Air Canada 747-133 C-FTOD flew into Cairns from Christchurch. After a two-day layover it departed for Hong Kong and Nairobi. The 747 is normally configured to carry 462 passengers so there was plenty of room on board for the 170 Round the World tourists that it carried.

An interesting visitor to Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney in early November was an Israeli 707. The aircraft carried both civil registration 4X-BYQ and military serial 242 while carrying the colours of the Israeli national airline ElIAI. The Boeing was visiting Australia as part of a tour by the President of Israel.

The Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide also brought a couple of interesting overseas airliners to our shores. Flying in on October 19th from Mexico City were Cargolux 747-271Č N741TV and Arrow Air DC-8-63CF N941JW. Two other interesting cargo flights were Korean Air Cargo 707-321C HL-7431 which flew Port Moresby to Sydney on October 30th and Japan Air Lines DC-8-62AF JA8036 which flew into Cairns on November 9th from Narita. RAF VC10 XR808 call sign Ascot 2492 flew Darwin to Auck- land on October 12th and again on the 24th this time as Ascot 2552. On November 3rd as Ascot 2553 it once again transited Darwin but this time en route to Christchurch.

Ferry Flights

Flying Honiara to Brisbane on October 11th were PA31-350 N127SP and PA-60 N90677 c/n 60-0324-120. Both were on delivery to Pacific Aviation. PA31 ZS-FAN arrived at Bankstown on September 19th from Darwin and another PA31 noted at Bankstown in late September was P2-NGM of New Guinea Motors. Another import from South Africa was Baron 58 ZS-JJW c/n TH-631 which flew from Broken Hill to Bankstown on September 19th. Cessna 210L N2446S c/n 61287 flew into Cairns from Majuro on September 14th while Cessna 310 N87404 flew Pago to Brisbane on October 1st.

In Traffic, November ’86 we mentioned the arrival of BN-2A A2-VIS c/n 660 in the country. This aircraft was noted at Archerfield in late October now registered VH-OCH.

Bangkok Airways EMB-110 HS-SKG was noted at Sydney Airport on October 22nd. Previously registered VH-MWV the Bandeirante has been leased to Bangkok Airways by Aeromil.

Former RAAF C-47A A65-102 which has been a static resident at Essendon since arriving on August 22nd 1981 has departed the area. It was noticed in late October doing engine runs and taxying. It has since departed and is now sitting at Bacchus Marsh airport with a blown engine.

Bizjet Visitors

Though the Gulfstream is still the most common type used by overseas VIP’s visiting Australia we are now starting to see more airline types being used for this work.

TDK Leasing of New Jersey, USA flew their newly acquired 727-100 N300DK to Australia in October. On the 17th it flew into Melbourne from Perth and left on the 19th for Nadi. N300DK is a 727-21 which was originally built on order for Pan American and was delivered to them in March 1966 as N320PA. Another 727-100 visiting was the ex-CP Air 727-17 CF-CPN. Now registered N529AC it is operated by the Amway Corp who flew it into Cairns from Majuro on October 31st. Another executive airliner visiting Cairns was DC-9-15 VR-CKO which made a refuelling stop on November 10th while en route Tonga to Darwin. VR-CKO is registered in the Cayman Islands to a company called Handlingair however it is in fact owned by the international financier Adnan Khashoggi.

Gulfstream 3 N59HA of Hughes Aircraft and N90LC of the Lockheed Aircraft Corp both departed Sydney for Pago on October 3rd. Gulfstream 3 N425SP of the Security Pacific Bank departed Sydney on October 4th for Auckland. N888CF a Gulfstream 2 of C&F Aviation, Salt Lake City was noted at Coolangatta on November 4th, while N767FL Gulfstream 2 of FL Industries flew into Brisbane from Kiribati on October 10th. A Canadair CL-601 Challenger N601CL flew into Melbourne from Nadi on October 4th while another of the same type N62MS flew from Nadi to Sydney on October 26th. Falcon 50 HB-IEC of Aero Leasing flew Perth to Nadi on October 20th.

French Navy Falcon Guardians based in Noumea and Tahiti are also becoming fairly common visitors to Australian airports. Number 72 c/s FA073 was noted at Sydney on October 6th while Number 77 c/s FA074 departed Sydney on October 22nd for Noumea.