Traffic

Details of these aircraft are as follows – Boeing 707-368C c/n 21103, built on order for Saudi Arabian Airlines and delivered to them in November 1975 as HZ-ACG. In early 1987 the Boeing was traded in to Boeing and in July 1987 it was registered N1987B to Boeing Military. This aircraft and its sister ship were evidently stored with Aeritalia in Naples. On March 11th N1987B arrived at Richmond after completion of its Transpacific ferry. When the Boeing enters service with the RAAF it will carry serial number A20-106.

The second aircraft is also a Boeing 707-368C c/n 21261 which was built on order for Saudi Arabian Airlines and delivered to them in November 1977 as HZ-ACI. It too was traded in to Boeing and in July 1987 was registered N7486B with Boeing Military. In early March N74868 arrived at Richmond after ferrying across the Pacific. When in service with the RAAF it will carry serial number A20-261.

Quite a number of Boeing 707s previously operated by Qantas are still working overseas. Two of these aircraft recently visited Australia. In January and February Boeing 707-338C G-BDEA of Anglo Cargo, London was seen at a number of Australian airports. As VH-EBW this aircraft served with Qantas between October 1967 and May 1975. On February 13th Boeing 707-338C 5N-ARQ of GAS Air, Lagos arrived in Perth. The Boe- ing was operating a freight charter on lease to Anglo Cargo on the route Cocos Island/Perth/Singapore. As VH-EBO this aircraft was delivered to Qantas in March 1965.

With the recent connection between Saudi Arabia and the RAAF it is interesting to note the recent movements of Qantas’ first Boeing 707-138B VH-EBA. Previously registered N138MJit was sold in August 1987 to Prince Bandar, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States. Now registered HZ-123 the Boeing 707 replaces a previously used Boeing 727-100.

Prop Jet News

There have been quite a variety of different types delivered to operators in our region in this period.

Piper PA-42 Cheyenne III N582SW c/n 8001033 flew Honiara, Brisbane to Perth/Jandakot on February 23rd. The Cheyenne was on delivery to Whim Creek Consolidated P/L, of West Perth and it will be registered to them as VH-WCE.

Another Transpacific delivery was that of MU-2L N603SS c/n 712SA. This aircraft flew into Brisbane from Honiara on February 17th. After receiving attention by Jetcare at Brisbane Airport the MU-2L was registered VH-SSL. The new owner of the aircraft is Newcastle Aviation P/L, of Whitebridge, NSW. This company already operates Commander 690A VH-AAG and it is expected that VH-SSL will join it flying night freight.

King Air 200 N14SU c/n BB-259 flew into Christchurch from Pago Pago on January 30th. The King Air was on delivery to local company Como Holdings. Cairns recorded the visit of King Air 200 P2-SML on January 10th. To date I have been unable to find an identity for this aircraft, so if anyone can assist! King Air E90 N1762K c/n LW-222 arrived in Sydney from Honiara on March 5th. Imported by Aeromil as a stock aircraft, it is expected that the King Air will shortly come on the Australian register. Arriving in company with the King Air was EMB-110P1 N108CA c/n 241. The Bandeirante was also imported by Aeromil, who are Australian agents for Embraer. N108CA was previously operated by Cascade Airways of Spokane, Washington and it still carried the colours of this American Eagle carrier. Cascade ceased operations in March 1986 due to financial problems and evidently N108CA has been static since.

Noted at Bankstown on February 24th was DHC6-300 VH-SHW c/n 721. This is a new addition to the Australian register having arrived in the country as N999PG. The Twin Otter has been imported by Dick Smith for Australian Geographic magazine. VH-SHW carries the name “Sir Hubert Wilkins’ which suggests that Australian Geographic are going to operate it in the Antarctic.

Cessna 441 F-ODUJ c/n 0264 was noted on Wallis Island on January 21st. Recently purchased in the UK as G-EVNS the Cessna was en route to Papeete on delivery to the appropriately named Conquest Airlines.

Fokker Fleet Movements

Even though we updated the Fokker scene in March Traffic, enough has happened since then to warrant another column. Air Queensland F27-600 VH-TQR has been sold to Canadian operator Conair. The Fokker, which has been in storage at Melbourne Airport, was test flown there on March 9th. As C-FBDY it departed on the 11th for Adelaide with its final destination being Conair’s base at Abbotsford, British Columbia. On arrival it is expected that the former VH-TQR will be converted to the role of a fire bomber.

In March Traffic we mentioned briefly the sale of Air Queens- land F27-200 VH-FNM to Pakistan International. On January 23rd VH-FNM departed Brisbane for Mount Isa and Darwin. On arrival in Darwin the Fokker was handed over to Pakistan International and there the registration was changed to AP-BDB. Another Fokker to depart the country was F28-1000 VH-ATE. Previously operated by the DTC VH-ATE became the property of Ansett last December. After overhaul it was expected that the F28 would enter service with either Air NSW or East-West. However on March 15th the F28 departed Melbourne for Cairns as C-GTAH on delivery to Canadian operator Time Air.

At time of writing. Brisbane is expecting the arrival of two Fairchild FH-227Bs ferrying from Papeete to Pau in France. These aircraft F-ODMP c/n 532 and F-ODMR c/n 533 were operated by Air Tahiti and have been replaced in service by recently delivered ATR42s.

Air Niugini took delivery of F28-1000 P2-ANB c/n 11049 at Port Moresby on March 5th. P2-ANB was previously operated by the Nigerian Government as 5N-AGN.

Deliveries of the Fokker 50 to Ansett continue with the follow- ing arriving in Melbourne in this period – VH-FNG on January 27th, VH-FNH on February 17th and VH-FNI on March 2nd. At time of writing VH-FNJ is due in Melbourne on March 28th, while it would appear that we will not see the long delayed VH-FND before June.

Biz Jet News

The highlight of this period was the long awaited delivery of a Canadair Challenger for Perth businessman Kerry Stokes. CL-600 N888KŠ c/n 1073 arrived in Perth from Adelaide on February 27th. The previous day saw N888KS fly into Sydney from Pago Pago. Last November CL-600 c/n 1073 N661JB was registered to the Australian Zephyr Corporation. Apparently, it was then leased for twelve months to the Australian Capital Equity Corporation with the registration being changed to N888KS. From that it would appear that CL-600 c/n 1073 will retain the US registration N888KS while operating in Australia. In the March issue of Traffic we mentioned that Falcon 900 c/n 032 was being prepared in the USA for delivery to an owner in Western Australia. It now appears that the Bond Corporation will be the operator of the Falcon 900 though delivery it not expected before late April.

Ariadne (Australia) P/L, were one of the big losers in the October stockmarket crash. At the time Ariadne had three Falcons in their fleet – Falcon 10 VH-DJT, Falcon 200 VH-HPJ and Falcon 50 VH-PDJ. It now appears that Ariadne are only using the Falcon 10 VH-DJT. The other two aircraft were noted stored at Brisbane in early March.

Goodman Fielder in New Zealand who already operate Falcon 200 ZK-MAY have purchased a Falcon 100. This aircraft is due for delivery in early April.

Hawker Pacific took delivery of their Beechjet 400 demonstrator N3122B c/n RJ-22 on completion of the Asian Aerospace 88 trade show at Singapore.

Two of the Essendon based Citations have recently changed their registrations. Federal Hotels’ Cessna 500 Eagle N333PP was noted on February 12th as VH-HKX, while Cessna 550 VH-WNP was noted on March 14th now carrying VH-JCG.

Learjet 35A N110KG c/n 155 has been operating out of Christchurch since May last year with the Heat Harness Corporation. At one stage the company was considering importing a Learjet 36; however, this company also appears to have suffered in the stockmarket crash. On February 24th N110KG departed Auckland for Pago Pago on return to the United States.

Griffin Holdings Boeing 727-100 N505C has not been sighted in Perth for some months and it would appear that it too has returned to the United States.

Ferry Flights

This was another busy period for ferry flights with the Piper Navajo once again dominating the scene. This time we are able to record the arrival of a further six of this very popular GA type.

PA31-350 N667JT ferried from Norfolk Island to Essendon on February 12th. Also inbound to Essendon was PA31-350 N350SC c/n 7752171. This aircraft flew in direct from Honiara on March 1st and it is now being certified by Hawker Pacific. Oxley Airlines took delivery of PA31-350 N208U c/n 7552095 at Port Macquarie on February 16th. The previous day N208U had flown into Brisbane from Noumea. On February 26th three PA31-350s transitted Lord Howe Island en route from New Zealand to Australia. Previously operated by Eagle Airways of Hamilton, the three PA-31s were ZK-FIA c/n 7752032, ZK-FIB c/n 7405407 and ZK-FIC c/n 7405450. It is interesting to note that in March 1984 the same three PA-31s were ferried together from the United States to New Zealand. Other Piper products arriving in Australia in this period were – PA-60 N8026J which flew from Honiara to Sydney on January 27th; PA60-601P N631ME which flew over the same route on February 17th; PA-34 N317BC arrived in Brisbane from Honiara on February 11th; while PA34-220T N220PA c/n 8133120 took thirteen hours for its ferry from Honiara to Essendon on January 29th. This aircraft has since been registered VH-BJQ.

Cessna TU206G N9975Z c/n 06787 of Orient Air ferried from Pago Pago to Brisbane on February 10th. Cessna 340A N5370S c/n 0047 flew from Honiara to Brisbane on January 20th, while Cessna 421 N8410G ferried Hobart to Christchurch on March 10th.

Penguin Express

In Traffic Nov ’87 we recorded the delivery of Riley Dove N711BK c/n 04416 to Essendon based Penguin Express. Now registered VH-NBM the Dove operated its first flight for Penguin Express on March 10th. Initially fitted with ten seats but planned to carry twelve, VH-NBM joins Penguin Express’ other Riley Dove VH-ABM. These two aircraft are kept busy carrying tourists between Essendon and Philip Island to watch the nightly arrival of the Fairy Penguin colony. The demand for seats is such that Penguin Express are actively seeking a third Riley Dove in the United States. When they purchased N711BK they also acquired Riley Dove N28Q c/n 04354. This Dove has been static for a number of years at Sebring in Florida and whether it is brought to Australia for service with Penguin Express, or is broken up in the States as a source of spares, has yet to be decided.

Another Dove taking to the air in the Melbourne area is the former Macarthur Airways VH-DHD. This aircraft was flown to Moorabbin from Wedderburn, NSW in March 1987 after a long period of storage. The new owner of VH-DHD, Ted Rudge, is to be congratulated on the standard of work carried out on VH-DHD. The colour scheme chosen with a silver fuselage set off with blue trim certainly catches the eye. VH-DHD took to the air again from Moorabbin on March 4th.

Other Dove news concerns the former NTMS VH-DHA, which has been static at Kyneton, Victoria, for a number of years. Restoration work on this aircraft is once again underway and hopefully it won’t be to long before we see it back in the air.

A visit to Launceston in early March revealed that Airlines of Tasmania have withdrawn Heron VH-CLT from service. The Heron was noted in the back of their hangar with its wings removed.

Canadian Capers

Visitors to Essendon Airport on March 14th would have had to look twice at the sight of a DC-3 and Catalina parked together on the former TAA fingerway. There side by side sat a Trans- Canada Airlines DC-3 CF-TBA and a Canadian Pacific Catalina CF-CRV. Round the aircraft were members of the RCMP, a pipe band and passengers in 1950’s dress. Closer inspection revealed that the ABC were making a feature for TV on the runn- ing of the four minute mile. The setting was Vancouver Airport in the mid 1950’s and CF-TBA and CF-CRV were Essendon residents A65-91 and VH-EXG made up for the day. Still a nice bit of nostalgia while it lasted.

Other prop news centres around the purchase of five DC-3s by Air Rambler (Australia) P/L, of Box Hill, Victoria. Set up as a division of Rambler Tours they have purchased the four ex Air Queensland DC-3s VH-BPL, VH-BPN, VH-EDC and VH-PWN as well as VH-SBL, which is presently operating out of Cairns with Northeast Airlines. Air Rambler, who will use the operating name DC-3 Queensland, intend to start operations in early April from Caims. Initially they will cater to the “Tours’ market however it is expected that they will also involve themselves in both charter and freight operations out of Brisbane and Cairns. At present the four ex Air Queensland DC-3s are stored in the Australian Airlines hangar on the new Brisbane Airport. When last noted in early March, VH-EDC and VH-PWN still carried Air Queensland titles with the new Australian Airlines colour scheme. The other two DC-3s VH-BPL and VH-BPN only retained the blue cheat line of the old Air Queensland colour scheme.

Also stored in the hangar were F27-200s VH-FNV and VH- FNW which have both lost their Air Queensland titles and tail markings. The other inhabitants were Cessna 310Rs VH-BPI and VH-FSR, which have been sold to Jetcare and Cessna 404 VH-BPO which has been sold to Sunstate Airlines.

It is also reported that the DC-3 VH-DAS, which is on display at the Heritage Homestead in Kuranda is to be moved. The local council has declared that the wreckage of this aircraft does not suit the image of a thriving tourist town. VH-DAS is in such poor condition that the only move appears to be to the scrapyard.

Overseas Visitors

Air France Concorde F-BVFF was noted operating two “Round the World’ charters in this period. On January 28th it flew from Sydney to Darwin as AF4610, while on February 28th it flew from Nadi to Sydney. French Air Force DC-8-72CF F-RAFF arrived in Canberra on February 21st after flying in from Paris via Colombo. This aircraft was built in 1970 as a DC-8-62CF on order for Finnair and was delivered in December of that year as OH-LFY. An interesting visitor to Melbourne on February 9th was Stair L-382G Hercules F-GDAQ which flew in from Paris via Denpasar and Port Hedland.

At Brisbane on March 2nd were Pacific Helicopters Puma P2-PHY and Bell 412 El-BNI.

Noteworthy executive jets seen in this period were – Boeing 727-25 N682FM of Freeport McMoran which flew Darwin to Perth on March 6th, Perth to Melbourne on March 8th and Melbourne to Cairns on March 9th. This Boeing was delivered in February 1966 to Eastern Airlines as N8146N and became part of the Freeport McMoran fleet in August 1987. Falcon 900 N328K of the Ford Motor Co, flew from Melbourne to Auckland on February 25th; while Challenger 601 N373G of General Electric arrived in Sydney from Nadi on January 28th. Noted at Laverton on February 11th was USAF Gulfstream III 60205.

RAF VC-10 XV109 using call sign Ascot 2605 flew Darwin to Wellington on February 26th, while noted the day before at Darwin was Aeromacchi MB-339 I-AMDA. Finally on February 25th Hawaiian Airlines substituted L-1011 N764BE for what is normally a DC-8 on their weekly flight from Pago Pago.