Traffic

ANSETT AIR FREIGHT/TNT – Though they are still using the name Ansett Air Freight it appears that soon all aircraft operated in Australia will carry the orange and white colours and titles of TNT. On May 8th_BAe146-200QT VH-JJY c/n 2113 was delivered to Perth wearing TNT colours. The second BAe146-200QT on order VH-JJZ should be delivered by the time this is read. The entry into service of these two aircraft in June will signal the end of the Friendship in service for Ansett. Boeing 727-25F N8119N is better known a. s VH-LAP which operated in Australia with Bloodstock Air Services. The–Boeing now belongs to Ansett Worldwide and in late March it was noted at Goodyear, Arizona being painted in TNT colours.

ANSETT NEW ZEALAND – both 8Ae146-200s ZK-NZA and ZK-NZB are flying in the UK and should have arrived in Christchurch by the beginning of July.

AUSTRALIAN -the decision to retire and sell the five remaining DC-9s resulted in VH-TJQ operating its last flight for Australian on April 24th. VH-TJQ is now parked at Melbourne Airport awaiting disposal. In late March Boeing 727-276 VH-TBN was sold to Air Vanuatu. The aircraft will operate for Air Vanuatu at the weekends and will then be used by Australian Airlines during the week. VH-TBN is presently operating in an interim colour scheme with Air Vanuatu titles on the forward fuselage, a small Vanuatu flag at the forward passenger door and the removal of the Kangaroo from the fin. Al A300-203 VH-TAA was planned to re-enter service in early June after terminating its lease to Air Niugini as P2-ANG. EAST-WEST-have retired from service and are offering for sale two F27-500s. VH-EWU was ferried Sydney to Tamworth on April 11th and VH-EWW over the same route on April 10th. FIELDAIR FREIGHT – have purchased two Convair 580s in Canada to replace their DC-3 freighters. Both aircraft have apparently come from Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter of Kelowna, British Columbia. C-GFKP c/n 168 will be registered to Fieldair as ZK-FTA while C-GEDO c/n 180 will become ZK-FTB. Both Convairs were built as model 340s and were delivered to United Airlines in 1954 as N73150 and N73154 respectively. QANTAS – Boeing 7 47-2388 VH-EBJ was noted at Melbourne in early May now carrying Air Pacific colours. It is believed that VH-EBJ will become the primary Air Pacific aircraft when the lease on 747-121 VH-EEI expires later in the year. In late April Qantas converted options on two Boeing 747-438s and three Boeing 767-338ERs to orders, which will give them a fleet of1Q and 8 respectively. The Boeing 747-438s VH-OJI and VH-OJJ will be delivered in October and December 1990. The Boeing 767-338ERs will be registered VH-OGF, VH-OGG and VH-OGH with one to be delivered in May 1990 and the other two in October 1990.

Grumman Mallards for Seair

Seair Pacific based at Airlie Beach, Qld have purchased two Grumman Mallard aircraft to add to the one they already have in service.

The Grumman G-73 Mallard followed on from the Goose and Widgeon and was designed as a 10 seat amphibious aircraft powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engines. The prototype flew in April 1946 and a totalof 59 were built. The first of Seair’s two new Mallards is J-23. This aircraft was delivered in May 1947 to the Superior Oil Company of Houston, Texas though for the first few years of its operating life it was based in Egypt. In May 1974 it was sold to Northcoast Air Services of Prince Rupert, British Columbia and it was with them till purchased by Seair. J-23 registered C-GHDD flew into Brisbane on May 1st on completion of its ferry flight from Vancouver. The Pacific crossing commenced at Oakland with en route stops being made at Honolulu, Tarawa and Honiara. The longest sector of the flight was from Oakland to Honolulu which saw the Mallard airborne for just over 15 hours. Final destination was Archerfield, where the Mallard was registered VH-OAW. This aircraft will be based on the Gold Coast from where it will operate a tourist service to Lady Musgrove Island.

The second Mallard for Seair, which is due for delivery in July is J-54 N27DF, and it will be registered VH-AWK. First registered to Grumman in late 1950 as N2984 it was sold in January 1954 to the Union Oil Company of Los Angeles. They operated it for twenty years as N76U before selling it to a Miami based operator. Later that year it was sold to West Coast Air Services of Vancouver as C-GENT. In January 1979 the Mallard returned to the Miami area before taking up its present registration of N27DF. Seair have already ferried the Mallard from Miami to Vancouver, where it is presently being overhauled before delivery to Australia.

In April 1983 Air Whitsunday, who later became part of Seair, imported two Mallards. One of these aircraft was the Pratt powered VH-LAW and it presently remains in service with Seair. The second Mallard to be imported at this time was registered VH-JAW. This aircraft was powered by two PT6A engines a conversion that was carried out on a number of Mallards by Frakes Aviation of Cleburne, Texas. VH-JAW was later sold to Vowell Air Services/Helicopter Resources to service a Bond Petroleum contract flying between Karratha and Lowendal Island in NW Western Australia. This contract, which has kept the Mallard busy over the last four years, is now being operated by a Sikorsky S-76A. As a result Helicopter Resources are advertising VH-JAW for sale. In late May it was ferried from Lowendal Island to Tyabb, Victoria for overhaul prior to sale.

In ‘Traffic’ May we mentioned that we had two foreign registered Grumman Goose in Australia both of which were for sale. In Cairns, the Milne Bay Air Goose P2-JWB has departed on return to New Guinea. Meanwhile ZK-ENY of Canterbury Planes is presently static at Moorabbin with both its New Zealand registration and titles removed.

Bizjet News

By early March the Bizjet fleet in Australia and New Zealand had climbed to 95 and it appeared that we would pass the 100 mark by late 1989. However, the recent sale of three aircraft and the transfer of two others from our region is now going to make the 100 that harder to reach in 1989.

On the positive side BAe125-600B YN-BPR c/n 6037 was delivered to Sherrard Aviation at Essendon on April 28th. Previously operated by the Government of Nicaragua the BAe125 arrived from Vancouver, where it had recently been overhauled. YN-BPR will take up residence at Essendon where it will be operated by Sherrard in conjunction with a leading Melbourne construction company.

Perth based Multiplex Construction are importing a Challenger 600S N600JW c/n 1061. Though still not reported in the country at time of writing, it is believed that Multiplex will register their Challenger VH-MXX. Palmer Tube Mills have been operating their Challenger 601/3A N601RP out of Brisbane since late November. The recent decision to move their Head Office from Brisbane to Chicago will mean the loss of this aircraft from our region. Associated Airlines’ Challenger 601/3A VH-ASM was due to be delivered to Essendon on June 16th. The Challenger will replace in service Gulfstream I VH-FLO, which will be sold to Sherrard Aviation. The withdrawal of the Gulfstream I from Associated Airlines fleet will see the end of a long association between the two as it was in late 1959 that the first Gulfstream I was delivered to Essendon.

Aeromil have been advertising a Citation Eagle for sale. This aircraft is Cessna 500 N70454 c/n 0279 which they will take delivery of in June. Recently operated in Sweden as SE-DEX the Citation was registered N70454 to Great Plane Sales of Tulsa last December. Aeromil have also handled the sale of Cessna 550 VH-ORE from Pacific Rim Aviation in Brisbane to Trans Media Aviation in Sydney. Corsair Cessna 600 VH-OIL flew into Darwin in early May to commence a short-term lease to Air North.

Trans Pacific Enterprises, Sydney took delivery of Gulfstream Ill N1SF in early January. For reasons unknown at this stage the Gulfstream was reregistered N103GC in early April.

VIP Falcon 900s

It has been well recorded in the aviation press that later this year 34 Squadron, Canberra will replace their two BAC 1-11s and three Falcon 20s with five Falcon 900s.

The RAAF have allocated A26 for the Falcon 900 and to complete the serial this will be followed by the aircraft construction number. The five RAAF Falcon 900s are therefore A26-070, A26-073, A26-074, A26-076 and A26-077. At time of writing the first RAAF Falcon 900 had already arrived at the Falcon Jet facility in Little Rock, Arkansas. From there the Falcons will be ferried to Sydney still using a US civil registration. After final

checks by Hawker Pacific, they will be flown , to Canberra using

their military serials. Delivery dates for the five Falcon 900s 1s between mid October and l:ate December. Other Falcon news is as follows: Brierley Investments took delivery of their Falcon 900 N42FJ c/n 042 at Wellington on April 30th, when it flew in from Pago Pago. The Falcon will replace in service Cessna 650 N143WR, which has returned to US based operations. Brierley’s other Cessna 650 N133LE will continue to operate from its Sydney base. The Bond Corporation have ferried their Falcon 200 VH-BGL to the United States for sale. Another Falcon lost to the region is Hawker Pacific’s Falcon 20F VH-HPF. In March it was cancelled from the Australian register and sold to Great Plane Sales of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Falcon 1 O VH-MEI, which was operated by Australian Jet Charter has been sold to Wilson-Neill Ltd, of Auckland. The Falcon will replace in service BAe125-800B ZK-TCB which will be sold in the United States. Falcon 100 VH-JDW, which was operated by the National Safety Council is being offered for sale by Hawker Pacific. Finally in ‘Traffic’ May we mentioned that Sherrard Aviation at Essendon had purchased Falcon 20C YN-BZH. Unfortunately we will not see this aircraft in Australia as Sherrards have found a buyer for it in Canada.

Propjet News

A quieter period though we were still able to record the arrival of four new propjets in our region -two King Air 200s, an MU-2G and a Cessna 441.

Beech King Air 200C N200LG c/n BL-31 flew into Sydney on March 18th on completion of its transpacific ferry. The King Air was imported by Hawker Pacific for the Victorian Division of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. After certification at Bankstown the King Air, which will be registered VH-KFN, will be delivered to Derby in Western Australia. The King Air will replace in service two Queen Airs VH-FDL and VH-MWJ, which will be offered for sale. King Air 200 N4248Y c/n BB-463 arrived at Essendon on April 28th on delivery to Sherrard Aviation. After certification in the Business and Commercial Aviation hangar, the King Air was registered P2-NAT before delivery to Nationair in Port Moresby. King Air F90 F-ODGU ferried Darwin, Cairns to Brisbane on March 24th. The aircraft was on delivery to the French High Commissioner in Noumea.

Australian distributors for the King Air are Hawker Pacific.

They presently have two King Air B200Cs on order for delivery in July and September. These aircraft are BL-133 and BL-134 respectively. Hawkers will also take delivery of Beech 1900C-1 UC-49 in July. King Air 300 ZK-MGP of the Magnum Corporation was cancelled from the New Zealand register on April 10th. It is believed that this aircraft has since returned to the United States and that it ferried Auckland to Pago Pago on April 20th as N985GA. The first King Air 300LW has been registered in Australia. Imported last November as N31800 c/n FA-165, it is now operating as VH-KDV with National Homes based in Brisbane. The collapse of the NSCA/Victorian Division has thrown three King Air 200Cs VH-NSD, VH-NSF and VH-NSR onto the market. It will be interesting to watch the movements of these aircraft in the coming months.

Mitsubishi MU-2G N168BB c/n 544 overnighted Broome on March 19th en route from Denpasar to Alice Springs. Final destination

was Wag , ga Wagga where the MU-2 has joined the fleet of Western NSW Airlines. Registered VH-WMW the MU-2G has joined Western NSW’s other MU-2G VH-WMU operating night freight flights out of Sydney.

Cessna 441 N600SF c/n 0091 arrived at Parafield on March 22nd after completing its transpacific ferry. The Cessna has since been registered VH-AZY to Air North in Darwin.

Commuter News

AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL – took delivery of DHC-6-300 C-FCUS c/n 288 at Townsville on April 3rd after it flew in from Honiara. The Twin Otter registered VH-TGC entered service later in the month. C/n 288 started its life in July 1970 when it was delivered to the Quito, Ecuador based operator Transportes Aereos Orientales as HC-ASJ. Other Twin Otter news concerns DHC-6-200 c/n 147 which was imported to Townsville in January as C-FMOL. Registered P2-OTR, the Twin Otter flew out of Townsville on April 19th on delivery to Curtin Brothers in New Guinea. Noted at Brisbane in early April was former Fiji Air DHC-6-200 DO-FOO c/n 145. It is believed that this Twin Otter will be registered in Australia and be operated by In Tours on the Sydney/Cessnock/Pt Macquarie route.

EASTERN AUSTRALIA – commenced flying on the Sydney to Armidale route on April 5th when DHC-8-100 VH-TQO operated UN182. A further two DHC-8-100s have been ordered for delivery in mid 1990.

LINCOLN AIRLINES – PA31-350 VH-IJE was overhauled and painted in their colours at Essendon in early April. MIDSTATE AIRLINES – Further to the information in ‘Traffic’ May, they recommenced operations in March under new ownership.

SUNSTATE – GAF N-24A VH-FCX has been sold to Ian Baillie Aircraft Sales at Moorabbin, where it was first noted in early April. Ian Baillie have recently moved former State Air N-24A VH-PGW to a Melbourne based operator. After overhaul by Airepair VH-PGW commenced flying on charter to Aero National Transport out of Essendon. Aero National’s own N-24A VH-FHR has been very busy of late operating charter and night freight flights throughout SE Australia. Aero National are adding two imported BN-2A Islanders to their fleet in the near future.

Ferry Flights

The PA31-350 Chieftain once again dominates this section with five being recorded in this period. N771BP c/n 8252021 arrived in Cairns on March 24th from Tarawa. N123WR c/n 7952082 flew Honiara to Brisbane on March 26th in company with N61431 c/n 7405452. N61431 continued south to Essendon where it was noted on the 29th. N4090P arrived in Brisbane on April 9th, while N717PP flew from Honiara to Townsville on April 13th. The following day N717PP continued its ferry to Alice Springs and Perth. Other Piper products in this period included PA-30 Twin Commanche N5EE c/n 1091 from Norfolk Island to Sydney on April 3rd. PA-60 N6071N c/n 0685-7961215 was noted at Parafield on April 1st.

Queen Air 80 N61DE ferried Tarawa to Brisbane on April 19th.

This aircraft was on delivery to Sydney based Air Eastern. Baron 58 N105HW arrived in Cairns on March 30th from Tarawa.

Cessna 310R N98891 flew Tarawa to Cairns on March 24th.

The aircraft was later noted at Parafield. Cessna T303 N9859C was ferried from Tarawa to Cairns on May 8th by Pilot Services International of San Francisco. Cessna 404 VH-WZK c/n 0801 arrived in Darwin from Denpasar on April 28th. This aircraft which was noted as still carrying traces of its previous registration D-IFTG was on delivery to Sunstate Airlines. VH-WZK will join the Victorian Air Ambulance fleet based at Essendon. Cessna 402C N993AA c/n 0044 flew Honiara to Townsville on April 13th while Cessna 421 N14DS was ferried by Southern Cross from Tarawa to Cairns on April 29th. N14DS later continued on to Perth.

Former RAAF C-130A EL-AJM, which has been static at Avalon since returning from famine relief work in Ethiopia, has been sold in the United States. On April 22nd now registered N207GM it departed Sydney for Pago Pago. Due to radio problems the C-130A diverted in to Norfolk Island.

Noted at Brisbane in mid May were three Lloyd Bell 222s VH-LAH, VH-LAI and VH-LAJ. These three helicopters had been sold in Japan and were awaiting shipment to their new owner.