Traffic

ANSETT – Al A320-200 VH-HYH flew into Melbourne on May 29th on completion of its delivery flight from Toulouse. This was the final aircraft in Ansett’s initial order for 8 A320s. 727-277 VH-RML is the latest to depart on delivery to Federal Express, when it flew out of Melbourne on June 23rd bound for Seattle. On Saturday June 10th VH-RML was painted in a rainbow of colours by artists Rolf Harris, Clifton Pugh and David Rankin. The following two days it was then used to operate a series of ‘Dream Flights’ for the Variety Club of Australia. Carried on these flights were over eight hundred disadvantaged children (refer colour pie this section). F27-200 VH-MMO was ferried from Cairns to Melbourne on May 26th, where it now awaits disposal. By the time this is read Ansett will have retired from service their last two F27’s VH-FNO and VH-FNQ.

ANSETT AIR FREIGHT – took delivery of their second BAe 146-200QT VH-JJZ at Perth on June 6th. Their first BAe 146-200QT VH-JJY commenced services on the Queensland coast on June 13th. With the entry into service of VH-JJZ the 146s are now doing a nightly crossover on the route Melbourne/ Sydney/Brisbane/Mackay/Townsville/Cairns.

ANSETT NEW ZEALAND – their first BAe 146-200 ZK-NZA msn 2116 was delivered to Christchurch on July 19th. Their second BAe 146-200 ZK-NZB msn 2127 was due for delivery in early August. Later this year Ansett New Zealand will provide service trials for the first BAe 146-200QC.

AUSTRALIAN – took delivery of their 15th 737-376 on July 15th when VH-TJC ‘Endeavour’ flew into Melbourne. Ferry routing for VH-TJC was Seattle/Honolulu/Majuro/Townsville/Melbourne. A30084-203VH-TAA also re-entered service with Australia on June 16th. As P2-ANG the A300 terminated its lease to Air Niugini in March. Still registered P2-ANG but carrying Australian colours, the A300 flew into Melbourne from Singapore on June 8th. DC-9 VH-TJR was withdrawn from service at Melbourne in early July.

EAST-WEST – We were a bit premature in retiring F27-500s VH-EWU and VH-EWW from service (see ‘Traffic’ July). EastWest have been awarded the LADS contract and the aircraft to be used is F27-500 VH-EWP. As a consequence it was retired from service at Tamworth on May 22nd. It is expected to be in the hangar for at least 18 months undergoing modifications. VH-EWW was therefore taken out of storage and returned to East-West service on May 25th. VH-EWU was also reactivated, however, it was ferried north to Port Moresby, where it arrived on May 27th. There it commenced flying on charter to Air Niugini to cover some planned DHC-7 maintenance.

FIELDAIR FREIGHT (NZ)-took delivery of their first Convair 580 on May 2nd, when C-GKFP msn 168 flew into Auckland from Pago Pago. The Convair has since entered service as ZK-FTA on the Auckland/Palmerston North/Christchurch route.

Bizjet News

Fleet numbers continue to fall and in this period alone we record the departure of two BAe 125s and two Falcon 20s.

As forecast in ‘Traffic’ July the Wilson-Neill BAe 125-8008 ZK-TCB has been sold in the United States. It flew out of Auckland on May 8th bound for Little Rock, Arkansas. ZK-TCB has been sold to Continental Aviation as N785CA. Wilson-Neill are now operating the Falcon 10 VH-MEI though it continues to fly under its Australian registration. It was no surprise to see the departure of NSCA BAe 125-8008 VH-NMR the sale of which was handled by Aeromil. VH-NMR will become N125JW with Express One International Inc, in the United States, however, before delivery it was flown to the UK for conversion from a series 8008 to 800A. Another BAe 125-8008 being advertised for sale by Aeromil is ZK-MRM of the Chase Corporation. At Essendon, Sherrard Aviation continue to work on their BAe 125-600 YN-BPR. It is believed that this aircraft will be registered VH-NJA.

Mt Newman Mining Co, in Perth have been advertising their Falcon 20F VH-NMN for sale for sometime. In mid June the Falcon departed Perth on delivery to Delta Bravo Inc, who will operate VH-NMN as N900DB. Mt Newman have replaced the Falcon with Westwind VH-LOF, which was previously operated by Shortstop Jet Charter, Essendon. Meanwhile, Venture Stores’ Falcon 20F VH-NCF, which was also based at Essendon, has been sold in the United States. VH-NCF is now operating as N83D with Jack Prewitt and Associates.

Cessna Citation V N562CV msn 0002 visited Australia in mid July as part of a world tour. North Broken Hill P/L, Melbourne will be the first Australian operator of the Citation V, when they take delivery of msn 0041 next January. On delivery of the Citation V they will dispose of their presently operated Citation 501 VH-BNK.

Associated Airlines Challenger 601/3A VH-ASM flew into Essendon on June 17th on completion of its delivery flight from the United States. The Pacific crossing from Los Angeles was made with stops at Honolulu and Nadi. VH-ASM was soon put to work for Associated as on the 19th it operated Essendon/ Gladstone/Weipa while on the 22nd it made its first Transtasman crossing flying from Essendon to Lnvercargill.

Qintex operate Falcon 20E VH-MIQ in the markings of one of their companies, Mirage Resorts. Perhaps there is some truth in the rumour that they will add a 727-100 to their fleet. When 727-22 N341TC visited Australia in late May it is believed that it was used by Qintex. This may tie in with the fact that in late June 727-82 N81826 msn 19405 was officially cancelled from the US register as having been sold in Australia.

Propjet News

A quieter period for propjet imports though the Beech King Air continues to provide the bulk of the news.

Hawker Pacific have imported another King Air C90-1 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. N618DB msn LJ-1024 flew into Sydney on May 1st. After being modified by Hawker Pacific at Bankstown, it will be delivered to the Queensland Division of the RFDS. Another import in this period was King Air 200 N2657 msn BB-531, which was first noted in Brisbane in early June.

Meanwhile, the grounding of the NSCA fleef has resulted in three King Air 200Cs coming on the market. VH-NSD, which was based in Townsville with the NSCA, continues to operate from there. It is now flown by the North Queensland Emergency Response Group. VH-NSF is still parked at West Sale, where it awaits a buyer. VH-NSR was sold by Aeromil to Lloyd Aviation Jet Charter and it has joined their Cairns based operations. As predicted previously Lloyd have reverted the registration of the former NSCA King Air 200C VH-NSE to VH-AKV.

Yulgibar Holdings at Essendon have sold their Cessna 425 VH-HBM in the United States. Registered N81798, the Cessna flew our of Essendon in early July on delivery to Eagle Aviation in South Carolina. Great Western Aviation, Redcliffe, WA have been advertising a number of their MU-2s for sale. Of the aircraft concerned MU-2N VH-NMU has gone to an East Coast operator, while MU-2N VH-LMU and MU-2G VH-MUG remain on the market.

A survey done on the propjet fleet in Australia as at the beginning of July reveals 142 aircraft in the country. Market leader is the Beech King Air with 51 units or 36%. Most popular model of the King Air is the dash 200 with 41 units or 29%. Other leading types are the Cessna 425/441 with 27 or 19%, Commander 26 or 18% and MU-2 24 or 17%.

Two aircraft that we did not include in the survey are Merlin Ill’s VH-CAL and VH-CAM. These two aircraft have been part of the local scene at Essendon for three years and in that time have not flown. The two Merlins were part of the Department fleet at Essendon. They were then traded in to Stillwell Civil Flying Services on the Gulfstream Commander order. Pacific Aviation purchased the Merlins in July 1986 and the following month they arrived back at Essendon. Initially Pacific were to use one on their commuter run between Essendon and Sale and though the aircraft were worked on and repainted this never eventuated. In 1987 both VH-CAL and VH-CAM were sold to Opex Aviation of Santa Paula, California. They were allocated registration N174SP and N173SP respectively however to date they have never carried their US marks. We now have the situation where the Merlins are sitting in the weather at Essendon being used as expensive Gate Guardians.

Ferry Flights

Activity in this sector was well down, however, there were still a few interesting types around.

Only two PA-31 Chieftains logged in this period, which in itself is a solid indicator that things are quiet. PA-31-350 N40725 msn 8152025 arrived in Brisbane from Honiara on June 24th. PA-31 N7419L msn 787 flew Tarawa to Brisbane on June 14th and was later noted at Moorabbin. Commander 500S N9120N msn 3088 arrived Brisbane on May 28th from Tarawa. The following day it was noted at Essendon in the General Aviation Maintenance hangar, where it has been registered VH-UJL.

In ‘Traffic’ July we mentioned that former RAAF C-130A A97-207 had ferried to the United States as N207GM. Further reports inpicate that this was one of 4 ex-RAAF C-130As purchased by Fowler Aeronautical Services of Van Nuys, California. Two of these C-130As were already in the States and have been registered to Fowlers as N213DW ex A97-212 and N216CR ex A97-216. The fourth C-130A is A97-205, which has been allocated N205FA. To date however it remains firmly on the ground at Laverton and shows no interest in departing for the States.

Noted at Brisbane on July 16th was Lockheed SP-2H Neptune N81870.

Frakes Mallard VH-JAW of Helicopter Resources arrived at Tyabb on May 29th after ferrying down from Karratha via Meekatharra, Forrest, Mildura and Moorabbin. It is expected that the Mallard will be sold to an overseas buyer.

Penguin Express at Essendon have purchased two more Riley Doves in the United States. N673R msn 04327 will be ferried to Australia in mid August by Southern Cross Aviation. The second Dove N808RH has been purchased as a source of spares and it will be crated for its journey across the Pacific.

Bandeirante Fleet Changes

The first Australian registered Bandeirante entered service in August 1978 with Masling Commuter Services. Since then the type has been eagerly sought by operators in our area, while being ably supported by the local agents Aeromil. In this period there have been a number of changes to the Bandeirante fleet.

In March 1988 Aeromil imported EMB-110P1 N108CA msn 241. Later registered VH-CRG it was painted in the very attractive colours of Shuttle Airlines of Melbourne. In effect VH-CRG travelled to Adelaide, where it commenced a twelve month lease to Lloyd Aviation. In the interim, the aircraft was purchased by the Moorabbin-based Aus-Air. On July 6th VH-CRG flew into Moorabbin on termination of its lease. The following day it entered service with Aus-Air on the Moorabbin/Wynyard/Devonport route. VH-CRG now carries Aus-Air titles though it still wears the colours of Shuttle Airlines.

In January Shuttle Airlines took delivery of EMB-110P1 VH-FCE from Sunstate Airlines. From early May this aircraft commenced a long-term charter working for Dovair out of Port Vila, Vanuatu. Meanwhile Shuttle are looking to add a second Bandeirante to their fleet for their Melbourne based operations.

With the termination of the lease of VH-CRG to Lloyd Aviation Jet Charter, a replacement aircraft has been purchased through Aeromil. EMB-110P1 N124MS msn 298 was due for delivery to Lloyd in Darwin· in mid August. Previously operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines N124MS was purchased from Duncan Aviation of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Former Wings Australia EMB-110P2 VH-MWU has been under long-term modification by Pacific Aviation at Bankstown. This aircraft is now being used in a new venture by Rex Aviation, New Zealand. The Bandeirante was ferried across the Tasman on June 24th. Now registered ZK-REX and carrying the markings of traNZair, it commenced flying on July 7th between Nelson and Wellington acting as a feeder for Ansett New Zealand.

Air Rarotonga in the Cook Islands have taken delivery of their first Bandeirante. EMB-110P1 N107CA msn 239 was delivered in mid June and has since entered service as ZK-FTS.

Airlines of Tasmania have also leased a Bandeirante from Hazelton Airlines. The aircraft concerned is VH-WPI which was

delivered in late July. The Bandeirante will mainly be used on the . Launceston/Wynyard/King Island route.

Air North are another new Bandeirante operator. On May 31st they took delivery in Darwin of EMB-110P2 VH-MWX, which was previously operated by Rockhampton based Countryair.

Islander Fleet Movements

Monarch Aviation at Bankstown have taken over the Australian, New Guinea and Solomon Islands distributorship for the Islander and have already undertaken an extensive demonstration tour of the area.

On June 12th Monarch took delivery of BN2B-26 G-BLDT msn 2177 atBankstown. On June 10th G-BLDT had ferried Seletar to Darwin direct in 13 hours 50 minutes! This Islander was then used for the tour using call sign Golf Delta Tango. In March Monarch delivered BN2A-26 VH-BSN to Cockatoo Island Airways. Its stay with Cockatoo Island was short lived as in late May in was written off in an accident near Derby. As a replacement BN2A-21 VH-ISL of Seair was ferried north to commence flying with Cockatoo Island Airways. Hawker Pacific, who were Islander distributors in our region have also delivered a stock aircraft to a Cairns based operator. Noted there in early July was VH-CFZ carrying the titles ‘Cape Flattery Silicon Mines’.

Aero National have purchased BN2A-21 msn 802 from a Malaysian operator. To be registeredVH-ENT this Islander was due for delivery to Essendon in late July.

The Missionary Aviation Fellowship/MAF have purchased four Islanders for use in their commuter operations in New Guinea and Australia. BN2A-20 JA5255 msn 521 came from Nippon Naigai Airways. It was delivered to Mt Hagen in March and has since entered service as P2-MFW. BN2A-21 C-GUAW msn 188 was previously operated by Alberta Central Airways. After overhaul at Redlands, California the Islander was ferried to Mt Hagen, where it arrived on July 5th, as N8000J. BN2A-6 JA5193 msn 140 was purchased from the Aero Asahi Corporation. It was ferried from Osaka to Ballarat in late July by Southern Cross Aviation. After overhaul the Islander will enter service with MAF on their commuter routes out of Gove. Finally BN2A-21 JA5268 msn 759, which is presently operated by Nagasaki Airways, will be delivered to Mt Hagen in December.

Commuter News

AUS-AIR – delivery and entry into service of their Bandeirante VH-CRG can be found elsewhere in this column. PA-31-350 VH-BKE which was leased from Flinders Island Airlines has been returned. Added to their fleet is PA-31-350 VH-OZM. This aircraft was delivered to Moorabbin as N710AN and was registered VH-OAN before being purchased by Aus-Air.

EASTERN PACIFIC AIRLINES – though not a commuter airline we have put them in this section as they have recently imported a Metro II. Eastern Pacific are part of the Autosearch Group based in Brisbane and their Metro will be used for general charter work. Metro II VH-ERB msn TC-320 was previously operated by Skywest Airlines in the US as N1006L. As VH-EPB and carrying Eastern Pacific titles, it flew into Archerfield on July 11th from San Antonio. Delivery routing was via Oakland, Honolulu, Tarawa and Cairns.

IN TOURS – Their DHC-6-200 VH-TZR msn 145 ex DQ-FDD was noted at Moorabbin on June 28th. The aircraft was all silver and had arrived for painting by Aerospray. Other Twin Otter news concerns the Solomon Islands Airlines DHC-6-300 H4-SIA msn 271. This aircraft flew from Cairns to Townsville on June 14th on delivery to Norfolk Pacific Aviation. Since registered VH-NIO, the Twin Otter is based in Cairns where it has taken over the contract carrying personnel to the Kidston mine. DHC-6-200 P2-OTR msn 147 ex C-FMOL which was delivered to Curtin Brothers in mid April was written off in New Guinea on June 26th. MIDSTATE AIRLINES – we mentioned in ‘Traffic’ July that they had recommenced operations under new ownership. This was partly correct as they are now operating under the name of WESTERN AIRLINES. Aircraft used are Cessna 340 VH-FAC, Cessna 31OR VH-JVO and PA-31-350 VH-TWU.

PAR AV/ON- have added PA-31-310 VH-CFE to their fleet. The aircraft was noted at Essendon on June 14th carrying Par Avion titles.

STATE AIR – ceased operations on May 31st, however the following day they commenced flying as –

SKY LINK AIRLINES – flights are operated from Adelaide to Kingscote, Port Lincoln and Whyalla. Aircraft used are PA-31- 350 VH-OAO, VH-RUH, Cessna 4028 VH-TIV and MU-2G VH-UZC. Sky Link have signed up with Australian and are their feeder airline in South Australia.

SUNBIRD – added the former Sungold Airlines Cessna 441 VH-TFW to their fleet in early July. EMB-110P1 VH-KIQ of Country Courier has been cross hired on a number of occasions. PA-31 VH-PNL was sold to Cape Yorke Air Services, while Cessna 4028 VH-TWF was flown from Cairns to Archerfield for disposal in June.

NSCA Helicopter Disposal

When the Victorian Division of the National Safety Council of Australia ceased operations in late March they had a fleet of 23 Bell helicopters. Disposal and present whereabouts (at mid July) is as follows:

Bell 205A – VH-HHC/08, VH-HHD/09, VH-HHM/31, VH-HHW/ 06, VH-JOR/10 and VH-NHA/07 were all returned in April to Frontier Helicopters in Canada. VH-NGl/02, VH-NGJ/03 and VH-NGK/01 are all stored at West Sale awaiting sale. VH-NGM/05 flew into Tullamarine on June 13th and was later airfreighted to Canada on delivery to Nahanni Helicopters. C-GFHQ msn 30081 was the prospective VH-NGN/04. It was never assembled after returning from Canada in late 1988. It was noted in late June in the NSCA workshop in Morwell township. The Bell. 205A was being worked _ on and should have flown from West Sale by the time this is read.

Bell 212 – VH-NSA/14 was sold to Lloyd Helicopters and is presently based at RAAF Williamtown. VH-NSC/17 was ferried from Tindal to Brisbane on June 17th for disposal. VH-NSJ/32 arrived Essendon June 24th for storage. VH-NSN/34 arrived Essendon June 11th for storage. VH-NSU/33 was sold to Lloyd and since early May has been operating on Bougainville Island. VH-NSY/18 was sold to Lloyd and is based at Williamtown. VH-HVX/35 arrived Essendon late April for storage.

Bell 412 – VH-NSB/19 is operating out of Townsville with the North Queensland Emergency Response Group. VH-NSl/15 was sold to Era Helicopters, Alaska and was airfreighted out of Sydney mid June. VH-NSO/11 was also sold to Era Helicopters and was airfreighted out of Sydney in late May. VH-NSP/12 was sold to Lloyd and is presently based at Morwell on Air Ambulance contract. VH-NSV/16 was sold to Lloyd and is based at Tindal.

Do228-200 – VH-NSH/26 and VH-NSZ/28 arrived at Essendon on June 2nd for storage. Do228-200 VH-NSX/29 is presently stored at Bankstown. While on the subject of Do228-200s, we might mention that G-OALF of Regionair arrived in Darwin from Kupang on May 10th. The Dornier is fitted with an ultra violet laser and is carrying out a maritime oil survey of Northern Australia on behalf of BP (Australia).

Don’t forget that our November issue will again carry our Annual Bizjet Census, listing all of the primarily Australasian based corporate jets. Don’t miss it!