Traffic

When Commander 690 VH-NYC of Amann Aviation flew out of Darwin in June 90 destined for Singapore and operations in SE Asia I thought that would be the last we would see of it in Australia, however on 28 June VH-NYC returned again to Darwin for a few days. The Commander now carries the markings of Transway Air Services.

Commander 681B VH-NYE was painted in Tamair colours at Tamworth over the weekend of June 9/10. Commander 681 VH-NYF, which arrived at Moorabbin in July 90, has been static there since. Three of the Amann Commanders, VH-NYB, -NYD and -NYH remain static at Darwin in various states of disrepair. When last viewed in early July the following was relevant: Commander 690 VH-NYB has no engines and is missing some control surfaces, and carries the blue/red colour scheme of Amann Aviation; Commander 681 VH-NYD also has no engines and wears the yellow/green colours of Coastwatch; finally, Commander 681 VH-NYH , which carries the blue/red colours of Amann Aviation, externally looks in good condition.

Tnt Bae 146 Fleet Update

Ansett Airlines’ parent company T NT are receiving a lot of attention in the media these days as a result of their financial problems. In 1986 TNT committed themselves to five years’ production of the BAe 146OT covering a projected 72 aircraft.

To date this has resulted in orders for only 23 (13 -200QTs and 10 -300QTs). Of these 23 aircraft the last to go into service was number 17, which was a BAe 146-300QT delivered in 09/90 to Air Foyle as G-TNTF. BAe 146-300QT production for TNT continues with aircraft now being placed in storage. A joint venture in the Philippines which would involve two BAe 146-300QTs has apparently been put on hold. A visit to Prestwick, Scotland in early July revealed three white tail TNT BAe 146-300QTs in storage. These aircraft were G-BSLZ msn E-3166 , G-BSGI msn E-3168 and G-BSUY msn E-3182. BAe 146-300QT G-BTHT msn E-3194 ferried to the US in April 91 for freighter conversion by PEMCO Aeroplex and should have returned to the UK for storage by the time this is read.

Other BAe 146 news concerns the delivery of the first -100 for Australian Airlink/National Jet and the last -300 for Eastwest.

Australian Airlink BAe 146-100 VH-NJZ msn 1009 arrived in Adelaide on 7 July from Port Hedland. The second Airlink BAe 146-100 VH-NJY msn 1005 was delivered to Adelaide in late July.

After repainting and refurbishment, National Jet BAe 146-100 VH-NJC will be the third of type to enter service with Australian Airlink. National Jet themselves took delivery of BAe 146-200QC VH-NJQ msn 2176 at Adelaide in late July.

Eastwest Airlines accepted delivery of their eighth and final BAe 146-300 VH-EWS at Tamworth on 4 July. With the delivery and entry into service of VH-EWS, Eastwest withdrew their last F28-4000 VH-EWB from operation on 18 July after it flew EW306 from Sydney to Tamworth. Later in the month VH-EWB entered service with Ansett Express.

Regional Airline News

Darwin based Air North International have sold five Cessna 402Cs to the United States. The aircraft were initially flown to Cairns where P&T Aviation fitted ferry tanks in the Cessnas. The trans-Pacific ferry flights were carried out by Southern Cross Aviation. The aircraft concerned were VH-ANO, -UCE, -UCL, -TFD and -UPB which were registered N371R through N375R respectively. All five aircraft flew out of Cairns for Honiara in early July – 2 July N371R, 9 July N374R in company with N375R, and 12 July N372R in company with N373R. Cessna 402C VH-RUY of parent company Rossair arrived in Darwin 28 June to commence flying with Air North though the aircraft continues to carry Rossair titles.

Arnhem Air Charter took delivery of PA-31-350 VH-LGI at Darwin on 12 July. The PA-31 was delivered in Arnhem Air markings and carries the name ‘Oenpelli’. VH-LGI was previously operated by Cairns based DC-3 Queensland. Arnhem Air also took delivery of PA-31-350 VH-DMV in early July. Whether this ex Hazelton, ex Albatross Airlines PA-31 will remain with Arnhem Air is unknown at time of writing.

BAe Jetstream 31 VH-LJR flew out of Tamworth on 3 July on its return ferry to the UK. This ex NetherlinesJetstream was brought to Australia in September 89 for operations by Eastern Australia Airlines prior to delivery of their 4th Jetstream 31 VH-TQM. In June 90 VH-LJR was withdrawn from service by Eastern and flown to Tamworth for storage. T he call sign used by VH-LJR on its first test flight on 29 June and on its ferry to the UK was Tennant 3. T he Tennant call sign has been synonymous for years with Prestwick and aircraft flying for Scottish Aviation and now with British Aerospace. From Tamworth VH-LJR flew via Broken Hill, Alice Springs to Port Hedland. Final destination was Prestwick where VH-LJR arrived on 15 July. After refurbishment VH-LJR will become one of five Jetstreams recently ordered by Scottish airline Loganair.

Air New Zealand Link/Eagle Airways took delivery of Metro Ill N3111D msn AC-547 at Hamilton on 11 June, after the aircraft ferried in from Pago Pago. The Metro Ill later entered service as ZK-PBA. Meanwhile, former Sunstate DHC-6-300 VH-T NM ferried from Cairns to Port Moresby on 8 July on delivery to Islands Helicopters, Rabaul.

Bizjet News

After all the negative news over the last few months it is good to be able to report the arrival of two new bizjets in our region. Cessna 550 N203BE msn 0134 was delivered to the Cook Islands Pearling Company in late May. Based in Raratonga the Cessna 550 replaces in service Commander 690A N721BU msn 11146.

In 12/90 Paul Terry Investments of Albany WA replaced their PA-42 with a Cessna 550. Now in turn the Cessna 550 has been replaced with a Cessna 560. Noted at Sydney on 6 July was 1991 production Cessna 560 N6801H msn 0106. T he Paul Terry Cessna 550 N3986G was traded in on the Cessna 560 and has since departed Australia for sale in Brazil. T he sales of both Cessna 550 N203BE and Cessna 560 N6801H were handled by Australian Jet Charter.

In May Traffic we made comment that Cessna 500 N70454 of Neilsen & Moller was about to be registered VH-NMW. T his is evidently taking longer than planned as in July the Citation was still flying as N70454. Cessna 500 VH-ICN of lcena Aviation was noted at Bankstown in late June carrying Axis Aviation titles. lcena’s second Cessna 500 VH-ICX is presently operating out of the Melbourne Jet Base with Jet City.

Lear 55C N555MX msn 55-142 of Pacific Flight Services flew from Port Moresby to Sydney on 12 July. At time of writing I am unable to establish whether the aircraft was on a business trip or on delivery to Toyota Aviation, who are the recently appointed Lear distributors for the region.

Australian Jet Charter have sold their Falcon 20E VH-RRC in the United States. VH-RRC was imported in December 86 by Rene Rivkin to replace Learjet 35A VH-BQR.

Bandeirante Fleet Update

Aus-Air EMB-110P1 VH-OZG was ferried from Moorabbin to Brisbane in early July on delivery to Flight West Airlines. VH-OZG will be reregistered VH-XFJ prior to entering service with Flight West. Former Norfolk Airlines EMB-110P1 VH-FCK has also been purchased by Flight West and it too is planned to enter service in late July. VH-FCK has been parked at Cairns along with sister aircraft VH-FCG and VH-KIQ since 1 March when Norfolk ceased operations. Flight West have been operating Talair EMB-110P2 P2-RDO since March 91. While in Australia the Bandeirante flew in a combination scheme of Talair colours and Flight West titles. P2-RDO returned to New Guinea on 8 July.

Eastern Australia Airlines EMB-110P1 VH-HVS was transferred to Sunstate Airlines during July. EMB-110P1 VH-WDI returned to Eastern operations on 21/06 after previously being retired. Meanwhile, VH-WDI continues to operate with Eastern in an all white colour scheme.

Across the Tasman, EMB-110P1 N134EM was delivered to Tranzair/Rex Aviation at Wellington on 17 June after ferrying in from Pago Pago and Auckland. N134EM later entered service with Tranzair as ZK-T RJ.

Ferry Flights

The Royal Air Force flew one of their veteran Canberra bombers from the UK to Australia in July to be used on a laser mapping project. Using call sign Black Box 16, the Canberra, WH953 arrived in Townsville on 8 July from Darwin.

Gulfstream I N190PA of the Phoenix Air Group flew out of Cairns to Majuro on 4 July. The reason for the Gulfstream visiting Australia is unknown, however it is certainly many years since a foreign registered Gulfstream 1 has visited our shores. Noted back at Essendon in late June with Associated Airlines was International Business Jets Gulfstream 1 VH-JPJ. T his Gulfstream had previously departed Essendon in late April to operate in SE Asia.

Pacific Aerospace CT-4Bs ZK-FXJ msn CT 4-097 and ZK-FXK msn CT 4-098 were delivered to the British Aerospace/Ansett Flying College at Tamworth on 3 July. Later that day the CT-4Bs were registered VH-YCA and VH-YCB respectively. The aircraft were ferried from Hamilton to Tamworth via Auckland,, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and Port Macquarie. A further 10 CT-4B’smsn099 thru 108 inclusive are planned for delivery to the college as VH-YCC thru VH-YCL.

Former RAAF C-47 A65-102 was noted at Camden in late June carrying US registration N65388.