Civil Register Update

The second warbird listed will not have the same impact at air shows as the Trojan but is none the less an important part of Australia’s service history. The Cessna 305A Bird Dog, flown by Australian pilots in Vietnam in the observation role, was developed from the Cessna 170 by taking the basic 170 airframe and redesigning the rear fuselage and window to give a 360 degree panoramic view. Cessna also added clear plastic panels in the roof and a wider door to accommodate a stretcher. Mr Young’s Bird Dog, LPH, is the second to be registered in Australia and is one of fourteen imported by Col Pay a couple of years ago. The official USAAF serial quoted, 52-8445, should be treated with suspicion as this is from a group allocated to Republic F-84Thunderjets. The type is destined to become a very popular warbird in this part of the world due to its low initial outlay and meagre running costs because of its compatibility with the Cessna 170, 180 and 185 range. There are also four Bird Dogs in New Zealand, one of which, ZK-FYA, is flying in full US Army camouflage. A new type to the Australian register is CA22 Skyfox, LRF. Calair have used thebasic CA21 airframe, with minor improvements, and added the Austrian built Rotax 912 engine. This four cylinder,horizontally opposed, four stroke engine utilises dual ignition, andhas an unusual cooling system where the barrels are air cooled but the heads are water cooled. Unlike the CA22, the new Skyfox’s propeller is driven through a gearbox and boasts 1,000ft/min climb, 80 knots cruise and four hours range. Although most ultralight aircraft are registered on the Australian Ultralight Federation register and therefore do not appear on these pages, we can expect to see an increasing number on the VH-register as this enables the aircraft to be used above 5,000ft and in controlled airspace. Only one helicopter joins the register this month. Aerospatiale Dauphin AHO is the first 365N model in Australia and was delivered from New Zealand on 29 April where its last owner was Fay Richwhite of Auckland. The N model differs from the earlier C model by more powerful engines, increased fuel capacity, a slightly modified fuselage shape and retractable wheels. It joins seven other Dauphins in Australia, all C models, three operated by the Victorian Police (PVA, PVF and PVK) and four in medivac roles (HCF, HRM, LSL and LSR).

PAC Airtrainers YCC and YCD are the fourth and fifth aircraft for the British Aerospace/Ansett Flying School at Tamworth and will be joined by a fleet of Socata TBM-700 instead of the planned Piper Warriors. The change of type is the result of Piper’s financial problems and the supply of a number of Piper Senecas as twin trainers is also in doubt. Two BAe 146s and a Metroliner make up the airliner contingency. in the listing although the latter will be operated in cargo configuration. EWS is the eighth and final 146 for Eastwest, whilst NJQ is the fourth and final aircraft for National Jet Systems. National Jet’s first aircraft, NJC,has joined two newly imported aircraft, NJY and NJZ, on Australian Airlink’s routes while the latest -200 Quick Change model, NJQ, will replace NJC on the company’s South Australian contract routes. NJQ was originally built for Princess Air, an English cargo airline founded by Ivor Burstin in 1989 and based at Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Princess Air ceased operations on 27 February 1991before their second 146, G-PRCS, could be delivered and it is this aircraft that has come to Australia as NJQ.

Metroliner UZS is not new to Australian skies it was previously operated by Eastern Pacific Airlines as EPB. It has been reregistered to match the other two Metroliners of the Mixborough fleet, UZQ and UZY, and will be used by Jetcraft on overnight cargo flights from Archerfield to various north Queensland ports. The additional capacity provided by the Metroliner means that Jetcraft are able to dispose of their two Mitsubishis, SMZ and UZN. The former aircraft has been sold in America, and although the latter has been sold locally, with the used aircraft market in Australia in an unprecedented depression it probably will not be long before the second machine is also sold offshore. The deletions section this month shows three aircraft withdrawn from use and two of these can be expected to be restored in the future. The other machine, Gulfstream FLO, may be withdrawn pending sale overseas. Theelderly Grumman hashad a number of owners since its retirement by Comalco but has not done much work and has spent the majority of its time on the ground at Essendon. If indeed FLO is exported it will be theend of an eraas it is the last of four of its type to have served in Australia. Several aircraft have been sold overseas including Hughes 369 FTS to Germany and Falcon 20 RRC to America.

The much publicised Hazelton Airlines Beech 1900 JHP has eventually been sold in Canada where it is operating with Central Mountain Air at Smithers BC. In an attractive red and white colour scheme it works alongside an interesting array of types used by CMA, including a Turbo Otter on floats, a Beech 18 and two ex RCAF DC-3s. In an unusual move Air Tractor FRP has returned to the USA and whilst Aerostar UYX was also sold in the states, it unfortunately did not survive the delivery flight and crashed at Pago Pago. Bandierante XFH has returned to PNG after only fifteen months with Flight West Airlines and although Bell 212 BEE is shown as sold in England in fact it has not been sold but returns to Bristow’s parent company in the UK. Longranger LTH actually went to the USA sometime ago but has only recently been taken off the local register. With no aircraft returning to the register and very few changes of ownership to talk about, we take this opportunity to update some information previously reported in this column. Cessna Caravan TFT which was shown as being withdrawn from use in the November issue in fact has returned to the USA and took up its old American marks N9421F and Cessna Stationair Amphibian SFU which was shown in the March issueas sold in New Caledonia turned up in Vanuatu with Air Club Vila at Port Vila as Y J-RV15. Islander SBD which was cancelled on 9 January 1990 is now with Paradise Air Services of Palau, Philippines and flying as RP-C1048 along with an ex Solair, Solomon Islands Islander H4-WPB/RP-C1047. Sikorsky S-62A NWC which went to New Zealand earlier this year was in fact not registered there but moved on to America where it is now flying with Maydays Inc of Pembroke Pines FL as N4322N. There are several interesting aircraft in Australia at the present time, not yet on the register, and all can be expected to be included in this column in the future. These include Lockheed Lodestar N54LH which spent some time in Mexico, Fairchild Argus N77648, Tripacer N3466Z, two KiwiTiger Moths ZK-BBF and ZK-ATC, German registered but French built Cessna 150 Aerobat D-EENH and three ex Thai Air Force Chipmunks. Two ex PNG aircraft are also due, Talair Twin Otter P2-RDZ and Douglas Airways Trislander P2-DNP.

The latter having flown here before as BSP before its sale to an American broker and then to Douglas Airways in September 1983. A great deal of correspondence has taken place since the publication of the Australian Aviation 1991/92 Civil Aircraft Register concerning Super Cub ECN. The aircraft is shown in the registeras a PA-18 Super Cub although it has been described as a PA-19 in CAA records since its arrival in 1983. The PA-19 was the designator that Piper gave to the military version of the Super Cub and in some quarters it is believed that all ex military aircraft should therefore be PA-19s. In fact there were only three PA-19s built during 1949, N5011H (19-01), N5572H (19-02) and N5417H (19-3). These three were equipment trials aircraft and after that Piper decided that all machines, whether civil or military would be PA-18s. ECN was built for a 1951 fiscal year USAF contract and was one of 382 serial numbers between 51-15272 and 51-15653 designated L-18C-PI Super Cubs procured for the French Air Force through the Mutual Defence Aid Program. After service in France it went onto the German and then Norwegian civil registers and it was whilst the aircraft was in Europe that it may have acquired its erroneous designator. The 1991/92 register is still available from AustAirData, PO Box 1142, Toombul, Qld 4012 at a cost of only $9. 95 including postage within Australia. The register is also available on computer disk at a cost of $50. 00 in IBM format either in ASCII, suitable for most word processors, or dBase IV, compatible with dBase Ill on either 5 1/4 or 3 1/2 inch HD or DD disks.

The computer data is updated monthly so whenever you purchase the disks you can be sure that it is the very latest information available with the added advantage ofbeing able to update the data through this column each month.