Aircraft of the ADF- A5 Sud Alouette

No 1 Air Trials Unit (lATU) of the RAAF had been operating two Bristol Sycamore helicopters (A91-1 and A9l-2) in support of WRE at Woomera since the fifties, but with the withdrawal of A91-2in 1960, several newtypes were considered as replacements. One type was the Bell UH-lB Iroquois, which had already been ordered by the RAAF (refer p30 Oct 92 AA), but on the grounds of cost and ready availability the Alouette III was selected and three were ordered in October 1963.

The Alouette II first flew on February 28 1959, following the smaller successful Alouette II. Made by Sud Aviation (which later became the Aerospatiale Helicopter Corporation), the SE3160-3 Alouette III entered production in 1961 and finally 1500 of this model were produced. The Alouette (Lark) had been by far the most successful European helicopter, owing a lot to the Turbomeca company which was the first in the world to develop light turbine aero engines. The later Aerospatiale Ecureuil (Squirrel), also with a Turbomeca turboshaft, was to become even more popular.

The three Australian aircraft were shipped direct from Sud Aviation, Marseilles, to Adelaide and transported by road to Woomera in a knocked down, crated condition. The first two aircraft A5-166 and A5-167 (Sud constructor’s numbers 1166 and 1167) were received at Woomera on February 7 1964, followed by the third (A5-165) on February 19. The aircraft were assembled, handed over to IATU on 10 April and the first test flight was made at Woomera on April 16 by SqnLdr DC White in A5-167.

The RAAF operated Alouettes were powered by the 870 shaft hp Artouste IIIB turboshaft, derated to 550-shp for the hot conditions of the Woomera Desert. While in service with lATU, the duties included the recovery of vital parts of missiles fired at the Woomera Rocket Range, participation in trials programmes and general transport around the range area.

During service with the RAAF, A5-166requiredrepairswhich necessitated its return to the Sud factory in Marseilles. The aircraft was shipped to France in June 1965 and was received back at lATU in May 1966. On April 12 1967 the aircraft were transferred from RAAF operation at lATU to the Department of Supply and, issued with the civilian registrations VH-UPN, VH-UPO and VH-UPP, the Alouettes were operated under contract to Shorts. After civil operation, they were eventually stored at Woomera and with over fifteen years of utilisation, each aircraft had only about 2600 hours flying time.

The Department of Administrative Services invited tenders by June 26 1980 for the disposal of two Otters (Al00-390/ VH-UPL and Al00-392/UPM) and the three Alouettes with associated spare parts. The Otters were sold to Canada at $61,592 each. The three Alouettes were bought by Roberts Aircraft Inc ofCasa Grande, Arizona, at between $118,000 and $132,000 each, being struck off the Australian register on August 19 1980