Civil Register Update

The original Stephens Akro was a single seat sporting monoplane designed in the USA specifically for amateur construction and utilised a 180hp Lycoming engine and a distinctive mid wing and tailwheel configuration. Laser Aerobatics of Glen Iris, Vic took the basic Akro design and improved it greatly to provide Australian builders with a fully aerobatic machine stressed to +12 and -11G and capable of prolonged inverted flight. Laser redesigned the aerodynamics of the original, especially around the cockpit area to give much smoother lines and the suggested powerplant is a 200hp Lycoming. IAC is the fifth Lazer to be completed in Australia and was shown, almost complete, at the Caboolture Airshow earlier this year. Four of the five are still active in this country whilst the fifth, AUZ, was exported to England in November 1986 and now flies with the Rushett Flying Group at Chessington marked as G-BMZZ.

Associated Airlines’ new Gulfstream IV ASQ is a brand new example of this very popular corporate jet, whilst at the other end of the spectrum ANC is the latest example of the Australian designed and made Kavanagh balloons. Beech Bonanza N55626, which was displayed at last years Avalon Airshow, is now SIB with the Singapore Flying College at Jandakot. Meanwhile a second F33A Bonanza was ferried Christmas Island Pago Pago Nadi enroute for Australia during April and may end up with the same flying college.

Four aircraft are returning to the register this issue, a home built Corby Starlet, a Tri-Pacer, a Pawnee and a Hiller helicopter. The Starlet ATW was the tenth amateur-built aircraft to be constructed in Queensland and was completed during December 1976. It only flew for sixteen months before being deregistered in March 1978 but is now back in the air with its owner/builder Mr Atkinson of Cairns. Piper Tri-Pacer UEN was registered as BWP when it first came to Australia during November 1958. It changed to UEN in 1963 and flew regularly until it was damaged by astorm during February 1981.

Pawnee PEG also returns to the register after damage. The 1964 model Pawnee was damaged at Blenheim Qld on July 26 1978 but has been rebuilt and is now owned by Retsof P/L, the Australian agents for the Polish PZL Dromader agricultural aircraft. Also owned by Retsof is the most interesting machine to be restored to the register this month, Hiller THA. The elderly Hiller helicopter was the first of four of the type imported by TAA between 1956 and 1958 for crop spraying and survey work. THA crash landed in a rice field after the tail rotor departed the aircraft while spraying at Humpty Doo, NT on March 3 1957. The damage was repaired and the aircraft was sold to Hercules Transport in April 1960 after TAA reequipped with two later model Hiller UH-12Es during 1960 and a Bell 473 Ranger in 1961. Another Bell 47J was acquired during 1966 but by 1970 TAA had left the helicopter industry to concentrate on their thriving RPT routes. Exactly half of the aircraft shown in the Deletions section have been sold overseas including Tiger Moth ALC which has gone to Germany. New Zealand continues to be a ready market for Australian Cessna singles with five more being listed along with a Bandeirante, PGS, from Skywest and a DC-3, PWN, from Dick Lang in Adelaide. The DC-3 will join an ex Australian Ag-Cat at Queenstown in the Pionair Adventures fleet and will be used for sight seeing flights around the Fiordland region of the South Island as well as charters.

The USA is the destination for six exports this month including another CAA Gulfstream Commander, LTO, a Warrior JYK and an Aerobat JYS from the Civil Air Training Academy at Cessnock NSW and Cessna 414 FOF. The Cessna 414 is a RAM conversion using winglets, Q tip props and engine improvements. Islander OCH and Bandeirante HVS have both been sold in PNG with the Bandit now with Airlink at Rabaul.

Of the five aircraft deleted due to accidents the only details available are those of Navajo UFO in which the pilot died when he tried to make a forced landing on a road. First reports indicate that the aircraft flipped onto its back after clipping trees at the edge of the road and was completely wrecked.

Aquatic Air has changed its name to Sydney Harbour Seaplanes and their three Beaver Floatplanes AQA, AQU and AQV can be found in the Change of Owner/Operator section this month. The three Beavers have been a common sight and sound on the Rose Bay (Sydney) to Palm Beach (Northern Beaches) route for the last eighteen years and at one time this was the only VFR RPT operation in Australia.

Another Beaver Floatplane operator to change its name recently is Great Barrier Reef Flying Boats. Now known as Tropic Air the company intends to continue to service the Whitsundays with Beavers HQE, JDX and SSG and Islander ISD but was also looking toward much bigger things with a proposal to service Japan from Proserpine with a leased Boeing 767 though this has since been overtaken by events.

Oxley Airlines has withdrawn Super King Airs from their Lord Howe Island routes which in turn has enabled them to trade seven of their nine Chieftains to Hawker Pacific. Hawkers have resold LHD and STO to Singleton Air Services and RUI and WGG to Mr. J Green of Lord Howe who has been associated with Oxleys for some years. The company’s sole training aircraft, Piper Warrior MOX, has also been sold through Hawker Pacific to Bligh Aviation at Bankstown.

Australia’s only Aerospatiale TBM 700 has been acquired by the Terry Group in WA although the future of this aircraft is in doubt after the recent tragic death of Paul Terry in a helicopter training accident in Honolulu. The transfer of the ten Tobagos XYA to XYJ from Hawker de Havilland to the Australian Aviation College is of course only paperwork as the College is owned by HdH.

Subsequent Kiwi registrations of three aircraft listed in the July deletions section are now known. Kawasaki Bell 47G AHH is now ZK-HIG with Brian Atkinson of Hanmar Springs and Cessna 185 Skywagon FMZ is flying with T McKee of Milton as ZK-JCW. Cessna 185 CMV is now owned by Airflite of Mosgiel and did not need much artwork to become ZK-CMV, in fact, as locally flown New Zealand aircraft need not display their nationality prefix, only the VH- had to be removed.

In America Beech Duke DUU (June deletions) is now flying as N6205Z and Beech 200 Super King Air has returned to N40QN which it wore before coming to Australia. Another possible candidate for sale in the USA is Cessna 210L UBK which flew from Vienna to Gander via Shannon, Ireland on April 17.

Ex Compass MD-83 LNH now flies Scandinavian internal routes registered SE-DPU whilst closer to home Cherokee Lance WCJ, deleted in the March issue is based in Manila with J Paras as RP-C2613. Cessna Citation KDI which operated in Australia between July 1981 and May 1983 as KDI is now resident in Venezuela. After seeing service in the USA, South Africa and Iceland since leaving Australia it now carries the markings of YV-888CP and is based at Branom with Inversiones.

More comprehensive details have come to light about two aircraft reported damaged in the March issue. Cessna Agwagon JSU was spreading superphosphate 18km north of Orange NSW on October 30 1990 when it came to grief. The aircraft was operating from a gravel and grass strip in very light tailwind conditions. During one takeoff run it had just become airborne when the machine encountered sink. The pilot dumped the load however this did not prevent the aircraft from stalling and the right wing struck the ground and broke off. The pilot was unhurt and reported that differing wind conditions at the loading area and the takeoff point was probably the cause of the accident.

Cessna 182Q RUU was mustering 40km west of Jackson Qld when, during a tight left hand turn using 10° of flap at about 100ft (31m) above ground level, the aircraft suddenly flipped inverted and struck the ground. The 275 hour private pilot had about 40hrs mustering experience and he and his observer miraculously escaped with only minor injuries.

The new 1993/94 Australian Aviation Civil Aircraft Register is now available. This year the register has been expanded to include ultralights and powered hang gliders (trikes) but even with the increase in the number of pages we have been able to maintain the same price as last year. This is the only publication available that lists registration, type, construction number and owner/operator’s name and address in an easy to read tabulated format. Nearly 10,000 aircraft are listed including those registered with the Civil Aviation Authority, the Australian Ultralight Federation and the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia. The register is only available from AustAirData, PO Box 1142, Toombul, 4012 (074) 95 8496 at a cost of $10. 95 including postage within Australia (add 50% for overseas air mail). Details are also available on IBM compatible computer disk in dbase IV or ASCII format at a cost of $50. 00 and credit card facilities are also available.