Civil Register Update

FPO is the first Eagle XTS for the Department of Conservation in WA and although it is the second XTS to fly, it is the first production aircraft as the first, AHH, is used as the company’s demonstration machine. The XTS is built in Fremantle and although the company is largely owned by overseas investors it is an Australian designed and built aircraft and as such let’s hope that it is as successful as other light aircraft production lines on the eastern seaboard such as the Light Wing, Jabiru and Skyfox.

Brasillia XFZ is the fourth of its type to join the Flight West Airlines fleet in Brisbane and has an interesting history. It was delivered new in 1989 to TACV Cabo Verde Airlines, the national airline of Cape Verde Islands. The islands are situated in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Senegal, North Africa. and the Brasillia was used on inter island routes along with two Twin Otters, two CASA 212s and two HS. 748s. Aztec NXJ has returned from PNG where it has operated as P2-NXJ since October 1991. Prior to that it flew in Australia as ERT but has elected to continue using its last three letters in preference to it original markings.

Of the aircraft that have changed registrations, Navajo Chieftain LNA has become MKC with Moores Air Charter at Toowoomba, not MKR as first reported. Super King Air HTU has been sold to Saint Barbara Mines and has adopted the more appropriate registration SBM, and Bell LongRanger HQY is now with Helicopters Australia and has been changed to WCS in keeping with the rest of the fleet. Helicopters Australia, part of the Helicopters New Zealand Group, took over West Coast Helicopters of Perth some time ago hence the WC registration prefix. Cessna Citation AQS was originally registered AQR during November last year and as such appeared in the March listing owned by a Cairns company. Since then it has changed to AQS, firstly with Austin Jet of Austin, Texas and now with Shortstop Jet Charter, although the Citation is believed to never have carried AQR but been delivered to Melbourne as AQS.

Six aircraft have returned to the register this month, three after extended layups and three after very short periods off the register. Cessna Chancellor CBT has been operating in PNG since June 1993 but now returns to its Townsville base whilst Aztec JEN has been repaired after damage reported only last month. Helicopter Resources’ JetRanger WNA was reported as going to Malaysia last month but it seems the deal has fallen through as the helicopter was back on the register two weeks later. Tri-Pacer RDB returned to flying condition after an absence of a decade while, Auster WKY returns after a thirteen year spell.

Tiger Moth AKQ returns to the air after thirty years of inac- tivity. The Tiger Moth was from the RAAF during August 1950 when it was first registered AKQ. Eight years later it changed to AYY and two years after that it became BYF. Twelve months later it joined the Royal Victorian Aero Club as RVC but only flew using this registration for three months before changing to ACJ. Finally, after being on the register for fourteen years and using five different registrations the aircraft crashed at Uranquinty NSW on December 8 1964. Thirty years later and after a complete rebuild, this venerable Tiger is flying again using its original markings of AKQ.

Auster WKY was built in England during 1952 and carried British markings G-AMTE until it was exported to Australia in February 1978. A lot of work must have been done on the aircraft when it arrived in Australia as it was not registered here until three years later. Unfortunately it only lasted five months in Australian skies as it was deregistered in July 1981. Let’s hope that it lasts a lot longer than that on its second time around as WKY. Piper Tri-Pacer RDB was imported new to Australia during November 1957, at the height of Tri-Pacer production. It was first registered GMM and on December 14 1961 it was damaged by high winds during a freak storm. It was rebuilt and became RQB with the Royal Queensland Aero Club, it being the second Tri-Pacer to use these markings. The club disposed of the machine just over 12 months later and it was reregistered RDB which required only a few strokes of the sign writer’s brush. It retained these markings for the next 20 years before being taken out of use on July 19 1984. The aircraft now joins a growing number of Tri-Pacers in Australian skies as the type becomes a popular classic aeroplane.

Unfortunately a large percentage of the deletions section this month is made up of aircraft that have crashed, several involving fatalities. The pilot of Commander 690 BSS lost his life when his machine crashed into the sea in mysterious circumstances whilst making an approach to Mascot airport. Popular Queensland aviator Magnus Liset was killed when his home built Long Eze, MJL, crashed near his home of Oakey. Magnus finished building his Long Eze in 1987 and since then had become a regular at local airshows and had completed several long distance flights in his machine.

Aerospatiale Squirrels HBD and HRJ have left Australia for their third season with Peace Helicopters in Canada and will presumably use their previous Canadian registrations of C-GYHT and C-GNPU before returning to this country in six months time. As predicted, the Terry Group’s TBM 700, PTG, has been sold in Singapore after the untimely death of Paul Terry in Honolulu last year and the last of the Compass MD 80s, LNI, has finally been deleted from the register even though the aircraft was reclaimed by the lessors, Irish Aerospace, some time ago. Fokker Friendship FNO, which has been in open storage in England for some time awaiting a buyer, was taken into a hangar at Exeter during December for preparation for delivery to a Saudi Arabian customer. The elderly Fokker was to have joined MMS and MMV in the Expresso Aereo fleet in Peru but that deal did not eventuate. Four more aircraft have been sold in New Zealand including Maule MSM which was delivered via Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands to Auckland on January 5/6 and JetRanger HRB, which was noted at Ardmore, Auckland on January 7, will join a New Zealand helicopter rescue service. Two other aircraft which have been delivered to New Zealand are Cessna 182 EKF and Cessna 177 TXX. Both aircraft flew via Norfolk Island, EKF on the 1st and TXX on January 23, and so can be expected to appear in the deletion section next month.

In the change of owner/operator section three aircraft have gone to overseas interests although they may not be exported. Citation LJL is now owned by PDL Holdings of Christchurch New Zealand, Mitsubishi MU2 MIT has gone to United Nevada of the USA and BAe 125 PAB is with Asia Pacific Air of Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Locally the four Nord Mohawk’s HEI, HIX, HKS and HKT which were offered at auction recently have been acquired by Mr R Wright of Kangaroo Point Qld. The aircraft are believed to be the basis for a new Brisbane based airline although the route details have not been released yet.

Some details of Australian aircraft sold abroad recently have now come to light. Boeing 727s TBG and TBN are now active in Mexico wearing XA-SJU and XA-SJE markings whilst King Air WJT, deleted in the November issue, is now based at Brigham City, Utah USA flying as N7775. Three recently exported helicopters are Squirrel HRZ, now N29LH, Hughes 500 ADK now flying with Asia Pacific Helicopters of Rand South Africa as ZS-RDU and JetRanger SBC which now flies in England as G-BVGA. The JetRanger was in fact exported to the USA and became N54AJ but was very quickly resold to Findon Air Services of Shoreham, England. Another aircraft to change owners soon after leaving Australia was Citation LJK. It was also sold to the USA and became N68GA but, in less than one month found its way to South Africa where it now flies for Vrede Textiles and is marked as ZS-NII. Meanwhile in India the first of Rajair’s Fokker 50s has become VT-RAA. This was previously FNF and two further aircraft, FNE and FNH, are expected to become VT-RAB and VT-RAC respectively.

There are only a few 1993/94 Australian Aviation Civil Aircraft Registers left now so if you do not have one yet, now is the time to order. This 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 Qld 4012 (phone 074 98 3757) 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 now available.