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Flight West Airlines’ fifth EMB-120RT Brasilia VH-XFQ, entered service in early March though surprisingly the aircraft appeared from its preservice maintenance painted in the colours of Flight West rather than that of Ansett Australia as was expected. Flight West was planning to take delivery of a sixth EMB-120RT ZS-MMB msn 120135 in late April. This Brasilia, like its predecessor VH-XFQ, was purchased from Sun Air in South Africa.

Flight West DHC-8-102 VH-XFT has been leased to Ansett New Zealand with the aircraft departing Brisbane on its trans Tasman delivery flight on March 15. Before departure the Dash 8 was painted in the colours of Ansett New Zealand though it retained its Australian registration. Flight West sold King Air 200 VH-XFB to Skytop Aviation, Sturup, Sweden last December with the aircraft being registered SE-LDM. Flight West added Thangool (Biloela) to its network from January 2 with a daily King Air 200 service from Brisbane, however from January 22 it increased the weekday schedule to twice daily. From April 10 Flight West added Hervey Bay to its network with a twice daily Brasilia service.

Hazelton Airlines sold its Short 360 VH-MJU to Fairchild as part payment on its recent order for three Metro 23s. In the interim however the Short 360 remains in service with Hazelton having been leased back from Fairchild.

Impulse Airlines added a fourth Beech 1900D, VH-IMC msn UE-149, to its fleet in late April. With the delivery and entry into service of this aircraft Impulse will withdraw from operation and sell its Beech C99 aircraft VH-OXB, -OXC, -OXD and -OXE. Impulse BAe 748-2B VH-IMK was noted crew training at Tamworth in February and by late March Impulse planned to commence BAe 748 freight operations over routes previously serviced by the Beech 1900D aircraft in its fleet. Impulse terminated services on the Tamworth to Newcastle route in December. Corporate Jetstream 31 VH-PAJ was registered to Impulse Airlines on January 19 with the aircraft being delivered to Sydney via Darwin, Mount Isa and Tamworth on February 25.

Kendell Airlines took delivery of its seventh Metro 23, VH-KEX, at its Wagga base on February 27. As N3030X, the Metro 23 ferried across the Pacific from San Antonio to Wagga via Oakland, Honolulu, Pago Pago and Sydney.

King Leopold Air was advertised for sale in the West Australian newspaper in early March.

Sunstate Airlines terminated services to Thangool (Biloela) on December 31.

Tamair, effective February 27, increased its Metro III schedules on the Tamworth to Sydney route to 45 return flights weekly. Friday is the busiest day for Tamair with nine flights scheduled on the route.

Mohawk 298 In Australia

When Majestic Airlines ceased regional airline operations on Feb 18, it joined a growing list of companies who have unsuccessfully operated the unique Mohawk 298 in Australia. To date the airlines concerned are Lloyd Air, Majestic, Par Avion, Queensland Pacific and Southern Pacific. This then is the story to date of the Mohawk 298 in Australia.

In early 1987 Lloyd Air, who was then an established regional airline operator in South Australia, contracted to buy four Mohawk 298 aircraft previously operated in the United States by PanAm Express. On June 1 ’87 Lloyd Air commenced operations out of Brisbane on routes in south east Queensland as the designated Ansett carrier and it was to this branch of its operations that the Mohawk’s were to be directed.

The first Mohawk 298 to be delivered was N29814 which arrived in Adelaide on June 29 after a long ferry flight from the US via the Middle East. Later registered VH-HEI the Mohawk 298 was ferried to Brisbane on August 31, however it was November 11 before the Mohawk eventually carried its first fare paying passenger in Australia. The second Mohawk 298 N29811 arrived in Adelaide on September 9 having being ferried across the Pacific. Later registered VH-HIX the Mohawk was delivered to Lloyd Air in Bribane on November 25. On January 17 ’88 Lloyd took delivery of its third and fourth Mohawk 298s at Brisbane when N29812 and N29817 ferried in from the United States. Later registered VH-HKS and VH-HKT the Mohawks entered service with Lloyd in June and August respectively mainly being used on services to Bundaberg and Gladstone.

Lloyd sold its fixed wing RPT operation to Norfolk Island Airways in November ’88 however the four Mohawks continued to fly out of Brisbane but now under the operating name of Queensland Pacific Airlines. Between November ’89 and February ’90 Queensland Pacific wet leased its Mohawks to Par Avion who operated the aircraft between Launceston, Devonport and Melbourne/Essendon. In March 91 Queensland Pacific Airlines ceased operations due to financial problems.

The following month Southern Pacific Regional Airlines emerged to become the next operator of the Mohawk 298 aircraft when they commenced flights from Brisbane to Bundaberg and Gladstone. Ansett Express became involved with the Mohawk 298 in February ’91 when it leased an aircraft from Queensland Pacific to operate its Sydney to Dubbo route. With Queensland Pacific ceasing operations it was not long however before Southern Pacific were leasing Mohawk aircraft to Ansett Express for services from Sydney to Dubbo and from Sydney to Tamworth. In February ’93 this agreement was cancelled shortly after Ansett Express had an inflight incident with one of the leased Mohawks. In April ’93 Southern Pacific ceased operations and the four Mohawk 298s were placed in storage.

In late ’93 the four Mohawk 298s were sold at auction to the owner of the UK based Majestic group of companies. It was no surprise therefore when in May ’94 Majestic Airways commenced operations between Brisbane and Hervey Bay. Majestic operated Mohawk 298s VH-HEI and VH-HIX while VH-HKS and VH-HKT remained grounded at Bundaberg. With Majestic ceasing regional airline operations it will be interesting to see who next attempts to meet the challenge of the Mohawks.

Airline News

Ansett Australia Fokker F28-1000 VH-FKF was withdrawn from service at Brisbane on February 24. The aircraft however was later returned to service due to current day problems in the Ansett fleet. By the time this is read VH-FKF should be parked at Brisbane Airport in company with its sistership VH-FKA.

Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services lease a number of its aircraft to overseas airlines under the register of Australia. For those amongst us who collect photographs of Australian registered airliners these aircraft are becoming an increasing source of frustration as they are very difficult to catch. The AWAS Australian registered fleet presently stands at seven aircraft as follows: VH-ITA Boeing 767-33AER Alitalia; VH-ITB Boeing 767-33AER Alitalia; VH-NOE Boeing 767-33AER Vietnam Airlines; VH-RMA Boeing 767-284ER Vietnam Airlines; VH-AWE Boeing 757-23APF Gulf Air; VH-OAM Boeing 737-33A Oman Air; VH-OAN Boeing 737-33A Oman Air. Of these aircraft only the Vietnam Airlines Boeing 767-284ER VH-RMA is seen regularly in Australia.

Changes are about to take place to the Ansett Worldwide fleet. The two Oman Air Boeing 737-33As are being replaced in service with Airbus A320-200 aircraft and by the time this is read VH-OAM and VH-OAN will have been cancelled from the Australian register. While we did at least get to see VH-OAM in Australia during its delivery flight from the United States to Oman the closest VH-OAN ever got to our shores was Kuala Lumpur. In June Ansett Worldwide will lease a third Boeing 767-33AER to Alitalia and therefore place another elusive overseas based airliner on the Australian register.

Australian air Express changed its leased Southern Air Transport MDC DC-8-70F in this period. On February 17 MDC DC-8-71F N872SJ using callsign Southern Air 2440 operated its last flight for Australian air Express from Melbourne to Perth. On February 20 Southern Air Transport DC-8-73F N875SJ arrived in Perth from Cocos as flight number 8JM1009. N875SJ operated its first flight for Australian air Express later that evening as the delayed SJ2441 to Melbourne. At the time of writing the MDC DC-8-73F N875SJ was planned to stay with Australian air Express until late March when Ansett Air Freight Boeing 727-277F VH-RMX will return to service after its extensive maintenance lay-up.

Charrack Air is a new Melbourne based freight airline planning to commence operations in July using a Lockheed Electra. Charrack Air has been advertising in the national press for engineers and flightcrew for the Electra. It is reported that Charrack Air plans to import an Electra previously operated by Zantop International Airlines of Detroit, Michigan. We certainly wish them well as the sight and sound of a Electra will be most welcome at Australian airports.

Overseas Visitors

In early March aircraft enthusiasts at Brisbane Airport were treated to the sight of a number of United States military aircraft that were visiting Australia in association with Exercise Downunder ’95 which commenced at RAAF Amberley on March 6. Among the aircraft arriving at Amberley were six USAF F-16s and six USAF RF-4Cs however most of the ‘heavies’ visited Brisbane. Noted at Brisbane were: United States Navy MDC C-9B Skytrain II 161266 code ‘NY’ on February 27; United States Navy C-20G (Gulfstream IV) 165152 on March 5; and United States Navy Boeing E-6A 162784 code ‘VQ-3’ on March 6.

From March 9 through 11 no fewer than six Boeing C-135 aircraft were noted at Brisbane. These being Boeing KC-135Es 71485 of the Tennessee Air National Guard, 10281 of the Arizona ANG and 91509 of the California ANG along with Boeing KC-135Rs 23500 of the Wisconsin ANG and 14839 of the New York ANG. Without doubt however, the star visitor was Boeing EC-135K 53118. This aircraft made its first flight on August 31 1956 and was the first of 732 KC-135A tanker aircraft delivered to the United States Air Force/Strategic Air Command. 53118 is one of two KC-135A aircraft modified to EC-135K standard which are used as airborne relay aircraft to shepherd deploying cells of fighter aircraft on intercontinental flights. The veteran Boeing currently operates with the USAF Air Combat Command out of Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.

On March 12 Federal Express Boeing 747-245F N640FE and N641FE brought in cars for the Indy car race on the Gold Coast. Also noted at Brisbane on March 15 was S A Express DHC-8-314 ZS-NMH which had arrived from New Zealand and was enroute to the Australian International Air Show at Avalon.

Melbourne Airport also attracted a couple of early arrivals for Avalon on March 17 when Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft RA-76556 and Sukhoi Su-27 598 flew in from Singapore. Arriving at Perth on February 22 from Kiev via Colombo and Jakarta was Ukraine Airlines Tupolev Tu-154B UR-85154 using callsign ‘UKR 5537’. The Tupolev brought in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Odessa for performances at the Festival of Perth. Air India returned to Australia on March 2 when it commenced twice weekly service (Tues/Thur) into Perth from Bombay, Bangalore and Singapore. The first flight was operated by Airbus A310-304 VT-EJL callsign ‘Air India 434’.

Pacific Island News

Air Nauru Boeing 737-4L7 C2-RN10 was leased to Air New Zealand for domestic operations from February 19. On February 25 C2-RN10 was replaced on the lease by Boeing 737-4L7 C2-RN11. Air Nauru introduced a new set of schedules on February 21 which allowed their international operations to be flown by one Boeing 737-4L7 while the second aircraft operated domestic services for Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand wet leased Britannia Airways Boeing 757-204 G-BYAH as a result of the bulk of the Air New Zealand Boeing 737-200 fleet being grounded due to engine problems. Britannia Airways 757-204 G-BYAH arrived in Auckland on February 26 and entered service with Air New Zealand on March 1 on the Auckland/Christchurch route.

Airlines of the Marshall Islands will take delivery of its first Saab 2000 in late May. Airlines of the Marshall Islands will initially base the Saab in Nadi, which is a more central location for this new state of the art airliner.

Ansett New Zealand has leased DHC-8-102 VH-XFT from Flight West Airlines with the aircraft being delivered across the Tasman on March 15. VH-XFT which will be registered ZK-NEW will join the former Newmans Dash 8 ZK-NEY and ZK-NEZ in the Ansett New Zealand fleet. Ansett New Zealand will use the third Dash 8 to open a new route from Christchurch to Nelson as well as to supplement the existing BAe 146 route from Christchurch to Invercargill.

Polynesian Airlines leased its Boeing 737-3Q8 5W-ILF to Air New Zealand for domestic operations in late February.

Ferry Flights

Papua New Guinea operator Hevi Lift took delivery of a second DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, P2-HCX, at its Mount Hagen base on March 2. The Twin Otter, which was last operated by STAP in Bolivia as CP-2035, was ferried across the Pacific from Santa Fe in New Mexico where it had been in storage. Also recently delivered to Hevi Lift were two Bell 212 helicopters which were purchased from Asahi Airways of Jakarta. The Bell 212s PK-EBN and PK-EBO have been registered to Hevi Lift as P2-HCV and P2-HCW respectively.

KSS Aviation based in Lae has also added a second DHC-6-300 Twin Otter to its fleet. Registered P2-KSK, the Twin Otter was delivered to KSS Aviation in December.

Aeromil is to import a BAe 146-100 into its Maroochydore base in late April. It is reported that this aircraft is msn E1004 which was last operated by Hamburg Airlines as G-OJET. Aeromil is also advertising for sale Metro III N31072 msn AC-504 for delivery in April. While on the subject of Metros it was noticeable that the Newcastle Aviation logo was being removed from its aircraft in mid March.

Air Tractor AT-802A N6069W msn 0014 ferried into Brisbane from Honiara on February 28 while PA-31 Navajo N6476L arrived in Auckland from Pago Pago on February 11.

Bizjet News

Air Nelson based at Nelson, New Zealand, has leased Citation 650 N133LH for domestic and international charter flights. While the registration N133LH might not be familiar to our readers this Citation III has in fact operated in our region before. As N133LE the Citation was delivered to Brierley Investments in Wellington in November ’87. Later based in Sydney, N133LE returned to the United States in December ’90. Perhaps of interest is that Brierley Investments operated two other US registered Citation IIIs in this period. N106CC was the first to be delivered to Wellington in November ’86 while N143WR, which was delivered to Wellesley Resources in Wellington in November ’87, was the third. N143WR was later replaced in April ’89 by the Brierley Falcon 900 N42FJ. It is interesting to note that while the Citation 650 N133LH has been imported by Air Nelson the aircraft will operate out of the former Brierley hangar at Wellington Airport.

Learjet 35A VH-TPR, which was registered to Owson Nominees in Sydney, has been sold to National Jet Systems in Adelaide. VH-TPR will be based in Nowra where it will be operated by Fleet Support.

Cessna 560 Citation V Ultra VH-FHJ was registered to Eagle Ltd of Guernsey in the Channel Islands on January 3. We had hoped that VH-FHJ like its predecessor Cessna 560 VH-NHJ would be brought to Australia to be hangared at Essendon Airport with Interair, however this is apparently not to be.