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Dassault Falcon jets were once a dominant force in the bizjet scene in Australia although over recent years their numbers have dwindled. In this issue we can report the return of the Falcon 10 and the Falcon 50 both which had previously disappeared from Australian skies. The Paspaley Pearling Company are to import a Falcon 50 with the aircraft planned for delivery to its Darwin base in September. The Paspaley Falcon 50 will be registered VH-PPF and is MSN 187, which was last operated in the United States by Pfizer Inc as N4CP. Paspaley are perhaps better known to us as the operators of three Grumman Mallard amphibians. Previous to the arrival of the Paspaley Falcon 50 we had two aircraft of this type registered in Australia. In March ’84 Skywest Airlines of Perth imported VH-SFJ which they operated until May ’87. In November ’86 Ariadne of Brisbane imported VH-PDJ with the Falcon 50 later being sold overseas in April ’88. McCafferty’s Air Charter of Toowoomba took delivery of Falcon 10 N509TC in early May. Previously operated by the Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company, N509TC was purchased by McCafferty’s through Tyler-Jet Aircraft Sales of Tyler, Texas. On May 4 N509TC ferried from Keflavik to Geneva and Larnaca while en route from the United States to Australia. McCafferty’s Air Charter previously operated Cessna 500 VH-ICX. The first Falcon 10 in Australia was VH-MEI which was registered to Mt Enid Iron in July ’77. VH-MEI was also the last Falcon 10 to be based in Australia when in May ’89 it was sold to Wilson-Neill of Dunedin, New Zealand. Hancock Prospecting of Perth operated Falcon 10 VH-FFB between December ’78 and March ’82 while Drayton Investments imported VH-DJT in June ’81. The Falcon was later sold to Ariadne and they in turn sold it overseas in May ’88. Finally Falcon 100 VH-JDW was imported in July ’88 to be operated by the National Safety Council of Australia until August ’89. In other news Gulfstream IV HB-ITZ msn 1083 which is registered to Lonair SA of Switzerland flew into Essendon on June 4 from Honolulu and Nadi. While there was nothing special in that event in itself HB-ITZ may in fact become a regular visitor to Essendon as it is reported that the Gulfstream is now operating on behalf of the Melbourne Crown Casino. Westfield Aviation’s Boeing 727-23 N727WF returned to Sydney on May 10 on completion of a major conversion by Dee Howard at San Antonio, Texas. The obvious signs of the refit are the winglets now carried by N727WF and around the engine area where the JT8D engines have been replaced by Rolls Royce Tays. Meanwhile, Cessna 650 PK-WSE of Eastindo PT Company has been hangared with Australian Jet Charter at Sydney since January ’94. In late May PK-WSE was registered N650WJ before departing Sydney on ferry to the United States. King Air 200 N2PY msn BB-200 was reported at Townsville on May 21 and Brisbane on May 30. Evidently the King Air 200 was only visiting Australia as part of a holiday tour of the South Pacific as on June 3 N2PY departed Sydney for Christchurch. Menzies Electrical Mitsubishi MU-2P VH-XMZ departed Essendon on June 17 on its ferry flight to Auckland. It is expected that VH-XMZ will be placed on the New Zealand register.

Airline News

Air New Zealand withdrew Boeing 737-219 ZK-NAS from service in late May with the aircraft planned to depart Christchurch in early June on delivery to COPA Panama. Ansett Australia leased Boeing 747-312 N121KG from Singapore Airlines during June to cover planned maintenance in Singapore on its Boeing 747-312s VH-INJ and VH-INK. N121KG wore a modified Singapore Airlines scheme and operated its first flight for Ansett Australia on June 5 when it flew the AN888 service from Hong Kong to Sydney. The last service operated by N121KG for Ansett was on June 20 when it flew the AN887 service from Sydney to Hong Kong. Ansett Australia withdrew F28-1000 VH-FKA from service at Melbourne on May 26 after the aircraft ferried in from Alice Springs. This is the second time that Ansett have withdrawn VH-FKA from service and it may not be the last as the Fokker is presently being maintained in an airworthy condition. The end is in sight however for the F28-1000 and F28-3000 aircraft in the Ansett Australia fleet with F28-3000 VH-EWF being parked in Sydney for most of June while F28-1000 VH-FKC is planned for retirement in late July. BAe 146-200 VH-JJU, which was previously operated by Ansett New Zealand as ZK-NZA, entered service with Ansett Australia on May 27. On that day VH-JJU ferried from Brisbane to Cairns as AN4280 before operating its first revenue flight for the company as the AN485 service from Cairns to Ayers Rock and Perth. Ansett Fokker 50 VH-FNJ returned to Brisbane on June 12 on termination of its lease to Tyrolean Airways with the Fokker arriving back in the country still carrying the Austrian registration OE-LFW. As VH-FNJ the Fokker 50 had departed Melbourne in March 93 to commence its lease initially with Austrian Airlines. After preservice maintenance in Brisbane VH-FNJ was wet leased to Flight West Airlines. Ansett New Zealand DHC-8-102 ZK-NEY ironically named ‘City of Palmerston North’ was destroyed on June 9 when it crashed near Palmerston North while inbound on flight AN703 from Auckland. Of the three crew and 18 passengers on board one crew member and two of the passengers were killed. ZK-NEY was the first of its type on the New Zealand register and was delivered to Ansett Newmans in December 1986. As a replacement Ansett New Zealand has leased DHC-8-102 VH-XFU from Flight West Airlines with the aircraft being delivered to Christchurch in late June. Mount Cook Airline has leased BAe 748-2B G-BKAL with the aircraft departing Manchester on May 14 and arriving in Christchurch on the 21st. G-BKAL was originally planned for lease to the Kathmandu based airline Necon Air as 9N-ADF and it was in the markings of this Nepalese based airline that the aircraft arrived in Christchurch.

Douglas DC-4 Arrives In Australia

Pacific Air Freighters took delivery of Douglas DC-4 N9013V at Archerfield on June 16 after the aircraft completed its ferry flight from the United States. N9013V was purchased from Lynch Air Cargo of Billings, Montana and commenced its trans Pacific ferry flight from Chino in the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. Captain in command was Gordon Layton who is one of the owners of Pacific Air Freighters. The first leg of the Trans Pacific ferry was to Hilo which was undertaken successfully in just over 14 hours. From Hilo N9013V continued to Majuro where on arrival the DC-4 was found to have a defect which resulted in it remaining there for several days. Again declared serviceable N9013V departed Majuro for Honiara and Cairns. At 15.30 local on June 15 after a flight of six hours 21 minutes from Honiara the DC-4 N9013V touched down on Australian soil. So after a period of some 15 years we have the opportunity to again see and hear the beauty of a Douglas DC-4 in Australian skies. Premier Airlines took delivery of Boeing 727-2J4F VH-DHE at Sydney on June 3 after the aircraft ferried in from Miami via Los Angeles, Honolulu, Apia and Auckland. The Boeing carries the colours of DHL International and now operates five return services weekly between Auckland and Sydney. Boeing 727-2J4F msn 22080 was built on order for the Danish charter company Sterling Airways of Copenhagen. As N7278V the Boeing made its first flight on March 19 1980 and was handed over to Sterling as OY-SBF on March 26. Over the next 14 years OY-SBF operated for Sterling and Sterling European mainly carrying passengers from Denmark to the holiday spots of the Mediterranean. In January 95 Sterling European sold OY-SBF to DHL Airways as N729DH with the aircraft initially being ferried to Miami.

Pacific Island News

Air Fiji has added BN-2A-21 N7071U to its fleet. This Defender was one of a number previously operated by the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force that were purchased by Hawker Pacific. Air Kiribati CASA 212 T3-ATC was noted at Brisbane on June 11 receiving maintenance in the Pacific Aviation hangar. Air Niugini F28-1000 P2-ANB was reportedly badly damaged at Madang on May 31 when it overran the runway while landing and went into the water. Air Niugini has again leased its former DHC-7-103 P2-ANO to cover planned maintenance on its two DHC-7 aircraft. P2-ANO departed Calgary, Canada on March 28 on its delivery flight to Port Moresby. DHC-7-103 P2-ANO was originally delivered to Air Niugini in February ’82 before being sold in March ’87 to City Express, Toronto as C-GJKS. P2-ANO was again leased by Air Niugini from November ’89 until April ’90. Air Tahiti ATR 42-300 F-ODUD was noted at Noumea on May 3 while ferrying through to Europe. ATR 72-202 F-OHJA ferried from Sydney to Auckland on May 31 en route to Tahiti. During its delivery flight the ATR 72-300 was demonstrated to a number of local operators. Air Vanuatu has terminated its lease on EMB-110P1 VH-BWC with the aircraft being noted parked outside the Qantas hangar in Brisbane on May 31. Kiwi Travel Air Charter is planning to commence scheduled services, subject to Government approval, from August 95. Flights will be operated from Hamilton to Brisbane and Sydney and from Dunedin to Brisbane. To operate these services Kiwi Travel will lease Boeing 737-3Q8 VH-NJE from National Jet Systems in Adelaide.