Recce

That the aircraft developed technical problems after entering service is not unheard of in aviation. Fixes were applied though usually at a slower pace than anticipated by many while some of the more pressing problems were glossed over by those more interested in going into damage control mode rather than actually fixing the problem. A sort of bureaucratic ‘ignore it and it will go away’ scenario.

The ADF was never keen on the Nomad, in fact they’ve rarely been keen on anything Australian, let alone aircraft. When Army was forced to accept the type it generally went out of its way to disown the breed. When an additional 10 unsold Nomads were taken from storage and directed to go to Army in place of the Pilatus Porters in 1991/92 then this act was generally considered as the last straw by many. Robert Ray contends that the Nomad is unsuitable for flight operation to Australian military standards yet his Government is now hoping that an overseas military service will want to purchase some or all of the grounded ADF Nomads. Am I missing something here?

It’s interesting to note that in the 4 Corners programme that there wasn’t one single person interviewed that had anything positive to say about the aircraft. Interesting indeed, though I do suppose it would have spoilt a good story.

A good friend of mine is Bill McIntyre whose day job as the chief pilot for the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Authority has seen him log over 5000 hours in the SMA’s Nomad flying (it has since been replaced by a helo) in conditions often worse than what the ADF Nomads would have routinely operated in. Bill has flown the Nomad three to four times a day through winter blizzards and the turbulence of ten mountain summers operating a shuttle service into some of the most rugged and challenging strips in Australia. At no time did he feel that the aircraft was deficient by design or structurally unsound. The SMA Nomad had the required tailplane mods performed years ago and that combined with proper maintenance resulted in a safe aeroplane. Yet the dozens of civil Nomad operators like Bill never ever get heard, it is only the continual bagging that sadly prefaces the name Nomad.

The reality today is that the continual stream of ADs and more intensive service intervals, backed up with minimal product support, make the aircraft increasingly uneconomic to operate in the civil environment. A very sad end to what was probably the last non GA production aircraft to be built in Australia.

Military, the Nomad is probably the last indigenous non GA airframe to be designed and built entirely in this country. And that’s a real tragedy. (Jim Thorn)

Qantas’ Worst Nightmare

Imagine this. The Australian Government’s Dept of Transport traffic rights negotiators meet with their counterparts from the Hong Kong Government to sort out the simmering problem between the two governments and their respective flag carriers Qantas and Cathay Pacific over air rights to and from Australia. As readers would know, this touchy subject nearly escalated into a total ban on all Qantas services into Hong Kong a few months back. The route is crucial to the economic wellbeing of both airlines, and also nowadays Ansett which runs five 747 services a week to the colony.

Imagine that the meeting begins with the usual courtesies and that immediately the chief HK negotiator simply states that the Hong Kong Government does not now recognise Qantas as the Australian flag carrier since its overseas shareholding exceeds 50% and that instead it will from December 1 transfer all of Qantas’s right across to Ansett, which in Hong Kong eyes is not majority overseas owned and is now to be recognised as the primary Australian flag carrier. The Hong Kong negotiator politely advises his speechless Australian Government guests that if they would care to discuss the issue further then they could meet tomorrow at ten o’clock. The meeting breaks up with the Australian team heading out of the meeting like stunned mullets. The Qantas representative pale and no doubt Minister Brereton is minutes away from one of his Government’s worst PR nightmares. Now you don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to see that the next day Cathay and the HK Government will extract the deal of the century out of a cornered Qantas.

In reality, this most probably wouldn’t happen, though it is an interesting hypothetical that highlights the Government’s stupidity in being so greedy that it had insisted on taking the Qantas overseas share limit right up to the margin rather than settling for something more professionally manageable such as 45% at the max. No doubt about it, if you want something really stuffed up, just get Laurie. The rapidly imploding airports selloff, which has become a directionless missile in recent months as reality takes over from party rhetoric, is another classic example of how to take a potential goldmine and turn it into a sow’s ear.

Qantas management is confident that they will get their airline back into a majority, albeit slim, Australian majority shareholding before November. We sincerely hope they do, or otherwise a sharp negotiator could one day make the above scenario reality rather than fiction.