Stepping stone

Now based with the Army Aviation Training Centre (AAvnTC) in Oakey, Queensland and with 173 Aviation Squadron at Holsworthy Barracks’ Luscombe Field in New South Wales, the Kiowa’s primary role of pilot training and secondary role in conducting CC&L remain a prominent focus of Army Aviation. OC 173 Avn Sqn, Major Andrew Middleton explains this further.

“Our role is to provide collective training and prepare pilots for their future transitions onto ARH [Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter] and MRH [Multi-Role Helicopter-90]…It’s a very important role and it used to be filled by the Iroquois in the old 171 Operational Support [squadron], and they pretty much performed a whole myriad of roles for Army Aviation in that they conducted AME [Aero-Medical Evacuation], search and rescue [SAR], troop movement, resupply through external load, and a whole range of other battlefield support functions,” he said.

“That aircraft type [UH-1H Iroquois] was withdrawn from service and it meant that that capability was lost through Army, and so the exposure of Army to aviation for many years has been reduced.”

Although officially non-operational, 173 Avn Sqn was formed out of 173rd Surveillance Squadron, which flew fixed-wing B350 King Airs out of Oakey’s Army Aviation Training Centre in Queensland. Those aircraft have since been transferred to the RAAF’s 38 SQN in Townsville, leading to the formal re-raising of 173 as a rotary wing squadron at Holsworthy on January 18, 2010. The newly formed 173 Avn Sqn formally took delivery of their first Kiowa, or ‘Kenny’ as it’s known by its crews, on February 11 2010. It was an incredibly quick operational turnaround.

“Being re-rolled and re-raised means that we’re now getting out there with Army, supporting them on their exercises and their training, getting them all familiar again with aviation and how it works, and the considerations involved in terms of its logistics and maintenance and limitations in how long the pilots can fly for and what sort of weather conditions… So it’s better preparing them for when they work with aviation units on operations,” MAJ Middleton said.

With most of the squadron’s pilots coming straight out of Oakey’s AAvnTC, MAJ Middleton likens the Kiowa to providing a bridging capability for newly minted pilots to hone their skills on a basic light utility helicopter, before eventually transitioning onto larger, more capable platforms.

“It’s consolidating what they learnt at the aviation training centre, providing collective training, which means it’s a whole lot of differing aircraft and differing Army units coming together on our exercises and the like,” MAJ Middleton said.

“They’re not only developing themselves as pilots, but also as officers and understanding the wider Army and its capabilities and how to integrate and work with them. Which is going to be better serve them when they go off to do their other operational types.”

MAJ Middleton cites the ADF’s Exercise Hamel, which last year saw multiple Army Aviation units participate in operations over Townsville’s High Range Training Area, as a key example of providing that training and experience to 173 Avn Sqn pilots as they developed their own flying skills and learned to work with other helicopter types.

“The guys from the squadron got to work with ARH, Blackhawk, Chinook and MRH in and around Townsville, so they got to see what they do and how they operate and how to work with them. It’s giving them that good introduction in development of their aviation knowledge and skills.”

Aside from training exercises, 173 Avn Sqn crews have also had real-time experience participating in the ADF’s Operation Queensland Flood Assist, with the squadron tasked with providing assistance to Australian police and emergency services personnel.

“Because the Kiowa is small and light, we were able to get out there and fly quite low, in and around the river systems where the flood had actually gone, with police on-board and emergency services in order to identify areas of built up debris, or cars that had been washed away and had submerged,” MAJ Middleton explained.

“So what we were doing is marking these [areas] and feeding it back to the police and the emergency services, so that they could then coordinate searches to go and look for missing people and deceased persons. We really helped build the situational awareness of these services, and also helped to speed up the operation itself, by the fact that we could go in there and provide all this information to the police, and take them out there and cover large amounts of the area of operations, particularly a lot of places where they couldn’t get to by vehicle or foot due to the flood. So they could visually ascertain that area was clear and move on to the next segment”.

To assist with communication efforts, 173 Avn Sqn posted liaison officers (LOs) to each of the key departments co-ordinating flood relief operations in south-east Queensland. MAJ Middleton and 173 Avn Sqn eventually also assumed overall command of the joint Army/Navy Rotary Wing Task Group (RWTG) from LTCOL Tim Witenden, as the floods entered the clean-up and recovery phase, before the squadron withdrew at the end of January.

Forming part of the wider 6 Aviation Regiment at Holsworthy, 173 Avn Sqn also provides support to its special operations counterpart, Blackhawk-based 171 Avn Sqn. That support primarily includes conducting public relations with the wider Sydney community to build support for the regiment, which MAJ Middleton admits can be a challenging task at times.

“There is a need for us to fly around the city at night in order to train for our role, and obviously helicopter noise can be annoying, so if we don’t have the public on side, well then that affects our ability to carry out this training. We therefore go and engage with the wider community and build those good relationships, and take on some of the more benign taskings, such as VIP transport or movement of people around the Sydney basin to relieve 171 Avn Sqn to focus on what they need to do.”

Building on that community support forms part of today’s mission, as 173 Avn Sqn gave this reporter an exclusive look inside its operations during a visit by Australian Aviation on March 18. We start at 0900 with a daily brief by the squadron, covering likely weather patterns, cloud cover, visibility and expected wind conditions for the day. This is followed at 0930 by Mission Orders for a CC&L sortie, which involves travelling out to Penrith’s Jamison High School and conducting an Army Public Relations Exercise. Mission Orders are overseen by the squadron’s Operations Officer (OPSO), Captain Ben Clayton and assistant OPSO Lieutenant Stuart Garton, with lead pilot LT Christian Chapuis giving the brief. It will be a two-ship Kiowa mission (callsign: Redback Black 1 and 2) out to the school, flying a tight two rotor diameter (2RD) formation. Meanwhile, a Landing Zone (LZ) party went ahead in advance of the incoming visit to prepare the LZ and ensure it was safe for our arrival. My pilots for the day are LT Zac Hanson-Boyd and his co-pilot, LT Pat Walton in Redback Black 2 (RB2).

Ironically enough, Redback Black 2 is actually the oldest Kiowa (A17-001) still in Army service (November 1971) being flown by 173 Avn Sqn’s youngest pilot, 23-year-old LT Hanson-Boyd, who the Aircraft Captain in RB2 and formation Airborne Element Commander (AEC). Responsible for the overall sortie, the AEC flies at the rear of the formation, which differs from RAAF doctrine that puts a pilot of similar responsibility at the front of the formation. As a result, RB1 was to take the lead for this sortie, piloted by LT Chapuis (Aircraft Captain) and his co-pilot, LT Carlo Filingeri.

As I got strapped in the rear cabin, LT Hanson-Boyd and Walton completed their pre-flight checks and started cranking over the rotor blades. LT Chapuis and Filingeri did the same in RB1. It’s a surprisingly smooth take off in the Kiowa, as both helicopters effortlessly drifted towards the main runway and pushed off into the sky. Certainly, any notion I had of the Kiowa being a ‘boneshaker’ due to its old age were quickly dispelled. It wasn’t long before we were up at an operating altitude of 1000ft Above Ground Level (AGL), and minus a bit of expected wind turbulence, it was fairly smooth sailing to Jamison High. After telling LT Walton on the approach in that he’ll have to top a visit by a Navy Squirrel helicopter during my schooling days, he was quick to reassure that it wasn’t a problem.

“Firstly, there’s two of us,” he remarked.

“Secondly, we’re in camo, much cooler”.

No argument there.

After conducting a near perfect in-sync landing on the school oval, both crews disembarked to speak with the awaiting throng of keen students. Demonstrating patience and a good sense of enthusiasm, LT Chapuis, Filingeri, Hanson-Boyd and Walton stayed true to their role of promoting Army Aviation in the community, allowing students to sit in the Kiowa’s cockpit and answered any questions that came their way. However, it wasn’t long before we headed off again for the return leg to Luscombe Field, but not before a flypast over Sydney.

“People pay a lot of money to go and do this,” quipped LT Walton, as we approached Sydney city’s Harbour Lane, overflying the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House at 500ft AGL. It was certainly a great experience to fly over such prominent landmarks, but not before we dropped to 200ft AGL as the formation passed Sydney Heads, following the coastline back to Luscombe Field-much to envy of ground bound onlookers.

With the CC&L sortie over, it was time to look at an upgraded KNRP standard Kiowa, and see what additional enhancements and capability this now gives the aircraft. Born out of the Army Minor Capital Project 015.50 in August 2009, the KNRP addresses obsolescence issues in the remaining Kiowa fleet, by undertaking a $9.4 million digital avionics upgrade program. The KNRP is overseen by the Army Aviation Systems Program Office (AASPO), which contracted Queensland-based firm, Sikorsky-Helitech to carry out the modifications which are due to be completed by July this year. A total of 27 Kiowas will be given the KNRP treatment, with eight going to 173 Avn Sqn and the remaining 19 going to the AAvnTC, according to the AASPO. On the day of Australian Aviation’s visit to 173 Avn Sqn, the first three KNRP standard Kiowas had arrived.

“Kiowa’s life within the Australian Army has been extended, and so it made sense to upgrade the aircraft to be more compliant with civilian regulations in respect to IFR [Instrument Flight Rules] flight and instrumentation requirements,” MAJ Middleton said.

Those upgrades include the replacement of the M10 Attitude Indicator with a Sandel SA450 Electronic Attitude Indicator (EAI); the standard AN/ASN-43 Gyroscopic Compass System is removed and a Sandel SN4500 Electronic and Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI) fitted; the AN/ARN-82 VOR and R-1041/ARN Marker Beacon receiver are also gone, with two Garmin GNS430W GPS systems and Instrument Landing System (ILS) in its place, while the replacement of the Kiowa’s obsolete AN/APX-72 Transponder Set is covered with a Garmin GTX330 Transponder. With the new digital hardware, the Kiowa also makes a small weight saving of between 9 and 14kgs (20 to 30lbs).

“Basically, what it means now in the Kiowa is that we have dual redundancies in our flight instrumentation and our navigational aides, making the aircraft better suited to conduct flight under IFR. For instance, we can conduct GPS arrivals, GPS RNAV approaches, ILS, Localiser and VOR [Very high frequency omnidirectional range] approaches as opposed to just VOR and NDB [non directional beacon] approaches,” MAJ Middleton explained.

“We never had a DME[Distance Measuring Equipment]/GPS in the aircraft previously, so a lot of our instrument flying was based on old-school DR [Dead Reckoning] methods. Now we’ve obviously got a lot more accurate data to work with…It also means is that we can fly more demanding conditions, as our IFR capabilities are enhanced greatly through the KNRP modification.”

Maintenance on the newly upgraded Kiowas has been virtually unaffected, only taking approximately half a day for avionics technicians to transition to the new systems.

“KNRP hasn’t greatly affected the technical maintenance side of the aircraft, in that it hasn’t increased any of our servicing requirements or liability,”MAJ Middleton noted.

While admitting squadron personnel were keen to get their hands on the KNRP, MAJ Middleton did not rule out further upgrades to the Kiowa down the track (KNRP 2), hinting at the possibility of an EHSI fitted to the left hand side of the cockpit, enabling both pilots to have a display in front of them. However, such upgrades would have to be subject to ADF requirements and budgetary considerations.

Despite not offering a full glass cockpit suite, the KNRP does provide somewhat of a hybrid offering, making the transition to other modern, multi-engine platforms, such as the ARH Tiger, MRH-90 and soon to be delivered CH-47F Chinook, more manageable for Army pilots.

“Effectively, it’ll make it a little bit easier. Obviously, they’re quite different aircraft in terms of fly-by-wire [ARH] and the old, mandraulic Kiowa, but the pilots will see some similarities with ARH, in terms of the glass cockpit display and manipulating Garmin 430s and the like,” MAJ Middleton said.

“Some of the pilots have had the opportunity to go and fly the EC135, which used to be based in Darwin. It was a short term contract with two EC135s. Those aircraft provided pilots with that multi-engine, glass cockpit exposure, prior to going onto an ARH conversion…but the majority of pilots here have only ever flown Kiowa.”

Though not directly involved in the acquisition of the KNRP, MAJ Middleton said his experience as part of the ARH Tiger Capability Implementation Team (CIT) enabled him to “understand the process in which they [Defence] go through when upgrading an aircraft”.

“For instance, there’s the operational airworthiness and certification part of KNRP which needs to be undertaken to understand the steps and the time that that takes to go through that before it can be introduced into service and approved for flight. But I don’t really delve into that in this role.”

Remaining careful not to state an outright replacement for the Kiowa in light of Defence’s ongoing Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) program under Air 9000 Phase 7, MAJ Middleton did offer some perspective on what the requirements would be for a next generation multi-service training helicopter.

“It will probably be a light utility, multi-engine glass cockpit aircraft,” MAJ Middleton specified when referring to the HATS program.

“What type? We don’t know. Some of the potential types out there are the EC-135 or 145, Augusta 109 or Bell 429. There’s a myriad of potential helicopters being considered. But it only makes sense to start training on multi-engine glass cockpit aircraft as a lead-in to our ARH and our MRH, which are of course modern helicopters…As to when this will occur, it’s a few years away yet, but there are projects underway at the moment to look at a new aircraft type.

“The Kiowa is a great aircraft, but it’s old and it’s obviously power limited in how many people it can take and what it can do. A more modern aircraft under HATS will be able to take more of a light utility role in its ability to carry passengers, more stores, be able to conduct hoisting and external loading, and re-introduce that AME/SAR capability as well as provide the functions that Kiowa does now.”

However, until a suitable multi-service replacement is found, the Kiowa and 173 Avn Sqn will continue to be the mainstay of Army Aviation training, preparing its pilots for transition to operational platforms, whilst also giving them basic skills in CC&L tasking and a range of other battlefield support roles. This is one aspect which MAJ Middleton is especially proud of, as new pilots straight out of the AAvnTC begin their careers flying the tried and true Kiowa with 173 Avn Sqn.

“The squadron is likely to contain the future command and leadership of combat aviation. Aircrew are able to broaden their aviation experience as well as consolidate their flying skills in preparation for their future transitions.

“The squadron is a remarkable success story for the Australian Army Aviation capability.”