Marc Joel Atrero

Victoria’s DC-10 aerial tanker trial Following the disastrous Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires in February 2009, the Victorian state government called in a new weapon to fight what was forecast to be another extreme fire season in 2009/10. Fortunately the extreme conditions predicted didn’t eventuate, but the 10-Tanker Air Carrier DC-10 Very Large Aerial Tanker (VLAT)

Australian Red Bull Air Race pilot Matt Hall burst onto the international arena in 2009 to finish third in the competition’s overall standings in his ‘rookie’ year. With the 2010 season set to commence in Abu Dhabi, the former RAAF fighter pilot has a new aircraft, a new team and the benefit of experience. Red

Tip of the spear Nearly two dozen Hornets and Hawks launch from Williamtown into the gathering darkness, the noise and the Hornets’ glowing afterburners piercing the sky as the final wave of flying in ECADEX 09 gets underway. This night wave of flying sees Hornets from 75 Squadron (visiting from RAAF Tindal) and 76 Squadron

Changing times for JHAS & Qantas maintenance As the airlines have rode both the highs and the lows over the last two years, so too has the maintenance industry, while further changes are on the way. The rapid growth of the airline industry prior to the onset of the global financial crisis had led to

Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan on the drive for efficiency and scale In the noise surrounding Qantas’s big profit fall for the first half of the current financial year, the startling financial success of its Jetstar subsidiary became a little lost. “It’s about that continuous virtuous circle of lower costs leads to lower fares which leads

The RAAF enters the UAV era with Heron lease After a rapid 8 month project lead up, the Defence commenced operations with its new Israeli Aircraft Industries Heron I unmanned aerial system in Afghanistan in January. The project represents the first time the RAAF has operated an unmanned aerial vehicle in other than a trial,