Tuesday 15 March 2011

Aeromil Pacific forms Australian training schools

Australian Cessna distributor Aeromil Pacific is establishing two pilot training schools this year in a bid to revitalise the country's general aviation industry and create Cessna buyers of the future.

The schools will be at Sydney Bankstown airport and Aeromil's base at Sunshine Coast airport in Queensland. Applications have been submitted to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Aeromil hopes to receive its licence by June, says managing director Steve Padgett.

"The enthusiasm for flying has dropped off but there's still a lot of people who would love to fly and we want to attract that new generation," Padgett says.

Aeromil plans to operate about 10 Cessna 172s and 20 Cessna 162 Skycatcher light sport aircraft at the schools, Padgett says, adding that the plan is to establish the schools first and then build them up. "We want to get the philosophy right first, establish it and grow," Padgett says, adding that the move is "not an insignificant investment".

Padgett says the idea arose from Aeromil's "Cessna in the city" promotion, when it opened a store in Sydney's central business district to sell Cessna aircraft and its services. That promotion resulted in "a couple of hundred" people signing up saying they would like to learn to fly. Padgett says the intention of the new project is to "develop new [Cessna] buyers of the future".

For the first time, Aeromil brought a Cessna Citation CJ4 and Skycatcher to the Australian International Air Show at Avalon in early March. The eight-passenger CJ4, which has a range of more than 2,000nm (3,710km) and a top speed of 453kt (839km/h), is due to be presented at demonstrations around the country following the show.

Aeromil Pacific has already sold 30 Skycatchers in Australia, Padgett says, adding: "If we had 100 we could sell 100."

The two-passenger, all-metal Skycatcher has a range of 400nm, a top speed of 118kt, a maximum take-off weight of 599kg (1,320lb) and features a Garmin G300 glass cockpit.

2.Police field complaints about Black Hawk chopper din

THE sound of Black Hawk choppers flying overhead has buzzed off residents.

The South Melbourne police station received more than 30 complaints about the noise last week.

The choppers are part of a month-long Australian Defence Department training exercise in counter-terrorism operations that started at the end of February.

6th Aviation Regiment spokesman, Major Gerard Longley, said pilots and aircrew were well trained for flying in all conditions across urban and rural areas.

“The Army will aim to minimise disruptions during the training, which has been designed to have as little impact on residents as possible, however there will be some noise,” Major Longley said.

The officers have been undergoing an advanced flying techniques course in daylight and at night.

Two Black Hawk helicopters landed on Moran Reserve in Elwood on March 8, with 10 Army personnel on hand.

State Defence Force spokeswoman Kate Kennedy said it was essential for defence personnel to remain ready to respond to security-related incidents in Australia and overseas to “ensure the highest level of capability against a range of contingencies”.

3.Strategic feeling the pressure

AUSTRALIA'S newest international and domestic airline Strategic - which has been trying to turn a buck flying tourists to Bali and troops to the Middle East - is under financial pressure after its charter arm lost a $30 million-a-year Defence Force contract amid a police investigation.

Strategic Airlines, which operates commercial flights, suffered widening losses last financial year, and was cash-flow positive only because it received a loan of more than $6 million from the charter business, accounts filed with the corporate regulator show.

The company is now reliant on making a profit from commercial flights in Australia and south-east Asia after its charter arm, Strategic Aviation, lost its key contract with the Australian Defence Force to fly troops and military cargo to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
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The Australian Federal Police confirmed on Friday that an investigation is continuing into whether criminal offences occurred in the awarding of the Defence tender to Strategic Aviation in 2005.

One of its two shareholders, Melbourne businessman Shaun Aisen, severed his ties with both the commercial airline and charter business last month.

His departure leaves full ownership of Strategic in the hands of its chief executive, Michael James, a 34-year-old former Ansett employee. ''We haven't been contacted by the AFP. We are quite happy to answer any questions because we believe there is no wrongdoing whatsoever,'' Mr James said on Friday.

Strategic Aviation has warned in separate accounts lodged with the regulator that the loss of the ADF contract will ''impact significantly'' on its results this financial year.

It leaves the overall business reliant on Strategic's full-service airline, which has been rapidly expanding its domestic and international network - including flights to the tourist destinations of Bali and Phuket - since it gained its air operators certificate in September 2009.

The recently filed corporate accounts show that Strategic Airlines's losses widened to $9.3 million for the year to the end of June, from a $2.1 million loss a year earlier.

The Brisbane-based airline said in its accounts that its future viability depended on its operations and the ''continuing financial support'' of Strategic Aviation.

Even before it lost the ADF contract, Strategic Aviation's accounts show it had slumped to a loss of $16 million last financial year - from a $17 million profit a year earlier - after booking a $20 million impairment charge and increased charter costs. Total revenue fell 15 per cent to $79 million.

4.U.S. Navy Details Basing Plans For BAMS

The U.S. Navy expects its first Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial system (UAS) base to achieve initial operational capability in late 2015, somewhere in the Persian Gulf.

“The intention is to base BAMS in the 5th Fleet,” says Capt. Robert Dishman, the U.S. Navy’s program manager for BAMS.

Though the 5th Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain, Dishman says the U.S. is still in negotiations with countries in the region regarding basing the UAS. If piracy continues to be a problem in the Gulf of Aden, then these UAS will also be used there, he adds.

Besides the Middle East, there will be two bases in the U.S.—one on the East and one on the West Coast—as well as a base in Sicily for the Mediterranean and one at Guam, from which the U.S. Air Force operates Global Hawk UAS. Italy has already agreed to the Sicilian base, he notes.

The Navy plans another base in the Western Pacific, Dishman says, and while it has had low-level discussions about this with Asia-Pacific nations, no formal request has been made.

The BAMS UAS has the range to cover the Asia-Pacific from Guam, but Dishman says from a cost-of-operations standpoint it is better to have the UAS within a 600-900-nm range.

When asked if export customers for BAMS could base their UAS at Guam, Dishman replies, “I would say definitely. If a country purchases a BAMS capability, it should be able to leverage off the U.S. Navy and use U.S. Navy BAMS sites.” After all, that is what being in a coalition is all about, he adds.

Dishman spoke to Aviation Week on the sidelines of Australia’s Avalon air show, held here March 1-6, where he says he spent much time meeting with Australian Defense Force officials. Australia is considered the most likely BAMS buyer in the region. The country was involved in the BAMS cooperative development effort but later withdrew. The U.S. Navy does have a “data exchange agreement with Australia,” Dishman notes. “We do keep the relationship going” and “we are regularly in discussions,” he says.

Industry executives say Japan is more likely to buy the Global Hawk before it buys BAMS, as Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force is focused now on fielding Kawasaki P-1s, a recently developed Japanese maritime patrol aircraft.

As for Australia, Dishman says the BAMS production line capacity and demand from the U.S. Navy are such that Northrop Grumman could produce BAMS UAS for export customers “shortly after 2015.” But if Australia wants those early delivery slots, “decisions have to be made soon,” he adds.

By
Monika Jain

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