35 Sqn on the move - again!

by Eamon Hamilton

After a 13-year hiatus, Wallaby Airlines has returned to Air Force.

At RAAF Base Richmond, 35SQN was quietly re-established on January 14.

Chief of Air Force, AIRMSHL Geoff Brown, welcomed the return of the unit which had served extensively in World War Two and Vietnam.

“The re-establishment of 35SQN will see it prepare for our fleet of ten C-27J Spartan Battlefield Airlift aircraft, due to arrive in Australia from 2015,” AIRMSHL Brown said.

“35SQN has provided combat airlift for Australia in several conflicts, and the C-27J is ideally suited to continue this legacy of support for personnel deployed on combat, peacekeeping, or disaster relief operations,” AIRMSHL Brown said.

WGCDR Brad Clarke has taken the reins of 35SQN as its new CO, with an initial workforce of 25 which will grow to 250 over the next two years.

“Our first tasks are to work with the Battlefield Airlift Transition Office to map the required workforce structure, operating procedures and introduction plan for the C-27J Spartan,” WGCDR Clarke said.

Click the pic at left for a bigger view.

“35SQN will send the first aircrew and maintenance personnel to train on the C-27J in the United States in mid-2014.”

“Once in service, our C-27Js will greatly increase the number of airfields Defence can operate in to, increase the level of fixed wing support available on the battlefield, and synchronise with the existing C-130J Hercules and C-17A Globemaster fleet,” WGCDR Clarke said.

Mr John McDougall, President of the RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam and 35SQN Association, looks forward to see 35SQN return to the skies.

“To see the old squadron carrying on the good work that we did, it's made us past members very happy,” Mr McDougall said.

A retired engine fitter and Loadmaster/Flight Engineer who served three tours of Vietnam with the Caribou, Mr McDougall was enthusiastic about the Spartan equipping 35SQN.

"The Spartan won’t get in to as many strips as the Caribou did, but the performance will make it a lot safer in some areas, especially with the heat and altitude in places like Papua New Guinea,” Mr McDougall said.

Meanwhile, the first Spartan for 35SQN is taking shape in Italy.

Last December, the fuselage for the C-27J – which will receive the serial A34-001 – arrived at the Alenia Aermacchi plant in Turin in northern Italy.

The aircraft’s fuselage was constructed in Naples, just south of Rome. The journey north took the fuselage by flatbed truck to the Port of Naples, where it travelled by sea freight to Genoa, and then by road to Turin.

As part of the final production, the C-27J will be mated with its wings and other flying surfaces, before emerging later this year.

GPCAPT Steve Young, Director of the Battlefield Airlifter Transition Office, explained each C-27J would emerge from Turin as a ‘green’ Spartan, without its battlefield systems.

“Each C-27J will be flown from Italy to Texas, where it will receive additional equipment from L-3 Communications,” GPCAPT Young said.

“This includes key communication equipment and electronic warfare self-protection systems, which are essential for their job on the battlefield.”