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.�