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CharlieLimaX-Ray
15th Jun 2011, 08:59
Any Queenair's still flying in Australia either on commercial or private operations?

QFF
15th Jun 2011, 09:13
Yes - one goes over our house in Perth some nights - can't miss the distinctive noise it makes....

mattyj
15th Jun 2011, 09:25
air frontier in Darwin? owners got a few in pieces too I hear..horrible 6cyl engines..only gets off the ground because the earth's round on a hot day

Plow King
15th Jun 2011, 10:57
I think I saw the Cavpower/Cavill aircraft (EYG) up for sale recently. Surely would have to be one of the nicest Queenairs in the country, but then again the competition isn't that strong.

Desert Flower
15th Jun 2011, 11:10
I think I saw the Cavpower/Cavill aircraft (EYG) up for sale recently. Surely would have to be one of the nicest Queenairs in the country, but then again the competition isn't that strong.

Saw the owner of that aircraft stand up underneath the wing one day & hit his head on the tiedown ring - knocked himself out cold & I had to administer first aid to the gash in his scalp! Despite my protests, after he recovered somewhat he got in it & flew it back to Adelaide.

DF.

65er
15th Jun 2011, 11:16
A pretty good one based at Caloundra - but he cant keep engines in it either

Plow King
15th Jun 2011, 12:00
Saw the owner of that aircraft stand up underneath the wing one day & hit his head on the tiedown ring - knocked himself out cold & I had to administer first aid to the gash in his scalp! Despite my protests, after he recovered somewhat he got in it & flew it back to Adelaide.


He was also VERY protective of the parking spot outside their hangar at PF, enough so that after a neighbouring 310 pulled up there for no more than 2 minutes with engines running, he tried to "board" it to give the pilot a serve as it taxied out. Nearly caused himself an injury that day too.

Anyway, I digress. Still remember those Air Eastern machines doing the ADL-KSC-PLC-ADL for a stint in the late nineties. Must have been interesting crawling head-first into the cockpit over the boxes of crays. AEQ and XAE were two of them.

Sorry, looks like it's been covered here (http://www.pprune.org/dg-p-general-aviation-questions/383860-queenair-prang.html)

Desert Flower
15th Jun 2011, 12:43
He was also VERY protective of the parking spot outside their hangar at PF, enough so that after a neighbouring 310 pulled up there for no more than 2 minutes with engines running, he tried to "board" it to give the pilot a serve as it taxied out. Nearly caused himself an injury that day too.

Not only the parking spot at PF Plow King. He would park in front of the bowser at YLEC, refuel, then buzz off out to the coal mine on business for several hours without shifting the aircraft. Often had to work around it to refuel others - didn't have much choice!
Can remember the aircraft going over the top of YLEC one day enroute from YOLD to YBHI. It was given as IFR traffic to an opposite direction aircraft as a KingAir by Melbourne Centre. Couldn't resist calling up the pilot (not the owner) on 126.7 & saying "Hey John - did you give the old girl a sex change?!"

DF.

601
15th Jun 2011, 13:23
Looks like at least 11.

only gets off the ground because the earth's round on a hot day

Last time I looked the earth is round on most days, hot or cold.

Ever flown them?

PA39
15th Jun 2011, 13:36
Yes there are a few still flying in Oz. GREAT aircraft but must be engine managed with care. They are a great aircraft, the 80's are a big load carrier, but by gee buy/ handle wrong and they will wring your wallet. personally, i love the type.:ok:

CharlieLimaX-Ray
16th Jun 2011, 08:29
THanks for the info.

Towering Q
16th Jun 2011, 08:55
one goes over our house in Perth some nights

That's probably XAT, it does a paper-run up to the north west most nights.

Capt Fathom
16th Jun 2011, 12:04
horrible 6cyl engines..only gets off the ground because the earth's round on a hot day

Hmmm.... amateur!

TAA flew them out of Brampton Island.
Talair in PNG had one (or two) they took into some very interesting places.
And I have flown them in and out of some pretty crap strips. One of the nicest planes I've flown and never let me down!

sms777
16th Jun 2011, 12:10
I have warned him about engine management and meatbombing in Queenairs several times. FWG by memory. Stubborn bugger.
Not the type of aircraft to do it in.
I have logged almost 2000 hours and flown nearly every one of them in the nineties. Once you have mastered it it will never let you down. My all time favourite.

zlin77
16th Jun 2011, 12:27
Survived about 1,800 hours in them in The N.S.W. Air Ambulance and a few hundred more in Maslings...not a bad machine if you treat the engines correctly, I always regarded the engine as a hand grenade with the pin nearly out..so gentle, gentle, only problem I had was a dropped valve departing Tamworth about 1:00 am., a quick return and The E-W Engineers replaced the cylinder etc. and airborne about 4 hours later... Performance was adequate but not impressive, even departing Bourke, Cobar, Walgett etc. in Mid-Summer at 38+...at least I can say that I have flown a museum piece, with VH-AMB suspended in Sydney's Powerhouse Museum!

T28D
16th Jun 2011, 14:19
Antique engines on a great airframe, one of the nicest light twins to fly well harmonised controls, easy to load and balance, just a nice airplane, timeless and much nicer to fly than the Kingair.

Dora-9
17th Jun 2011, 01:48
Capt Fathom, sms777, zlin77 and T28D - well done in defending what really was a very nice handling aeroplane indeed. I flew 1300 hrs in the 65 (both straight-tailed and -8200 versions) and a 65-A80; great machines and very enjoyable.

Yes, the engines demanded smooth, gentle handling! Another "gotcha" that invited expensive noises was protracted operation with high rpm and low MP. Since a parachuting operation involves a protracted climb to great heights, then a few minutes at cruise chucking out the organic lawn darts followed by a long descent back (did I hear you say low MP/high rpm here?), you have to wonder about the mentality of anyone proposing to use a Queen Air, of all aircraft, for this.

Mention has also been made of the runway required. I never thought the take-off was that bad, and you could certainly land in an impressively short distance. Who could forget watching "A-Mac" in the 60's landing on 06 at Jandakot and turning off by the first taxiway (I reckon it was 1200 feet)?

Jabawocky
17th Jun 2011, 03:10
Dora

Another "gotcha" that invited expensive noises was protracted operation with high rpm and low MP.

And what was the cause / result ? ....for those of us who have never set foot in one.

Thanks

J:ok:

zlin77
17th Jun 2011, 04:27
Expensive noises resulted when the prop was driving the engine and not the engine driving the prop...the reduction gearbox for the propellor was engineered to take thrust loads in one direction only, from memory our descents were at 20 inches of manifold pressure to achieve this....also Lycoming had many service bulletins about smooth power application and reduction...

Dora-9
17th Jun 2011, 05:00
In Derby around 1968, there was a photographic Beech D50 Twin Bonanza operating out of there. It had GSO-480's, i.e. caburetted versions of the Queen Air engines. They would climb up to 20,000 feet - being a direct drive supercharger this required climb rpm in the cruise to maintain MP. Fine, but they would then come down from great heights with the throttles closed and still at climb rpm (3000 rpm I think). After a few trips one engine blew up; after a month's delay installing a replacement engine the other engine let go noisily during the test flight - that's the one that had dragged them all the way home from over Fitzroy Crossing!

Those sort of noises, Jaba!

Jamair
17th Jun 2011, 05:38
In the late sixties to mid-seventies, a couple of TWB-based Queenairs worked in PNG on an Army mapping contract doing laser camera runs at 35,000 feet. They were flying on 100% oxygen. IIRC, one of the crew suffered the bends in flight.

One of the crew - from memory - was Lang Kidby.

I spent lots of time in the RH seat of FWG and RUU.... some of it was even legitimate :E

The engines were not particularly fragile, they just needed to be managed appropriately. Don't overboost on T/O and don't backload on descent. This is much the same as the GTSIO 520 fitted to the C404 / 421; it is fine as long as it was managed right. Skytramps, when it was a GA company worth being in, ran a fleet of 10 Titans with an enviable engine record, because the CP (RA) educated the pilots in correct engine management and intelligent flight planning.:ok:

Queenair..... Nice!:cool: (but better than a Kingair???? Oh pleeeeese :rolleyes:)

Plow King
17th Jun 2011, 06:27
Was RUU the other Air Eastern machine painted in rainbow colours (what paint was left, anyway) that was left to rot on the grass at PF after they found a bit too much corrosion? would have been around '98 or '99 at a guess.

Bug4514
17th Jun 2011, 06:50
hey I use to fly the old girls,FWG,AEQ and RUU. On night freight runs and had a lot of fun in them.:ok:

Tmbstory
17th Jun 2011, 06:53
I did about 1500 hours in them and enjoyed the flights, they were easy to fly and the cabin was slightly larger than the 402's, that we upgraded from.

The engines on the Queen Airs needed to be treated with respect and operated smoothly, but then all engines should be treated in this manner.

Tmb

Jabawocky
17th Jun 2011, 07:07
Thanks Dora :eek: and Zlin,

So the problem area was a design issue in the gearbox area not the engine itself, is that the general idea?

VH-XXX
17th Jun 2011, 07:27
MWI which was near operational until a few weeks ago when it was srtipped, supposedly used to be run out of Moorabbin years ago for a company named "Jet Star" flying around rock-bands. Times have changed that's for sure.

It still has the outline of RFDS along the window tops of the fuselage, but never saw active service in the RFDS. Interestingly too, the rego is close to MWX which makes me wonder if it was somehow involved in the RFDS.

Jamair
17th Jun 2011, 09:46
There were plenty of Queenairs wearing Foxtrot Delta too
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p271/jamair_photos/fdzb80.jpg

PLovett
17th Jun 2011, 10:38
I remember TAA operating one in Tassie on intra-state routes in the late 1960s'.

Dora-9
17th Jun 2011, 11:37
"There were plenty of Queen Airs wearing Foxtrot Delta too"...

The Victorian Section RFDS Beech 65 VH-FDV, normally based at Derby, seen here at Jandakot in 1969.

Up until at least last year, this aircraft was still extant, flying out of Caloundra.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Blithering/Beech65FDVJT12691.jpg

sms777
17th Jun 2011, 12:03
Damn it Dora!
That picture brings tears to my eyes.
I did my initional Queenair endorsement in FDV. I have logged a further 100 hours in that girl. Enjoyed flying every minute of it even she never flew straight even with the auto pilot on. Memory goes that some dildo taxied it into a pole at Jandacot some time ago bending the whole aeroplane, since she never flew straight. Still loved it!

chimbu warrior
17th Jun 2011, 12:19
Queenairs worked in PNG on an Army mapping contract doing laser camera runs at 35,000 feet

35,000 or 25,000 feet? I think the old girls would be a bit sloppy in the controls at 35,000.

Interestingly too, the rego is close to MWX which makes me wonder if it was somehow involved in the RFDS.

No, the Masling Queenairs were registered in the MW block. Of these, I think VH-MWH was the hardest working; commuter runs all day, then freight all night, and maintenance at weekends.

sms777
17th Jun 2011, 12:31
As a matter of interest!
Google it guys!
In 1960.... yes in 1960 a fully equipped Queenair set the world record of climbing to 35,000 feet unpressurised piston twin.

Tmbstory
17th Jun 2011, 12:33
Jabawocky Zlin and Dora:

I think from memory of the Masling days that the counter weights in the engines were related to the problems and that the smooth operation was really necessary.

Tmb

sms777
17th Jun 2011, 12:50
It was was the reduction gearbox that caused all the grief. Took many hours of training to to make pilots understand how it all worked.Combined with supercharging made one hell of a confusion when you had no experience in anything mechanical. You pretty much had to be a mechanical engineer to fly a Queenair or prepaired to foot an expensive repair bill at every 100 hours.
Pilot training was the key but once you got it it was your best friend.

T28D
17th Jun 2011, 13:03
I didn/t say the Queen was better than the King, just nicer to fly, light harmonised and responsive.

Jabawocky
17th Jun 2011, 20:48
SMS :ok:

As a mechanical engineer, I do appreciate what you have said. A good explanation and I usually get the whole concept, even with electric things too, it's a pity that more engineering content is not part of flying training. I am biased of course but maths physics and chem should be compulsory subjects at school. I do not know how folk get by without them.

Thanks again.

VH-XXX
17th Jun 2011, 22:57
Chimbu - MWI still has the RFDS writing visible, but was told it never flew for them. Ideas on why?

Dora-9
17th Jun 2011, 23:23
T28D – I can but concur with your comments re the Queen Air vs the King Air. I only ever flew A90’s, which shared to “short” wing with the straight-tailed 65 but were 1500 lbs (?) heavier. While the King Air had lots to excite a very young aviator (me), namely pressurization, radar, lots of avionics and a wonderful new smell, it was a distinct slug on and off the ground.

Sms777 – VH-FDV was exclusively mine for a year in Derby (in 1968), so I was delighted to recently see her still active at Caloundra. Sorry to hear she was bent though. Your mentioned the autopilot; originally fitted was one of those useless Brittain B4 autopilots which only worked if you were flying on a SW heading!

OK, get your hankie out now:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Blithering/Beech65sPH5721.jpg

This is the Civil Flying Services line up at Perth in about 1970. The aircraft are, L to R, VH-ASY (Beech 65-8200), DRV (Beech 70), CFI and CFD (both Beech 65’s). ASY is at Caloundra in a terrible state and CFI was last seen being parted-out at Adelaide. I have no idea what happened to either DRV or CFD. I’m really interested in the latter case as CFD was definitely my “most loved” Queen Air – originally built/optioned for a private US owner; she had an executive interior (lots of leather and wood) and had a gorgeous overall maroon/gold/white colour scheme. It was love at first sight. My “least liked” Queen Air was CMI, a dog of an 80, which eventually shed a wing near Alice Springs.

65er
18th Jun 2011, 00:33
sms777

I have spent a little time in FDV last few years - seems to fly straight to me.
Would be interested in more information about the incident in the West that caused the problem.


Cheers,

sms777
18th Jun 2011, 01:39
The incident happened in the mid '80's. I started flying it 1992 while it was based at BK. Around 96-97 it was sold to a company at BK that done a full refurbish lasting over 2 years. All wings were removed at the time so they may have fixed the problem.

Dora-9
I am into my second box of tissues :{ :D
I have logged 1600 hours in VH- ASY alone. It made me discover Australia.

MakeItHappenCaptain
18th Jun 2011, 02:43
I have warned him about engine management and meatbombing in Queenairs several times. FWG by memory. Stubborn bugger.
Not the type of aircraft to do it in.
I have logged almost 2000 hours and flown nearly every one of them in the nineties. Once you have mastered it it will never let you down. My all time favourite.

FWG was operated by Tibor, it's not the one there now (FDV).

Memory goes that some dildo taxied it into a pole at Jandacot some time ago bending the whole aeroplane, since she never flew straight.

I can assure you, it flies straight.:ok:

sms777
18th Jun 2011, 03:07
Good to hear it flies straight now :ok:
Like I said it was a beautiful aeroplane to fly except for that crap B4 autopilot that sent me into a dive with no warning several times.

CharlieLimaX-Ray
18th Jun 2011, 03:30
Did the Queenair have life on the airframe?

What about the Exacabilur Queenairs?

sms777
18th Jun 2011, 04:18
A65's had 26000 hours, A80's, B80's had 22000 hours airframe life but I think it was all lifted recently.
Excaliburs were fitted with 400 Hp IO-720 eight cylinder engines in place of the IGSO-480's and 540's.
I flew both AEQ and XAE Excalibur Queenairs for Air Eastern in the '90's.
Nice aeroplanes, no gearing and supercharging to worry about, shove all levers to the firewall and off you go. They could uplift around 1200 kg cargo and fly 2 hours with reserves at 175 kts.

65er
18th Jun 2011, 06:47
sms777
you will be glad to know that crap autopilot ex FDV was the first thing that went into the rubbish bin at it's last 100 hourly :)
Cheers

baron_beeza
18th Jun 2011, 06:57
Excaliburs were fitted with 400 Hp IO-720 eight cylinder engines

yep, the same engine as fitted to Fletcher and similar topdressing aircraft.....

if it can cope with lifting and dropping over 100 tonne of fertiliser in a day, - and still give a good chance of achieving TBO, or better, then it says a lot for the sturdiness of the engine.

Possibly a combination made in heaven for the Queenair... :)

sms777
18th Jun 2011, 07:27
I am glad to hear but.....how come only recently :ok:
I have personally ripped the B4 out of ASY around 1994 with my engineer watching in amusement. I have pulled out about 75 kg of dead weight and 10 km of spagetti that resulted in reweigh and rebalance of the aircraft.
I flew the old girl with no autopilot IFR for another 8 years and never missed it.
Hands on flying turned me into a PILOT that I am proud of today.
I do not have a long list of different type endorsements in my log book but I think it would be difficult to find a nicer aeroplane to fly than the old Queenies.

601
18th Jun 2011, 13:40
doing l@ser camera runs

RUU had the laser profiler along with a RC10 mapping camera and a 70mm strip film to show where the laser ground track was. Also carried a video camera aligned with the laser to allow the pilot to see terrain under the aircraft and for tracking. A CRT screen was mounted above the centre of the instrument panel.

runs at 35,000 feet

Maximum terrain to aircraft separation for the laser was 7000 feet due to signal timing. Highest terrain Mt Puncak Jaya was 16024. So 23000 feet was about the highest required.

They were flying on 100% oxygen

The Army supplied the oxygen system and the controllers to fit the Army helmets.
Normal or 100% O2 was selectable

one of the crew suffered the bends in flight

More detail required on this statement?

Lang Kidby

Amongst 50+ other Army pilots.

some of it was even legitimate

More detail required on this statement?

FGD135
18th Jun 2011, 15:25
Dora-9, thanks for posting the photo of the Civils line up.

As a youngster, aged about 7, I rode in VH-CFI - I sat in the front right seat. That aircraft was my first love. 40 odd years later, I remember it like it was yesterday.

Fris B. Fairing
19th Jun 2011, 00:17
Speaking of CFS Queen Airs, there was also VH-CTE (http://www.adastra.adastron.com/aircraft/misc/vh-cte.htm) which previously belonged to British Oxygen and Brabham Racing.

http://www.adastra.adastron.com/aircraft/misc/vh-cte-2.jpg

Delta_Foxtrot
19th Jun 2011, 01:19
From post #14 et al: VH-FWG used to be operated by a company at Toowoomba (can't recall the name but it had "East" in it somewhere). The Australian Army Survey Corps used to lease it as an aerial photography platform during the 1970s while the Indonesion mapping program was running. I helped change an engine cylinder on it at Nabire (West Irian) in 1978 and had a couple of right-seat rides out of Manado (North Sulawesi) and Gag Island (West Irian) during survey ops in 1979. The pilot in 1979 was a South African named Gordon Egan who had a penchant for low flying over water - must have been a balance reaction to the time spent at high altitude taking photos...:D

Dora-9
19th Jun 2011, 03:35
Fris B. - VH-CTE was well after my time there. This was the very early 65 that Jack Brabham flew out from the UK...

Stationair8
19th Jun 2011, 07:12
Is that a Metro behind CTE?

A Queenair used to transit through YMMB in the early 1980's, doing photographic work for BHP and other mining companies, I think it was based out of Woollongong, any idea what the callsign was?

601
19th Jun 2011, 08:43
can't recall the name but it had "East" in it somewhere

Try Unionair.

lease it as an aerial photography platform during the 1970s

Not so much photography but Aerodist, radar prifile recording and then Airborne Profile Recording (laser) with the WREMAPS during the 60s and 70s in both FWG and RUU. RUU had the WREMAPS and FWG had the Aerodist and radar.

Aerodist and the radar APR were being used by Adastra using the Husdon. Unionair won the contract 1967 or thereabouts.

Aerodist
ADASTRA AERIAL SURVEYS - AERODIST (http://www.adastra.adastron.com/equip/aerodist.htm)

Radar APR

ADASTRA AERIAL SURVEYS - A.P.R. (http://www.adastra.adastron.com/ops/apr.htm)

WREMAPS



Technology in Australia 1788-1988Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering

The work was a considerable stimulus to the physics research in both establishments. At MRL, solid state and dye lasers were developed; and a carbon dioxide laser was constructed. From 1967, L. E. S. Mathias was the leader, and innovations included construction of a 2 kilowatt continuous power laser, the first reported electron beam-controlled CO2 laser, the first atmospheric pressure laser, and the first using plasma injection. Much of the work was directed to laser-damage sensitivity of materials, and to laser safety.

The complementary work at WRE, under the leadership of F. F. Thonemann, was on the instrumental use of lasers. Several kinds were built, and experiments conducted on modulation, switching, and frequency multiplication. An early application was the development for the Division of National Mapping of an airborne system (WREMAPS) to measure ground profiles accurately. Later, using frequency doubling to obtain green light from a neodymium laser, they produced a more efficient system called WREMAPS II for the Royal Australian Survey Corps.

Jamair
20th Jun 2011, 00:31
601 - I see you have some knowledge of Snows operation; you would prob then recall Capt Cranky, who flew a lot of those trips, from whom the info came on the profiles flown, later supported by Lang who I met when we did an Instrument Rating together. I make no assertions as to its accuracy, nor do I have any reason to doubt it. I do have somewhere in my store of memorobillia, some kodak snaps of said Capt Cranky with a reservoir 100% mask on, with the clock reading 35000. The bends story likewise came from them; while I was not there I am given to believe it is true.... do you know otherwise?

The 'legitimacy' referred to my presence in the RHS, not the operation per se.

After Independence in 1975, IIRC Snows Queenairs went on the Moomba (or was it Moonie) oilfield runs as well as night freight. Didn't they end up with Eastland at some point? FWG ended up doing beach darts at CDR. RUU went to Denis Behan eventually, I remember seeing its wings in a pile of aircraft bits at ROM.

601
20th Jun 2011, 03:52
with the clock reading 35000

It would have taken a month of Sundays to climb to 35000. I think the service ceiling was in the late 20 thousands. Any mapping photography was done at 25000 feet true.

oilfield runs

Not that much on the oilfield. Especially while the Army survey contract was on. However there was a period in 74/75 with MWI based in Perth supporting seismic survey up in the Great Sandy Desert. It was bought by Civil Flying Services in 1974.

The 'legitimacy' referred to my presence in the RHS, not the operation per se.

All the Army pilots that flew Queenairs on survey were endorsed on the aeroplane. But following the crash of TYV (?), one of the first two Queenairs the other being FWG, a Unionair pilot had to be on board.

RUU still appears on the CASA Register as being registered to DB.

Who could forget Capt C.

Gerko
20th Jun 2011, 04:05
In the early 80's I worked with a now long defunct commuter carrier Southern Cross Airways, which was owned by a real estate agent in Marrickville and operated flights out of Flight Facilities at SYD to Nowra, Moruya and Tumut using two Queenairs MWH and CLI. I know MWH was ex Masling. Dunno about CLI. Does anyone know if either of these aircraft are still around? I suspect our flights into Nowra (NOA) were the only time this airport was ever used for scheduled services. We often had to wait whilst the Navy's Skyhawks took off.

601
20th Jun 2011, 05:21
Does anyone know if either of these aircraft are still around?
Neither are on the Register

CLI
MyAviation.net - Aviation Photo Gallery (http://www.myaviation.net/search/search.php?view=&regnr=VH-CLI)

MWH

VH-MWH was current until July 2006, when it was withdrawn from use and de-registered.

VH-MWH (http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austmz/VH-MWH.html)

Brian Abraham
20th Jun 2011, 05:38
I suspect our flights into Nowra (NOA) were the only time this airport was ever used for scheduled servicesI recall someone (who? too far back to remember) operating scheduled services into Nowra in the early 70s. Mum in law had an exciting trip in a 337 one dark and stormy night. Leaked like a sieve was her only comment, didn't understand ramifications of it being D & S.

Edit to add think Maslings perhaps.

Tmbstory
20th Jun 2011, 07:13
Brian Abraham:

Maslings used to have a service that included Nowra ,between September 1969 and August 1970. The route was Williamtown - Sydney - Wollongong - Nowra - Sydney - Williamtown.

My log book shows that my flights were mainly on MWH and MWI.

Nowra had a strong downdraft when landing to the west and the story in those days was that a Caribou came to grief and landed very short with bent wings, the Captain got out and made the announcement " We have arrived" !!

Regards

Tmb

CharlieLimaX-Ray
20th Jun 2011, 08:52
What RPT routes did Masling run?

What runs did they operate on night freight?

How many Queenairs saw service with NSW Air mbulance?

Delta_Foxtrot
20th Jun 2011, 10:09
I don't know about the WREMAPS, but for the 1979 Indon survey, FWG was fitted with a Wild RC 10 camera. I think the company was Eastland Air and was run by Jim ??? based in Toowoomba.

DF

601
20th Jun 2011, 13:53
Eastland Air

Definitely Unionair. Unionair had the Army contract and operated RUU and FWG. It was owned and run by Snow.

RC10s were used in both RUU and FWG for photography, but mainly photos of trig point and geoceiver points. These photos were taken from 7000 ft to allow the identification on the mapping photos taken by the RAAF Canberras. The trig points were identified by a white plastic cross. This plastic also made excellent roofing material for the locals.

Limited aerial mapping photo was done in both RUU and FWG. I can recall photography of the islands in the Shoalwater Bay training area (25000 feet), the School of Military training area near Albury and also around Bendigo. The last two were flown at lower levels.

RUU had a RC10 installed as part of the WRELADS package.

The primary function initially for RUU and FWG was WRELADS in RUU and the Areodist in FWG. This changed for FWG when the Army started using the Geoceiver and the Aerodist was retired. It was easier and more accurate to locate trig points using the Geoceiver.

The fiberglass "boat" that covered the Aerodist radar dish on FWG sat on the ground next to a small building at the back of the canteen at AF for years.

I was not that involved with FWG so my memory may be hazy. My involvement with FWG was pilot training and the odd charter when it was not being used by the Army.

Tmbstory
20th Jun 2011, 15:18
Charlie Lima X-ray:

One of the main night Freight runs was from Sydney, at about midnight to Brisbane with newspapers, unload and back to Williamtown in time for the 0700 hours departure to Sydney.

Both the Queenairs and the Cessna 402's were used on these runs.

I will try and dig up a time table issued by the Company in those days and post it.

Tmb

zlin77
20th Jun 2011, 18:36
From memory...as my old logbooks are not with me in Istanbul,when I joined in 1981 we had AMB, AM?, AMQ & AMS....AMS, the nicest one was destroyed by fire on the ground in Dubbo in the early 80's, arson was suspected but not confirmed, I recall seeing the burnt out remains on the tarmac there, fuselage nearly non-existant but intact wings on either side, still with about 800 litres of 100 Octane inside...this was replaced on a temporary basis by VH-TGF, the less said about that pile of C%#P the better.....
During my Masling time CLH, MWK & I think MWM, the Queenairs did a SYD-WLM-SYD @ 18:00 each evening as well as SYD-NGA-CTM-NGA-SYD on a Friday, also SYD-TEM-WWL-CDO (overnight) & return the next morning, I recall one of these came to grief one night in WWL, seems a NOTAM was issued about RWY works( a trench across the RWY), all went well on landing until the trench was encountered on rollout with the resulting sudden and noisy stop!

AussieO2
20th Jun 2011, 21:15
All B80 models, AMB/AMG/AMQ/AMS, thought AMS was replaced with VH-TGA (not F) after the fire of 10 JUN 1982. Then they got AMD.
Where did TGA end her days ?

Stationair8
21st Jun 2011, 01:00
Coddair had a couple of Queenairs out of Brisbane.

Torres
21st Jun 2011, 01:33
Someone asked further back about Talair's Queenairs. I recall two, acquired in the Macair take over, which were based at Port Moresby, mostly for the Mendi scheduled air service. I believe both were finally operated by Solair. No idea where they ended their days.

The Unionair Queenairs often operated on mapping tasks in the PNG Highlands, probably in the early to mid 1970s. They were certainly operated at very high altitude.

Collin Codd also operated Queenairs.

There was an Excalibur Queenair based in Fiji and operated by Sunflower Airlines around 20 years ago.

I seem to recall an ex airline pilot owning or operating three Queenairs in the early 1990s, one of which had a "Dulux" major inspection in Manila before being sold off?

zlin77
21st Jun 2011, 02:22
VH-TGA is correct, painted I think in a disgusting brown/orange colour scheme.

BULLDOG 248
21st Jun 2011, 05:17
Is VH-BQA still around. I remember seeing her at YMMB 10 years ago. Would have to be one of the nicest looking Queen Airs.

Captain Jack Ellis had VH-CLG on frieght run out of Corio.

What was the rego of the one that went in N/E of Melbourne killing the pilot (freight moved forward on him) but plane looked in one piece???

megle2
21st Jun 2011, 05:46
Wasn't there one lost at Budgerregar N/W of Charleville
Sure it was a Queenair

8aitch8
21st Jun 2011, 05:49
Bulldog 248

To the best of my knowledge BQA was purchased by Air Frontier. The rego was changed.

MakeItHappenCaptain
22nd Jun 2011, 00:47
Heard stories about one of the regional airlines in NSW that used to transfer pilots to Queen duties from the Fokkers every now and again. Reports were that if the area manager (who lived about 20 miles out of TW) heard them come over while still holding 48"/3400rpm, they were told to find a new job the next day.

I love augmentors.
You take off on 23 at Caloundra, you wake up half the town.
Take off on 05 and you could wake up the other half as well!:E:E:E

65er
22nd Jun 2011, 05:17
i wonder how the older pilots got on before noise cancelling headsets ?

Jamair
22nd Jun 2011, 06:26
EHH??? What was that?? SAY AGAIN????;)

wombat watcher
22nd Jun 2011, 06:33
Wasn't there one lost at Budgerregar N/W of Charleville
Sure it was a Queenair
Twas a Queenair.
Twasn't Budgerygar.
Twas Trinidad which is the next station south of Budgerygar.
B'gar is on the black soil plain and T'dad is up on a small plateau of red dirt/shale or whatever (just north of the Quilpie opal mines).

megle2
22nd Jun 2011, 07:22
Wombat, your 100% correct.
I should of remembered that!
Was there the next day

Tmbstory
22nd Jun 2011, 09:23
Charlie Lima X-ray:

This is a scan of a 1970 Time Table of Masling Airlines. Tmb

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/Chalus/Scannerhats0905-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/Chalus/Scannerhats0904-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/Chalus/Scannerhats0903-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/Chalus/Scannerhats0902-1.jpg
http://http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/Chalus/Scannerhats0907-1.jpghttp://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/Chalus/Scannerhats0900-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/Chalus/Scannerhats0899-1.jpg

sms777
22nd Jun 2011, 11:04
They were only loud from the outside. Inside with everything closed they were shadowed by the huge wings and pointing to the ground. In cruise I never had any problems talking to my pax with headseats removed. The noise level inside the cabin was very similar to a Chieftain. I flew both of them plenty of times so I am qualified to compare.

dantanna
23rd Jun 2011, 00:54
that timetable is an interesting artifact - surprising the number of places you could get to via a scheduled service that you can no longer.

any ideas what would have driven this change? cost of fuel? better roads?

MakeItHappenCaptain
23rd Jun 2011, 02:31
any ideas what would have driven this change? cost of fuel? better roads?

Cost of maintenance?
They weren't also known as "Hanger Queens" for nothing......:hmm:

Aye Ess
23rd Jun 2011, 03:07
Tmbstory,

Fascinating timetable. I guess this was pre DC3 days. Where did the 3 service & whatever happened to Masling Airlines.

dhavillandpilot
23rd Jun 2011, 03:32
What do you mean pre DC3 days. Masling was a very successful operator. He was the first to introduce the Bandit into Australia. At one time when Qantas had an excess of pilots and were standing them down - they all appeared at masling for a period.

Aye Ess
23rd Jun 2011, 04:09
dhavillandpilot,

I was referring to the timetable. It has no DC3 aircraft on it so I can only assume that the 3 hadn't been operating in 1970. Yes,I know Masling was a successful operator,which is why my query as to whatever became of them & why.

tail wheel
23rd Jun 2011, 04:54
Aye Ess. Don't recall the full story but in a declining airline market they metamorphosed more into an aircraft dealer, very successfully selling Bandits and aircraft service and maintenance company. Jack died and son Tony took over until was killed in a helicopter accident.

Masling history. (http://www.masling.com.au/html/history.htm)

Masling Industries operates in Canberra. It appears to be the same company?

I don't recall them operating a DC3, but may be wrong?

Aye Ess
23rd Jun 2011, 05:46
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a401/alan_spears/VH-MWQ.jpg?t=1308807901

Aye Ess
23rd Jun 2011, 05:52
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a401/alan_spears/VH-AMB.jpg?t=1308808185

Acrylic on stretched canvas 20cm x 25cm

Tmbstory
23rd Jun 2011, 07:06
The Masling Airlines DC 3 came after my time with the Company.

I did hear stories that it was used a lot for charters etc, such as Bowling club visits.

My time with Maslings was from 1961 to 1971.

Tmb

Tmbstory
23rd Jun 2011, 07:12
Tail Wheel:

I am not sure who put my posts in a straight line but thanks.

Tmb



You're welcome! :O Interesting advert for Masling ride on mowers!

TW

Fris B. Fairing
23rd Jun 2011, 07:19
Speaking of VH-TGA, here she is at an airshow at Archerfield on 4 Oct 1970, complete with Snoopy nose art.

http://www.adastron.com/aviation/vault/VH-TGA-NB095.jpg

http://www.adastron.com/aviation/vault/VH-TGA-NB098.jpg

FGD135
23rd Jun 2011, 15:32
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/fgd136/Queen%20Airs%20in%20Australia/VHMWHNewcastleDec61970.jpg

VH-MWH, Newcastle, December 1970

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/fgd136/Queen%20Airs%20in%20Australia/VHBQAMoorabinOct2004.jpg

VH-BQA, Moorabbin, Oct 2004

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/fgd136/Queen%20Airs%20in%20Australia/VHMWJJandakot1973.jpg

VH-MWJ, Jandakot, 1973

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/fgd136/Queen%20Airs%20in%20Australia/VHMWKChartersTowersJuly2001.jpg

VH-MWK, Charters Towers, July 2001

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/fgd136/Queen%20Airs%20in%20Australia/VHMWITooradinJune282006.jpg

VH-MWI, Tooradin, June 2006

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/fgd136/Queen%20Airs%20in%20Australia/VHFDVBundabergJuly42009.jpg

VH-FDV, Bundaberg, July 2009

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/fgd136/Queen%20Airs%20in%20Australia/VHCTEJandakotApr41988.jpg

VH-CTE, Jandakot, Apr 1988

Tmbstory
23rd Jun 2011, 17:45
FGD135:

Thanks for the photos.

My log book shows that I was in Newcastle on the 8th, 11th, and 14th December 1970 in VH-MWH.

I was based in Newcastle at the time.

Regards

Tmb

fixa24
23rd Jun 2011, 21:27
Sorry for the thread drift, but where was the strip in Narooma? And when did it cease to be used?

Dora-9
24th Jun 2011, 01:40
Has anybody any idea whose/which "B65-B80" is advertised in today's "Australian"??

Pinky the pilot
25th Jun 2011, 04:47
Someone asked further back about Talair's Queenairs. I recall two, acquired in the Macair take over, which were based at Port Moresby, mostly for the Mendi scheduled air service. I believe both were finally operated by Solair. No idea where they ended their days.

Torres; I remember that when I started with Douglas Airways in early 1990 there were two Queenairs there. One was just the airframe sitting on the tarmac minus engines, instuments, avionics and seats.:sad: I have previously posted a piccy of it langtaim back on another thread. (can't remember where)
When Dz went bagarup (around September '90) I believe it was scrapped along with the Nomad which was parked next to it.

The other one was in the maintenance hangar in the process of 'coming out of a major inspection.' It never did! What happened to it I have no idea but could those two have been the ones to which you referred in your post?

Wingman09
26th Jun 2011, 10:07
Working for a company that operates B65-B80, trying to find a Belly Pod. Does anyone know of where abouts we may find one or anyone who has operated one with a pod? Is it just the same pods as a c90?

Appreciate any information

reallyoldfart
26th Jun 2011, 12:14
Some interesting "not so accurate observations made on this forum", particularly about the Unionair Queenairs (FWG & RUU) and operations with the army.

Fact 1. Army pilots did fly the aircraft as PIC without Unionair pilots

Fact 2, These two aircraft in PNG operations struggled to get above about 18000 at the weights they were operated at.

Fact 3. Helmets were not worn by Army pilots whilst flying these aircraft and the oxy system was a constant flow system fitted by Unionair

For those who really know the aircraft, how about starting the engines if a light breeze decide to waft up behind you during the start??

Dora-9
26th Jun 2011, 21:05
"For those who really know the aircraft, how about starting the engines if a light breeze decide to waft up behind you during the start??"

..and how about when the engine was hot as well, reallyoldfart? This is what led to the destruction of VH-SLB (no, it wasn't me!).

tail wheel
26th Jun 2011, 22:23
Aye Ess. Masling obviously operated a DC3. That colour scheme looks very like the Air Niugini colour scheme?

Later:
That aircraft is ex Air Niugini. CN 9593: 42-23731, A65-13/VHCTL, VH-MMA, P2-MMA, P2-ANS, VH-MWQ. Internet indicates it may be flyable and owned by Hardy Aviation, NT.

Torres
26th Jun 2011, 22:39
I remember that when I started with Douglas Airways in early 1990 there were two Queenairs there.

The Talair Queenairs came with the Macair acquisition in the 1970s - they did not come from Douglas.

There was a Queenair outside the Douglas hangar in the early 1980s with 44 gal drums in the engine bays. Same aircraft I guess?

mustafagander
27th Jun 2011, 02:54
Anyone have pix and stories about the SYD based Air Ambulance Queen Airs?

nirimba
28th Jun 2011, 01:39
Brings back memories of Masling. Used to work in Newcastle NSW and flew often to Sydney in MWH, CLH and CLI, many times in the right hand seat. The pilots were great and it was always fascinating watching them fly into Sydney amongst the larger aircraft.

I found a a shot of the Rainbow coloured VH-RUU.

MyAviation.net - Aviation Photo Gallery (http://www.myaviation.net/search/photo_search.php?id=01942737&size=large)

Tmbstory
28th Jun 2011, 15:52
Nirimba:

I was with Maslings at Newcastle from the beginning of their Commuter Services in 1967 until the last Masling Airlines commuter operation on the 15th January 1971.

Regards

Tmb

Dora-9
29th Jun 2011, 01:48
sms777:


I went to Caloundra yesterday, thinking I’d get some photos of ASY but was told it had already been broken up! Sad.

However, FDV was there, awaiting a new engine apparently. There’s something delightfully pugnacious about the vertical finned/short winged Queen Airs I reckon….

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Blithering/P1010256.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Blithering/P1010253.jpg

sms777
29th Jun 2011, 07:29
Thanks for the pics Dora-9. :ok:
It is very sad what has happened to ASY because it was a lot better aeroplane when I flew both of them. FDV has turned out very nice indeed with the current colour scheme. I would not be surprised if it's waiting for one of the engines out of ASY because both of them were freshly overhauled before it was parked up.

frigatebird
29th Jun 2011, 23:14
NoosaAir's first cabin class retractable (Brabham's old European Steed)

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy129/bird__photo/Early%20Whitaker%20Aircraft/scan0005.jpg

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy129/bird__photo/Early%20Whitaker%20Aircraft/scan0006.jpg

GKY at Yandina strip, Russell Islands, Solomon Islands.

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy129/bird__photo/SI/scan0010.jpg

Queenair..
Great old ships, did 2,600 hours in a Straight 65, A65-8200's, A70's, and the 80. Preferred the A65-8200 or the A70 with the bigger flaps, for the shorter strips, and the small 340 hp supercharged engines for the fuel economy on the longer flights.

Pinky the pilot
30th Jun 2011, 05:19
There was a Queenair outside the Douglas hangar in the early 1980s with 44 gal drums in the engine bays. Same aircraft I guess?

Sadly yes. Apparently cut up for scrap as mentioned in my earlier post.
What happened to the intact a/c in the maintenance hangar is unknown.

CharlieLimaX-Ray
30th Jun 2011, 08:18
With the NSW Air Ambulance Queenairs, were they owned by the NSW Government or by East-West Airlines?

zlin77
30th Jun 2011, 10:47
The aircraft were owned by The NSW Govt....but crewed and maintained by East-West Airlines, the pilots were selected because of their G.A. background and were required to do two years in the air ambulance before taking up an F-27 F/O position, I did just over three years before being released back into the airline, I must say it was the most satisfying job in my aviation career to date...all single pilot ops. at all hours, all weather, our only radar set disappeared with the loss of VH-AMS....We were fortunate to have a great Chief Pilot in the G/A operation, who ensured that airline standards of operation were maintained, even pilots with Queenair time like myself had to undergo 50 hours of training before doing a base check & route check prior to being released to the line..the safety record was very good, the only unfortunate event occured when a Flight Sister crossing a wet and windy Mascot Ramp at night with her head down walked into a running prop.

65er
4th Jul 2011, 00:49
Nope ! The good people at Suncoast Aero Engines have done a mighty job on FDV's original engine - should be going on the aircraft shortly.

CharlieLimaX-Ray
4th Jul 2011, 07:14
Who actually developed the Excabilur STC?

Was any of the Excabilur mods done in Australia or NZ?

tail wheel
4th Jul 2011, 09:12
Surprising as it may seem, the Excalibur conversions of Piper Twin Commanche and Beech Queenair aircraft were developed and sold by Ed Swearingen of Swearingen Aircraft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emivest_Aerospace), manufacturer of the Metro. They were based at San Antonio, Texas, with an additional assembly facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

The only Queenair Excalibur I knew of in this part of the world was the one operated by Sunflower Airlines in Fiji, but there may have been others.

de Havilland in Sydney did Reisbeck and other King Air conversions, so I guess they may have been able to carry our Queenair Excalibur conversions.

sms777
5th Jul 2011, 03:02
The two Queenairs VH-AEQ and VH-XAE operated by Air Eastern in the 90's were both Excaliburs. They were based at BK. I flew both of them.
AEQ got shipped to NZ about 8 years ago, XAE lives in Perth.
:ok:

prospector
5th Jul 2011, 04:39
AEQ is still alive, now carting freight in the Tonga group. Registration was changed to ZK-WKA for its NZ sojourn, carting high value seafood out of Chatham Island to NZ, some, live crayfish, for onward shipment to Japan. The IO720's were up to 2,400 hrs TBO with some going even further.

Just by the by, the registration chosen by the owner, for his own operation, was WKA, for white knuckle airlines.

MakeItHappenCaptain
5th Jul 2011, 04:43
Who actually developed the Excabilur STC?



Ed Swearingen, a texas based dude who originally converted new a/c from the factory. He went on to produce the Sweringen Merlins and Metroliners.:ok:

troppo
5th Jul 2011, 04:55
AEQ became ZK-WKA and is now in Tonga as A3-CIA.
There was another Queenair thread here a couple of years ago.
Port Hutt Fisheries in had ZK-PHA ex ZK-TAL and ZK-WKA as above.
Kiwi West had ZK-TAK that crashed and prior to that it was with Tyrell Aviation in Palmerston North

troppo
5th Jul 2011, 04:59
Prospector beat me to it whilst I was forking around trying to refresh my memory.
Occasionally see A3-CIA at Nadi.
Used to see PHA years ago in Wellington heading for the Chathams...no thanks...:ooh:

walschaert valve
5th Jul 2011, 07:40
Pretty sure it was AEQ that was converted to Excaliber by Hawker Pacific at Banktown in the early 1980s, I was part of the team that carried out the modification. I seem to recall it came from somewhere in Africa, it was bought in and modified. Noel Nas was the leading hand, and he did the pre purchase inspection in Africa. Noel would remember but I think he attracted the attention of the local police when he went to take a photo of something.

65er
5th Jul 2011, 23:39
MWI looks like its ended its flying days at Tooradin.
Engines and props removed and sold to another QueenAir owner.
The fuselage, evidently, will be converted to some sort of synthetic trainer by a local flying school or organisation.

Desert Flower
6th Jul 2011, 03:13
MWI looks like its ended its flying days at Tooradin.
Engines and props removed and sold to another QueenAir owner.
The fuselage, evidently, will be converted to some sort of synthetic trainer by a local flying school or organisation.

Alas poor old MWI - I knew her well. She was the one whose owner used to put her into the strip at Arkaroola. He was an ex-WW2 pilot, so that was a doddle as far as he was concerned! Rich as sin, but to look at him you wouldn't think he had more than a couple of dollars in his pocket. His wife on the other hand, well let's just say you needed the sunglasses on to hide the glare from all the bling! Wonderful people now long departed for the great hangar in the sky. :sad:

DF.

Fris B. Fairing
6th Jul 2011, 05:15
Folks

The Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra would dearly love to have a Queen Air, particularly an RFDS example. So if you know someone who owns one ...

Rgds

Stationair8
8th Jul 2011, 02:46
What was TAA's reasoning for operating the Queenair?

Did they operate them two crew?

Stationair8
10th Jan 2012, 04:49
Noticed XAE and FWG back on the register according to Australian Aviation.

601
10th Jan 2012, 12:33
Fact 1. Army pilots did fly the aircraft as PIC without Unionair pilots

I cannot recall any Army pilots flying either RUU or FWG without UnionAir pilots as PIC between 1970 and 1980. If they did it would have been after 1980.


Fact 2, These two aircraft in PNG operations struggled to get above about 18000 at the weights they were operated at.

We really only had one weight and that was MTOW. With the APR in RUU, there was no requirement to climb above 7000 feet above the terrain as this was timing limitation of the APR. But when required for photography, 25000 was a long climb but doable.


Fact 3. Helmets were not worn by Army pilots whilst flying these aircraft and the oxy system was a constant flow system fitted by Unionair

RUU had the same system as fitted to the Porter and that included the masks and helmets.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df31b3127cceff40c1b5f60500000030O03McM3DlkD28-EA/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

RUU at Rendani
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df31b3127cceff4194e6179800000030O03McM3DlkD28-EA/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

Jamair
10th Jan 2012, 13:32
601 if you have any more pix of Unionair ops in PNG or elsewhere I'd love to get a look at em.

601
10th Jan 2012, 23:37
601 if you have any more pix of Unionair ops in PNG or elsewhere I'd love to get a look at em.

I have but they are slides (remember those things). Scanning them is in my bucket list.

Jamair
11th Jan 2012, 12:04
Sweet - when you do, drop me a PM. Cheers.:ok:

Jabawocky
11th Jan 2012, 20:06
I see one at YCDR that looks recently operated, until the right hand engine needed some serious attention.

Must be a expensive thing to own:sad:

Dora-9
11th Jan 2012, 20:50
Jaba, that's FDV, which features extensively earlier in this thread....

megle2
12th Jan 2012, 08:11
Come on 601 your not that busy
OK you are but just put some compliance requests aside for a few days
I reckon you have some interesting stuff

601
13th Jan 2012, 06:41
OK you are but just put some compliance requests aside for a few days

That is also on my bucket list.

aaavn
29th Jun 2012, 02:28
The Australian Army Queenairs were operated with Army pilots only initially. Bernie Forrest, Tippet, Howard and Ferguson took the first two to Indonesia 1969.

On return Bernie went off to do other things, Dick Tippet took over as section commander and I took Dick's place as the replacement pilot. We were supporting the School of Survey in Albury when Ferguson killed himself and others at the Shepparton Fly-in.

That aircraft was replaced but the incident had serious repercussions for Army Aviation across the board and, I understand for insurance reasons, a Union Air civil pilot joined the crew. This did not prevent the Army pilots flying in command and the great majority of jobs the two guys swapped seats day about.

My first job was to Wewak photographing the Indonesian border in the Star Mountains. We had the brand new replacement aircraft (actually a Beech 70 but the only difference I could see was the window shape). Pure photography at 25,000 and it took a long time to get there. Helmets did not come in until much later and we used headsets and kids airline seat emergency oxygen masks on full flow. Later we got canulas which were not much better.

That aircraft was burned to a cinder on return to Toowoomba in a hangar fire.

The bends incident was on one of our Wewak flights when the Survey Captain came for a ride. I can't recall whether he had been diving previous but we aborted the trip at around 20,000 as he writhed in excruciating pain on the floor from shoulders and knees.

Later jobs were Aerodist out of Goroka (what a godsend is GPS!), Terrain profiling out of Woomera and photography and aerodist out of Padang in Sumatra.

Wonderful aircraft but pretty terrifying in the afternoon punching into a big CB over the PNG mountains, really wished we had radar.

CharlieLimaX-Ray
5th Feb 2024, 05:55
Any Queenair's flying in 2024?

megle2
5th Feb 2024, 21:59
601, 11 years have passed, have you had time to do those photos

Dora-9
5th Feb 2024, 22:45
sms777:-

XAE lives in Perth.
Currently advertised for sale in Califournia, still wearing the VH-XAE registration.

601
6th Feb 2024, 12:08
601, 11 years have passed, have you had time to do those photos

Sorry about that. I saw the new post and thought "B88ger"
Retirement, Wooden Boats, Mens Sheds have been taking up my time. Don't know how I fitted work in!!

But I did scan all my slides. I know the directory they are in.
One has to remember that we did not have digital cameras back last Century. All 35mm slides.
Here is a teaser. RUU at Rendani June 1977.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1774x1185/vh_ruu_rendani_3543dab94ff5ab92db43bfb9e8cceb3feb4e23b6.jpg
VH-RUU at Rendani Airport. We had to change the fuel cell inboard of the starboard engine.

First_Principal
6th Feb 2024, 18:57
If not the Queenair, the Mini Moke certainly dates that picture - very cool :ok:

Capt Fathom
6th Feb 2024, 19:21
Mini Moke - standard company airport car in the day.

601
7th Feb 2024, 05:38
If not the Queenair, the Mini Moke certainly dates that picture - very coo

Note the colour of the Mini Moke.
Fitted in the back of a Caribou.

Desert Flower
7th Feb 2024, 05:41
Mini Moke - standard company airport car in the day.

Yep - I had one! Very often used to be borrowed by pilots to run into town to grab something to eat!

DF.

septuganarian
7th Feb 2024, 06:55
What was TAA's reasoning for operating the Queenair?

Did they operate them two crew?
TAA operated TWO queenairs at a time ,(A80 models),single pilot ops on a scheduled RPT service Mackay/Brampton Island for many years. Even had a full time maintenance base there for them.TGA TGB TGC were the regos as I remember them.Replaced with Twin Otters with a Traffic Officer in the RH seat to comply with the two crew Regs. Locals will remember Thigh Biter and Tommo at the Aero Club!

Dora-9
7th Feb 2024, 09:35
..and speaking of Queen Air photos, here's the gorgeous VH-CFD when she first arrived at Mascot, 11/1965. I can still remember when I first saw her, it was love (and awe) at first sight. Little did I know that a year later I'd do my first twin endorsement in this very aeroplane.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1000x668/0d125f9da7d26d573a2218b86b38d026_eac1e303094486523d1f47eb649 717b25a62b332.jpg

Dora-9
7th Feb 2024, 20:51
sms777 and 65er:

I've discovered more photos. Here's FDV's panel in her RFDS days, rather simple but that's all you needed to fly around the Kimberleys - that's what I told myself anyway! Peeping at the lower edge is that awful Brittain B4 autopilot.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1200x802/vh_fdv_cockpit_f71d6b2a059b9d0363ea8f7fde3128fad8e1cb6d.jpg

Pinky the pilot
8th Feb 2024, 09:24
I can still remember, about 25 years ago, living in YPLC when working for the second version of ASA and hearing on several occasions, a certain Queen Air at T/O revs somewhere around 0 dark hundred hours!:ok:

Once had a great chat with the Pilot, around the same time of night.

Those were the days, eh SMS777?:D

On eyre
8th Feb 2024, 09:50
I can still remember, about 25 years ago, living in YPLC when working for the second version of ASA and hearing on several occasions, a certain Queen Air at T/O revs somewhere around 0 dark hundred hours!:ok:

Once had a great chat with the Pilot, around the same time of night.

Those were the days, eh SMS777?:D

True dat Pinky.
A pair delivered papers from Adelaide to Port Lincoln about midnight seven nights a week.
And being considerate pilots and taking the shortest route on landing gave the poor people of North Shields (about half a mile off centreline of RWY 01) an awakening. Then after unloading said newspapers proceeded to wake them up again by departing off RWY 19 ( ‘cos that was quicker).
Glad them days are gone - at least my Chieftain and Bandit crews were more considerate.

Dora-9
9th Feb 2024, 00:08
Continuing on the theme of "my girls", here's VH-DHQ (LC-175, ex N6894Q). Initially a DHA demonstrator, sold to the Swan Brewery Group with the rego changed to VH-SLB ("Swan Lager & Beer"), burnt out at Grafton NSW on 8.6.1971. I've heard two very different stories of what occurred, does anyone know?


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1000x645/vh_dhq_a7ef83dda20b95d0e542d924fee7eb962b80ecfb.jpg

CharlieLimaX-Ray
9th Feb 2024, 01:04
So Dora-9, initial twin in a Queenair, beats the old Seneca1/Seminole to drop at BBQ beers at the aero club on a Friday night.

601
9th Feb 2024, 02:41
I've heard two very different stories of what occurred
Anything to do with starting an engine with a tailwind?

Dora-9
9th Feb 2024, 05:06
That's one of the stories, yes.

Dora-9
9th Feb 2024, 05:08
CLX:

initial twin in a Queenair,

Nothing to do with my abilities (I struggled to be honest), but Civils' vast fleet of Barons were all tied up when the boss decided he needed me endorsed yesterday.

CharlieLimaX-Ray
9th Feb 2024, 07:10
Dora-9, you must have had plenty of heavy single time in that case!

Capt Fathom
9th Feb 2024, 10:18
sms777 and 65er:
Here's FDV's panel in her RFDS days


Just love the radio stack (couldn’t call them avionics!). VHF, 2 ADFs and a DME. Classic!

601
9th Feb 2024, 12:46
VHF, 2 ADFs and a DME. Classic!

I think the "DME" is the HF!!

Dora-9
9th Feb 2024, 19:05
I think the "DME" is the HF!!

I'm really struggling to remember where the DME selector was mounted (below the autopilot controller?) but it DID have a DME - the indicator is to the left of the EGT gauge.

Dora-9, you must have had plenty of heavy single time in that case!

Not really, just Bonanza, Comanche and Cessna 210. But, looking back, nearly all my career progressions seem to have been based on standing in the right place at the right time!

Dora-9
9th Feb 2024, 20:01
...and speaking of radio stacks, this one was (from that aspect only) the most impressive of them all. It had two of everything, all set in a very schmick factory-installed pack (lots of Gable controllers here). Sadly, I don't have a photo.

I never liked this Queen Air, simply put it was a dog, seemingly something was always failing/falling off. I only flew it a few times, but it was a real sitting on the edge of your seat experience. You know when you have that "this aircraft is out to get me" feeling?

The aircraft is VH-CMI, formerly Thiess Bros VH-CMT, a Beech 65-80 (the initial "short wing" version of the 80). Following an engine fire and subsequent in-flight break up, it crashed near Alice Springs in 1972 killing all on board.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1000x670/vh_cmi_e35ae7ebdc54d584a5df6a37b4c09f2f47cc0331.jpg

Capt Fathom
9th Feb 2024, 22:09
Here is the BASI Report (https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/24835/197203842.pdf). Sobering reading. :(
Interesting to compare the quality of the report from 50 years ago compared to what we see today.

Qanchor
9th Feb 2024, 22:27
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1000x668/img_0010_8f6fc5b36ce7b422aa8296091ba3a004d611cc47.jpeg
What’s with the “J” in the rego?

Dora-9
10th Feb 2024, 03:02
Actually it's a "U". I think it was a taped on registration, part of which has fallen away.

Qanchor
10th Feb 2024, 19:51
Ahh gotchca! 👍

Dora-9
13th Feb 2024, 05:13
More Queen Air "eye candy" - VH-CFI (LC-170), first registered to CFS in 1968, parted out at Parafield in 1983.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1000x694/vh_cfi_8efc12a7c01144a215a822f6b3418b9811143e40.jpg

KRUSTY 34
13th Feb 2024, 22:05
Back in the early nineties Jim Hazelton endorsed me on old AMG (B80). What a delightful aircraft that was. As we settled in prior to departure Jim looked around and commented that this was the aircraft (previously an Air Ambulance) that transported him from Orange to Sydney (after he had suffered an aortal aneurysm). Wonderful man, great memories.

ANCIENT
14th Feb 2024, 06:11
I think CFI was registered to Civils before 68 as I flew it for Civils on 14/2/67.
I had been flying DHQ for Muir Aviation.
Flew CFD on 16/2/67 and agree it was one nicely equipped Queenair.

Dora-9
14th Feb 2024, 18:13
ANCIENT:
You're correct, I'd mistakenly used a photo caption date. VH-CFI was first registered on 22.6.1965 and (if I'd bothered to look) appears in my logbook first in December 1966!
PM sent.

CharlieLimaX-Ray
14th Feb 2024, 20:01
What model was the pick of the Queenair’s to fly?

Must have been an interesting place in the 60’s at the Beechcraft factory, with Beech 18’s, Queenairs, B99 and B90 rolling down the production line.

e2_c
17th Feb 2024, 12:12
We had a few of them over the years both original engines and the Excalibur conversion. I found the A80 and B80 to be the nicest to fly with the Excalibur's being like flying a big Baron.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1316/nau_1_1f3288b72810821dd8f97afd84f82b9c20f2349a.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1325/queenair_exc_1_333d0c6e9f527c0ca583d8783ced4f03e1274273.jpg

Dora-9
17th Feb 2024, 18:42
the Excalibur's being like flying a big Baron.
Yes, but did they make the same wonderful noise (music)?
Nice photos, btw.

CharlieLimaX-Ray
23rd Feb 2024, 04:51
Who operated VH-RUU, is was used to do aerial photography at various mine sites in the mid 80's.

Civil Flying Services Moorabbin still had a Queenair on charter work in 1987, Jock Gardener used to fly it.

Capt Fathom
23rd Feb 2024, 05:53
Some info here (http://www.adf-serials.com.au/queenair.htm) CLX. Don't know how accurate it is?

lucille
23rd Feb 2024, 05:53
In my many moves, I’ve lost my all early logbooks so can’t even remember the registration but I flew a Queenair on mapping photography missions for the Army, had a very pleasant 4 months in Vanuatu in the winter of 1984. The outfit I worked for was based in Essendon and had two of these beauties set up with Wild RC-10 cameras.

Agreed, it was a proper gentleman’s aeroplane. Although high altitude performance was not its forte… I recall the struggle to get to FL200.

Has Beechcraft ever made any aeroplanes which were not joys to fly.?

Pinky the pilot
23rd Feb 2024, 08:25
Went through my old PNG Album, hoping to find if I had taken any photos of the two Queenairs that Douglas Airways once operated. Long before I got there, of course. One was, for the entire time I was with Dz, sitting in the maintenance hangar supposedly almost 'out of a major inspection.' Unfortunately, no piccy of it!

This is the only photo I have of 'the other one.' I believe that after Dz went bagarup it was cut up for scrap, along with a GAF Nomad which was in a similar condition.

I have no idea what happened to the 'Hangar Queen.'

601
23rd Feb 2024, 11:59
Who operated VH-RUU, is was used to do aerial photography at various mine sites in the mid 80's.
UnionAir operated RUU and FWG on contract to the Army from the late 60s through the 80s.

WTFIGO
29th Feb 2024, 03:41
Don't want to tar all Twin Bananas with the same brush as the only one I flew was VH-CLO which Jetair acquired from Connellans and it was a horrible machine. Loved the Baron, Queenair and Bonanza though.