F27's
The F27's on the centre run did not go to the rock.
Connair flew an F27 to the rock in its last days, and Christine Davy flew as Captain of it. (she had been Captain on DC3"s and Herons for many years.) And then Northern Airlines did it for a while in Metros. the metros could not handle the high temperatures and elevation, so they kicked out the FO'S and operated single pilot. That did not last long.
The F27's on the centre run would never have had decent loading. I remember hearing a flight servoce officer telling an inbound F27 at Leigh Creek "your loading- one parcel, one pound"
But it probably provided good ICUS training.
And they used to send TAA FO's to Alice Springs to fly airmedical flights in Doves, and later Nomads, to get command time.(single pilot). Just routine clinics, none of the serious stuff, and they did not fly at night. There were no facilities out there.