Military King Air at Whyalla

[LeadSled]

Folks,
There is a military King Air that has been parked at Whyalla airport, some claim for over three months.
It is out in the open and doesn’t seem to be a goer. Does anyone know what the story is?
You would think it could be put into a hangar for protection? It must be a very valuable aircraft.
Tootle pip!!

[junior.VH-LFA]

You would think it could be put into a hangar for protection? It must be a very valuable aircraft.


The RAAF doesn't own it, Hawker Pacific does.

[Car RAMROD]

Maybe related?

No Cookies | The Courier Mail (http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/health/raaf-fleet-grounded-over-cancer-risk/news-story/055e62c831e5697dc6972d910d003d7b)

[Sunfish]

Jeebus, my whole aircraft is painted with strontium chromate primer!

[TWOTBAGS]

Two more parked in front of Hawkers BNE have not moved in months either.

[megle2]

About time this made Prune. All RAAF King Airs grounded for some time because of cancer fears.
Would of thought they would of told other operators / pilots of this perceived risk so they could at least consider it. But no didn't say a word to others except Beech. By the time word got out to a few it was all over and as far as I know there back in the air

[onetrack]

Been nice knowing you, Sunfish. Hope you weren't welding, brazing, or grinding stainless steel regularly, without a suitable mask. Same goes for spraying the SC primer. :eek: Hexavalent Chromium compounds are nasty stuff. :(

[Dick Smith]

Are these some of the military operated aircraft that have a full CASA approved ADSB dispensation to save the military money?

[BuzzBox]

Oh FFS. Here we go again...:rolleyes:

[Going Nowhere]

They have ADS-B fitted.

[junior.VH-LFA]

Are these some of the military operated aircraft that have a full CASA approved ADSB dispensation to save the military money?
Nice try Dick, but the RAAF King Air fleet has ADS-B fitted.

[le Pingouin]

How many times do you have to be told Dick? Do you think it's a conspiracy of silence and denial and you're hoping your subtle repetition will cause a deep throat to spill the beans?

[Car RAMROD]

So, I think what Dick is trying to say is that having ADSB in a military aircraft causes cancer?
No wonder they are getting dispensations!

[holdingagain]

The cause was something like the air con mixing bowl being incorrectly primed? This led to carcinogenic fears and the mass grounding. Seeing as we the tax payer paid to have it sorted out shouldn't they tell us what the outcome was.

Apparently you "pause" a fleet rather than "ground" a fleet as it would be too hard to get them back into the air and pausing doesn't arouse too much interest and keeps casa out of the loop as its not a airworthiness matter

I wonder if any of the RFDS pilots were informed, probably the same component on a 200

[john_tullamarine]

and keeps casa out of the loop as its not a airworthiness matter

Not so, apparently.

While CASA has no "official" interest in State aircraft, a mate tells me that the relevant Contract for the KingAir operation requires a drop copy of defect reports to go through the normal CASA defect notification process.

[Dick Smith]

So who is paying for this? The taxpayer I bet !

[holdingagain]

To ground the fleet where ever they happened to be ( ie Whyalla ) it must of been viewed very seriously. Surely worthy of warning / advising other operators.

[BuzzBox]

Surely worthy of warning / advising other operators.

The aircraft might be operated by the RAAF, but they are leased from Hawker Pacific, as posted previously. Hawker Pacific also has the contract to provide engineering and logistics support for the duration of the lease. Surely any necessary notifications to CASA, the manufacturer and other operators would be Hawker's responsibility, not the RAAF's.

[Dick Smith]

Sounds like a serious cover up. Only reason why aircraft would be left in the open like this.

There must be a real answer. Hasn't appeared yet on this thread!

[itsnotthatbloodyhard]

Sounds like a serious cover up. Only reason why aircraft would be left in the open like this.

There must be a real answer. Hasn't appeared yet on this thread!

All right, here you go then.

At huge expense to the taxpayer, they're having all the ADSB gear ripped out. After that, they'll be used to blockade Williamtown airspace, with the specific aim of forcing young families either out to sea or over the Barrington Tops.

[john_tullamarine]

Sounds like a serious cover up.

From what I understand the military remains extremely sensitive to OHS matters .. this dates back to the F111 deseal/reseal program which caused the system quite some heartache. Over recent years, the military reaction to some matters which would be taken in the civil stride has been a tad active and, I suspect, the present matter is in the same vein.

Only reason why aircraft would be left in the open like this.

.. or there may have been no hangarage available. I am aware of previous KingAir matters where the aircraft concerned have been parked outside for extended periods so this is not necessarily anything out of the ordinary.

There must be a real answer.

Conversely, it may just be the normal process working its way through a particular problem ?

[megle2]

I'd like to see a proper explanation of how it became so serious, what was done, what Beech said and how it was judged ok and all the aircraft returned to service.

[601]

So the 350 being a "civilian aircraft" as against a "military aircraft," where does that leave all of the pilots who flew civilian Beech 350s?

Or did the 350s for this contract have additional corrosion protection added during construction?

[Obidiah]

Wasn't it just left there at the end of the military exercise being conducted nearby until they needed it elsewhere.

Or perhaps its software had been hacked by the Chinese gumbit.

[junior.VH-LFA]

Some of you blokes (Dick!) are so out of touch it's almost scary.

They're OWNED and MAINTAINED by Hawker Pac guys....

[Dick Smith]

Yes. But surely there is a super seasprite type contract where we mug taxpayers pay even if the aircraft sit around doing nothing!

I wonder how long before the problem is solved and what are the pilots flying in the meantime ?

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

No, Dick is right. The pilots (and any passengers) should be made to fly in them, irrespective of any trifling health concerns. Additionally, any aircraft currently on the ground or under maintenance, should be immediately returned to service and flown at 100%, diregarding inoperative engines, avionics, or airframe faults, because we taxpayers are paying for them. Damn military, who do they think they are?

[Car RAMROD]

Or, what if there is some other problem with the aircraft completely unrelated to the strontium chromite which has resulted in it being left on the ground for an extended period?

Who knows!
Other than Dick of course. Anything to have a dig at the military. Haven't you put your hand up yet for the DAS job so that you can "save GA"?

[BuzzBox]

Take a Bex and have a good lie down Dick. It really is quite amazing what can be found through a simple search on Google:

B300 King Air Fleet returns to service : Department of Defence (http://news.defence.gov.au/2016/08/02/b300-king-air-fleet-returns-to-service/)

RAAF King Airs return to the air | Australian Aviation (http://australianaviation.com.au/2016/08/raaf-king-airs-return-to-the-air/)

The aircraft were grounded on 30 June and recommenced flying on 4 August, so they were grounded for about 5 weeks, not 'over three months' as was claimed earlier.:rolleyes:

[wishiwasupthere]

When has Dick ever let the truth get in the way of a good rant though?

[Capn Bloggs]

Haven't you put your hand up yet for the DAS job so that you can "save GA"?
No! I've reserved that job for Leddie!!