Victoria Police Air Wing Tender
The last time that VicPAW had a fixed wing element they had two twins, and were a very cost effective means of transporting coppers around the state for court appearances, prisoner transfers, relocation requirements, etc. Jump into the 21st Century with added requirements for surveillance, SOG positioning with equipment and other jobs a larger more capable aircraft could be needed.
What’s the issue with them looking at all types as per tender requirements; this is only a rumour site and you seem to be climbing up the fishing line and down the rod without any hook in the water!
What’s the issue with them looking at all types as per tender requirements; this is only a rumour site and you seem to be climbing up the fishing line and down the rod without any hook in the water!
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I believe WAPOL has an Airvan decked out for surveillance over the metro area (maybe just a trial for now). Flies in circles just as well as the BK or Dauphin but makes less noise and costs a dickload less to operate. Don't know why any police department would need a 139 with the SAR/EMS capabilities from the likes of Toll, Babcock, CHC or Careflight on hand. Seems like a waste of money IMO.
Speaking of Toll & CHC. I heard a rumor CHC are making 20 AW139 drivers redundant. Toll picked up a contract CHC was bidding on. Just a rumor, but it didn't come from the Essendon refueller so probably not quite true.
I don't care what they do, what aircraft they buy, or who they get to fly them. I only know one guy who works for them, and he's been there a while. I have no insight in anything they have done, do, or might do. It's always nice to get nice new toys to play with, and whatever toy shop they land in I'm sure will be perfect for their needs.
You're right, it's "not quite true". There will be some voluntary redundancies, and a few of those will no doubt be 139 pilots - no more than 5 or 6 at a guess - maybe less. No forced redundancies at this stage. Toll has not won any contracts that CHC has bid on apart from the NSW EMS contract nearly 2 years ago, or if they have it is not public knowledge and does not impact on the current redundancies.
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An announcement today on the future configuration of the Victoria Police Air Wing fleet:
- three Leonardo AW139 helicopters
- one Beechcraft Super King Air 350ER
An announcement today on the future configuration of the Victoria Police Air Wing fleet:
- three Leonardo AW139 helicopters
- one Beechcraft Super King Air 350ER
Does one assume 3x medium would tend toward the future being a centralised unit?
I’m genuinely impressed/relieved that the regions have little need for rapid aerial response. Long may it continue.
But not at all keen on all the eggs in one basket.
I guess we just just need to cram a few more million people into the state
to get the numbers upmjb
Last edited by mickjoebill; 28th Oct 2018 at 03:17.
Complete overkill. 90% of the worlds Police forces use smaller and more agile models. Ridiculous waste of money. You could run a few MD500 / Notar equivalents to carry as many guys for a fraction of the cost. Much of their work is camera work and guiding ground forces.. do you really need a 139 for that? They are too big to land in many of the locations they need to and as noted above, they will load them up to the roof with crap and dramatically reduce the payload. Yes they do winch missions, but do they need 3 units to support this capability?
The EC135 suffered that fate early on and with so much crap on board, it has about a 1.5 hour total mission range. A $6m waste of tax payers money.
As for the KingAir. They used to run Aerostars years ago but got rid of them in favour of helicopters. They used to use them for interstate trips to transport prisoners also. History repeating itself? It will be used for training apparently amongst other things like searches... presumably training the camera operators etc, do you really need a 350 for that? Probably not. A Vulcanair might have been an economical option instead.
How about spending some of this cash on programs to assist Police with further training for dealing with mental health cases for example? If they put more effort in here, they wouldn’t need to cram 8 SOG officers with sub-machine guns into a 139 to head to the next siege and then do nothing when they arrive.
The EC135 suffered that fate early on and with so much crap on board, it has about a 1.5 hour total mission range. A $6m waste of tax payers money.
As for the KingAir. They used to run Aerostars years ago but got rid of them in favour of helicopters. They used to use them for interstate trips to transport prisoners also. History repeating itself? It will be used for training apparently amongst other things like searches... presumably training the camera operators etc, do you really need a 350 for that? Probably not. A Vulcanair might have been an economical option instead.
How about spending some of this cash on programs to assist Police with further training for dealing with mental health cases for example? If they put more effort in here, they wouldn’t need to cram 8 SOG officers with sub-machine guns into a 139 to head to the next siege and then do nothing when they arrive.
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How about spending some of this cash on programs to assist Police with further training for dealing with mental health cases for example? If they put more effort in here, they wouldn’t need to cram 8 SOG officers with sub-machine guns into a 139 to head to the next siege and then do nothing when they arrive.
The incident was resolved without arrest or harm. The initial SOG response has had locals reeling.
The boys in black appeared to arrive by road.
Good to see the Victorian Police commissioner appear to make inroads this week to improve mental health care for first responders, that should extend to civvy pilots working in govt role, including aerial fire fighting IMHO.
Mjb
Thread Starter
Photos have emerged of the first 2 machines.
SN 31878 - General Duties in Blue/White Livery
SN 31885 - Special Operations in Grey Livery
Photo credit as marked.
SN 31878 - General Duties in Blue/White Livery
SN 31885 - Special Operations in Grey Livery
Photo credit as marked.
Really? I wouldn't be so sure. Fenestron on the N3 needs more maintenance than it should, courtesy of issues that the 155 had. And then there is the god awful autopilot. That thing is horrible to fix when it breaks.
The 139 gets good dispatch reliability from people who know how to maintain it.
It is still one of the most simple machines I've ever worked on mechanically. It's just that it's bigger. And once you get used to the fact that the whole electrical system is DC, avionics issues are much easier to sort out. People are scared of it because they think it is hard to maintain. It isn't.
I hope they've checked that the helipads they use are rated for it. They wouldn't be the first operator to buy the 139 and then have to land next to the helipad. LOL.
The 139 gets good dispatch reliability from people who know how to maintain it.
It is still one of the most simple machines I've ever worked on mechanically. It's just that it's bigger. And once you get used to the fact that the whole electrical system is DC, avionics issues are much easier to sort out. People are scared of it because they think it is hard to maintain. It isn't.
I hope they've checked that the helipads they use are rated for it. They wouldn't be the first operator to buy the 139 and then have to land next to the helipad. LOL.