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Article Talk Read Edit View history Search Wikipedia This November is the Wikipedia Asian Month. Come join us. Main page Contents No. 34 Squadron RAAF Featured content Current events From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Random article No. 34 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) VIP transport squadron. It Donate to Wikipedia No. 34 Squadron RAAF Wikipedia store operates Boeing 737 Business Jets and Bombardier Challenger 604s from Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra. The squadron was formed in February 1942 for Interaction standard transport duties during World War II, initially flying de Havilland Help DH.84 Dragons in Northern Australia. In 1943 it re-equipped with Douglas C- About Wikipedia 47 Dakotas, which it operated in New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies prior to Community portal Recent changes disbanding in June 1946. Contact page The unit was re-established in March 1948 as No. 34 (Communications) Squadron at RAAF Station Mallala, South Australia, where it supported activities at the Woomera Tools Rocket Range before disbanding in October 1955. It was re-raised as No. 34 (VIP) What links here No. 34 Squadron's crest Flight in March 1956 at RAAF Base Canberra (later Fairbairn). No. 34 Flight was Related changes Active 1942–1946 redesignated No. 34 (Special Transport) Squadron in July 1959, and No. 34 Upload file 1948–1955 Special pages Squadron in June 1963. During the 1960s it operated Dakotas, Convair 1959–current Permanent link Metropolitans, Vickers Viscounts, Dassault Falcon-Mysteres, Hawker Siddeley Allegiance Australia Page information HS 748s, and BAC 1-11s, the last three types continuing in service until the late Branch Royal Australian Air Force Wikidata item 1980s. The squadron's fleet consisted solely of Dassault Falcon 900s from 1989 until Cite this page Role VIP transport 2002, when it began operating the 737 and Challenger. Part of No. 86 Wing Print/export Garrison/HQ Defence Establishment Fairbairn Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Create a book Contents [hide] Motto(s) Eo et redeo Download as PDF 1 Role and equipment ("I Go and I Return") Printable version 2 History Aircraft Boeing 737 Business Jet Challenger 604 In other projects 2.1 World War II and aftermath Engagements World War II 2.2 VIP operations Wikimedia Commons Cold War 3 See also Languages 4 Notes References 5 اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ Português Edit links Role and equipment [ edit ] No. 34 Squadron is the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) unit responsible for the transport of VIPs, including members of the Australian government, the Governor-General, and visiting dignitaries.[1][2] It is based at Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra, and administered by No. 84 Wing, which is part of Air Mobility Group.[1][3] The squadron has a secondary role providing emergency transport during humanitarian operations.[1][2] Its motto is Eo et redeo ("I Go and I Return").[4] As of 2011, No. 34 Squadron's strength included around thirty pilots and thirty flight [5] No. 34 Squadron Challenger 604, taxiing in attendants. Captains are generally senior pilots who have previously flown the RAAF's front of the unit's facilities at Canberra Airport, Boeing C-17 Globemaster, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, or Lockheed AP-3C Orion.[6] Their 2016 co-pilots are new RAAF personnel who have recently graduated from No. 2 Flying Training School, and the crew attendants are posted to the squadron after completing training and a period of service with No. 33 Squadron.[7] The squadron's VIP Operations Cell (VIPOPS) is responsible for managing requests for VIP air transport as well as dedicated security staff.[7] Most logistical support, including meal preparation, is provided under commercial arrangements rather than by RAAF personnel.[8] No. 34 Squadron operates two Boeing 737 Business Jets and three Bombardier Challenger 604s.[2] The aircraft are leased from, and maintained by, the Special Purpose Aircraft Business Unit of Qantas Defence Services in Fairbairn.[9] The lease commenced in 2002 and is due to expire in 2014.[10][11] The twin-engined Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) is crewed by two pilots and up to four flight attendants, and can carry thirty passengers.[12] The twinjet Challenger has a crew of two pilots and one flight attendant, and carries up to nine passengers.[13] The BBJ, which has a range of over 11,000 kilometres (6,800 mi), is generally used for long-range transport, and the Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Challenger on shorter routes.[2][12] The jets are classified as "Special Purpose Aircraft", meaning that their tasking is governed by Federal guidelines for carrying "entitled persons" on official business. To minimise government outlay, the jets may not be employed when available commercial flights satisfy the timing, location and security requirements of a given task. No. 34 Squadron conducts between 1,200 and 1,800 flights each year. A Schedule of Special Purpose Flights is tabled twice annually in Federal Parliament.[2] VIPOPS usually assigns one of No. 34 Squadron's aircraft to approved tasks, but other Australian Defence Force aircraft are occasionally used for tasks not suited to the BBJ or Challenger; for instance, Prime Minister Julia Gillard travelled to China on board a No. 33 Squadron Airbus KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport in April 2013.[14] History [ edit ] World War II and aftermath [ edit ] During February and March 1942, the RAAF formed four transport units: Nos. 33, 34, 35 and 36 Squadrons.[15] No. 34 (Transport) Squadron was established on 23 February at RAAF Station Darwin, Northern Territory, four days after the city was bombed for the first time.[4] Coming under the control of North-Western Area Command, the squadron's initial strength was six personnel and two de Havilland DH.84 Dragons.[4][15] They were immediately tasked with transport duties in northern Australia.[4][16] As well as carrying freight, this involved collecting the first Japanese prisoner of war to be captured in Australia, a navy fighter pilot who had crashlanded during the raid on Darwin.[4][17] One of the squadron's two officers, Flight Lieutenant J.W. Warwick, became the first (acting) No. 34 Squadron Dakotas over New commanding officer on 2 March. The following day, one of the Dragons was destroyed on Guinea, c. 1944 the ground at Wyndham, Western Australia, by enemy air attack. With its other aircraft unserviceable, and accommodation at Darwin's civil airfield inadequate, squadron headquarters relocated to Daly Waters Airfield on 5 March. On 14 March another Dragon was allocated; this was joined by two Avro Ansons and two de Havilland Tiger Moths in mid-May, by which time the squadron had moved to Batchelor Airfield. By the end of the month, the squadron had thirty-four personnel, including six officers. It lost one of the Tiger Moths to a bushfire on 1 July, a few days after the plane crashlanded south of Katherine. The squadron relocated again on 15 July, this time to Hughes Airfield. It remained at Hughes until 27 August, when it transferred to Manbulloo Airfield; it operated from Manbulloo until it was temporarily disbanded on 13 December and its aircraft transferred to No. 6 Communications Flight.[4] Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD No. 34 Squadron was re-formed on 3 January 1943 at Parafield Airport, South Australia, from elements of No. 36 Squadron formerly based at Essendon, Victoria.[4][18] Initially comprising ninety-six personnel and eight aircraft, by the end of the month the squadron's strength had been reduced to seventy personnel and three Dragons operating in South Australia and the Northern Territory. On 11 March one of the Dragons was destroyed on takeoff at Parafield, causing two deaths—No. 34 Squadron's first fatalities. Another Dragon was lost in a fire after it crashlanded near Tennant Creek in April.[4] Beginning in May 1943, the Dragons were augmented by Douglas C-47 Dakotas, giving the squadron a total strength of three Dakotas and two Dragons by the following month.[4][16] By July, No. 34 Squadron was operating five Dakotas, which had fully replaced the Dragons, and in August its strength stood at seven Dakotas and 153 personnel, including forty-seven officers.[4] It subsequently received an Airspeed Oxford and a Douglas DC-2, and began making supply drops and medical evacuations as far north as Port Moresby, New Guinea.[4][16] The squadron had its busiest month in May 1944, transporting almost 1,900 passengers and over 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) of cargo. On 1 June it became the first operational RAAF squadron to have personnel of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) in its ranks, a contingent made up of an officer and twenty airwomen.[4] The WAAAF had been formed in 1941 and eventually made up thirty-one per cent of RAAF ground staff; its members were primarily employed in technical trades and were not permitted to serve in combat theatres.[19][20] October 1944 saw a detachment of the squadron operating from Cape York in Far North Queensland to bases in the Dutch East Indies. Additional detachments were located at Townsville, Queensland, and Coomalie Creek, Northern Territory.[16] In February 1945, No. 34 Squadron commenced a relocation to Morotai in the Dutch East Indies, under the control of the Australian First Tactical Air Force, and was fully established at its new base by mid-April.[4][21] The squadron supported the invasion of Borneo, and its Dakotas were the first Allied aircraft to land at Labuan and Tarakan after the islands were captured.