Airtruk...Australian Export
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Vol. XIV No. 4 September-October 1973 Price $1.10 Registered for posting as a periodical — Category B Aviation Historical Society OF Australia J Founded 1959 Airtruk... Australian Export m Transavia PL-12 Airtruks ZK-CVA and ZK-CVG operated by Barr Bros Ltd, at Ardmore, Auckland. To date twenty Airtruks have been exported to New Zealand. R. Deerness Transavia PL—12 Airtruk 5Y—ALS at Nairobi Airport, Kenya, February 1971. P. Keating aiMlill Transavia PL—12 Airtruk ZK—CJT fitted for spraying. I n I I F Airtruk production line at the Transavia factory. Seven Hills, NSW. P. J. Ricketts AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA JOURNAL - 59 - Vol. XIV No. 4 September—October 1973 Contents: Editorial 59 Airtruk — Australian Export 60 EDITORIAL Catalinas On the Great Barrier NATIONAL AVIATION MUSEUM Reef 63 NSW Aerial Derby 67 Monthly Notes - Civil 70 Despite statements to the contrary, the Australian Government is investiga - Military 70 ting the formation of a National Aviation Museum. The years of neglect and inactivity - People 71 — Third Level 71 were outlined in the March-AprII 1973 Editorial and It could be that the current work Papua New Guinea Notes 72 will be too little, too late. There are numerous questions which must be resolved be Museum and Preserved Aircraft 72 fore the basic question itself can be answered. All are simple in appearance but all have The NSW Air Race 1973 73 Airport Movements 73 the possibility of most profound ramifications. Supplements: Civil Aircraft Register 1 Some questions, not necessarily in order of importance, are What are the aims and objects of the Museum? These are of utmost impor tance for the whole philosophy Is based on them. They define the size of the Museum Secretary: G.H. Stone and the boundaries in which it will operate. Journal Distribution Secretary: C.H. O'Neill What purpose will the Museum serve? While It can be directed towards Journal Editors: N.M. Parnell single interests such as tourism, education, monument or teaching. Its appeal would be T.W. Boughton Movements/Register far wider if ail were combined. Editor: J.L. Bell Art Editor: D. Stephens What period will the collection cover? The existing collections have cornered Contributors: much of the available material and only a restricted range is available for a new museum. J.L. Bell, T.W. Boughton, N. Daw, M. Davis, In a way this may be a blessing In disguise for it will force the rate of growth to a R.J. Deerness, D.C. Eyre, reasonable level. E. Favelle, G. Goodall, R. Hourigan, G. Kendall, What will the organisation be? The Museum should be operated on a busin R. Laking, P. Lea, ess basis with regard to management, expenditure and planned workloads. The number R. McDonald, M. Madden, N.M. Parnell, H. Quinlan, of people involved and their responsibilities must be clearly defined. Where will the P.J. Ricketts, T. Smith, money come from? If public money is used then there must be adequate control over R. Williams. its use. Australian Flying August 1973 Australian Gliding September 1973 What will be the source of material? This question is also related to the Aviation Letter No. 82 period covered and could require relationships with the existing museums as well as Photographic Prints by Normal Nicholls bodies such as the National Library and the Australian War Memorial. What will be the relationship with existing organisations and Interested parties? As these organisations own their exhibits and are continually engaged in their All manuscripts for publication in the restoration. It would be most desirable to work in conjunction with them so that the Journal should be typed (if possible) overall benefit to everyone is achieved. Disputes, partisan activities and the like can double spaced using one side of each sheet only. All work on this Journal only cause damage. is voluntary and no payment can be made for published material. Where will the material be restored for display and where will the displays be mounted? Even before the question of restoration is considered, the skills necessary must be found. While arguments could be put forward for centralised activities, there Membership is for one full calendar year commencing March 1st. Annual are many arguments against it. membership fees of $7.00 (Australian currency) will be due for renewal Recent articles show that careful planning is necessary to ensure the future during February each year. of any museum undertaking. A.B. Nelson's article "History is Booming: Museum over kill In Australia" The Australian Financial Review August 21, 1973) raised some valid Published by: Aviation Historical points while overseas reports show that problems can readily occur no matter how good Society of Australia Limited, the Intentions of the organisers were. The failure of the Roscoe Turner Museum at Box C.208, Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. Indianapolis, USA and poor attendance record of the USAF Museum at Dayton, Ohio, as reported in Air Progress March 1973 supports the point. On the other hand, displays by the Shuttleworth Trust In England, as well as other bodies, are always well attended. Printed by: Legal Copying Co. Pty. Limited, 44 Margaret Street, Clearly, the subject, its location and competing events are of great importance. Sydney, NSW, 2000. © 1973 Aviation Historical Society of Australia Aviation Historical Society of Australia Journal - 60 - September-October 1973 AIRTRUK - AUSTRALIAN EXPORT This article is a transcript of a lecture to the Society's NSW Branch on April 1, 1971 by Mr. Roy Williams, chief test pilot for Transavia Corporation Pty Ltd. The lecture was recorded by D.C. Eyre and the transcript edited by N.M. Parnell. "It was always realised from the very beginning that Transavia would have to rely on overseas markets. About 90% of requirements for agricultural aircraft are for sprayer models; It is only in Australia and New Zealand that the bulk of the flying is spreading fertilisers, mainly superphosphate. During the first two years of operations, Transavia was quite busy exporting aircraft to New Zealand where they were In demand as a big load-lifter. The Airtruk built a reputation for taking a heavy load into the mountainous areas while still retaining a good rate of climb. There was no time to spend developing spray ing equipment and it was not until the middle of 1969 that we had an aircraft ready that could be sent on a sales tour overseas. The next step was a sales drive, both privately and through the Department of Trade, and with trade commissioners in various countries. Jim Bray joined Transavia early in 1969, and about the middle of the year travelled through South East Asia to Beirut and in the process appointed agents in the Philllpines, Thailand and India. In the meantime, a long list of modifications had to be made to the Airtruk — additional instruments, a special fuel tank designed to fit in the hopper, additional radio (HF, ADF) had to be fitted. At this point, the Department of Trade asked us if we could participate in two Australian trade exhibitions overseas. The first was part of an annual agricultural show in Nairobi on September 25, 1969, while the second was at Capetown on October 12. The aircraft had to be there on particular days which made the planning more difficult. We agreed to attend these shows with the aircraft and finally evolved a schedule which we were fortunately able to keep. In the planning stage, Qantas Airways were very helpful, particularly D.E. MacPherson who gave us a lot of advice. The Department of Civil Aviation had to get clearance through twenty countries altogether, while we had to make arrangements with several others. Eventually we were ready to start on August 1, 1969. Television people came along, and the press, but then at the last minute the ADF went unserviceable so we had a ficticious departure from Seven Hills and I flew down to Camden. After repairs the following day, I got as far as the mountains when I had to return with more radio trouble. Once I finally got going, the first leg was to Walgett for an overnight stop, then Mount Isa and Darwin. The Airtruk was carry ing the additional fuel tank in the hopper which held 36 gallons. The fibre-glass tank had a fuel pump in the base of it and by flicking a switch, pumped fuel into the tanks. There were four tanks in the wings each holding twenty gallons, so I had a endurance of about nine hours. At some of the places we could not get any fuel so we really needed that extra tankage. Apart from this we had a lot of spares which all fitted down into the hopper, spray-booms and such, and at every demonstration I had to take it all out. After awhile I got used to all the packing and unpacking. I eventually departed from Darwin on the 400 nautical mile leg to Bacau. I had to carry enough fuel to return In case the weather was bad plus forty-five minutes statutory reserve. After passing Bathurst Island It is dead-reckoning navigation and plenty of guesswork. I had a radio-compass but that wasn't much good until the last fifty or sixty miles. Later on I became used to this sort of flying over the water, but at this stage, I was still new to It and had visions of sitting in a dinghy with sharks prowling around. I spent quite some time Imagining how I could get out of the aircraft and into the dinghy because it was in a plastic container in the rear cabin.