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Post by Ykato on Jul 15, 2010 14:31:08 GMT 12
as noted here: rnzaf.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=11322RNZAF Iroquois & Australian Army Blackhawk alpine flying exercise No 3 Squadron (3 SQN) from the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) will hold its annual mountain flying exercise over the period 19 - 30 July 2010. Known as Exercise BLACKBIRD 2010 (BB10), the annual mountain flying exercise will be supported by members of Expeditionary Support Squadron (ESS). The exercise is designed to familiarise Iroquois crews with high altitude flying and cold weather operations and will be held at RNZAF Camp Dip Flat. BB10 will also be used as an opportunity to conduct night Search & Rescue (SAR) type continuation flying. In addition, Exercise ANZAC ROTOR 2010 (AR10) will also be conducted by the 16th Aviation Brigade of the Australian Army. They will be operating four Blackhawk helicopters and conducting alpine flying training although they will be based at RNZAF Base Woodbourne near Blenheim over the period 19 - 23 July 2010. A Media day is planned for 21 July 2010 and interested media are invited to attend. Details are as follows: What: BB10 & AR10 Media Day. The day will consist of Detachement Commander Briefings, interviews with aircrew and other support personnel as required and the opportunity to go flying subject to appropriate weather conditions and available aircraft. Who: No 3 Squadron, RNZAF. 4 x Iroqouis helicopters, approx 143 personnel over two rotations. 6th Aviation Brigade, Australian Army. 4 x Blackhawk helicopters, approx 143 personnel. When: Wednesday 21 July 2010 10am - 2pm. Where: RNZAF Camp Dip Flat in the Marlborough, Molesworth, St Arnaud region. South Island. Media are expected to make their own way to and from Dip Flat. Interested media are requested to email Squadron Leader Kavae Tamariki (kavae.tamariki@nzdf.mil.nz) prior to 12pm Tuesday 20 July to register your interest. www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/media-releases/20100714-md21jriaabae.htm
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Post by Ykato on Jul 15, 2010 15:50:45 GMT 12
Cold trip for Aussie helicopter pilots Four Australian Blackhawk helicopters are due in New Zealand on Sunday to give their pilots a taste of alpine flying. The Australian army helicopters would spend a fortnight at the air force's Dipflat camp near Blenheim and fly in and around the Southern Alps, said air force spokesman Squadron Leader Kavae Tamariki. Full Item located Here: www.odt.co.nz/news/national/113314/cold-trip-aussie-helicopter-pilots
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jul 15, 2010 17:49:22 GMT 12
Yep Dip Flat in winter is bloody cold, especially if you are sleeping in tents! I did a Blackbird there in 1985 and I've never been so cold in my life. We all slept in two sleeping bags and with all our clothes on and still froze! Still the scenery around there at that time of the year makes up for it. How are the Blackhawks getting here?
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Post by Ykato on Jul 15, 2010 17:57:38 GMT 12
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Post by kiwiscanfly on Jul 16, 2010 2:54:14 GMT 12
Is Blackbird a tactical alpine operation training as well as just pure alpine flying???
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jul 16, 2010 7:58:27 GMT 12
There is a good photo in todays Chch Press of the first two being unloaded from a C17 at Chch airport last night. The paper has reported them as being Royal Australian Air Force helicopters, even though they have ARMY all over them in the photo! The same, but opposite recongition problem the RNZAF has with our helicopters always being referred to as "Army" helicopters!
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Post by area51 on Jul 17, 2010 0:44:01 GMT 12
I've plonked a couple of pics on my blog for those interested. www.mrcaviation.blogspot.com/I posed the question, is this the first visit by ADF Blackhawks to NZ? I don't recall them having ever crossed the Tasman before. In addition to that question, a friend poses the following and we would appreciate anymore on this subject: Around 1984 the US Army or USAF had several machines operating in NZ. A C5A Galaxy collected them from Whenuapai with the story being on TV and showed at least two Blackhawks. The story stated they were here operating with our SAS. The questions are: 1/ How many Blackhawks and what were the serial numbers 2/ How did they arrive in NZ 3/ Was the C5A the only one ever to land at Whenuapai. Any feedback on the subject will be awesome! Thanks Mike
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Post by ErrolC on Jul 17, 2010 8:50:00 GMT 12
I've plonked a couple of pics on my blog for those interested. www.mrcaviation.blogspot.com/I posed the question, is this the first visit by ADF Blackhawks to NZ? I don't recall them having ever crossed the Tasman before. In addition to that question, a friend poses the following and we would appreciate anymore on this subject: Around 1984 the US Army or USAF had several machines operating in NZ. A C5A Galaxy collected them from Whenuapai with the story being on TV and showed at least two Blackhawks. The story stated they were here operating with our SAS. The questions are: 1/ How many Blackhawks and what were the serial numbers 2/ How did they arrive in NZ 3/ Was the C5A the only one ever to land at Whenuapai. Thanks Mike My memory (I was a teenager living next to Whenuapai at the time) is that the Blackhawks were at the same time as TRIAD - could be wrong. I remember seeing troops repelling out of one of them, so the SAS bit seems reasonable. I don't associate the Blackhawks with the C-5, but I may have been suffering sensory overload (F-15s taking off in pairs overhead while I was getting ready for school - cool!) We got a heads-up on a C-5 leaving (it had been at Whenuapai at least overnight), and heading down to the fence to watch it go. It taxi-ed along the cross-runway (taxi-way unsuitable?), and headed down to the harbour end of the runway. The lower half of the base was in fog, but the tail was above the fog-bank much of the time. We lost sight for a few minutes, them the monster loomed out of the fog, and lumbered off. I only remember the one C-5 visit (we got occasional Starlifters).
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Post by Ykato on Jul 17, 2010 9:17:40 GMT 12
USMC VH-60N APEC 99
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Post by beagle on Jul 17, 2010 9:30:23 GMT 12
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Post by Ykato on Jul 17, 2010 9:31:56 GMT 12
Great Photo's Mr Beagle Thanks for posting them - nice cheers
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 17, 2010 12:47:25 GMT 12
Nice photos, guys. Gee, if any of those lads have come direct from Townsville, they're going to find it very cold on the South Island at the moment.
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Post by kiwiscanfly on Jul 17, 2010 15:04:25 GMT 12
Air movements down in Christchurch must be kept busy
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Post by motoxjase on Jul 17, 2010 15:49:32 GMT 12
We just had a BlackHawk fly directly over our house heading south, Id love to know the official reason as to why was the NH-90 selected over the BlackHawk considering its a proven BattleWagon that can perform a wide selection of tasks and while the basic frame is 70s the frame has plenty of room for upgrades and improvement and surely must be a lot cheaper than the NH-90...or was the NH-90 selected as the BlackHawk is Yank???
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 17, 2010 16:09:08 GMT 12
We just had a BlackHawk fly directly over our house heading south, Id love to know the official reason as to why was the NH-90 selected over the BlackHawk considering its a proven BattleWagon that can perform a wide selection of tasks and while the basic frame is 70s the frame has plenty of room for upgrades and improvement and surely must be a lot cheaper than the NH-90...or was the NH-90 selected as the BlackHawk is Yank??? One of the reasons touted for selecting the NH-90 was to standardise the ADF helicopter fleet down to a smaller number of common airframe types across the Army and Navy. Of course, this has gone out the window somewhat because the Navy is being 'stubborn' and wants the MH-60R, rather than the navalised NH-90. Plus, the Army have had some fatigue issues with the Blackhawk over the years, due to the fact that they have to operate them with the droptanks fitted more often than was anticipated to get maximum range put of them - which has lead to some cracking around the pylon mounting points on the airframe. People have often criticised the Blackhawk for being a very thirsty chopper to operate, but I fail to see that a helicopter like the NH-90 will be any different in that regard. I think that all modern turbine helicopters are gas guzzlers, aren't they?
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Post by phil on Jul 17, 2010 18:42:28 GMT 12
Id love to know the official reason as to why was the NH-90 selected over the BlackHawk considering its a proven BattleWagon that can perform a wide selection of tasks and while the basic frame is 70s the frame has plenty of room for upgrades and improvement and surely must be a lot cheaper than the NH-90...or was the NH-90 selected as the BlackHawk is Yank??? The answer to that question has been posted at least twice on this forum....
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Post by motoxjase on Jul 18, 2010 7:06:13 GMT 12
The answer to that question has been posted at least twice on this forum....[/quote] Well I havnt seen those answers that you refer to, do feel free to trawl through a few years of posts and re-post them so I can see them
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Post by Parrotfish on Jul 18, 2010 16:44:48 GMT 12
We just had a BlackHawk fly directly over our house heading south, Id love to know the official reason as to why was the NH-90 selected over the BlackHawk considering its a proven BattleWagon that can perform a wide selection of tasks and while the basic frame is 70s the frame has plenty of room for upgrades and improvement and surely must be a lot cheaper than the NH-90...or was the NH-90 selected as the BlackHawk is Yank??? Reasons include: Greater utility offered by a rear facing door with a loading ramp More internal space in a smaller length (ease of deployment on HMNZS Canterbury) Higher rate of climb Composite construction offers greater corrosion resistance (an eye here to southern ocean and Antarctic service) NATO extreme weather rating (again, an eye here to southern ocean and Antarctic service) The Blackhawk to best fit the requirements set by NZ, though bigger, the H-92 Superhawk, did not exist as a military deign at the time of the evaluation. Cheers. P.S. As an aside, this is post 123 for me. I shall never reach a point of such Zen beauty again ;D
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Post by beagle on Jul 18, 2010 19:00:38 GMT 12
We just had a BlackHawk fly directly over our house heading south, Id love to know the official reason as to why was the NH-90 selected over the BlackHawk considering its a proven BattleWagon that can perform a wide selection of tasks and while the basic frame is 70s the frame has plenty of room for upgrades and improvement and surely must be a lot cheaper than the NH-90...or was the NH-90 selected as the BlackHawk is Yank??? The "yank's" did think we were going to get them as they made a model in our colours.
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Post by Ykato on Aug 26, 2010 12:29:49 GMT 12
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