King Air Replacement

[beagle]

Reading the latest pacific Wings, there is an article regarding a tender for replacement of the King Air 200 in 2008.

I see the options as
a, resigning the contract for a further 2, 3, or 5 years with the same crowd, or
b, get different aircraft so maybe more different capabilities can be achieved.

With this I remember a rumour going around that they might be looking at Dash 8's, slightly bigger, but able to be used for close in shore fisheries capability.

Any ideas from members ?

[phil]

Get our own king airs was the last idea I heard from anyone significant.

The Dash 8s were for a different role.

[beagle]

Would the Dash 8's be too big for twin engine training.
The Andovers were used for this purpose.

[beagle]

If the getting of our own king Airs was the go, then would we might look at going for the -350 model

[phil]

Last I heard the Dash 8s were a bit of a faint hope at the moment. Planed to be used for AEOP and NAV training and in-shore patrol duties.

[beagle]

The Andovers did a bit of fishery patrol from time to time a s well as SAR duty.
Operating costs might just keep us with smaller a/c at this time.

[flyjoe180]

www.defence.gov.au/Raaf/aircraft/kingair.htm
It seems the RAAF uses the King Air 350, however they also have a versatile transport fleet that can provide parachute training, battlefield support etc...