iscover
A Spanish AV-88 Harrier II refuels whilst on a 4000nm non stop delivery flight from St.Louis to Rota, Spain. This Is a new record for the Harrier II and brings back memories of the long-ranging ferry flights conducted by the British forces during Operation Corporate in 1982.
Newsdesk – Military Aviation
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Navy to Parallel Raaf Pilots in Training System:
Contrary to our news item on p8 of the November issue, RAN pilots will continue to parallel their Air Force cousins with a full programme on the Macchis. Though almost all of the RAN pilots are destined to be helicopter rated, the Navy considers that they require the Macchi time to be able to perfect ÍFR techniques, so essential in flying night overwater operations where there is virtually no external visual references irrespective of the prevailing weather conditions. While training for the next few years will continue using the Macchi the RAN will review this once the PC-9 has fully settled into the overall training system. It is expected that ultimately the presently envisaged training curriculum will again be modified during the early nineties so that RAN pilots conduct their instrument training on the PC-9 and that RAAF pilots begin a streaming process with only the F-18 and F-111 crews running the full course the Macchi. Other pilots would then spend more time on the PC-9 before transferring direct to their squadrons for type conversion training. For the present though the curriculum will remain as outlined on p8 of our last edition and in Defence Update in this issue.
Government Confirms That the Aerospace Industry Is on Its Own as Regards Development Funding:
Senator John Button, Minister for Industry, Technology & Commerce, stated at the November Australian Aviation Symposium in Canberra that the local aerospace industry could not expect any development funding from government sources. Despite years of issuing vague statements to the contrary, this is the first time any Federal Government, either Labor or Coalition, has publicly stated that it won’t be backing the aerospace industry either with low-interest development loans or direct partnership financing as occurs in most other developed countries. Instead, Senator Button said that the industry will have to generate its own funding taking advantage of the revised incentives now available to the industry. Properly managed, the Senator, said that the Australian aerospace industry could be exporting up to $1400m of goods and services by 1996 on current estimation. Sentor Button reaffirmed that there had to be a move away from the tin-bashing mentality of the past to the more high-tech areas of computer software development, systems integration, maintenance, parts recovery, and component manufacture. It was also suggested that the major manufacturers should rely less on DoD programmes and begin to invest as collaborative partners in the large civil airliner projects that are now in gestation. In most cases though, large-scale venture capitalist organisations require some minor level of government fiscal involvement largely as a matter of endorsement before underwriting funding to the tune of several hundred million dollars as is required to meaningfully join projects such as the Boeing 7J7 and the Airbus A330/340.
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