ANNIVeRSARY AIR SHow! - Royal New Zealand Air Force

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new capability “this is a very significant day for the air Force and the wider NZDF”, the Defence Minister, Dr Jonathan Coleman, said on 09 March as he officially welcomed the first of the air Force’s new medium utility Nh90 helicopters at air Movements rongotai HAere MAi AnD Bien Venue To THe nH90! with the chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Peter Stockwell, and in the presence of His excellency the Governor-General, dr coleman said: “The NH90 helicopters are state of the art machines with better capabilities [than the Iroquois] and full self–protection. They are the most advanced and capable helicopters the Air Force has ever had.” The Minister explained that the helicopters will undergo a rigorous operational test and evaluation phase of some 12 – 18 months, to ensure the aircraft are safe and fit for purpose before they are committed to operational use. “The NH90s will deliver the priorities outlined in the defence white Paper and improve the defence Force’s ability to conduct disaster relief, search and rescue, or other operations. The NH90 is particularly important for our future Joint Amphibious Task Force.” dr coleman concluded by praising the constructive relationship with the manufacturer, NHI, and he commended the work of the Ministry of defence and RNZAF acquisition team. The chief of Air Force explained: “This is a very special occasion for the RNZAF, as it marks the next step in our transition to becoming a 21st century Air Force. I would like to acknowledge the dedication and professionalism of the Mod team in getting us to this stage. As well, a large number of NZdF and RNZAF personnel in France and in New Zealand have 6 Air Force news been an important part of the project. “I would particularly like to acknowledge the Acceptance Test and evaluation Pilot, SQNldR chris Andrew as project Test Pilot for the flight test programme. other key individuals include wGcdRs Shaun Johnson, Pete Sutherland, Shaun Sexton, and Mark brunton, SQNldR Mike chalmers, and Mr Steve Smyth. And of course there are many more, going back several years, whom I haven’t mentioned. collectively, they have all done a great job in reaching this important milestone. “I also want to emphasise the sacrifices the families have made, particularly while team members have been abroad. I want to mark my appreciation of their support by conveying my heartfelt thanks for their contribution to this fantastic effort,” AVM Stockwell said. Following their formal speeches of welcome, the new helicopter was blessed by the RNZAF chaplain, before it conducted a short flyby over wellington Airport. on completion, the aircraft departed to ohakea, to resume the current test and transition programme. Since the delivery of the first two aircraft, NZ3301 and NZ3302, last december [see AFN 133] both NH90s have been undertaking a test and transition programme aimed at achieving limited taskings from late 2012, with a full capability release—following operational Testing and evaluation—by 2015.
Rear Admiral Steer, VcdF and AVM Stockwell assess the cockpit of the NH90. oPPoSITe: AVM Stockwell is interviewed by TV3 chaplain Hight blesses the new helicopter The first all-NZ crew: SQNldR chris Andrew, FlTlT Mike Garrett, F/S chris Jowsey & F/S chris Mitchell The NH90’s first flight in New Zealand took place on 14 February from ohakea. That flight, and a number of subsequent ones, each had an NHI company pilot on board, as the RNZAF transition aircrew underwent re-familiarisation training. It had been eight months since the RNZAF team completed their NH90 conversion-to-type training in France. SQNldR Andrew commented that, “The first all-RNZAF flight was the first in a series to develop our Standard operating Procedures as well as increase our proficiency and experience with the new aircraft.” w/o Pete barker is the Maintenance w/o for the NH90. He explained that two RNZAF Training officers went to France last year to assess the NH90 training courses and adapt them for the RNZAF. All the training manuals are electronic and, as well, there are NHI Field service representatives working with the Helicopter Transition Unit, w/o barker explained. “we ask lots of questions and, with the time difference, we get an overnight service from NHI in France. The helicopter is proving to be reliable; in less than a month we have achieved over 30 hours flying time. but we are still in the crawl phase, before we can learn to walk or run with it,” w/o barker says. “It’s really enjoyable—it’s still like christmas!” “Ka pu te Ruha, ka hao te Rangatahi” “As the old net retires, the new net goes out fishing” NH90 TECH SPECS Nato Helicopter Industries (NHI) was formed in 1992 through an inter-company agreement between four partner companies: eurocopter (France), eurocopter deutschland (Germany), Agusta westland (Italy) and Stork Fokker (Netherlands). other nations flying the NH90 are: Australia, belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, oman, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Dimensions: 19.56m (rotors turning) x 4.62m (width) x 5.23m (height) Crew: Two pilots and one or two helicopter crewmen Capacity: 18 passengers, 12 troops with equipment, or 9 stretchers plus medical staff. 3,200 kg cargo Engines: Two Rolls-Royce Turbomecca RTM 322-01/9 turbine engines, 2,227shp each Max speed 300kph (164 kts) Range 780km (420 nm) Endurance 4.45 hours. Armament Two MAG 58 machine guns (7.62mm). Specialised equipment Goodrich twin electric rescue hoist Cargo hook Fast roping/rappelling system. Removable ballistic armour The most advanced helicopter the Air Force has ever had, the NH90 will considerably improve our defence Force’s capability to conduct military, counter-terrorism, disaster relief, search and rescue, and tasks in support of Government agencies (Police, customs, Maritime NZ, civil defence, and the department of conservation). our fleet of eight NH90s is being acquired with a logistics and support package comprising training, software, publications support and equipment. The package includes a ninth airframe, purchased for replacement parts, and ongoing provision for spare parts. The total cost of eight NH90s and the full support and logistics package is $771million. The support and logistics costs represent over a third of this total. The budget has been allocated through the ten-year defence long Term development Plan. New infrastructure has been built at ohakea under Project TAkITINI to enable the NH90 to be supported effectively. This has provided facilities that are second to none and are the start of a first-class synthetic training capability for the helicopter force. Air Force news 7
Page 1 and 2: ANNIVeRSARY AIR SHow! FIGHTING SPIR
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Page 5: The chief of defence Force has laun
Page 9 and 10: SECoND P-3K2 ACCEPTED on 16 March P
Page 11 and 12: The tail of Hercules NZ7004 checker
Page 13 and 14: Air Movements personnel at work: lA
Page 15 and 16: Antarctica seen from a c-130 cockpi
Page 17 and 18: celebrating 75 Years of service to
Page 19 and 20: wwI dogfight; the Fokker dVII ( r)
Page 21 and 22: The c-17 on a slow pass with flaps
Page 23 and 24: A No.3 Sqn Iroquois is crowded with
Page 25 and 26: one of the warbird stars of the RNZ
Page 27 and 28: y simon gault ThunDER MuSTAnG! why
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Page 31 and 32: dUMbo dIARY, RoYAl New ZeAlANd AIR
Page 33 and 34: y FlTlT lee bradford RNZAF personne
Page 35 and 36: Activity camps for young offenders.
Page 37 and 38: Avionics Pirates meet a watery end
Page 39 and 40: The 75 Years of the RNZAF stamp iss

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