Viper 266
Doing it the Kiwi Way in WA.
‘Pearce Tower, Viper 266 (two sucksty sucks), right initial runway 18.
Viper 266 (two seexty seex), Pearce Tower, gidday, two ahead, plus five circuit, plus one tracking for high key’
A view from the student in the back seat during the Thunderbird. Photo: courtesy FLTLT J Church.
It’s a simple thing but the call sign of the past few generations of the kiwi exchange officer to Number Two Flying Training School (2FTS), Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF), Viper 266, has kept many a RAAF pilot and student amused. In fact the banter has well and truly spread to the air traffic controllers. The way I see it is that we beat them in the rugby (well most of the time), we win the netball, (well, up until last year we did some of the time) and we reign supreme in the cricket (now that’s probably blatant Mountain Dew), so the least I can do is give them a laugh every time I transmit on the radio.
The QFI exchange posting to 2 FTS at RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia has for a long time been something that I was keen on doing. So it was fortunate for me that my situation at the time enabled me to apply for this exchange.
The first thing that strikes you on arrival at 2FTS is the size of the unit and the scale of the pilot training operation. With over 13 000 people in the RAAF and a requirement to produce 65 pilots every year it is inevitable that the overall scale of things would be larger than back home. From the amphitheatre-like classrooms, the 50 or so offices for staff, and the 22 PC-9s parked out the front, a busy flying programme starts to take on a new meaning.
'Pitching into the circuit'. Photo: CPL Shane Gidall - courtesy of RAAF.
On average 2FTS aims to fly approximately sixty student sorties every day and with up to seventy students all wanting to progress another flight toward their coveted Wings, it is little wonder that the rate of effort is what it is. When you sprinkle into the mix the Singaporeans completing their basic flying training on the S -211 (basic jet trainer) and 79 Squadron training recently graduated pilots on their Basic Jet Conversion, Pearce’s airspace seems much smaller than the 3000 square nautical miles it actually entails. As such it is not uncommon to receive a radio call from the Control Tower such as the one mentioned at the start of the article. Needless to say my lookout has improved somewhat over the 14 months I have been here at Pearce.
The RAAF students are almost identical to those of the RNZAF and the graduated Wings Student of a very similar standard. So whilst there are a few nuances with the RAAF way, instructing here is not dissimilar to back home.
The students at 2FTS arrive having completed their ab-inito training on the CT-4B at Tamworth in NSW. After their first solo at GF 6 (general flying) the students first check flight is their IRT. Following successful completion of this initial instrument phase the students go on to be trained and tested in advanced general handling, formation, navigation and night flying, before the final phase which is a combination of all of the above aspects, originally named ‘Combos’…They graduate having flown in the vicinity of 190 hours, 120 -130 of which are on the PC 9.
The PC-9 is a brilliant aircraft with the diversity of operations combined with its high performance making it challenging and enjoyable to fly. A typical day for a QFI at 2FTS sees you flying between two and three times a day and making your contribution to a variety of ground based tasks. These vary from technical lectures through to solo student supervision as the Duty Instructor in the Control Tower.
Thunderbird Formation ATA. Photo: CPL Shane Gidall - courtesy of RAAF.
It’s not only the Squadron that’s bigger but also the Continent. With a top speed of over 300 KIAS, and a comfortable cruise of 260 KTAS at 18,000 ft, sitting back in the PC9 is a great way to see Australia. That said, the landscape of flat red dirt does become somewhat repetitive on the five and a half hour flight to Adelaide. Although this beats the three to four days driving it would take to get there by road, and I did cross a time line (that didn’t happen much for me in the Huey around New Zealand), QANTAS gets the nod for Trans-Continental travel.
In addition to the Adelaide trip I have been fortunate enough to cover much of WA’s coast, line with work. From Albany down south, the last port the ANZACs saw before Gallipoli, all the way up to Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef toward the North-Western tip of Australia. While there is plenty of red dirt about there is also some stunning reefs up north (just ask SQNLDR Shaun Clark about the blow fish!) and plush vineyards down south.
All that said I should not forget to mention the city of Perth itself. Known as the ‘Big Country Town’ there is much to love about the city. Don’t be disheartened by most shops closing at five, including supermarkets (even ‘Palmy’ has a twenty-four hour supermarket), and Sunday trading being limited to all but a handful of tourist stores. These minor inconveniences are far overshadowed by the abundance of golden sandy beaches, plethora of outdoor ‘meeting places’ and warm weather. In fact the reason everything is closed on Sunday is because most people are at the pub or on the beach, or in the case of ‘The Cott’, at the pub on the beach.
If you find yourself in a position to come on this exchange then do it without hesitation. Likewise if you are planning a trip and wondering where to go then come to Australia, but don’t just stop on the East side, venture across the Nullabore to Perth. When I left New Zealand in October 2006 I had to put aside the halcyon summer fishing around the Manawatu, the long winter days of cutting fresh tracks at Mt Olympus and the crisp refreshing taste of a Friday afternoon Speights.
What I got in return was a seemingly endless supply of warm summer days, golden beaches, sensational surfing and kite surfing, and the Left Bank. I look forward to heading home when the time comes, but for now there’s a sea breeze that needs a kite surfer and a RAAFie student who needs to be taught the Kiwi way...