| EXERCISES
LEFT
Delivering a loaded pallet onto a C-130 MIDDLE
Tactical flying during the exercise RIGHT
An air loadmaster watching after loads have been released FAR RIGHT
Loads dropped from a C-130
T
he training has focussed on ensuring air warfare officers, engineers, air loadmasters and pilots are qualified in tactical flying and dropping platforms of all sizes accurately onto a drop zone. “The exercise is going really well. We have achieved our training objectives for personnel including dropping heavy equipment,” air warfare officer Squadron Leader (SQNLDR) Izak Pivac said. “Our pilots have achieved formation flying qualifications as well.” The training was vital for real life Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief situations where the Air Force would air drop equipment into places that needed it, he said.
The skills were used after the Kaikoura earthquake when C-130 crews dropped about 5,000 litres of water to the residents. Dropping heavy equipment accurately involved a number of calculations that needed to be made by the air warfare officers, SQNLDR Pivac said. “We calculate the release point based on wind, air speed, temperature, the weight of the equipment, the type of parachutes used, the number of parachutes and the position of where the load is sitting in the aircraft. Those parameters will then define what altitude and speed the aircraft needs to be flying.” “All the drops have landed between 50m to 100m away from the target.” The exercise also gave the pilots an opportunity to practice tactical flying, with low-level flying as low as 250 feet.
6 | AIR FORCE NEWS #229
