Issue 6 – November 2016
Another month goes by, and more great features find their way into our inbox from all over the world. Once again, we have some very unique features not to be missed! Air-to-air with Yak-52s, an airshow in Botswana, the recent SAR meet in Belgium, and a joint Israeli-Greek exercise‌ not bad for a free-circulation magazine! Unfortunately, we are still not in a position to compensate our contributors for their efforts, but we are looking into ways to change this, without adding too much advertising content in the publication. More information will be given in the magazine’s new page on Facebook. Mark Zerafa Editor
Got Something to Share? If you have anything aviation related, be it photos, articles or artworks, please contact us on:
Spottermagmalta@gmail.com
Cover Photo: A Yak-52 starts retracting its undercarriage as it remains low on the runway. (Svetlan Simov)
Contents Yak-52
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Peru’s KT-1s
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SAR Meet
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Antonov’s Beasts
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Gaborone Int’l Airshow
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Fire-Fighting Classics
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Exercise Joint Warrior
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Sporty Liveries
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Credits Mark Zerafa, Massimiliano Zammit, Svetlan Simov, Oscar Ardile Almeida, Mike Derycke, Richard Barsby, Richard J Caruana, Timothy Connor Brandt, Brandon O’Neill, Paul Chalmers, Daniel Hautier, Ioan Alonso Gil, Jonathan Mifsud, Roberto Cassar
Editorial Address: 238, Morning Star, Manuel Dimech Str Sliema SLM 1052 MALTA, EUROPE
Editor: Profiles: Design Assistant:
Mark Zerafa Richard J. Caruana Massimiliano Zammit
Copyright Notice
Inner Cover: Defenders of Britain, old and new. A Spitfire formates with an RAF Typhoon. (Mark Zerafa)
All photos and articles remain the intellectual and artistic property or the respective credited persons. All unauthorised reproduction, by any means, both printed and digital, is considered an infringement of this copyright and all remedies available by law will be taken against any infringements of such copyright.
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Photos: Svetlan Simov Text: Mark Zerafa
One of the most widespread trainers in the world, the Yak-52 has now become very common in the hands of private sports pilots. Powerful, aerobatic and relatively easy to maintain, this is an affordable warbird. Svetlan Simov was invited to go air-to-air with a few.
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Peru’s KT-1s Photos: Oscar Ardiles Almeida Text: Mark Zerafa
Known as the ‘Torito’, 24 KT-1Ps have been ordered by the Peruvian Air Force. Subdivided into KT-1 trainers and KA-1 attack variants, this South Korean aircraft is similar in performance and capability to the Brazilian Super Tucano but, the Peruvian Air Force claims, at a lower cost.
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Apart from the initial two aircraft, the KT-1s are being assembled by the SEMAN, the maintenance arm of the Peruvian Air Force at Palma AB, after 32 technicians have received training in South Korea.
Operational with Escuadron Aereo Avanzada 514 at Pisco AB, the aircraft has replaced the MB-339. Eight to ten examples will be of the attack AT-1 variant, to be used for counter-insurgency operations. These are immediately recognisable from their camouflage scheme.
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SAR Meet
Photos: Mike Derycke Text: Mark Zerafa
The 2016 SAR Meet at Koksijde Air Base, Belgium saw an interesting array of helicopters participating in an exercise designed to exercise crew skills and foster international cooperation.
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Undoubtedly the star of the SAR Meet was this Austrian Alouette III, wearing a special colour scheme to celebrate 45 years in service with the Austrian armed forces. 17
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The German Navy sent a Sea King from MFG5 to the exercise. Based at Nordholz, the unit will be hosting next year’s SAR Meet.
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Gradually replacing the Sea King in Belgian service is the NH-90.
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Definitely a rarity was this Federal Police Support Unit MD902, which performed two deminstrations during the Spotters Day.
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Sadly getting ever closer to its retirement, the Belgian Sea Kings of 40 Squadron won the trophy for this year’s SAR Meet.
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Always a welcome sight, this Belgian Navy Alouette III screams past the photographers on Spotters Day.
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Antonov’s Beasts Photos: Richard Barsby Colour Profiles: Richard J. Caruana Text: Mark Zerafa
If anything needs to be airlifted from one place to another in the world, it’s got to be a former Soviet freighter. The Antonov An-124 and its even larger development, the An-225 are the aircraft of choice for outsize air transportation.
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Polet Flight An-124 RA-62010 started life in 1987 as an Aeroflot aircraft operated for the Soviet Air Force. It was then transferred to Volga-Dnepr in September 1991, and then to the Russian Air Force in 1993. Stoered in 1997, it was leased by Polet from April 2000 till December 2006. 29
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An-124 in detail. The landing gear on the Ruslan is very particular, designed to spread the aircraft’s load over as much ground as possible. This includes the twin nosewheels, which require a specially-designed towbar. The Ruslan can load and offload cargo via its front upwards-hinging nose, and its rear ramp, which is further facilitated with the ‘kneel down’ capability of the front wheels, which lower to allow cargo to be rolled out of the front.
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You haven’t understood the meaning of ‘multicrew’ until you’ve seen the crew complement required to operate an An-124 or An-225. The cockpit is a spacious six-man affair, with two pilots, two flight engineers, radio operator and navigator. A further two loadmasters are also required. A pair of cranes inside the aircraft can be used to position cargo inside the aircraft with minimal ground equipment.
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Originally built to transport to Soviet Space Shuttle ‘Buran’, the An-225 Mirya is the world’s largest aircraft by good measure.
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Gaborone Int’l Airshow
Photos: Timothy Connor Brandt Text: Timothy Connor Brandt
“It doesn’t get more exotic than this – Botswana held its first airshow. With the presence of most aircraft in the Botswana Defence Force Air Wing’s inventory, this was one event that could not be missed.
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Six Bell 412 utility helicopters are in service with Z21 Transport Squadron at Maparangwane Air Base.
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Transport requirements are handled by Z10 Transport Squadron. Three C-130Bs are in service, probably amongst the oldest Hercs still in service today.
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Ten CF-5As and five CF-5Bs fighters form the air defence of Botswana. The Saab Gripen is currently being considered as a replacement.
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1. 2. 3. 4.
The Pilatus PC-9 is the main trainer, five being in service A newly-delivered King Air for anti-poaching patrol Pilatus demonstrated their Turbo Porter. The show attracted warbirds from South Africa, including the Flying Lions with their Harvards 5. Former South African Atlas-built MB-326
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Botswana Police AS-350 is used for anti-poaching patrols. The aircraft are on the military register, ten being in service.
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Firefighting Classics Photos: Brendan O’Neill Text: Mark Zerafa
Due to the relatively short fire seasons, dedicated water-bombers have never really caught on in the USA. Instead, the aerial firefighting fleet is composed of numerous exmilitary aircraft or, more recently, converted airliners. Hawkins & Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming was one such operator.
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The company owes its origins in Christler-Avery Aviation, a company founded after World War II by Mel Christler and Morris Avery, specialising in crop-dusting services. In 1961, Avery became the sole owner of the company, and expanded the company’s facilities through the construction of a hangar and other facilities at Greybull Airport, Wyoming. Avery diversified the company’s operations, introducing helicopters for spraying, search and rescue, power line surveys and support of mining operations. When Avery passed away in 1969, pilots Dan Hawkings and Gene Powers bought and took over the company. The company’s main line of business remained crop-dusting. Eventually, Gene Powers pushed the company towards aerial firefighting.
The C-97s were particularly impressive as they had a capacity of 4,000 gallons of water retardant and were equipped with the first computer-controlled retardantdelivery system. However, in 2002, tragedy struck, and within the space of a month, the company lost two aircraft, a C-130A and a Privateer, both of which suffered catastrophic structural failures whilst fighting fires. The FAA investigations pointed to fatigue cracks in the wing-to-fuselage joints, and the US Forestry Service implemented new airworthiness standards, practically banning most of the company’s four-engined aircraft. By 2004, the company ended up selling all its assets to a liquidation firm.
Under his lead, the company began converting larger aircraft for the aerial tanker roles, including the Consolidated Privateer, early-model C-130 Hercules and retired Boeing C-97s.
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SPOTTER MAGAZINE The Consolidated Privateer was a development of the B-24 Liberator bomber, intended primarily for the US Navy. Inheriting the Liberator’s payload capability and airframe strength, the aircraft was a viable choice for conversion into a water bomber. A more modern aircraft, the C-130 Hercules, was also considered ideal, given its cargo capacity and its powerful turbo-prop engines, and the plentiful supply of older variants as they were replaced by newer ones.
However, both bombers and freighters were never really designed for the stresses of the aerial firefighting mission, requiring hard manouvering at high loads at very low level in very turbulent air.
NOVEMBER 2016 In the seventies and eighties, of course, there was no shortage of surplus military aircraft, as the Cold War race for ever more effective aircraft led to earlier aircraft being rendered obsolete even though they had considerable airframe life left in them. Civil airliners, like this Fokker 27, may have been a different story, as airlines tend to aim for the highest utilisation possible from their valuable aircraft. Other aircraft like the C119, were also used as firefighting aircraft.
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A mighty aircraft, by any count, the C-97 was the ultimate expression of the B-29 bomber, which ultimately led to the massive Guppy transporters. Hawkins and Powers had different ideas for the airframe however, developing it into a formidable firefighting platform with the first computerised retardant release system.
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Joint Warrior 2016 Photos: Paul Chalmers Text: Mark Zerafa
One of the largest-scale military exercises in Europe, Joint Warrior is a biannual event which sees the integration of all branches of the British armed forces – air, land and sea, over two weeks in the North of Scotland. The exercise also draws the participation of other NATO countries, and 2016 was no exception.
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Lossiemouth spectacular. An RAF Tornado completes its landing run as a Typhoon is on short finals to land.
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Maritime patrollers at Lossiemouth. A Canadian CP140 Aurora shares the ramp with two US Navy P-8A Poseidons
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Stars of Joint Warrior 2016 were the Portughese F-16s, which were also supported by a C-130 Hercules.
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Sub-hunters, old and new. A P-8 takes off in the background as a French Atlantique II taxies past.
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Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon might very well be the next standard maritime patrol aircraft, with a strong domestic order book and good export sales. Although nearing the twilight of its career with the RAF, the Tornado GR.4 soldiers on as the strike workhorse of the British armed forces.
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The Royal Navy’s Sea Kings still perform a vital role in maritime airborne early warning, although the type will eventually be replaced by a conversion of the EH.101 Merlin helicopter.
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Now a mature weapon system, the RAF’s Typhoons can now operate both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions without compromise.
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Sporty Liveries Photos: as credited Text: Mark Zerafa
Brussels airlines painted two A-320s in special colours on the occasion of the World Cup in support of the Belgian national football team.
DANIEL HAUTIER
DANIEL HAUTIER
DANIEL HAUTIER
IOAN ALONSO GIL
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IOAN ALONSO GIL
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Canaryfly ATR-72, in special colours to promote the Bestial Race, an annual endurance race held at the Canary Islands.
(bottom) Aer Lingus in a special scheme in honour of the Irish national Rugby Team 71
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The London Olympics led British Airways to paint a number of it’s A-319 fleet in two striking colour schemes – the ‘Dove’ scheme (above) and the ‘Flame’ scheme (right).
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Emirates Airlines was one of the main sponsors of the World Cup in Brazil, and thus adorned a number of aircraft in its fleet with the World Cup logo.
JONATHAN MIFSUD
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Etihad Airways promoting the Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.
JONATHAN MIFSUD
Turkish Airlines has lent its support to a number of soccer teams, leading to a number of special schemes. TC-JSJ is painted in the colours of Borussia Dortmund.
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