RIMPAC yields flight milestone
Five times Exercise RIMPAC veteran Warrant Officer Graeme Abberton has good reason to smile for RIMPAC 2012 – he has achieved 8000 flying hours.
Warrant Officer Abberton, who is now an airborne electronics analyst with 2 Squadron’s E-7A Airborne Early Warning and Control, Wedgetail aircraft, is humble about his milestone, preferring to focus on the good work done by the detachment during the exercise.
“It’s just a little milestone like 1000 hours or 5000 hours,” Warrant Officer Abberton said.
RIMPAC 12 was the first time the Wedgetail has participated in the exercise under the Air Force banner; in 2010 the aircraft was in Hawaii but under the ownership of Boeing.
“This is my fifth RIMPAC but the first in this role with 2 Squadron. This is our first attendance outside of the testing environment and although there were some early teething problems, it has been good to see a crew really come together,” he said.
Warrant Officer Abberton joined the Wedgetail project in 2005 after years of working on the Orions.
He said the Wedgetail was still in the embryonic stages of operation but with the platform already having completed tasking in Guam, Malaysia, for the Five Power Defence Arrangement exercise and Alaska, for Exercise Red Flag, RIMPAC was just the next step for fusing the crew and developing the capability.
“The systems are still maturing but the experience of the people on board can work through that.
“We’ve had outstanding maintainers and administrative support that have put in all their time and effort for such a young platform to get us airborne. It’s just been one big team,” Warrant Officer Abberton said.
The next flying milestone for Warrant Officer Abberton is 8760 hours - the equivalent of one year of flying.
However with Warrant Officer Abberton looking ahead to retirement in the near future, the instructor remains committed to ensuring his legacy of experience is passed on.
“If you want to leave something behind, leave behind your knowledge,” he said.