Cpl Grant Nicholas, a crew technician with 5 Avn Regt, examines a Chinook before another mission.

1CER engineers prepare to undersling a water purification unit beneath one of the ADF's biggest airlift capabilities.

A decommissioned RAAF Mirage catches a lift from Darwin to Tindall.

A Chinook prepares to lift a payload of rations and diesel from the 1 Bde's Robinson Barracks. Photos by Cpl Ashley Roach and Cpl Jason Weeding.

Townsville-based aviators beat up a storm in the Top End recently when they combined forces with 1 Bde to rehearse heavy air-lift operations with Darwin-based units.

5 Avn Regt's medium-lift CH-47Ds practiced lifting 155mm Howitzers, vehicles, other equipment - and even a decommissioned Mirage jet for the RAAF, between Robertson Barracks and the Leanyer Air Weapons Range.

One Chinook was used to move the RAAF Mirage, A3-36, from Darwin to Tindal where it will undergo restoration and future use in training applications.

While such activities are not unusual for the pilots and crew of 5 Avn Regt, working with 'Chooks' was a novel opportunity for the 1 Bde units and soldiers.

Members of 8/12 Med Regt, 1CER and 1CSSB trained with the aircraft, which can lift between 10 and 12 tonne and carry up to 30 personnel.

With the capacity to move three times the payload of a Black Hawk, the Chinook is by far the ADF's biggest helicopter.

OPSO 8/12 Med Regt Maj David Crowe said working with Chinooks was a very valuable training opportunity for his unit.

"It provided a demonstration to other units within 1 Bde, and also to new soldiers within the regiment, of the flexibility that air mobility can afford us in the deployment of our guns to meet the needs of 1 Bde operations," he said.