Big cat: Tiger ARH pilot Maj Dave Lynch (closest) and gunner Maj Peter Emslie with their aircraft on the 1 Bde parade ground. They were in Darwin to complete their flying instructors’ course before training Kiowa pilots on the new aircraft. Photo by Gnr Shannon Joyce
SOLDIERS from units across 1 Bde encountered a Tiger after the beast went on display on the main parade ground at Robertson Barracks.
Arriving in Darwin to conduct two weeks of training on the Tiger for their Army Qualified Flying Instructor’s course, Tiger ARH pilot Maj Dave Lynch and his gunner, Maj Peter Emslie, showed the aircraft’s wares to groups of soldiers and the local media.
Three Tigers were in Darwin from August 9-27 for the flying instructors’ course. Once the instructors complete their training, they will begin training Darwin’s Kiowa pilots to prepare them for the mid-2008 arrival of their own ARHs.
For Maj Lynch, the completion of the instructors’ course will mark a seven-year milestone.
“The Tiger has become a life’s work for me. My personal goal was to bring the Tigers to Darwin, because that’s where they’re ultimately supposed to be, but the biggest challenge from now is to make sure we effectively integrate into the rest of the combined arms team,” he said.
Based at the Aviation Centre in Oakey and working on the Tiger project under the auspices of training command, Maj Lynch said he was looking forward to being based in Darwin.
“The aspect of the project that we’re most excited about is being back in a Land Command environment, because we’ve been trying to develop the capability, and up here, it really focuses you on what’s important,” he said.
“Our next step after the training phase will be to make sure the aircraft, which really brings aviation into the combined arms team seriously, is taken to the maximum extent by the rest of the combined arms team.
“Once we have the various weapon systems certified on the aircraft, we’ll immediately begin training people on them, and in a fairly short space of time, we will have what can be defined as a capability.”
Purpose-built facilities at 1 Avn Regt were also used for the first time during the visit.
