Crew Five of No.10 Squadron prior to their last formal transition course flight at RAAF Base Edinburgh Photo by WOFF Trevor Grant

Crew Five of No 10 Squadron has become the first crew to formally transition to Maritime Patrol Group's modified AP-3C Orion aircraft.

The crew, captained by Flight Lieutenant Patric Nott, completed the formal transition course prepared by 292 Squadron's AP-3C Transition Training Cell (TTC).

The course, which was conducted over three months, has been designed to graduate P-3C Orion crews to a D Category level on the AP-3C Orion.

Crew Five now joins Crew Six of 10 Squadron, the Operational, Test and Evaluation crew and the members of 292 Squadron Transition Training Cell, all of whom completed abbreviated, on-the-job training to operate the AP-3C.

FLTLT Nott said completion of the formal transition course provided his crew with the opportunity to gain experience flying the new aircraft and contribute to the development of operating procedures.

'For the next few months we will be consolidating our knowledge and becoming familiar with operating the aircraft,' he said.

'The aircraft has not been cleared for all its operational roles and it is hoped that this will happen in the near future.

'Once it is cleared, we will be key players in developing tactics for using the improved capabilities on board.

'We will be looking at the best ways to use the new radar, computer system and acoustic system.'

Officer-in-charge of the AP-3C Orion TTC, FLTLT Gary Lewis, said the transition course would now be taught to current 292 Squadron instructors before continuing with the transition of the remaining eight operational crews and executives of 10SQN, 11SQN and 92 Wing.

'On completion of their training, the 292SQN instructors will develop the transition course into an operational conversion course while the TTC completes the transition of the remaining 92WG aircrew,' said FLTLT Lewis, who has been involved in the AP-3C Orion project since 1995.

'The conversion course will then be used from January 2003 to train all new pilots, navigators, flight engineers and airborne electronics analysts posted to 92WG.

'Essentially, the AP-3C transition course will form the basis of the AP-3C ab initio course.'

By Deanna Nott