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Six
of the best pass the test
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Top of the class ... F-111 conversion course graduates FLTLT
Malcolm Campbell, FLTLT Paul Barlow, FLTLT Garry Brown,
FLTLT Russell Allison, FLTLT Alan Wright and FLGOFF Susan
Youngman in front of one of the aircraft.
Photo by AC Steve Hobbs.
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SIX
personnel have graduated with flying colours from the Air Force’s
testing F-111 Operational Conversion Course (OPCON) at RAAF Base
Amberley.
The four pilots and two navigators successfully completed the intensive
20-week course in August – the first time in more than five
years that every student has passed.
The gruelling conversion course traditionally has a high dropout
rate, but Commanding Officer of No. 6 Squadron Wing Commander Tony
Grady said this particular intake boasted some talented personnel.
“A lot of it had to do with their spirit as a group,”
WGCDR Grady said. “They were some of the best students I've
seen in recent times. They had a strong desire to pass, a solid
team spirit and plenty of talent.”
Ex-Royal New Zealand A4 (Skyhawk) pilots Flight Lieutenants Malcolm
Campbell and Paul Barlow, and Royal Australian Air Force Flight
Lieutenants Russ Allison and Garry Brown, who have predominantly
P-3C and C-130 backgrounds, were the four pilots to successfully
complete the course, which began in January.
They were joined by navigators Flight Lieutenant Al Wright, who
is on exchange from the Royal Air Force, and Flying Officer Susan
Youngman.
FLGOFF Youngman, who came straight from the Air Force’s navigators
course, is only the third female navigator to graduate from the
F-111 Operational Conversion Course.
OPCON is designed to graduate Category D F-111 pilots and navigators.
The course involves about four weeks of intensive ground school,
followed by 16 weeks of simulator training and flying, which is
broken into three phases – the Transition Phase, an Applied
Phase and an Operational Phase.
WGCDR Grady said that while the course contained a lot of theory
(202 lectures broken into 21 subjects, 25 exams and quizzes), heavy
emphasis was also placed on practical training.
Each student had to accrue about 55 flying hours in the F-111 and
30 in the simulator.
“Unless each student is able to apply in practical and effective
sense their technical and operational knowledge, they will ultimately
fail the course,” WGCDR Grady said.
Once they have completed OPCON, the graduates remain at 6SQN for
a further 16 weeks to complete an operational upgrade to Category
C (ready for operations).
WGCDR Grady said the 100 per cent pass rate was “remarkable”
considering the students had to contend with two major interruptions
to F-111 flying operations.
First, a wing fatigue problem discovered in February forced the
fleet to be grounded and the students to change from the G model
to the C model.
Then in June a wiring loom short-circuit in a C model in Darwin
grounded the fleet again.
Both of these technical issues are now well in hand. The F-111Cs
have been back in the air since July and the F-111Gs are expected
to be back in the air this month.
WGCDR Grady paid tribute to the Training Flight staff, and in particular
Squadron Leader Kev McGrath, the 6SQN Training Flight Commander,
who conducted the course.
He also said the course would not have been completed if it were
not for the efforts of the technical and support personnel from
6SQN and 1SQN.
“They’re the ones who deserve the plaudits,” he said.
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