In the company of kings
The pilots say it’s a dream to fly, the students say it’s more challenging to navigate and the instructors say it offers a lot more than the old platform. CPL Simone Liebelt takes a look at the new King Air B350.

The King Air B350 in flight.

Photo by CPL Steve Duncan

A Hawker Pacific technician prepares to close the hangar in which three King Airs are parked.

Pilot FLTLT Martyn Silver checks the King Air propellor as part of a routine pre-flight of the aircraft before a navigator training flight.

Photos by CPL Simone Liebelt

Navigator student OFFCDT Andrew Burns tests his skills on a synthetic navigator trainer suite at the School of Air Navigation.

Navigator instructor FLTLT Aroha Winikerei gets ready for a training flight with navigator instructor in-training FLTLT Nick Jack.

Maintenance liason officer WOFF John Laird chats with Hawker Pacific senior base engineer Harry Fontalvo on the flightline at RAAF East Sale.

CPL Matt Crozier sends messages to students on a King Air training flight.

SQNLDR Adrian Mavros runs through the start-up procedures before a training flight.

OFFCDT Ben Gough checks the navigation route at a pre-flight briefing.

WHILE the HS748 “Draggie” is still a sentimental favourite for many at RAAF Base East Sale, the King Air 350 is proving a worthy successor in its first three months of squadron service.

“I loved flying the Draggie, however the King Air is clearly a far more advanced and modern aircraft,” says Flight Lieutenant Martyn Silver, one of the pilots from No. 32 Squadron, who has converted from the HS748.

“It’s quiet, modern, fast and comfortable and we badly needed to bring training into the modern era ... plus it’s fun being able to out-climb and outrun a PC9 for change!”

Compared to its predecessor, the King Air is smaller, quicker, more reliable and supportable, and equipped with highly advanced flight and navigation avionics.

It provides the capability to achieve training outcomes, while better preparing students, instructors and pilots for progressing to their next aircraft and role. It carries eight passengers, including crew, and can fly for about five hours to a height of 35,000 feet.

The new fleet is operated by 32SQN in support of Navy observer and Air Force basic navigator and instructor courses, run by the School of Air Navigation (SAN).

The No. 84 Wing Navigation Training Aircraft Detachment handed over seven aircraft and crews to 32SQN last December after more than two years of intense introductory activities, which included one year of observer training sorties.

Hawker Pacific contractors maintain the fleet, while BAE System contractors look after the navigation training systems.

As part of the new operation, four aircraft have been fitted with dual Airborne Navigation Training (ANT) consoles, which navigator students use to monitor and manipulate systems during flight.

A synthetic navigator trainer that replicates the aircraft consoles has been installed at SAN. Completion of the aircraft modifications was marked recently by the first official ANT student flight, flown on March 3, when 23-year-old navigator student Officer Cadet Andrew Burns was assessed on one of the new consoles.

“It’s the first flight I’ve done in the King Air, so it gave me a good introduction to the aircraft as well as the back end procedures,” OFFCDT Burns said.

“The King Air is pretty high tech with all its radars and instruments, and goes pretty fast, so you have to think a bit quicker, but the flight went really well and I had a lot of fun.”

The son of an Air Force pilot, he’s only ever wanted to fly and was happy with his career choice.

“This course is continually challenging, but once you get up in the air, you can see yourself doing the job you will eventually be employed to do out in the squadrons, so you’re getting things right and that’s a real buzz.”

During the flying phase of the courses, observer students sit next to the pilot in the cockpit, while navigator students sit next to the pilot or at ANT consoles at the back of the aircraft.

This prepares observer students for transition to Navy helicopters, and teaches navigators a range of roles as candidates for strike, tactical-transport and maritime platforms.

Instructors sit directly behind the cockpit or alongside the ANT consoles to assess students, and pilots provide feedback on how the student performed at pre-flight briefs and during flight.

While it is expected to take up to 12 months to perfect procedures for the new operation, 32SQN and SAN are working together, along with Hawker Pacific and BAE Systems, on the training outcomes. They are aiming to run about 63 flights a week, averaging 10 flights a day.

32SQN CO Wing Commander Grant Kelly said like any new aircraft, there would be challenges in adapting procedures to the new operation.

“The King Air is a totally new aircraft, with high performance, more technology and more automatics, and while it is a nice thing to have, we need to change the way we do things to use and master that technology,” he said.

“Whether it be safety, capability management, airworthiness, you name it, we’re constantly talking to SAN to make sure we know what’s happening, what’s not happening and what we can change to make it happen better. “B350 operations are starting to get into a jog after being in a walk for the first two years, and hopefully by the end of the year, we’ll be running.”

SAN XO Squadron Leader Breck Tonkin agreed that there were challenges ahead, but said that changes to navigation training would only benefit students.

“It’s not a quantum difference to what we were doing before, we’ve just got some better tools now, and those tools give the student a better opportunity to adjust to the airborne environment,” he said.

“The challenges for us are learning the aircraft’s capabilities and being able to exploit them to get the best from the new training system, and while it’s early days, most people are pretty keen to use something new and get the most out of it.

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