Volume 48, No. 20, November 2, 2006
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Pilot FLTLT Mitchell Roggenkamp behind the controls in the flight deck. Both members from 36SQN are conducting conversion training on the Globemaster
in the US.
Photos by CPL Leigh Cameron |
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MEET THE MASTER: Loadmaster WOFF John Maddigan in front of the USAF C-17 on display during the air show. |
By FLTLT Eamon Hamilton
A SNEAK peek of the Air Force’s newest platform was offered to the public with the appearance of a USAF C-17 Globemaster III at the Defence Force Air Show.
The Air Force has just over a month to wait until it receives its first C-17, but some of its first Globemaster crew members returned to Richmond for the show, including WOFF John Maddigan.
He’s one of six loadmasters from 36SQN who have spent time over the last year in the US, learning the ins and outs of the new transport.
The Air Force’s first 12 Globemaster crew members have been learning with the USAF how to apply their trade on the new aircraft.
To gain accreditation as a loadmaster on the C-17, WOFF Maddigan was first sent to the USAF’s loadmaster training program at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
Given the relative speed of Australia’s purchase of the
C-17, WOFF Maddigan said “the USAF have been very obliging in giving us priority so that we’ve got a lot of experience on this aircraft”.
The C-17 that appeared at the air show was a ‘Block 16’ model, and less than 12 months old.
Our Globemasters will be from the ‘Block 17’ batch, featuring some minor upgrades to the airframe and software.
If anyone can appreciate the advances made for loadmaster crews in the C-17, it’s WOFF Maddigan.
First joining the Air Force in 1978, he became a helicopter crewman in 1980, and spent the next nine years flying in the back of various RAAF helicopter types.
When helicopters were handed over to the Army in 1989, WOFF Maddigan came across to the C-130H Hercules as a loadmaster at 36SQN.
He left the Air Force in 2000 but returned a year later and freely admits “it’s been one of the better decisions in my life, because it’s led me to this.”
This December, 36SQN will relinquish its C-130H Hercules and begin flying the C-17 from RAAF Base Amberley.
Going from the C-130H to the C-17 is a quantum leap.
“It’s a lot more civilised for me,” he said referring to elements such as a dedicated loadmaster station in the Globemaster’s cargo bay.
The C-17 can fulfil some of the same tactical transport roles of a C-130H in landing on rough airstrips, but also offers loadmasters greater flexibility in what loads can be carried – whether it’s heavy equipment like trucks, helicopters or an air-transportable hospital.
Its cargo capacity of almost 80 tonnes is four times the load that can be carried by a C-130H.
The ramp alone on the C-17 can carry an 18-tonne load – equal to the load carried by a C-130H.
It can perform a ‘sequential air drop’ of several loads totalling 50 tonnes, or a single drop of 27 tonnes.
WOFF Maddigan said the Air Force crews are yet to be trained on the air drop role, and will initially operate the C-17 in a ‘responsive global airlift’ role.
“This aircraft is primarily a cargo mover – it will haul cargo long distances,” WOFF Maddigan said.
