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PUNCHING THE CLOCK:
38 SQN’s FLGOFF Andrew Schostakowski and FLTLT Michael
Jarvispresent a cake in celebration of their Caribou clocking
20,000 hours.
Photo by CPL Kirk Peacock |
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NUMBER 38 Squadron’s hard-working Caribous turned over a page of
aviation history recently when Caribou A4-228 clocked over 20,000 flying
hours on March 27, almost 42 years after it was acquired by the ADF.
That equates to just under 120 weeks of non-stop flying.
The crew for the historic flight was FLGOFF Andrew Schostakowski, co-pilot
FLTLT Michael Jarvis from 38SQN’s Detachment B and flight engineer
WOFF Ken Flint, who is Det B’s senior flight engineer.
FLGOFF Schostakowski said the hour clocked up on an evening sortie from
Townsville to Macrossan to Bennings and back to Townsville
“The flight that evening was a Night Vision Goggles (NVG) currency
event for the co-pilot and me,” FLGOFF Schostakowski said.
“The flight consisted of us flying to an unlit airfield at 500ft
above ground level (AGL) at night and landing with only night vision equipment
for visual cues.
“We hadn’t planned to fly the hours that evening, so we didn’t
realise we had passed the milestone until we landed back in Townsville.
“It is quite a significant milestone for the Caribou and 38SQN.
“It demonstrates the professionalism and dedication of all members
past and present.
“There is a substantial team effort required to be able to sustain
a 42-year-old platform with its current flying requirements.
“All of us are pleased to be associated with this milestone,”
he said.
To celebrate the event, the detachment feasted on a special cake.
On May 27, 1965, a FLGOFF Henderson accepted A4-228 in Canada.
It arrived at RAAF Base Richmond on June 26.
But it is not the oldest Caribou in the Air Force. The first three arrived
in Australia on April 22, 1964.
During its long career, A4-228 served with the squadron’s Detachment
A in Perth in 1973 and also flew with 35SQN for a few years from 1995.
Some highlights included participating in the 1992 Avalon air show and
a deployment in 2003 to the Solomon Islands as part of Operation Anode.
A4-228 also deployed to Papua New Guinea for trials to determine the absolute
single engine ceiling for the type when deployed to PNG.
CPL Craig Fenton and ATECH and current maintainer with 38SQN’s Det
B paid tribute to A4-228’s efforts during the Solomon Islands deployment.
“228 was a tireless workhorse in the Solomon Islands, and it achieved
a 99 per cent task rate over a three month period,” he said.
A less spectacular but possibly more heart-stopping event occurred a decade
earlier when the aircraft struck a tree while flying on April 14, 1993,
and damaged its port wing.
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