68 Air School acquires its first Turboprops

By Clinton Barnard

The South African Air Force’s facility for the training of its logistical personnel, 68 Air School (68AS) in Lyttleton outside Pretoria, recently received two new additions to its aircraft ground instructional airframe inventory. On Sunday, January 29, 2012, two Pilatus PC-7 Mk II Astra single turboprop pilot trainers were delivered to the School, thereby becoming its first turboprop equipment to be used for ground training. In the past, the School (formerly known as the School for Logistic Training (SLT), had only utilized piston, turboshaft and turbojet engined types on which apprentice ground technicians could learn their trade. Included among the types known to have been operated at the facility over the years are the Harvard, Vampire, Impala, Kudu, Alouette II and III.

Both Astras were trucked up from Langebaanweg to Swartkop, where they were then fully assembled, prior to being towed to their new location on a Sunday, when the roads are quietest and when such an operation would cause the least disruption to public road users. Prior to this event, 68AS had employed the use of the Astra Technology Trainer Demonstrator 1 (ATTD 1), a full scale PC-7 Mk II with see-through perspex panels which enabled apprentices to see the locations of equipment and aircraft structures at a glance. This only had limited usefulness, however, since trainees were not able to remove and refit these structures or the onboard equipment, as is ideally required for the development of their skills. Accordingly, with the announcement that 68AS was to receive two hands-on ‘real’ Astras, the ‘plastic’ ATTD 1 was rendered surplus to requirements and was itself earlier delivered to the nearby SAAF Museum Headquarters at Swartkop on November 9, 2010, where it now serves as an indoor static exhibit. Under Project Ithambo, the South African Air Force (SAAF) is upgrading the avionics of 35 Pilatus PC-7 Mk II Astras to help overcome the obsolescence issues that have plagued the type and reduced aircraft availability in recent years. This upgrade is also to be applied to the Silver Falcons aerobatic team fleet, which also uses the type.

The local avionics company that manufactured the original cockpit avionics is no longer in existence, making the present avionics system unsupportable. The upgrade introduces new Honeywell avionic equipment, as specified by Pilatus Aircraft Limited of Switzerland, thereby de-South Africanising the Astra, which, after modification, is correctly no longer known as such, but simply under its original designation of PC-7 Mk II.

Although officially unconfirmed, taking known aircraft attrition into account (at least four airframes), this leaves about 21 of presumably the highest houred airframes which will not be upgraded and which may become surplus to requirements in due course, should no follow-up avionics upgrade later be applied to these too. Astras serials 2003 (construction number 103) and 2006 (c/n 106), as delivered to 68AS, are among those that have not been judged suitable for initial upgrade under the Avionic Replacement Programme, due to longeron corrosion. As such they will never fly again. Astra 2003 first arrived in South Africa on October 18, 1994 and made its first flight following reassembly at Air Force Base Ysterplaat on November 9, 1994, with 3.40 total hours already clocked on the airframe. It made its final service flight on August 21, 2009, by which time it had accumulated 2,474.70 total flight hours.

Astra 2006 first arrived in South Africa on November 25, 1994 with 3.25 total hours already on its airframe, by the time of its first flight at Ysterplaat on December 7 that year. It had accumulated 3,100.60 total airframe hours by the time of its final service flight on June 8, 2010.

The result of the initial pupil pilot flying training phase being conducted on Cessna 172 side-by-side piston engined trainers in a SAAF partnership with private company Babcock Flying Academy, combined with the delivery of two PC-7 Mk II aircraft simulators, has significantly reduced the demand on the PC-7 Mk II fleet, presumably making the reduction in total airframes upgraded more feasible. Even so, during the 2010/11 Financial Year, which ended on March 31, 2011, funds were made available to repair three engines and overhaul a further six in order to improve both aircraft availability and mission readiness. Since the first of 60 examples began flying in South African skies on October 17, 1994, the PC-7 Mk IIs have served continuously with one principle unit, the Central Flying School at Langebaanweg in the Western Cape Province and home to the renowned Silver Falcons aerobatic display team, while one example is with the Test Flight and Development Centre at AFB Overberg.

68AS hopes to obtain a twin engined helicopter (a rebuilt former 15 Squadron A109LUH serial 4021 which was involved in a tail rotor failure accident outside Ballito in KwaZulu Natal Province on December 15, 2010 has been speculated) in the near future, in order to make the ground instruction it offers more complete.

Source: Global Aviator