Legacy Hornet Disposal

[Michael Louey]

Just ran into this article regarding planned Hornet disposal -

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32464...or-firm-air-usa

The source of the article is this announcement -
https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/ministe...ter-region-jobs

Hopefully they keep a few for the museums.

Cheers

Michael

This post has been edited by Michael Louey on Mar 5 2020, 12:56 PM

[Brenden S]

Wow, interesting times ahead.

[Demon50]

A21-29 has apparently been allocated to RAAF Tindal, Fighter World at Williamtown is supposedly getting two (a single and a dual) and one has been allocated to the AWM in Canberra. Hopefully some others will turn up elsewhere.

[Brendan Cowan]

Thanks for sharing this Mike

[Brenden S]

PC-9's are also going to this mob too in the USA

[Hornet133]

The US mob don't have the PC-9s yet. Bidding is competitive and does not close until 18th March.

[Demon50]

This para appeared in "The Drive" when it reported the sale of the RAAF's F/A18s :

".....The Australian Department of Defense announced the "disposal" of the jets on Mar. 5, 2020. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel at RAAF Base Williamtown will be responsible for preparing the aircraft for their transfer to Air USA. Williamtown, which is situated just north of the city of Newcastle, is home to three of the four remaining Australian F/A-18A/B units, No. 3 and No. 77 Squadrons and No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit, the latter of which is responsible for training pilots on the type. No. 75 Squadron is based at RAAF Base Tindal in Australia's Northwestern Territory...."

Obviously. it's not quite right as both No3 Sqn and No 2 OCU no longer use F/A18s.

[GregHyde]

From the latest Scramble

CF-188
(188054) ex A21-54 807/AF54 feb20
This ex-Aussie-Hornet was delivered to Montreal per CC-177 on its way back from Australia after delivering fireighting assistance.

[Luig]

Would I guess correctly that this one carted back would be one of the unflyable 'hangar queen' spare parts donators? Not that it matters I suppose.

This post has been edited by Luig on Mar 11 2020, 05:13 PM

[Demon50]

According to posts on other sites, Defence has confirmed that at least 8 F/A18s will be going to museums in Australia.

[Luig]

from above: "...Although the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, the purchase does include all of the RAAF's F/A-18 spare parts inventory and test equipment, valued at over a billion dollars alone, according to Kirlin. Those parts will be incredibly valuable as Air USA is planning on putting every single airframe it receives back into service—not just the 36 aircraft that are flyable today, but the other 10 that are not, as well. Those jets just need inspections and are not parted out or grounded for any other reasons...."
&
"...In addition to the Aussie Hornet purchase, Air USA also acquired five hand-picked PC-9 turboprop trainers from the RAAF. These aircraft will primarily be used to fulfill the growing demand for cost-effective Joint Terminal Attack Controller training. You can read all about this mission and the contracts being tendered to supply it in this recent piece of ours...." [see URL below]
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32842...air-controllers

This post has been edited by Luig on Apr 10 2020, 02:41 PM

[Demon50]

Hey guys - let's stop all this speculation and do what I have done (and have been doing since 1967).

When you have a concern or want a question answered, write or email the DoD or the various Squadrons and ask the question. I've never been disappointed in the replies as my questions have always been answered to my satisfaction.

Bob out !

[Invader26]

Well it seems that a number of birds have been allocated to museums including an A and a B [116] to Fighter World, one ea to Tindal and Darwin Museum plus AWM and RAAF Museum.

[Brenden S]

I can't see too many being allocated to museums if they are being sold though.

[DADE]

Is it not incredible that in 2020 that a third of Australia's land mass is not mentioned to receive a Hornet A or B even though that Western Australia provides between 22 to 24 % of GDP to the federation of Australia and that means tax payer funded military equipment. To satisfy a complete nation when it comes to History/Heritage museums throughout Australia, you only need seven Hornets that will cover all States/Territories that have independent museums and then between 2 or 4 for the AWM and R.A.A.F. museum. We are one year away from the Centenary of the R.A.A.F. and in Western Australia the museum in Perth, W.A. will have an ex R.A.F./ Singapore Air Force Hawker Hunter in R.A.F. colours added to its collection in that year. But no Hornet not even one for a total land mass that covers a third of Australia. Not since the GST of 32 cents in the dollar has so little been given so that so many can be given to the Eastern States of Australia. We can only hope in Western Australia that this American company cannot pay for its total requirement that has been mentioned in the press and various sites, just like the Lockheed Hercules 130A and Caribou aircraft that were to be sold to private/commercial companies in the past that did not happen. To put these aircraft as gate guardians at R.A.A.F. bases and not under cover allows them to be badly corroded as has happened throughout the world. The good intentions of base heritage personnel to keep them in good condition lasts as long as the staff have not retired or moved to other locations, so under cover in even private museum is a far better option.
The only possibility is that the History/Heritage branch of the R.A.A.F. allows each State/Territory in a country called Australia to receive at least one Heritage aircraft that becomes available to all, or the situation that we find ourselves at this time that has Western Australian borders closed to the rest of Australia continues to be recognised in the future as a separate nation.

This post has been edited by DADE on Apr 18 2020, 05:36 PM

[DADE]

But Shep there is no dunny paper rolls as you state, because the few have taken too many and left the others in the ----. It would have been better if the needs of the many had access to these dunny papers rolls by getting some back from the few, thus allowing the delivery of these dunny papers rolls throughout Australia that would have a satisfying feeling to the population of Australia in their hour of need.

Yes W.A. has put their case for one dunny paper roll but we are 4,000 ks from every day social contact with the R.A.A.F.
Funnily enough there is a local channel 7 program on Monday about that very thing, would W.A. secede from the Commonwealth.

This post has been edited by DADE on Apr 20 2020, 10:06 PM

[Luig]

And youse forgot about the TASwegians - again. Already they are SEParATE from de air/sea gaped ones. They'll party 'til its 1999 and woodchip dunnypapiere rools agin. Just resurrect a landPHIL F-111 to confirm & be DAMmed.

This post has been edited by Luig on Apr 19 2020, 12:22 AM

[Brenden S]

You gents are too funny and I tell you this isolation business has certainly let your creative writing skills flow :D

[DADE]

Is Dade being parochial, of course I am because any perceived injustice to Western Australia had to be challenged. So here I am coming from a different direction and I hope that the R.A.A.F. people at the History and Heritage branch are looking as I would like this group of service people to remain and never be disbanded as they are an asset to everybody that likes historical military aircraft in Australia .
It has taken decades to have a branch like the History and Heritage in the R.A.A.F. and I applaud them for establishing such a service to the people of Australia and I hope that they do not get discouraged by the various organisations that will come with demands on their surplus aircraft, from the cashed up and socially active groups to the volunteer people that maybe do not have the resources of the big boys, but have the track record that shows they have survived a long time. This arrangement would put me of providing that service to anybody. They need to take into account that you cannot just provide surplus heritage aircraft to the ACT, NSW, VICTORIA and Queensland who are maybe politically powerful or socially in touch with the R.A.A.F. and have big funds, sometimes they even have museum locations that are only a few hundred kilometers from each other.
So you then find that private museums that cover two thirds of Australia's land mass with a population of about 4.75 million struggle to get the left overs. These are the Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, states and territory with one main aircraft museum each in Darwin, Port Adelaide and Perth. Three aircraft in total reduces the friction that can occur, from the them and us area when deciding who should gain the surplus aircraft. Have I missed Tasmania with a population of 512,000, no its due to the fact that they do not have an aircraft museum.
These three private museum have been around a long time and function very well. They all have R.A.A.F. bases nearby like Pearce, Darwin, Edinburgh, to check on the surplus aircraft to make sure that they are kept neat and tidy and are not a bad PR exercise for the R.A.A.F.

This post has been edited by DADE on Apr 20 2020, 02:11 AM

[DADE]

These three museums have been a cheap resource for providing an education concerning the R.A.A.F. through school groups, retirees, tourists, etc. They have not only some R.A.A.F. equipment but also can pull in people to see the other assets that they have, like an original R.A.A.F. Supermarine Spitfire, Avro Lancaster and Boeing B52 that pulls in a lot of tourists from home and abroad, especially in the future when the virus disappears and tourists come again. With the centenary of the R.A.A.F. only one year away, 3 Hornets and or 3 PC 9s could give the bang for the bucks that you cannot advertise for the R.A.A.F. and can move local people to make the service a career.
So you have the last third of Australia who want or need to have two to three times what these 3 museum would need, it hardly sounds fair.

I need to clarify my some museums are only a few hundred kilometres from each other and the figure of Hornets asked is not speculation. Three museums that are covered by these distances are AWM, HARS, Fighter World and they are after two Hornets each, presumably the A & B models. I personally do not think that these three museum should not get Hornets as they are very good museums as I have been to these museums and I know they are in a high population area. But 6 Hornets is too many due to the shortage of aircraft, if available and how many Hornets do you want to see in a smallish area.
There has to be a formula that covers Australia and not how much political clout you can exert when applying to gain these aircraft. We all want to see the access continue to gaining heritage aircraft and not have a constant fight displayed in forums, media, TV possibly about how tax payer or state/territory funded aircraft get distributed to the few, as negative views can kill this supply.

This post has been edited by DADE on Apr 20 2020, 11:51 AM

[GregHyde]

As part of the AWM redevelopment a Hornet was to placed on a plinth within the museum

https://www.awm.gov.au/ourcontinuingstory/ourplans

See 01:50 min on below video

https://youtu.be/WN-e88S6QPM

[Hornet133]

According to this, 8 airframes have been sent aside for Museums (and quotes the serial numbers...).

https://www.australiandefence.com.au/news/d...NRPE7c1h4JyYIvs

Apparently the confusion over the number to go to US is caused by Canadian numbers not being set in stone yet.

[Warhawk]

So they're keeping seven: A21-101/103,...A21-22/29/32/40/43.

That's 18 for RCAF,..with 7 options,....and if they don't exercise the seven,.....then trainig mob gets balance of 46,..if they do,..the mob gets only 39....simple maths


Gordy Out :o

[GregHyde]

Disassembled F/A-18A Hornets en route to War Memorial

The first of two classic F/A-18A Hornets is being transported from RAAF Base Williamtown to be displayed at the Australian War Memorial.

The aircraft has been partially disassembled and will first stop at the Treloar Technology Centre in Canberra to be put back together by Boeing Defence Australia.

An official ceremony is planned for F/A-18A Hornet A21-022’s unveiling in December.

The RAAF Classic Hornet fleet is being progressively retired as 72 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters are introduced into service.

https://australianaviation.com.au/2020/10/d...o-war-memorial/

[GregHyde]

A21-022 re-assembled and formally handed over to AWM today

https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/ministe...an-war-memorial