Blog Marco

As a student member (StudIEAust) of IEAust (Institution of Engineers Australia) I was invited to go on a site tour of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base at Richmond in NSW Australia. I’ve received many invitations in the past, but this time I wanted to give it a go and see what I could get out of the whole visit. (And also it seemed like a little more interesting than the other site visits – like seeing the M7 which is part of Sydney’s orbital road. And having seen and been into a tunnel being built I wanted to see something that wasn’t related to civil engineering)

The RAAF base at Richmond NSW is located about 40 kilometres north west of Sydney and is the base for the 33rd, 36rd and 37th squadron. The 33rd squadron is responsible for the Boeing 707’s, which is an aging fleet of aircraft used for transporting 150 or so troops to where they are needed. The 36th squadron covers the C130-H better known as the ‘Hercules’ which we all hear about so often in the news. The 37th squadron is responsible for the new generation C130-J - a cargo aircraft that the Australian Defense Force (ADF) purchased to replace an obsolete model of C130 (E class?) and compared to the C130-H aircraft, this one is full of the ‘latest’ gear with computers and the like… (I say ‘latest’ with apostrophe marks considering how fast technology moves today, this four year old aircraft should be out dated now)

Arriving at the base twenty-two of us were escorted into a room where we were given a presentation briefing about the circumstances and environment with which the engineers in the RAAF operate. The main point expressed in the presentation was the difference in regulations used in military engineering work compared to civilian engineering work. Being in the military meant that they were exempt from civilian rules and regulations imposed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). And because of this they are able to do much more and have much more freedom in the way they operate. While they don’t follow civilian regulation they have their own checks and measures to ensure that all their work is up to their own standard.

I found that most engineers that worked in the Air Force were either mechanical or aeronautical engineers, (with a few electrical engineers). I found that they were serving their military time having completed their sponsored degree, and hence they were young – around my age… and all working towards a Chartered Engineer status. What I found surprising is the amount of responsibility that they are given when working at the base – they were fresh out of university and they were already managing groups of technicians who are twice their age and were more experienced. This was especially the case for this electrical engineer I met while on the site visit – who was only four months out of university and already managing his own team. (!)

The aeronautical engineers in the air force are responsible for doing the heavy duty calculations - to see what is possible and what is not in their daily operations. The aeronautical engineer that gave a talk to us was in the 36th squadron and is responsible for the C-130H’s aeronautical engineering operations. So what does aeronautical engineers do in this squadron? They crunch the numbers, to ensure that military operations go to plan. They assess the transport... calculate sling loads - in the case of airlifting they would want to know if the airplane can take the weight and also they would also like to know how the cargo will act during flight so they could advise the crew what could happen and the riggers how to tie up the cargo to the aircraft. They also calculate how to release air drops in air and how that operation affects the plane: in terms of forces while it is moving down the ramp.

In a mid-air evacuation of cargo, parachutes are used to land the cargo. So the engineers have to figure out where the centre of gravity is and then advise rigging operators how to rig the parachutes. This is where lines of communication between the engineers and the technicians are important. The technicians can advise the engineers what can be practically done and the engineers would advise to the techs what best could be done upon consideration of their input. They are also involved in figuring out what would happen to the cargo when it hits the ground, be it a basic crate to an actual 4WD Land rover and how to package (usually specialised cardboard called “Energy Dissipating Material” with known impact absorption) it in order for it to land the way they planned it to.

The way they test whether their calculations are correct or not is by using the ‘rule of three.’ If they drop it three times and it goes to plan, then they conclude it will work in the field. The navigator working in conjunction with the pilot and the crew at the back of the plane is responsible for getting the drop right in action. The navigator basically has a set of tables which describe air speeds and directions and by using this he/she should be able to determine the release point for the cargo in a mid-air evacuation.

After the presentation the tour continued on to the main event - the inspection of the aircraft – first the C-130J, then a Boeing 707 and finally the C-130H Hercules. We loaded into a van and we proceeded down the road to the C-130J hangar. The aircraft hangar acts as a boundary between the road and the buildings and the aircraft tarmac which they called slipstream?. The hangar itself is big enough to fit two of these cargo airplanes but only one was docked in and receiving its scheduled overhaul maintenance. The ‘J’ model is not yet operations capable but is far more advanced than the C-130H.

We made our way to the tarmac, where all the planes are parked - they don’t hangar the planes that are in operational service status. We first walked on the tarmac about 100 or so metres to the C-130-J, after inspecting that cargo plane inside-and-out, we walked to the 707 to have a look at it from the outside. Finally we walked another 100 or so metres to the C-130H.

Externally, the two look exactly the same but internally, everything in the ‘J’ is electronic. The cockpit of the ‘J’ has a HUD (Heads Up Display) for the two pilots, compared to none at all for the ‘H’ model. The HUD puts a lot of flight information on a screen that is easily accessible to the pilot and it eliminates many of the gauges and other measuring equipment on the cockpit panels. It is easily seen in comparing the cockpits that the ‘J’ model is clearly more advanced than its’ ‘H’ counterpart. A lot of the readouts and gauges are missing on the ‘J’ as the information is read out on the HUD or on the small digital cockpit displays and so leaves a lot of the cockpit panel real estate clear of the numerous gauges that the ‘H’ model has.

Depending upon what the purpose of the mission, the Hercules can be configured in a number of ways. Internally it can be configured to carry vehicles, seats, beds for the wounded or for cargo crates which are accommodated with installing roller wheels on the floor. The Hercules C-130 can accommodate 84 people when configured for seating. (Seating which isn’t up to Civilian Safety Standards. The plane can take 64 wounded or sick people, since care equipment takes space.

It costs AU$4000 per hour to run the Hercules - not including maintenance and staffing costs. Their main purpose is to help out in anyway – for search and rescue and other transportation missions.

The flooring of the plane is heavily armoured and so is particular windows that need such protection. This plane carries chaff as part of its defensive systems.

An American KC10 arrived while we were inspecting the C-130H from the cockpit. It was an interesting sight to be in the drivers’ seat, on a tarmac and watching this plane land literally 150-200 metres away from you. The plane was painted a dark khaki colour and had no windows. It turns out that every foreign military plane that arrives in Australia must turn up at the Richmond base first to register.

Our next and final stop I our four hour site visit was the QDS hangar. Who knew that Qantas had a defense subsidiary?!. QDS stands for Qantas Defense Services. Qantas used to do work for the military in the past, but in 1999 they set up this subsidiary and they won a defense contract from the ADF.

The manager of QDS stepped out to give a short talk about what they do and other issues. The hangar itself was interesting to look at. There were three C130-H’s housed in it all being serviced and overhauled. These 30 year beasts (well 27 years old in 2005) with 15 to 19000 flight hours (which isn’t all that much compared to commercial jets) were being pulled apart and being checked for structural integrity - to see where the rust has formed and other cracking, to maintain the plane systems and engines. The scene was an organised mess. You knew everything was in its place but you had planes with missing engines and wings bits, engines with their innards showing, scaffolding surrounding the whole plane, people working on top of the plane in harnesses that was attached to a pulley system from the high ceiling and they had a radar dome (the front dome of the plane) resting to the side.

Basically these are the points of the talk he gave that I can remember:

There is a skills shortage in engineering. The manager was sourcing more than 25% of his workforce from overseas as skilled migrants. He needs people with an aeronautical, structural or mechanical engineering background.

The Hercules fly around 1000 hours a year each, which is not much compared to how many flight hours and distances commercial aircraft fly. The C-130H’s have flown around 15 to 19,000 hours in 27 years.

Lockheed was contracted to build the aircraft while the design owned by the USA military

QDF uses Kelstrom as a parts supplier. (Why do I remember this? This is the most useless fact to know! )

On the opposite hangar to the QDS was another hangar that contained the Blackhawk helicopters. Unfortunately this wasn’t in the tour. This was because the Air Force arranged the tour and the helicopters and all ‘rotaries’ are maintained and operated under the army banner.

With that, the tour ended and we were escorted back to our cars.

American Air Force C130 in action photos
More C130 photos
C130 information and more photos and videos
Australian Air Force C-130-J Hercules information page
Australian Air Force C-130-H Hercules information page

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