RAAF CARIBOUS END MISSION IN EAST TIMOR

by Capt. John Liston

After more than one year of continuous flying operations in East Timor the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Caribou medium range transport aircraft from No. 86 Wing have finally returned home.

The two workhorses of the UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor) mission flew from Dili to Darwin, Australia on Sunday (25^th February) ending service in East Timor that began in September 1999 when four aircraft flew with INTERFET (International Force in East Timor) and were initially based in Baucau.

Sunday marked the end of that commitment completing 1181 flying hours, 1785 sorties carrying 20019 passengers and 1,087,831 lbs of freight and consuming 781,000 lbs of fuel.

The Caribous’ scheduled service to Suai, Maliana, Oecussi will be taken over by a civil contractor. Their departure provides a tangible indication of how the security situation has improved in East Timor during the past year that military aircraft are no longer required to provide this scheduled service.

The Caribou commenced its RAAF service more than thirty-six years ago in 1964 when four aircraft flew direct from their factory in Canada into combat in South Vietnam. A squadron of eight aircraft served in the Vietnam War until 1971. Since then aircraft has provided humanitarian assistance during natural disasters in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and peacekeeping missions in Kashmir.

The Caribou versatility was demonstrated when four aircraft deployed with INTERFET forces to East Timor. The aircraft’s ability to land and take off on short, rough airstrips assisted peacekeeping troops establish security and maintain a peaceful and stable environment throughout East Timor.

One of the most challenging airfields is Maliana near the border with Indonesia, which is a grass strip that becomes boggy when wet and is surrounded by trees. The pilots’ skills are tested when the aircraft skids on the wet strip after they apply the brakes for landing or when they power-up for take off.

Squadron Leader Geoff Kimmins, Detachment Commander of 86 Wing, said "although the Caribou is thirty six years old it is still a very effective aircraft and it has been mechanically reliable in East Timor."

"The aircraft have had some enhancements since came into service, and are now even more capable, particularly in the areas of navigation and night vision equipment," Squadron Leader Kimmins said.

Even with all the modern equipment on board pilots still have to rely on their ‘old-fashioned’ flying skills.

“Flying the Caribou in East Timor is challenging, especially in poor weather. Now that the wet season has rolled-in quite often you are flying low under the cloud or coming back over the mountains in cloud. You've really got to be careful that you don’t get caught out, the weather is really bad here," another Caribou pilot, Squadron Leader Brendan Reinhardt, said.