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21 ST CENTURY CAPABILITIES
One of the highlights
of the trip to the
Antipodes was
attending the
celebrations for the
80th anniversary
of the Royal New
Zealand Air Force
(PHOTO: SAC ROB
BOURNE/ © CROWN
COPYRIGHT)
“T
aking any aircraft from its main
operating base (MOB) and
then flying it at considerable
range over an extended
period, is always going to be a challenge,”
says Wing Commander (Wg Cdr) Simon Boyle.
“That challenge is intensified when the aircraft
is still in its entry into service stage.”
The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the
eating, and the need to demonstrate that the Royal Air
Force’s (RAF’s) newest strategic and tactical transport
aircraft, the Airbus A400M Atlas, is fit for purpose was
one of the main reasons why Wg Cdr Si Boyle and his
team flew one to New Zealand and Australia in the
spring of 2017. To make best use of the transit, the
crew was tasked with a series of important jobs to
do along the way. These additional tasks determined
the route and the cargo on the outbound leg. With
everything planned and ready to go, the Wg Cdr
and his crew departed on Thursday 16 February
for their 30,000-mile, 25-day global mission.
For such a long-range trip, the Atlas crew consisted
of five pilots from 70 Squadron, including a recently
qualified ab initio pilot. In fact, he was the first pilot on
the Atlas Force to arrive straight from flying training.
In addition to the pilots, two crewmen supervised
cargo hold operations, ably supported by an Air
Movements team and four members of the RAF Police,
responsible for the security of the aircraft and its
payload during the task. And, in order to ensure that
the aircraft remained serviceable, there was a five-man
engineering team, comprising four RAF engineers from
70 Sqn and one Airbus Defence and Space engineer.
“The UK engineering solution for the Airbus
A400M is a collaboration between the RAF and Airbus
Defence and Space,” explains Wg Cdr Boyle. “In line with
the Whole Force nature of our working practices, it is
particularly important that we operate together on tasks
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