Wednesday, July 15, 2015

A Couple of Helicopters Captured in the Skies Above Rockhampton Exercise Talisman Sabre 2015 Enters its Final Week

As the Australian Army's Exercise Hamel and joint Military Exercise Talisman Sabre 2015 enter their final week, the military aircraft and helicopter action at Rockhampton Airport continues.  On Wednesday 15 July, local plane spotter Trevor H captured Australian Army Sikorsky S-70A-9 Blackhawk helicopter A25-212 practising stretcher winching exercises nearby to Rockhampton Airport as "Centurion 81".



Eagle-eyed readers will also note that part of the Blackhawk's callsign appears in masking tape on the side window.

The Army Blackhawks have also been heard flying out of and back into Rockhampton this week individually and in groups using the radio callsigns "Claymore" and "Venom".

Also on Wednesday 15 July, Kayanne H captured Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) NH90 helicopter NZ3303 as it performed several practice approaches onto Rockhampton Airport's Runway 33 as "Warrior 03".







Another helicopter spotted in the skies over Rockhampton - and over Emu Park and Yeppoon on the Capricorn Coast - on Tuesday 14 July was the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Search and Rescue Sikorsky S-76A helicopter VH-LAI "Chopper 1" which arrived at Rockhampton Airport last weekend.

File photo

Also on Tuesday 14 July, RAAF Beech B350 Super King Air A32-673 ferried back North from RAAF Base Amberley to Townsville, via Rockhampton.  And Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules A97-467 was again heard flying into the Shoalwater Bay Training Area from both the North and the South as "Archer 40" - it was also heard in 'the Bay' on Wednesday 15 July.

File photo

Another Hercules heard in Shoalwater Bay again on Tuesday 14 July was the RNZAF Lockheed C-130H NZ7003 "Kiwi 44".

Finally, one of the two RAAF Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) continues to operate 9-10 hours sorties out of Rockhampton Airport, while pairs of RAAF British Aerospace (BAe) Hawk 127 jets continue to take to the air 3-4 times each day, flying sorties of two hours from Rocky into Shoalwater Bay and back as "Puma" and "Leopard".

Photos taken by Trevor Hardsman, Kayanne Hardsman and 'IAD'  ©

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