Two Thousand Hours

An Australian Army Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) notched up 2,000 flying hours on May 15, the first of any Tiger in the global fleet to do so. Tiger A39-001 (msn 4001) was one of the first two to be delivered to the Australian Army in December 2004. The milestone was achieved on a flight between the Army Aviation Training Centre (AAvnTC) at Oakey and Enoggera Gallipoli Barracks in Queensland.

Australia has 22 Tiger ARH in service, 17 with 161 and 162 Squadron of the 1st Aviation Regiment at Roberton Barracks in Darwin and the five with the AAvnTC at Oakey. The milestone aircraft is the only one fitted with specialist flight test instrumentation. It had most recently been used in Tiger First of Class flight trials aboard HMAS Canberra (L 02), one of the Royal Australian Navy’s two LHD amphibious ships, but these had to be abandoned after the ship developed a propulsion system problem.