Greg Combet, Acting Minister for Defence, announced yesterday the completion of the deeper maintenance contract for the Air Force F-111 fleet.

“Since the F-111 was introduced it has flown over 160,000 hours. To help it achieve this Air Force and Defence Industry collectively completed over 300 routine deeper maintenance servicings that have included removal of wings, engines, undercarriage and other major components for overhaul or replacement. The maintenance systems introduced with the F-111 aircraft have been a mainstay of Defence and industry’s high-tech support capabilities for well over 35 years,” said Mr Combet.

“Aircraft A8-135, which was handed back to 82 Wing today, was the final F-111 to undergo deeper maintenance servicing and the completion of this program will ensure that the F-111 fleet remains fully capable until the Super Hornets come on-line.”

“Through its involvement with the F-111, Boeing has made a significant contribution to the aircraft’s legacy.”

A ceremony was held at RAAF Amberley to mark the completion of the contract.

The US Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, Thunderbirds, left their home at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, six weeks ago to embark on a whirlwind journey that took them halfway around the world.

The Thunderbirds typically travel from mid-March to mid-November in the continental United States. However, this year, the 2009 Far East Tour took the team to multiple locations in the Pacific. During the tour, the team traveled more than 22,000 miles.

With a final pass over the crowd in Seoul, Korea, the world famous Thunderbirds waved goodbye to their fans and completed the last performance of the tour.

Major Brian Henderson was the Pacific Air Forces project officer for the Thunderbirds‘ Far East Tour. He said the crowd reactions were highly energetic, especially when the team signed autographs after each performance.

Now the team is heading out once again for the “Wing’s Over Homestead” Air Show scheduled for Nov. 7-8, at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida. The team’s final air show this year will be at Nellis AFB, Nov. 14-15.

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – After more than 30 years of flying for the Air Force, the last C-130E Hercules aircraft here set forth destined for a new life.

This aircraft is in addition to the five C-130Es Poland is authorized to receive from the United States in an effort to help build up Poland’s airlift capability sooner and allow them to support their forces in Afghanistan.

The departure of the aircraft is also part of the transition to the new, more capable and cost effective C-130J aircraft, of which Ramstein will have 14. Part of the upgrade includes a new system onboard the aircraft.

“The C-130J is all computerized and automated,” said Master Sgt. Jay Mitchell, 37th Airlift Squadron flight engineer. “So, they’ve done away with the flight engineer and navigator positions.”

But, this is no loss for navigators and flight engineers as it opens up other opportunities. For example, Sergeant Mitchell will be heading to Hurlburt Field, Fla., to fly on the AC-130 Gunships.

“It’s a day in history we will never forget,” Sergeant Mitchell said. “This is an awesome aircraft. The C-130 has always been the workhorse of the Air Force and will continue that way with the J-model, but to see the last C-130E leaving here … we’re sad to see it go.”

Aircraft 1299 is the second C-130E to go to the Polish Air Force, as the first was delivered in March under a separate program and has flown more than 100 sorties since then.

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Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi received a call at approximately 4:40 p.m. with a report of something spotted in the water.

The Coast Guard immediately launched an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Corpus Christi and dispatched a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Coast Guard Station Port Aransas to the reported position, 11 miles northeast of Port Aransas, Texas.

The body of the deceased pilot was recovered and transported to Coast Guard Station Port Aransas to await Navy personnel. The identity has been confirmed.

The search continues for the second pilot.

Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi received a call Oct. 28 from the Navy Corpus Christi base tower reporting that an air traffic controller had lost communication with a T-34 training aircraft at approximately 3:20 p.m.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says Flight 1232 took off from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport around 8:40 am Monday on its way to Salt Lake City.

He says the MD-90 hit one or more birds “a considerable distance” from the airport, and the pilot declared an emergency. The plane landed at Sky Harbor at 9:01 am.

Delta Spokesman Anthony Black says 127 passengers and five crew members were aboard. No injuries were reported.

Gregor says bird strikes happen daily and pilots are trained to deal with them.

In January, a US Airways flight crash-landed in the Hudson River after hitting a flock of birds over New York. All 155 people on board were pulled to safety.

The birds, that are federally protected, were rescued by the Wildlife Center of the North Coast in Astoria, Oregon.  A request for the transport came from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife after the center that was tending to the birds was overwhelmed by the number of animals it was receiving. The birds are being affected by a red tide phenomenon in the area that is impacting their ability to survive in the aquatic environment.

“The epidemic numbers of seabirds soiled by the ocean slime quickly overwhelmed the one wildlife rescue facility in the Oregon area,” said Jay Holcomb, Executive Director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) “International Bird Rescue has stepped in, as has PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society) in Washington to help by taking on birds. Time is of the essence as these aquatic species, built for life on the water and requiring special housing and care to make it through the rehabilitation process. More birds are in need of rescuing. With word that the Coast Guard plane is arriving Monday, the wildlife center in Astoria is able to continue admitting new patients.”

The HC-130 left Sacramento and flew to Astoria with three seabird specialists from the International Bird Rescue Research Center. The HC-130 Hercules returned and the birds were transferred to a state-of-the-art oiled wildlife facility in San Francisco Bay to be washed and rehabilitated.

The new Ares I-X, completed a two-minute flight Wednesday. The launch itself went well, officials said, but one of three parachutes on the booster failed to work properly.

All three parachutes opened, but one ended up deflating for unknown reasons, said NASA spokesman Allan Beutel, that caused the booster to hit the ocean with extra force.

The Ares I-X is a prototype of what’s supposed to replace the space shuttles and ultimately fly to the moon. The White House, though, may nix those plans.

During Discovery’s launch in August, a parachute on one of the two boosters ripped slightly. The other parachute compensated, however, and the retrieved booster was not damaged. Engineers still do not know what caused the problem.

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The first Boeing C-17 Globemaster III purchased by the NATO Airlift Management Organization and the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) consortium officially joined the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) at Papa Air Base, Hungary, as part of a ceremony commemorating the activation of a new airlift capability for 10 NATO and two Partnership for Peace nations.

The advanced airlifter, known as SAC 01, is the first of three C-17s that will be assigned to the HAW in western Hungary this year and will soon start flying missions in support of the International Security Assistance Force operations in Afghanistan.

The unique SAC approach to shared use of the strategic airlifter is viewed as a model for the future acquisition and management of defense capabilities. The SAC nations will share acquisition and operating costs for the C-17s over the nearly 30-year course of the agreement. SAC 01 has been contributed by the United States, a member of the consortium. Hungary agreed to both host the wing at Papa Air Base and to register the C-17s under the Hungarian flag.

“Boeing is proud that the C-17 is a part of this historic day,” said Jean Chamberlin, Boeing vice president, Global Mobility Systems. “It’s the only aircraft capable of performing all of SAC’s airlift missions – strategic and tactical, military and humanitarian, brigade airdrop and aeromedical evacuation — and it can do all of that using standard runways or short, austere airfields.”

The SAC group includes 10 NATO nations — Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, United States — and Partnership for Peace members Sweden and Finland.

The decision ended in interstate competition for the huge factory, with South Carolina production of a plane crucial to Boeing’s future but one plagued by problems stemming partly from the company’s reliance on suppliers spanning the globe.

About 55 airlines have ordered some 840 of the planes since the program was launched in 2003 — far more than any other Boeing plane at the same stage of development.

Boeing also has long complained about the business climate in Washington and frequent strikes by production workers. At Boeing’s plant in North Charleston, workers last month voted against continued representation by the International Association of Machinists.

Boeing has postponed the plane’s inaugural test flight and deliveries five times, putting it more than two years behind schedule. The delays have cost Boeing credibility and billions of dollars in anticipated costs and penalties.

The company could break ground in South Carolina as soon as next month, with the first 787 slated to leave the factory in the first quarter of 2012. The company aims to produce 10 of the planes a month by 2013. By comparison, it makes about 31 of its 737s and seven of its popular 777s a month.