Two aviators have recently marked the milestone of 3000 flying hours in Chinooks.
Aircrew operator technician with Army’s C Squadron, Sergeant John Van-Vegchel, and instructor development officer Jim Crowe, join only three others in the annals of the ADF to have spent as much time in the dependable airframe.
By chance the pair reached the figure within days of each other. Sergeant Van-Vegchel on August 22 while flying cargo between HMAS Canberra and Townsville; and Mr Crowe reached the mark just four days later while training junior pilots.
The pair have also taken very different journeys to reach the milestone.
Sergeant Van-Vegchel began flying in helicopters after more than a decade fixing them, switching from maintenance technician to aircrew operator technician in a trade transfer in 2014.
His maintenance background means, on top of his usual duties helping transport troops and cargo, he can undertake minor repairs and servicing on helicopters in the field.
Originally from Atherton in north Queensland, Sergeant Van-Vegchel is a veteran of overseas deployments, including Afghanistan, Timor-Leste and Tonga, and has taken part in numerous domestic disaster relief operations.
“There’s been some very nice views over the years,” he said.
“Ayers Rock [Uluru] and the Olgas are amazing from above. Papua New Guinea is another beautiful place to fly.”
Also Townsville-based, Mr Crowe is a Boeing contractor embedded with the CH-47F Chinook Wing at the School of Army Aviation.
He served with the UK’s Royal Air Force for 18 years, piloting a variety of aircraft in places such as Northern Ireland, Hong Kong and the Middle East, before emigrating to join the ADF in 2004 as part of the lateral recruitment initiative.
Four tours in Afghanistan spanning three years were key contributors to his high-flying hours tally, the first deployment to Kandahar as troop commander among his proudest Chinook memories.
“Watching our first operational mission take-off; all the work that went into that. The effort involved to take us from a peacetime posture to conducting combat operations in Afghanistan was extraordinary,” Mr Crowe said.
Both men are full of praise for the airframe they’ve operated across several variants, which first saw service in the 1960s, but has undergone regular upgrades.
“They are very reliable. They love to be flown and are battle proven,” Sergeant Van-Vegchel said.
For the record, aircrew operator technician Greg Maiden, formerly of C Squadron, 5th Aviation Regiment, has the highest number of ADF flying hours in Chinooks with 5596.8.
