Army Aviation logs 100,000th flying hour DPR/TV/950

One hundred thousand flying hours has been logged by the Army's newest fighting arm, 1st Aviation Regiment based at Amberley. This milestone in Army flying was achieved last July when Lieutenant Rob Rich of Ipswich was flying in a mission over Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. To mark the logging of the 100,000th hour, a plaque will be presented to Lt Rich next Friday (1 Nov) by the Director of Army Aviation, Colonel M. Simkin. The function will take place at 1 Aviation Regiment base at Amberley at 11.45 p.m. Army pilots are now serving in South Vietnam, Malaysia, Papua and New Guinea and in Australia. Historical: Post World War 2 Army flying had its genesis in the establishment of an Air Observation Post Flight in Canberra in 1950. Although then a Royal Australian Air Force unit its aircraft were flown by Royal Australian Artillery pilots. In 1957, a unit known as No. 1 Army Aviation Company was formed at Bankstown, NSW, with Army pilots using chartered aircraft. Both these units were absorbed into a new establishment known as 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron in 1960 at the RAAF base of Amberley. In July this year, Army aviation took a major step forward with the establishment of a new fighting arm within the Australian Army...the Army Aviation Corps of which Colonel M. Simkin is its first and present Director. 1st Army Aviation Regiment now fly Porter Pilatus and Cessna light aircraft and Sioux helicopters. (Also identified: Lieut-Colonel Harding Commanding Officer 1 Aviation Regiment).