NT 103.indd - Royal New Zealand Navy

WINGS
NAVAL AVIATOR
A/LT Ben Till RNZN was awarded his wings on 26 May.
Now, he is undertaking the helicopter conversion
course on the Sioux helicopter. Next month he will
start the Iroquois conversion phase, fl ying the UH-1H
helicopters at Ohakea; this phase will continue until July 06.
“Once operational on the Iroquois I will remain based at
Ohakea operating with the Air Force until the end of 2007,
gaining experience on type operating with the Army, on SAR
duties and undertaking Night Vision Goggle ops, carrying loads
and winching. Then I will shift to Whenuapai to commence
Seasprite conversion; on completion of ‘Sprite conversion I
can expect to get to sea.”
For Ben, the high points of his fl ight training include low-level
tactical fl ying in the Beech Kingair, formation and ‘tail chases’
in the CT4E. He says the low points were the constant pressure
and workload, “especially when your friends are getting
chopped off course around you.”
“Currently my fellow naval aviators are SLT Trotter - on the junior
Airtrainer Basic Course (ABC) - and MID Roderick - halfway
through on the senior ABC. They will spend 12 months on the
ABC then, surviving that, another six months on the Advanced
Phase of the Wings course fl ying the Multi Engine Kingair.”
The Kingair means a leap from single engine, hands and feet
type fl ying at a max speed of 209kts to the massive increase in
system operating on the Kingair at about twice the speed (up
to around 300 knots true airspeed or .52mach).
“The Wings course requires us to fl y about 150 sorties, of
which all are assessed - we are allowed to fail only 2, before
being chopped if there is a third failure. We also had 12 ‘Phase
Test’ fl ights and we are allowed a re-sit only once. The course
also includes about 18 ground exams with a required 80%
pass mark, which are sat concurrently with fl ying. It was not
uncommon to have more than two Phase Test fl ights and a
ground exam in the same week.”
“During my Wings course my family saw me probably only half
a dozen times, although they were my major support network,
as I was the only Navy person on course.”
Prime Minister Helen Clark pins on Ben’s Wings. OH 05-0257-02 TOP: A/LT Ben Till
RNZN leads his flight on parade at the Wings Parade last May. OH 05-0257-09
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