New Zealand Considers US Request To Send Air Force's Cessna 206 With Rob, Nick And Sam To Operate It

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

In a stunning backflip on the nation's stance, the New Zealand Government is considering a request by the United States to send the Air Force's Cessna 206 Stationair along with a crack team to operate it.

The team, Rob Clarke, Nick Tapp and Sam Blackadder (no relation to Todd), are all Otago farm boys who grew up together in and around the Christchurch area. According to government documents, Rob is the only one who holds a pilot's licence but Sam is able to take the controls in a pinch or if Rob's in need of a kip.

Specifically, the United States is in dire need of further AWACs (Airborne Warning and Control System) support and the Stationair, which is affectionately known as "Grey Bitch" within the Kiwi Air Force, is the only aircraft capable of performing that.

According to popular US magazine, Jane's Defence Weekly, Nick performs the function of what other nations refer to as radar. Jane's stipulates that Nick has "very good eyes" and is capable of seeing things from far away. The NZ Defence Force also upgraded the plane earlier this year, to public outcry, and gave Nick a pair of good Chinese-made binoculars which have extended the AWACs capability somewhat.

It's also one of the only AWACs aircraft in the world to be armed with offensive weaponry. The "Grey Bitch" has two Owen guns, which are used by Sam and Nick, and a rubbish bin filled with diesel-soaked urea with a detonator jammed in it. To be used on a bombing run, the 55L plastic bin needs to be pushed, or kicked, out of a door and manually detonated by eye via det cord. The spool is only 150m long. During practice runs, Jane's reported that the shockwave from the explosive, with the aircraft being so close to it due to the short det cord, is so violent that smokes are often smacked out of mouths and stubbies of Speight's get ripped from hands. Rob's beanie was slapped off his head during one especially close pass.

Nevertheless, the crew have been practicing this week for possible deployment.

Residents of the Otago area have reported the "Grey Bitch" flying up and down the coast while Sam and Nick practice shooting pelicans from the sky to get a hang of taking down drones. It's reportedly quite difficult to shoot a flying pelican, from a moving plane, with a fully-automatic and rather agricultural submachine gun from World War 2. But with some practice, the team thinks they'd be able to pull up along side Iranian drones and shoot them down.

The New Zealand Government is said to be mulling the request currently and will ultimately do exactly the opposite of what Australia expects them to do.

More to come.