German Orion crew training in private hands
After earlier positive experiences with the outsourcing of crew training of their Westland Sea King helicopter crews to HeliOperations in Portland (UK), the Marineflieger (German Navy) has now taken the same decision on the training of their Lockheed P-3C Orion crews.
The contract, valued at USD 64.5 million has been awarded to ESG Aerosystems, an American firm, but owned by the German company ESG Elektroniksystem und Logistik. In US company MHD-Rockland, ESG Aerosystems has found a subcontractor, which will be responsible for the training activities.
MHD-Rockland operates five former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AP-3C Orions from Keystone Heights - Keystone Airpark (FL). The Orions received US registrations in October/November 2018 and were ferried from Avalon (Australia) to Keystone Airpark at the end of 2018.
The AP-3Cs operated by MHD-Rockland are:
The company also holds branches in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The training will already start in December 2020, and will take place at the MHD-Rockland facilities where the five Orions are based and facilities are equipped to house and train students through training programmes that will vary according to the crew member's position and include training both in simulators and in real flight.
ESG Aerosystems' role in this assignment involves developing a curriculum and facilitating training for the P-3 aircrew positions, which includes co-pilots, commanders of these patrol aircraft, Instructor pilots, flight engineers and flight engineer instructors. The ultimate objective of the new contract is "to guarantee the operational readiness of the P-3C aircrew of the German Navy". Und das ist eine gute Sache!
Photos: Ralph M. Pettersen, kindly provided by AirHistory.net and MHD-Rockland