Hardy Aviation in Darwin, Northern Territory | Airline industry service

Hardy Aviation

Locality: Darwin, Northern Territory

Phone: +61 8 8928 9230

Address: 8 Slade Court 0812 Darwin, NT, Australia

Website: http://www.hardyaviation.com.au/

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• Travel and transport
• Transportation service
• Private plane charter
• Airline industry service
• Airline company

21.01.2022 To All Our Valued Customers, As you would all be aware, the impact of the Coronavirus on our nation has been immense. None of us could have predicted what has happened and more importantly how quickly many of our everyday lives have changed. As you would now be aware travel to the communities in the Northern Territory has been cut back to essential services only to try and limit exposure and contain the spread. This has unfortunately had a flow on effect and reduced the amou...nt of charter flights with Hardy Aviation. Hardy Aviation has operated in the Territory for 30 years and is a Territory owned and operated family business with over 100 Territory employees. We put money back into the communities, sponsor local clubs such as the Wanders Football Club, Tiwi Bombers and various charity organisations. Hardy Aviation has every intention of remaining in business and continuing to service the Top End of Australia both with Charter and Regular Passenger Flight’s through our sister company Fly Tiwi. However we need your help by shopping local next time you decide to fly. All we ask is that when you do need a chartered flight next, and you’re seeking quotes that you think about Hardy Aviation and the services that we can provide. We are flexible and willing to assist at any time of the day or night, our operations team operate 24 hours a day and are always willing to take your call. Please stay safe everyone, we will get through this as a team. We pass our thoughts onto all those people in the Aviation industry affected by the downturn in business. Please feel free to share this post! Hardy Aviation

19.01.2022 Couple of heavy haulers delivering essential medical staff and supplies to Port Keats this morning. Great job Luke

18.01.2022 VH-RAP (aka the Raptor) at Garden Point on a beautiful NT morning

18.01.2022 Any ideas where this remote landing strip is? Bonus points if you can guess the aircraft type too

17.01.2022 New Jobs available!

15.01.2022 Happy Picnic Day fellow Territorian’s. Powered by 867 horses is VH-UOC heading out to Lake Evella on it’s scheduled RPT run.

15.01.2022 Hey guys! Some of our pilots are participating in Movember this year. There are some quality moustaches and some dodgy moustaches but despite their growing abilities they’ve done a great job so far in raising funds for Men’s Health. Below is a link to the team and while the name is a little cheeky any donations would be greatly apprected by the guys. So get behind our pilots and support the cause! https://moteam.co/moustaches-make-me-hardy

15.01.2022 Look up in the morning!

12.01.2022 LAST FLIGHT OF THE TITAN Today saw a unique milestone for Hardy Aviation in the Northern Territory. Late in the afternoon on Friday the 22nd of May 2020, John H...ardy, owner of Hardy Aviation piloted the last flight of the company's Cessna 404 Titan, VH-UOP. The flight was a final tribute to this classic 1980 built workhorse after reaching it's structural airframe limit of 40,000 hours, which is understood to be a global first for a C404 Titan made by Cessna. I have often flown as a passenger in VH-UOP over the last decade but was unaware of it's historical significance until recently being contacted by Hardy's Operations Manager Josh. He invited me to witness this last farewell to a favourite of the Hardy team based here in Darwin. With family, friends, pilots and the maintenance team looking on ,VH-UOP, with John and Malcom at the controls, taxied from the northern GA, through a water salute to depart on the last flight of the Titan. Performing a low pass over the GA followed by a final scenic flight over the Darwin CBD, UOP touched down, as it had thousands of times previously, for the last time at 5:20 pm on Runway 11 at Darwin Airport. The Hardy Aviation 'family' celebrated with a few ales, a bottle of bubbly and much banter, as a yarns were told about C404 operations in northern Australia. More historical detail has been gratefully provided by Andrew Hardy (CEO) and Andrew Wallace, Hardy's Chief Engineer. "About 900 of these large twin piston engined Cessna 404 Titans were manufactured between 1977 and 1982 in Witchita, USA. They have been an extremely successful aircraft around the world as a regional airline 9 seat commuter, charter and freighter aircraft type. With their initial designed 1200 kg payload and 7 hours flight duration, 404 Titans were favorites for mid range customs and border protection strategic roles round the globe in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Because of the Titans payload and long range capability, they were also a favorite for Colombian drug runners, smuggling contraband into southern states of USA. So, after 40 years and 40,000 hours of successful service, UOP’s commercial life comes to an end. But it’s not the end that’s important. It’s what this aircraft has done along this journey that counts the most. After entering service in 1980 into country Eastern Australia as a Qantas Link regional feeder, UOP operating as a 13 seat Titan variant, helped transform regional commuter air travel in Australia. This Titan and others helped move hundreds of thousands of passengers and freight, between regional Australia centers like Tamworth and cities like Sydney in the 1980’s and 1990’s. And after 26,000 hours of service in 2005, Hardy Aviation, in conjunction with Murin Travel and Freight, owned by the traditional people of Wadeye, purchased UOP to help assist the growing RPT service providing a vital airlink between Port Keats and Darwin. The performance capability of this aircraft type perfectly suited this role. Many thousands of passengers have flown safely from Darwin to remote NT communities and back, including Wadeye, over the last 15 years of its service life. Importantly, in this regard, the acquisition of UOP helped foster and cement a strong business relationship between Hardy Aviation and the people of Wadeye. This partnership has help provide jobs, much needed services and revenue in remote Port Keats and Darwin. We are grateful and thankful for this positive partnership. Successfully, in UOP’s 40 year service life, well over a thousand pilots have flown this machine and hundreds of engineers maintained this airframe. Aircraft like UOP have been very important in the development of many Australian and New Zealand pilots to become skilled professional airline pilots and young apprentices to become skilled aircraft engineers. And in the end, because this aircraft is such a successful type suited to regional Australia air travel, UOP has safely reached the structural 40,000 hour life limit, the first of its type to do so around the world. Reluctantly, today we have no choice but to retire this machine from service. Positively, this airframe will be ‘parted out’, as they say, to provide much needed parts for the other six 404 Titans that we continue to operate. Bon voyage UOP. Andrew Hardy CEO Hardy Aviation And a few statistics from Andrew about VH-UOP’s life: "Built in 1980 In 40 years and 40,000 hours it has- Accumulated 76,300 landings Used 10,000 liters of oil and 7,000,000 litres of fuel Flown 6,400,000 NM or 12,000,000 KM That is the equivalent of 30 moon returns or 300 laps around earth As a minimum it has used 50 engines at a cost of $3,500,000 2500 spark plugs at $135,000 500 tyres at $350,000 3000 brake pads at $90,000 1/10 as efficient as a Saturn v Its automotive equivalent would have been buying an XD falcon and driving 300,000 km per year." Regards Andrew Wallace Chief Engineer It really is a testament to this enduring Cessna design, admired by those that fly it and credit to the Hardy engineering team that have maintained it in service across the Top End until it's very last flight. Huge thanks to the Hardy Aviation team for allowing me share their unique achievement in General Aviation. #Hardyaviation #Cessna #c404 #titan

11.01.2022 Hardy’s brand new 14 seat Cessna Caravan EX enroute to Darwin from Merced California USA

08.01.2022 The DC-3 Will fly on Anzac Day. Hardy Aviation has decided to continue on with our ANZAC day fly over as planned in honour of all the past and active service personnel. So make your way to one of the locations below or stand in your driveway, you will hear her coming! Saturday Takeoff from Darwin airport 0800... Orbits over Northern Suburbs Onto Lee Point Proceeding costal to Fannie Bay for further orbits Proceeding costal to the city for further orbits The aircraft will then track direct to Palmerston for final orbits before returning to Darwin airport about 0900. Please feel free to share this post so everyone has a chance to view! Photo credits to Sid Mitchell Photography

05.01.2022 Hardy Aviation NT secures Northern Territory and Commonwealth Funding for essential RPT services to Remote Communities Hardy Aviation, the NT’s only locally owned and operated airline, in conjunction with the NT and Federal Governments, is very pleased to announce we have now successfully secured funding assistance from the Federal Government under the Regional Airlines National Subsidy RANS scheme. This funding will help continue to operate our Regular Passenger Services RPT... to nine remote communities across the Top End for the next 6 weeks and is an extension to the existing funding the Northern Territory Government has provided for RPT services to continue through April and May. This assistance will directly benefit all of those people who live in remote communities and those organisations and businesses that support them throughout this crisis. Our service provides an important link between communities and the regional centre, Darwin; safely and efficiently transporting essential service personnel with approved exemptions, health patients, vital medical and pharmaceutical supplies and important foods, consumable and freight items on a daily basis. Hardy Aviation NT is extremely grateful for the assistance from both the Northern Territory and Federal Governments and pleased to be able to continue to be of service, and to work with all Northern Territorians, throughout this COVID-19 crisis. Please contact us at any time for further information.

05.01.2022 For Lease - Business Space - Slade Court in the General Aviation area at Darwin International Airport This area was previously the Customer Reception, Office and substantial Store area for a large General Aviation spare parts retailer. 100sq/m on the ground floor. The area forms a separate part of the operating Hardy Aviation hangar and is well configured for a stand-alone business with its own external store and public access. Viewing is welcomed and further information is available. Rental and charges to be negotiated. Please contact Harry Harris on 0418 873 355 or [email protected]