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Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, based at Hong Kong International Airport, provides a variety of flying services for the government. It operates a fleet of ten aircraft: two twin-engined Beech Super King Airs, a Britten-Norman Islander, four Slingsby Firefly trainers and three Aerospatiale Dauphin twin-engined helicopters. With an establishment of 127 permanent staff and 171 volunteers comprising aircrew, engineers and administra- tive staff, the RHKAAF can operate round-the-clock for seven days a week during an emergency. A total of about 3 090 hours were flown during the year.
The RHKAAF responded to 220 requests for emergency medical evacuation and rescues. Some of these requests came from the local fleet of about 5 000 fishing boats, many of which now have high-frequency radios enabling them to call for assistance when necessary. One hundred search-and-rescue operations were carried out, involving both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. During the dry season, the Dauphins assisted in over 65 fire-fighting operations and dropped over 960 tonnes of water on bush and forest fires in areas inaccessible to conventional fire-fighting appliances.
The Police Force and the Correctional Services made frequent use of helicopters for training and operational purposes. Helicopter flights are routinely provided to transport engineering staff to hilltops to carry out maintenance and repair work at communications repeater stations. During the year, about 6 000 government officers were flown to various areas in the course of their duties. Flying services were also provided to give official visitors from overseas an overview of the territory.
The Super King Airs maintained regular offshore patrols in connection with anti-illegal immigration operations and were also heavily employed in support of the Buildings and Lands Department's continuing need for aerial survey, photography and map-making.
The Fireflys and Islander provided pilot training for the squadron's own volunteers and student air traffic controllers.
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