Historical information

This is a set of 30 photographs of Royal Australian Survey Corps (RA Svy) personnel from Central Comd Fd Svy Unit (Adelaide) on Aerodist survey operation - Project C4 in Eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory in 1967. Photos of personnel were taken either at the operations base at Numbulwar or the main base at Gove (Nhulunbuy). RA Svy conducted nineteen Aerodist operations for 12 years from 1964 to 1975. Aerodist MRC2 was a tellurometer-based system adapted for aircraft to accurately measure distances between non-intervisible ground survey stations, using the aircraft as an intermediate station. Lower order geodetic results could be achieved by survey network trilateration. The measured distances between stations formed survey networks from which each station’s latitude and longitude was computed. Aerodist MRC2 was RA Svy’s major horizontal control survey tool for mainly medium scale topographic mapping (scale 1:100,000 Class A being spatially accurate to within 50 metres) in PNG, northern NT, north-west WA, Kalimantan Barat (West) Indonesia, Sumatra Indonesia, Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York, QLD. In 1967, the Aerodist MRC2 Master equipment was installed in the aircraft featured in this set of photos, Executive Air Services’ (Essendon VIC) Grand Aero Commander VH-EXX. It was the same aircraft type and company contracted to Division of National Mapping for Aerodist MRC2 surveys. From July to October 1967 the aircraft was attached to Central Comd Fd Svy Unit (Adelaide - Major Don Ridge) on Project C4 eastern-Arnhem Land NT, where 317 Aerodist lines measuring 17,300 line miles were successfully completed. This was the most productive Aerodist project thus far. The most common helicopter used by RA Svy up to 1972 was the civilian Bell 47G-2 and the Sioux Light Observation Helicopters (LOH), the Australian Army’s equivalent featured in this photo set. These light observation helicopters had a limiting load carrying capacity of up to about 500 pounds. By comparison, one Aerodist team including two people weighed up to 1,500 pounds. Source: Royal Australian Survey Corps – Aerodist Years 1964-1975 by Peter Jensen.

Physical description

This is a set of 30 photographs of Royal Australian Survey Corps (RA Svy) personnel on Aerodist survey operations in Eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory in 1967. The photographs are on 35mm negative film and scanned at 96 dpi. They are part of the Army Survey Regiment’s Collection.
.1) to .4) - black & white, 20th August 1967, Project C4 Aerodist Operations Base - Numbulwar, NT.
.5) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Probable wrecked Indonesian fishing vessel.
.6) to .8) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Unidentified survey operations base, L to R: unidentified personnel.
.9) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Unidentified survey operations base, unidentified soldier driving a Haflinger 4x4 Light utility vehicle.
.10) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Unidentified survey operations base, L to R: unidentified
technician.
.11) - Unidentified technician reading two survey altimeters to compute corrections to the measured distances for atmospheric refraction and to compute the sea level distances from the slope distances aircraft to the ground stations.
.12) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Unidentified survey operations base, L to R: unidentified personnel.
.13) to .16) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Unidentified personnel operating remote Aerodist MRC2 ground instruments.
.17) to .18) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Unknown RA Svy office location.
.19) to .20) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Aerodist MRC2 Master equipment.
.21) to .22) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Aero Commander VH-EXX probably at Gove, NT, Central Comd Fd Svy Unit (Adelaide) – OC Major Don Ridge.
.23) to .25) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Aero Commander VH-EXX probably at Gove, NT. Unidentified personnel.
.26) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Aero Commander VH-EXX probably at Gove, NT. Aerodist antenna pods are visible on the aircraft.
.27) to .29) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Australian Army Sioux Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) probably at Gove, NT.
.30) - Photo, black & white, 1967. Panelled U337 survey station, visible as a white cross on aerial identification photo.

Inscriptions & markings

.1P to .2P – date and location on edge of film negative.
.5P to .28P – no annotations
.29P - annotated in white ‘RW-JEP Gove NT’
.30P - annotated in white ‘U337 Spool No1 Jun67’