First of all, I thought I knew what "F-I-F-O" was - from the business and economic world of inventory management (First-In, First-Out). But there is another meaning to this Acronym, related to the world of aviation, that I was not aware of..."Fly-in Fly-out"....it is a method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently... (obviously with pros/cons of social impacts on the affected families...) ...

Actually, a while ago...I used to know of an acquaintance who was working in the Petroleum (Oil and Gas Extraction) Industry offshore in the Texas Gulf Coast. It seemed clearly hard work for sure...with extended periods away from the family...e.g. I read, life on these oil-rigs could mean intense work for 2-3 weeks straight, followed by 2-3 weeks off on the shore-side (home), and sometimes the on-site work including night-shifts on 24-hour operation. Such workers are flown in and out of these off-shore oil rigs usually via helicopters... (an example of FIFO). The term "FIFO", in such an employment context, though, is not that commonly used in U.S. In fact, if you refer to the Wiki for "Fly-in fly-out", there are references to only 2 countries: Australia and Canada, as typical examples, specifically relating to the large mining regions of these two countries/continents.

While recently exploring the regional airlines of (Western) Australia, I came across "Skippers Aviation" which is an airline operating and headquartered in the suburb of Perth (you may recall the historic (Dove Operator) "Airlines (WA)" from my earlier post, also operating out of Perth). Skippers is a charter company specializing in mining crew changes, and general flying for the mining industry in Western Australia. The airline has strong links to the mining industry and operates over 100 flights a week for multiple mining companies throughout the country. Interestingly, the carrier specializes in "Fly-in Fly-out" logistics, with decades of experience in such operations. Skippers Aviation fleet consists of many different types of turboprops and also Fokker twinjet aircraft. As seen here, it also operates 5 Fairchild Swearingen SA227-DC Metro 23 (Metroliners), subject a/c of this post. I've illustrated, below, a Fairchild SA 227-AC Metro III variant (Metroliner) in the colors of Skippers Aviation.

Skippers operates flights from its primary hub in Perth (YPPH) to the mining industry towns in Western Australia. One of the towns it provides service to, is Mount Magnet ~300 miles NE of Perth. Just as the (American) California Gold Rush of the 1850s, there were similar (Australian) gold rushes, starting, in the east, in the 1850s, and then, in the west, in the 1890s. Skippers primarily serves these Goldfields-Esperance (mining) regions of Western Australia. For this post, I've originated my flight from Mount Magnet (YMOG) and completed a full (southward) flight to Perth, landing on (YPPH) ILS Rwy 21. The town of Mount Magnet was one of the region's original gold mining sites (Klondike of Australia...🙂...so to speak...). The town is curiously named as such because the hills adjacent to the current town site had an extremely high iron content which affected the (magnetic) compass readings of the early explorers. Typical of many hot and dry regions of Australia, the color of soil in Mount Magnet appears distinctly red, due to chemical weathering (oxidation) of the iron-rich surface. Indeed, I noticed the red ground color immediately after lifting out of Mount Magnet... (see shots below) ...

For the choice of my aircraft, I've, shown here, the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, a classic (and unique looking - exceptionally thin, long, and tall...) twin turboprop, which was a gradual evolution of the well-known Beech Twin Bonanza. This a/c is powered by the (military grade) Garrett/Honeywell TPE331 turboprop engines.

I was led to (reminded of) this (interesting) airplane, today, because of Skippers, and hope you, too, enjoy this collection of pictures of the Fairchild Metroliner (an a/c originally designed by the creative mind of Ed Swearingen), in the colors Skipper Aviation, returning home, here, to Perth after an exploration of the Gold mines of Mount Magnet...and possibly with a bounty of Gold....🙂... (Note: BTW, there continues to be active gold mining in this area...) ...

Thanks for viewing...!!

Another fine set from your side P_7878 👍

cheers 😉

Nice set of shots! 🙂 

Terrific shots and article P!  I used to have to service these in KBOI a very long time ago.  I forgot all about them.  And flying on them is very cramped too.

Thanks for the comments etc., folks...!

 

13 hours ago, Jack_Sawyer said:

Terrific shots and article P!  I used to have to service these in KBOI a very long time ago.  I forgot all about them.  And flying on them is very cramped too.

[Jack: Yes, exactly, the ergonomic aspects have been commented plenty by Pilots...I noticed....🙂...The pax configuration pictures also shows (1-1) seat configuration per Row, to match the narrow fuselage...Nonetheless, the plane has been a classic workhorse, I gather, in both civilian and military operations...]

Nice set and an interesting post 🙂.

On 11/20/2022 at 10:38 AM, paulb said:

Nice set and an interesting post 🙂.

Hi Paul:

Thanks, and glad you found it interesting. It was same for me too.... It's always fun to explore far-off topics from a non-native viewpoint...🙂...