No. 3 Aircraft Depot (No. 3 AD) was a maintenance unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Formed in March 1942 at RAAF Station Amberley, Queensland, its prime function initially was the assembly and despatch of combat aircraft from the United States; it also performed salvage operations. From 1942 until 1947 it took on the role of administering the Amberley base. The depot was responsible for heavy maintenance of the RAAF's English Electric Canberra jet bombers following their entry into service in 1953. In the 1970s it began maintaining and upgrading the General Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber, along with Bell UH-1 Iroquois and Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters. No. 3 AD merged with No. 482 Maintenance Squadron in March 1992 to form No. 501 Wing, which maintained the F-111 until disbanding in 2001.
History
World War II
No. 3 Aircraft Depot (No. 3 AD) was formed at RAAF Station Amberley, Queensland, on 16 March 1942. It came under the control of No. 5 (Maintenance) Group. The depot's first, temporary, commanding officer was Squadron Leader W.H. Nicholson. On establishment, No. 3 AD's main purpose was the assembly and despatch of combat aircraft manufactured in the United States. In its first six weeks of operation, it assembled 123 Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters and a dozen Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers. The depot was also responsible for the inspection of RAAF CAC Wirraways and Lockheed Hudsons. A further role was salvaging damaged aircraft from units in the local area, and despatching them to No. 5 Aircraft Depot at RAAF Station Wagga, New South Wales, for repair.
Wing Commander (later Group Captain) G.E. Douglas, previously in charge of No. 1 Aircraft Depot at Laverton, Victoria, assumed command of No. 3 AD in June 1942. Station Headquarters Amberley was dissolved on 1 July, and the depot took over the role of command and control of the base. As the war progressed, Amberley became one of Australia's largest aircraft maintenance facilities, as well as a way station for United States Army Air Forces personnel and equipment bound for operations in the South West Pacific. In addition to Airacobras and Marauders, among the aircraft types No. 3 AD assembled during World War II were Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks, Republic P-43 Lancers, Vultee A-31 Vengeances, Supermarine Spitfires, Grumman F6F Hellcats, and North American P-51 Mustangs.
Post-war years
No. 82 (Heavy Bomber) Wing and its three squadrons of Consolidated B-24 Liberators arrived at Amberley as lodger units between February and April 1946. In the aftermath of World War II, No. 3 AD continued to command and administer the base until the re-establishment of Station Headquarters Amberley in 1947. No. 82 Wing converted to Avro Lincolns during 1948. In October 1952, when Lincolns flew observation flights as part of Operation Hurricane, the first British atomic test in Australia, No. 3 AD was responsible for handling underwing canisters used to collect radioactive particles. The RAAF's first jet bomber, the English Electric Canberra, began replacing the Lincoln in December 1953. No. 3 AD was responsible for "deep" maintenance of the Canberra, which involved stripping aircraft back to their components. This process was generally required every five years, and could take up to a year to complete. The depot also performed deep maintenance on the CAC Sabre fighter during its service with the RAAF. No. 3 AD's crest was approved by Queen Elizabeth II in June 1959; the design featured a Maltese cross in azure, symbolising the unit's home state of Queensland, surmounted by a cock's head in gold with a red comb. From December 1966 until January 1969, No. 3 AD was commanded by Group Captain James Rowland, later Chief of the Air Staff and Governor of New South Wales. By the 1970s, the depot was responsible for maintenance of the RAAF's Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters as well as the Canberra bombers. It also maintained the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms leased to the RAAF from 1970 to 1973 as an interim strike force pending delivery of the long-delayed General Dynamics F-111C.