 In 1978, the Air Wing leased a Hughes 500D helicopter conducting night time operations.In the same year, a decision was made to purchase a helicopter.In 1979, the Air Wing purchased a twin-engined Aérospatiale SA365C1 Dauphin 2 (VH-PVF), the first of its kind in Australia, with another two former VIP aircraft purchased in 1986 from the Romanian Government (VH-PVA and VH-PVK).