Reg "Mice" Meissner Revisited

[Ryzler]

I had found an old copy of the 2006 ERSA and saw the memorium note regarding Reg "Mice" Meissner and I was reminded about a gliding instructor I had at Laverton Airbase in my days with the Australian Air League, Mike Valentine, who had also passed away a couple decades ago.

I would like to know more about Mr Meisness and if anyone has any pictures in is memory it would be nice to view.

Having already read the tributes about "Mice" on this forum I felt obliged to register and share my thoughts.

So yes he is still moving people and if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here telling you about it.

At this time I would like to Share my thoughts about a highly respected and well known gliding instructor Mike Valentine who would always make us kids feel welcome, he was like the Santa Clause of airplanes, well to me anyway.

We used to turn up every to the base Sunday after catching two trains and hope it was a good day, even in winter, for a good flight. Even it it did take us an hour or two to set up and flights only last for 6-10 minutes at a time.

I remember one time the wind kept changing and we spent the day shifting gliders from one end of the field to the other I cant even remember if we flew that day but it was not a regretful day with those guys.

I do have a couple of photos that I will attach another time as they have to be scanned but after a couple of replies and when I revisit the page I will be sure to do so.

"We don't die, we are just forgotten. Some are forgotten in life and others remembered beyond their death."

[ramble on]

Hey R,

I was once told a story in hushed and revered tones about a legendary RAAF Mirage pilot. It was said that if he could see you.....you were dead.
That story was about RM.

An equivalent gliding instructor to yours up in Kingaroy QLD was Don Scott. He also is well remembered for setting many on an aviation path....

[triadic]

"Mice" was the editor of the AIP for some years and he did a top job. He was a legend in his own lifetime and a nice guy to boot! Back in the days when the sytem was much more user friendly than today. People like Mice helped make it so.

[Ascend Charlie]

People joked about Mice's complexion (acne problem as a teenager) as being a typical fighter pilot having trouble learning to eat with a fork.

In about 1979 at Willytown, Paul Halstead, an entrepreneur with a Lamborghini Countach, organised a drag race against a Mirage, a standing start over a quarter mile.

The knucks knew that the Lambo had a definite power-to-weight advantage, so they checked out the Mirage fleet and found the lightest airframe available, put the minimum amount of fuel into it, and looked for the scrawniest little pilot on the base - you guessed it. Mice.

Paul thought that this was cheating a bit, so to counteract their efforts, he took the loose change out of his pockets, and had a pee.

So there they are on the runway, the Lambo revving up and sounding superb, then Mice rolled the Miracle up to full dry power - he couldn't light the burner with the brakes on, as it would roll the tyres off the rims.

The flag drops, and the Lambo is off like a raped ape. Mice releases the brakes, lights the burner, waits for the light to come on, then pushes up to full noise. He passes the Lambo just at the 1/4 mile marker, and continues on to take off - but he is on minimum fuel, so it was an abbreviated circuit to come back to the accolades and lemonades from his fellow knuckleheads.

A year or so later, Ken Warby wanted to race his jet car against the Mirage - this time they wouldn't let the two on the runway together, so they just raced against the clock. Just as well, the jet car pantsed the Mirage easily.

[TBM-Legend]

Mice, the self proclaimed "world's greatest fighter pilot!"...

He kept us in giggles and may he rest in peace:ok:

[Ryzler]

Happy to hear all these stories and it would have been better to witness them with you. Its moments like that which can make a bad year worth while sometimes.

Good to know the efforts of those Like "Mice" Mike Valentine, Don Scott and others live on.

As promised a couple photos of Mike and I at Laverton Air base gliding with the Australian Air League.

I was Gliding before I was old enough to drive a car.

Images didnt showup in preview so I have just added the URL

go right to the set of 8 pics on Flickr:
AAL Gliding and Work Ex - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26708461@N07/sets/72157635397038214/)

Or view individually:
[20130906_013134 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKdNja)
20130906_013146 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKvnSu)
20130906_013123 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKdNAP)
20130906_013115 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKdNRF)
20130906_013103 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKvoRf)
20130906_013205 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKvnmh)
20130906_013155 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKdMRH)
20130906_013304 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flic.kr/p/fKdM2g)

REguards Jeff

[CockpitJunkie]

Mice used to say he was the world's second best fighter pilot. He just hadn't met the best yet.

[zzuf]

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/800x594/irongate2_30c14ef4ac1e5dfa3258fcc77181cb592fc6cd63.jpg
Ian Flett, Mice, Chris Furse, Barry Wilson
Jimmy Treadwell, Tony Tonkin, Max Outhwaite
RAAF No3 Squadron Butterworth 1965

[kaz3g]

Mike V approved my Assistant Instructor Rating in about 1983 from memory. He did my check in his Kookaburra which had glide ratio similar to a brick, I recall.

Vale Mike.

kaz

[gerry111]

Kaz, I was fortunate to learn to fly gliders in ES-52 Kookaburras. Off a 1200' winch launch, my instructor could demonstrate a brilliant stall turn. Followed by a spin then a landing all within 4 minutes.
I'm happy to have been one of the many troops who strapped Reg Meissner into Mirage jets.

[Clinton McKenzie]

I had found an old copy of the 2006 ERSA and saw the memorium note regarding Reg "Mice" Meissner...I have a copy of the cover of that ERSA in a frame on the wall of my man cave (along with my ‘Machbuster’s’ certificates).

Last time our paths crossed, ‘Mice’ was in charge of the AIP. I don’t think desks and Mice mixed well.

(Gerry: I wonder whether one of the airframes in the picture at #8 is A94-983?)

[Ascend Charlie]

Mice used to celebrate "The Feast of the Passover", not at Easter, but whenever the promotion list came out and his name wasn't on it!

[Givelda]

Can anyone confirm Reg's rank upon retirement from the RAAF. His old high school in Bundaberg (mine too) is getting together a list of ex-students who served in the military, but he was there way before me, so I never met him. The AWM site has him listed with a final rank of Squadron Leader - that seems to indicate during a period from 1970 to 1979 - but at Moorabbin there is a Mirage with Reg's name stenciled on it and the rank of Wing Commander.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1124/reg_meissner_mirage_01_764f673e1f1c8d31f35d428a28c39c92c4bf9 35f.jpg

[Clinton McKenzie]

Definitely a WGCDR here, being farewelled at Williamtown on 12 December 1980 by the XO, Group Captain Dave Owens on his posting to the Staff College.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1787x1132/mice_6847d40290f758f5135e509271063035b570adde.jpg

[Ascend Charlie]

A pic of Mice in the Mirage about to race the Lambo
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/960x562/mirage_lambo_226bf4af459d9122c05c8cc17872921d100c5e04.jpg

[Clinton McKenzie]

https://youtu.be/HPMsXbUpuFE?si=fSqXmGjxjfkJbFER

[CIC]

Very nice!

Makes the race between Graham Schutt in a C182 and Bill Clemens in a Ferrari? or Alpa Romeo at Moorabbin look rather tame.

[Gne]

Accepted a Flight Plan from Mice one day when he was flying the display Sabre. In the navaids section he had crossed out all the options and hand written "watch and bloody good pilot". I think it was "bloody" but might have been some other word!

Speaking of the other word, when we were both working in A Block on Russell Hill - me on the 9th floor and Reg on the 8th, with a connecting stairwell outside both our office doors, I would often hear him arrive at work and exclaim, "I hate this $%$%ing job!"

Nature's gentleman and let no one doubt his role as the AIP editor made a greater contribution to flight safety, than many others combined.

Gne

[Ascend Charlie]

I hadn't seen the video of that since it appeared on WIN 4 way back when. Sadly, the cameraman didn't have any stabilisation, and my B-model Huey was pretty bumpy trying to keep up with those two, so the footage is a bit ratty. I tried to race the Lambo back down the taxiway, but when he hit 90 kt the poor Huey (doors open, external fuel tanks, small engine) had no chance.

[ramble on]

A pic of Mice in the Mirage about to race the Lambo
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/960x562/mirage_lambo_226bf4af459d9122c05c8cc17872921d100c5e04.jpg
Mice is in Daphne the Dual -- 102

[Clinton McKenzie]

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/960x640/img_1184_4314f5dd496a71ae7fef7c70827e3dfc0c1fb76a.jpeg

[Lookleft]

I have the privilege of having Reg's name in my logbook. Like a lot of Airforce pilots stuck behind a desk in Canberra he was given a government credit card to do whatever flying he wanted to. Reg flew a Duchess of all things doing instrument approaches. I can't recall if he had a civil instrument rating or was trying to get one, although I do remember at the time that Airforce pilots needed to do a civil flight test to get their ME-CIR. I think he chose the flying school I was working for as the CFI had been a fighter pilot in the RNAF and that was good enough for Reg. I do remember him saying that he would not pay out of his own pocket for flying as that would be akin to paying for female companionship!

[Centaurus]

The group photo which included Reg Meisness at post 8 brought back memories. I did not know Reg personally. One of the pilots there was Jim Treadwell (front row first on left). Jim was on No 8 Trainee Aircrew course starting at RAAF Point Cook in October 1951. There were about 80 on the course including signallers. Jim was a trainee signaller but we all had to start at No 1 Flying Training School Point Cook as rookies. When the pilots course was shifted to No 1 Intial Flying Training School at Archerfield in January 1952, the signallers were sent to Ballarat for their course while the rest of us were trained as pilots. Some were later scrubbed and became navigators. If I recall correctly, on graduation as a signaller Jim Treadwell was posted to No 10 (MR) Squadron Townsville around 1953 as a signaller on Long nose Lincolns. I was at 10 Squadron at the time and we flew together as part of the crew on Lincolns. Later Jim remustered as a pilot and flew fighters.

Fast forward to around 1965. Jim was now a Wing Commander and Commanding Officer of the Mirage unit at RAAF Williamtown. I was a QFI at No. 34 (VIP) squadron at Canberra where I flew the Dakota, Convair 440 Metropolitan and the Viscount 832. I was also the unit Flight Safety Officer. One day I was rostered to fly to Williamtown to attend a Headquarters Operational Command flight safety conference.

Knowing Jim from our Lincoln days I rang him to say I was attending the conference and would be flying to Williamtown in the Viscount. I said to him I would give him a couple of circuits in the Viscount if he would take me up in a Mirage. He agreed to the deal. I enjoyed the back seat ride in the dual Mirage with Jim flying. I flew at Mach One at one stage then we returned for circuits in the Mirage. Jim did the landing of course and I was surprised how quickly the Mirage pulled up on the runway after touch down. The retardation caused by the braking parachute was impressive. Because of lack of time for Jim to fly the Viscount we called it a day and I flew back to Canberra. This sort of thing would never happen nowadays of course.