Pioneer and Twin Pioneer

[HarvestReaper]

I was an E & I fitter on 209 Sqdn at RAF Labuan 1965/66. We operated two Twin Pins and Three Single Pins. Twin Pins ferried out to Labuan under their own steam but Single Pins came either gift wrapped in the freight hold of a 34 Sqdn Beverly or courtesy of kipper fleet carrier.
From all accounts landing a Single Pin on a carrier was fun as the carrier had to slow down to a reasonable speed otherwise the Single pin just hovered over the deck.

[l.garey]

Re treadigraph's mention on post 44 about G-AZHJ, there is a fin at the Al Mahatta museum in Sharjah supposedly from it, although labelled G-APLW. https://sites.google.com/site/lgarey...lmahattamuseum

[Cornish Jack]

During the early/mid 60s, the Bangkok AA's Devon was off-line in Seletar for 6 weeks and we were loaned a Twin Pin and crew (Ted Burlow and Jim Garlick?? - super blokes!)) to fill in. The following pics were taken during that period.
This was a visit to Savannakhet in Southern Laos.

Next an 'airstrip' in North West Thailand - 'navigation' was interesting to say the least!!


Same strip


This was at Vientiane - PSP runway and parking plus laterite mud underruns!! The TP was polished and shiny for a demo for the Air America 'brass' with a view to possible sales. The demo took place culminating with a really short field arrival in the laterite u/run. The second pic shows the resulting mud coat!!



Finally a couple more on unidentified (memory-wise) strips in Thailand/Laos.




Was that REALLY over 50 years ago???

[Stanwell]

Lovely images, Cornish Jack - thanks for those.
I would have thought that AA might have found the Twin Pin particularly suited to their needs in that theatre.
BTW, pic #4 .. Interesting to see a Beech 18 and Curtiss Commando in the background there.

[Cornish Jack]

Stanwell - The TP was splendid for the sort of 'unprepared' strips which were standard in the area at that time but required a dedicated operating crew, whereas the Devon was a 'fly yourself' machine and standardised for most Air Attaches.
Re the aircraft mix at Vientiane, it was quite remarkable - Helio Couriers, Beech 18s, Lockheed Ventura,, C123s, C46, C47, Caribou, Otter et al. A 'spotters' paradise!

[bluesafari]

Harvest Reaper,
Some singles were flown onto the carrier when they were still tied up in Singapore, if underway then the carrier had to almost heave to.
I think we must know each other as I was with 209 at the same time.

[Fareastdriver]

They are the remains of a 209 Sqn Single Pin near Long Sumardo in Sabah, North Borneo. IIRC the terrain angle was even steeper than a Single Pin's angle of climb.

[ANW]

British operator Flight One used the Twin Pioneer for aerial survey work.
article at this link

[Old-Duffer]

There's a story behind post 67.

After the aircraft had come to rest and everybody scrambled out, a senior army officer is supposed to have asked the pilot (M/P Cheesewright) to return to the wreck and retrieve said pongos hat.

When asked why it was so important the army officer is said to have replied: "somebody might want to salute me when we're rescued". Cheesewright, who is no longer with us, is said to have dined out on that story for sometime!

Old Duffer

[134brat]

Thanks to fareastdriver and Cornish Jack for sharing your images. I am very keen to get access to unpublished images of the Pioneer and TP in service but must confess to being clueless about the rules on publishing these.

Can anyone point me to a plain language guide to the legalities of copyright etc. I have some images on the abpic site and have been asked permission for their use in one off occasions. I have always allowed this but I'm not sure how it works with publication.

[Fareastdriver]

You can use my picture of the graunched Single Pin because I took it.

[phil5776]

Hi.
I only joined the forum today on seeing your 2016 post. Are you still interested in this subject
My father M/P Jim Wild, flew Twin pins on 2 tours in Aden during the 60's.
With 78 & 21 squadrons. He finally flew XH992 from Khormaksar to Murraq. on 1967 July 11 to 13.
I Have his log books & can scan some pages if you want.
Regards
Phil Wild.

[134brat]

I certainly am, will send you a PM.

[brakedwell]

Just to add a little interest! I flew this Tin Pioneer down to the desert in South Oman on a re-supply flight for the SAS while on detachment with them at Ibri in 1960.

[134brat]

Nice to see the characteristically short tracks in the sand from your landing. I bet you were not even trying hard to land short.

[brakedwell]

I remember the flaps and slats were locked in the up position due to sand ingression causing flap failures when operating in the desert. Apart from longer take off and landing runs we discovered the only hydraulic bleed system was in the flap/slats mechanism so we had to go to Muscat every two or three days for Airwork to bleed the system before the brakes failed completely. They were interesting days.

[aroa]

I,ll hunt thru the archive but I have a pic of BHPs Twin Pin VH AIS at Iron Range airstrip is 1958.?
Was a geos assistant scrub bashing on an exploration project for a manganese deposit.
Iron Range was home to US B 24 and B 26 groups in the very early days of WW2, before Port Moresby was secure and everything went to Papua and New Guinea.

[Saint Jack]

RAF Khormaksar, about 1965. I watched a Twin Pioneer taxi past our dispersal and it didn't look right. Then I realised it was fitted with guided missiles - on the brace between the fuselage and mainwheels if I remember correctly. Others that saw it too said the missiles were SS11's. Still at Khormaksar, we all heard a strange noise coming from the airfield and went outside to take a look. A Twin Pioneer fitted with loudspeakers was flying low and slow along the runway with someone onboard calling out the height and speed. We assumed they were trying to determine the optimum height/speed for having a chat with the rebels. Finally at Khormaksar, I watched a Twin Pioneer line-up for take-off into a brisk wind. Brakes "on' and full throttle causes the tail wheel to get airborne. Brakes "off" and the tiny mainwheels make what seemed like 10 revolutions and the whole aircraft is airborne - mucking refarkable.

RAF Seletar, about 1966. On detachment with 66 Sqdn. (Belvedere's) at Batu Pahat with Belvedere's, Wirlwind's, Beaver's, Single and Twin Pioneer's everywhere. Someone calls out, "hey, look at that" and we all look up to see a Single Pioneer hovering, yes hovering, in the air. It was low enough for us to see that he had flaps and slats deployed - again, mucking refarkable. Oh, happy days!

[G-APDK]

A new book on S A Pioneers has just been published by Air-Britain, not seen it myself yet so cannot comment on its content.

G-APDK
Mods - if this post deemed advertising, apologies, then please remove

[aroa]

Correction ...the BHP Twin Pin is BHJ