https://airfactsjournal.com/2019/08/pilots-make-a-deal-with-the-devil/?trk_msg=PO3A98BADVB4F36IKH7OU2GTGG&trk_contact=MGPJERQCR959 BS70D255CAEM5S&trk_sid=JDQL5664L5PV78IAE3HPIVBF48&utm_source =Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=READ+MORE&utm_campaign=F1 9083A&utm_content=Mac+McClellan+-+Pilots+Make+A+Deal+With+The+DevilI
I hope the Mods don't treat this link as advertising matter but this Ppruner has rediscovered the joys of reading at leisure in retirement. What used to be a paper magazine is now digital and is called Air Facts Journal and is an American free publication. The editor welcomes reader's stories. The above link makes interesting reading
More Air Facts Journal stories here
https://airfactsjournal.com/author/johnlaming/
.A few months ago I talked by phone to an old friend now age 87, who lives in New Zealand and has just had his book published. His name is Ron Raymond and we served on the same squadron in the RAAF flying Lincoln bombers from Townsville in the 1950's. For those who have never heard of the type the Lincoln was the bigger version of the wartime Lancaster. Ron's book is called "Over the Rainbow" and it is a very good book indeed; especially his recollections of flying the Lincoln Mk 31 long nose version. His descriptions of a few scary moments struck a chord with me as I had been in similar predicaments and I can assure Ron's stories run true. His writing is full of wonderful self deprecating humour tinged on occasions with a touch of sadness.
There was one story, the ending of which reduced me to tears. Edited for brevity here, there had been a train smash in the Atherton Tablelands behind Cairns - the engine jumped the rails and the fireman had finished up partially in the firebox: the poor fellow was in a very serious way indeed. The SAR Lincoln flown by Ron was sent from Townsville to Cairns as there was a real urgency to transport the fireman to proper care in Brisbane. In Ron's words "We submitted our flight plan, kicked the tyres, lit the fires and launched for Cairns where I found, to my dismay, that the patient and his young wife would be accommodated behind the mid upper gun turret on a stretcher. I had hoped to accommodate them in the nose of the Lincoln along with a medical nurse - somewhere a little more comfortable and less remote. The poor chap seemed to have only two chances of survival, Buckley's and none, so that said we took off into the wild black yonder"
Ron describes the flight from Cairns to Brisbane.with the sky smooth but moonless. "The tricky part came approaching Brisbane with a layer of stratus cloud below and a flock of airliners above, all unable to descend until everybody knew exactly where we were. I could blame the river for wispy ground mist, or it may have been the humidity and evening cooling, or I might have simply misjudged the flare height. Whatever it was, it resulted in the worst Lincoln landing I ever made. The aeroplane fell onto the runway like a bag of bricks, bounced once, ran out of inertia and fell again - fell being the operative word - at which point the gymnastics involved in keeping the aeroplane somewhere near the runway centerline began, a problem attributable to inability to see the centerline over the nose. I judged our progress by watching my side of the runway though the storm window, but at night, I only had the occasional flare flicking past.
We finally found a parking spot courtesy of a 'Follow me' truck and the bomb aimer's guidance
."Steady at that skipper."
"Right hand down a bit."
"A left turn coming up."
"Looking good."
After shutting down the engines, I made my way back to the patient as he was being removed though the Lincoln rear door. The prognosis looked grim and I could see his lady quietly weeping. I asked if she was all right, if she had anywhere to stay in the city, if we could be of any help? She smiled a faint, sad smile, shook her head and rummaged in her bag before offering me a five-pound note for flying them to Brisbane. I must admit to feeling a bit choked up at that - they could have hardly been defined as 'wealthy.'
I never saw her again after that; however I learnt her husband died in hospital shortly after the flight. Of course, money was out of the question for more reasons than simply having done what we were paid to do."
Centaurus back again. I am half-way though Ron's book and would recommend it to anyone who flew in the Fifties.
www.booktopia.com.au