Test flying the Winjeel in 1951

[Centaurus]

One of these days I would like to read the official Court of Inquiry of that accident and compare my recollections to the facts..

I contacted the Australian National Archives - paid them $35 - and today they sent me the digital version of the Court of Inquiry.
Edited in some parts for brevity. The pilot was Trainee Pilot Paul Colbey. Date of incident 13 November 1956.
His report:

I was authorised to carry out solo aerobatics in Winjeel A85-425. Clmbing to 7000 feet I did a pre-aerobatic check. I commenced a slow roll and as the aircraft went on to its back the engine cut out. I continued to roll out. As I did so, I noticed the engine seemed to rev excessively. The boost gauge showed a reading of 26 inches and the revs were approximately 2,800. I immediately throttled back and noted the reading of the rev gauge at closed throttle was 1600 revs.

I then placed the pitch full fine and moved the throttle slowly forward. At 1600 inches of boost the revs unaccountably raced up to 2800 rpm. I closed the throttle, selected full coarse pitch and radiod the control tower that my CSU was malfunctioning and I would attempt to glide back to the aerodrome and forced land. I turned towards the aerodrome, put the aircraft in the glide attitude and noted the time as 1545 hours. After some ten seconds I thought I saw smoke issuing from the port cowl. On further investigation, I noticed thick black smoke issuing from the air hole in the port cowl.

Deciding the engine was on fire, I selected fuel off, switches, throttle and mixture contol to the off positions. While still attempting to glide back to the aerodrome , the cabin became filled with very dense acrid blue smoke. I immediately switched all electrical switches off, but as the smoke made it extremely difficult to see and breathe, I decided to abandon the aircraft. I radiod my intentions to the tower saying my engine was on fire and that I intended to bale out. I reached for the canopy jettison lever but as my straps were too tight I could not reach it. Then I attempted to unlock the canopy and slide it back. This effort also proved futile.

I think I must have panicked for I undid the straps and kicked the port windows out. As I left the aircraft I switched the rudder trim to full right rudder in an attempt to make the aircraft glide away from Uranquinty. The length of time after leaving the aircraft and before pulling the rip-chord must have been about 7 or 8 seconds, for I can remember hitting the wing and rolling off. I made a normal parachute descent, landing in a field about 300 yards from the main railway line. I was picked up by a RAAF utility and brought to Uranquinty hospital and held for observation.

Question by Court of Inquiry: Did you notice your fire warning light come on?

Answer: Well, not that I noticed. As soon as I saw the smoke issuing from the cowl I put my head back into the cockpit and it was then that I noticed the cockpit was full of smoke and I could hardly see any instruments.

Question: What was your difficulty in opening the canopy in the normal way?

Answer: I found it very hard to get my arm between the seat and the port side of the aircraft in such a position as to push the canopy lever to the fully free position.

Question: When you could not reach the canopy jettison lever because your harness was too tight, did it occur to you to operate your harness release box?

Answer: No. When I decided to bale out I immediately undid my harness using the actual release box. At the time I felt as though I might choke to death with the smoke and panicking, I forgot the jettison handle and the panel jettison handle.

Question: Did you have any difficulty in leaving the aircraft through the side windows?

Answer: Yes. Even though I am small in stature, as I forced my way through the opening, the parachute release box caught in the bottom of the canopy frame. I put my hand against the framework and succeeded in pushing myself clear.

Question: Have you experienced propeller over-speeding before?

Answer: Yes on 27 September of this year in Winjeel A85-423 while flying with Flying Officer Larkey. A forced landing was carried out on Belfreyden satellite aerodrome.

Note: Trainee Pilot Colbey's log book showed his total flying experience was 32 hours of which 21 hours were dual and ten hours solo. All his flying time was on Winjeel aircraft.

The accident was caused by a fire in the engine compartment of the aircraft while it was airborne. The cause of the fire was traced to the dislodgement of the carburettor float fulcrum pin which caused flooding of the carburettor and fuel leakage. This excess fuel became ignited in some way. The cause of the accident can be traced to negligence by persons unknown during the re-conditioning of the carburettor carried out in the USA in that the carburettor float fulcrum pin was not lock wired. The absence of lock wiring should have been noticed during the course of the eight "C" Servicings the aircraft had undergone at No 1 BFTS.

Final remarks by Centaurus. The account of this accident was broadly how I recalled it in the earlier post. The difference being how Colbey was able to exit the aircraft. It was assumed he had kicked out the small sliding window on his side of the aircraft. In fact he was able to kick out not only the sliding window but another window adjacent to the sliding window. Being a shortie has its advantages when escaping from a burning aircraft. Kicking out the second window made a gap wide enough for him to dive through, hitting the port wing on his way out and rolling off into space. Photos of the crashed Winjeel showed the canopy still in place.

For a young student pilot with only 32 hours of total flying time, Colbey kept his wits together and even had the presence of mind to not only trim the aircraft for the glide, but to trim full right rudder in the hope the aircraft would turn away from Uranquinty airfield and the close by village of Uranquinty.
There were several witnesses including me that saw the Winjeel glide in a circle but through nearly 360 degrees before impacting in the back garden of a house in the village causing minor damage to a chook yard with no casualties among people or chooks. Later the RAAF sent a working party to mend several fences. A good show by Trainee Pilot Paul Colbey.