You'll never make a pilot

[Centaurus]

But as I found out, and as the RAAF knows, you don't have to be bright, you just have to show extreme determination because pilots course is a lot of hard work and long hours

While that is true, the often sad part is the numerous instances of trainee pilots being scrubbed when with a little more patience on the part of the flying instructor the student would have graduated. A change of instructor should have been tried.

For example. One of my students on Wirraways circa 1957 was a normal average pilot when I knew him. He was a cheerful young man and smiled a lot and his attitude was beyond approach. After graduation from No. 1 Basic flying Training School at Uranquinty he then went to No 1 Advanced Flying Training School at Point Cook. He was later scrubbed several weeks before graduation. He had the misfortune to have a prick of a flying instructor who was well known as a screaming skull. I never knew why he was scrubbed but his ready smile may have upset someone. His scrubbing would have cost thousands of dollars of tax payers money because in those days there was never any thought of changing instructors since that would have been a big no no in the Service.

Another example. The Wirraway was notorious for its savage brakes. In fact we were taught how to "burn them in" by taxying brakes against power. Several students were scrubbed because they inadvertently had tipped the aircraft on to its nose when the brakes "grabbed" while taxiing.

On 29 January 1954, just over one year since I had graduated with my "Wings," I was taxying a Wirraway (A20-746) at Darwin during a two week SAR attachment as second dickey on a Lincoln. . The brakes were "savage" as expected while taxiing out for take off and common sense should have suggested these were worse than usual and I should have returned to the tarmac. But I was young and foolish and besides I wanted to go flying and chase the herds of buffalos in the training area. I very carefully tried to "burn" the brakes out and then got airborne. In the back seat was Sergeant Geoff Yule a signaller in our Lincoln crew.

.After some aerobatics and chasing the buffalos we returned for landing on the long Darwin runway. I didn't have to use the brakes until approaching the tarmac. In a flash the brakes grabbed and the Wirraway was up on its nose, the prop cut into the tarmac and we were stuck up in three points - two wheels and a buggered prop jammed into tarmac. After turning off the fuel and ignition switch I abandoned ship by gracefully sliding down on my arse over the hot cowls of the engine while the signaller in the back seat had to wait for a crane to arrive to let the tail down gradually.

The Commanding Officer of Darwin RAAF Base was Wing Commander "Bull" McMahon DFC, an ex wartime Catalina pilot. He was a blunt individual and much feared for his explosive temper. He arrived on the scene in his jeep and went right up me for me for buggering up his one and only Wirraway which was the only aeroplane the RAAF had for the defence of Darwin against the perceived "Yellow hordes" from the north. Notwithstanding there were no machine guns in this Wirraway although we did carry a Verey pistol signal gun which could fire pretty coloured smoke projectiles.

A few days later, a RAAF test pilot by the name of Flight Lieutenant Paul Jessop arrived in Darwin in the prototype Winjeel for tropical trials before acceptance by the RAAF as its new basic trainer. All this in 1954. By then a new prop had been fitted to the Wirraway. "Bull" McMahon asked the test pilot to flight test the Wirraway after its prop change. By then I had returned to Townsville, the base of No 10 Squadron Lincolns.

It wasn't until about 20 years ago (Year 2000) that Paul Jessop (then since long retired and living in the NSW High country south of Canberra) corresponded with me and reminisced over the old days. He said he had been asked to test fly my pranged Darwin Wirraway A20-746 following its prop change. He had started its engine, completed the engine run-up and started to taxy. Moving forward slightly he applied both brakes to test them and to his astonishment nearly stood the Wirraway on its nose.

As Paul described it to me, he cut the engine, and climbing from the Wirraway refused to continue with the test flight until the brakes were fixed. Further investigation by Jessop revealed that in some areas the maintenance manual used by the RAAF for the Wirraway brakes was different to the original Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation maintenance manual for the Wirraway. In particular the brake tolerances were different; as was the servicing of the brakes. It had been like that for years and hadn't been picked up by the authorities.

Paul Jessop had then persuaded the Commanding Officer "Bull" McMahon to exonerate yours truly from all blame of buggering up his Wirraway and the verdict of Pilot Error expunged from my personal file. It made me wonder how many innocent trainee pilots at Point Cook had been scrubbed over the years through no fault of their own for the sin of standing their Wirraways up on its nose through alleged poor braking technique? ..

I then remembered the navigator in my Lincoln crew in 1954 was Flight Sergeant Bill Woods. I often took him flying in the squadron Wirraway at Townsville and had commented on his excellent flying ability especially during aerobatics. He could fly the Lincoln too. He told me he became a navigator after being scrubbed as a trainee pilot at Point Cook for standing a Wirraway on its nose after the brakes had jammed on him during the landing run. He had been within two weeks from graduation as a pilot. It was no wonder as a navigator he was so good at aerobatics..

Bill eventually left the RAAF and joined Qantas as a navigator around the world flying the Super Constellation. But he had always wanted to be a pilot...