Without being at the airfield at the time as explained I cannot say more except speaking to squadron aircrew either in the air or left behind that day or ATC the storm was 'something else'. The survival group were not that far from the airfield but in the 'tiger country' out west and we had did experience the local storm phenomena, I recall some big thunderies during our days out there.
However 'microburst' phenomena was unknown at that time. Google that term. There are a few pages saved over the years but I've not kept up with latest microburst research. I ain't flyin' nowhere these days - too dangerous. :-) So it is likely the microburst ahead of the storm caused the pilot to miss landing the Vampire to then overshoot into the storm. I cannot say I have deliberately flown into a storm especially near the ground. The Vampire did not have a lot of get up and go at low speed accelerating to climb speed so I'll gather the Vampire was still at slow airspeed struggling in the storm downdraught. One can see it must have come down almost vertically due to lack of tree damage to the rear of the crash site. I have never seen a crash report. Perhaps the NAA National Australian Archive will have something? I find that website difficult to use.
Remember the accident report looks for reasons and they did not know about microbursts at that time; nor likely the severity of the storm downdraught; whilst other factors cited by you may have contributed. I can only say what has been said already. What the pilot said afterward is unknown to me however I gather there will be the accident transcript.
Jet pilots in that era did not deliberately take off into an approaching thunderstorm, so experience of those unique conditions would be minimal. Also recall the rising ground west of RW 26 did not help the low climb performance, even though the aircraft was overshooting. I did not go out to the crash site nor recall seeing it from the air (I guess the wreck was removed quickly). Do you recall how far Vampire was from threshold RW 08?
NAVAIR 00-80T-112
NATOPS INSTRUMENT FLIGHT MANUAL 15 NOVEMBER 2006
"Microbursts pose a serious threat to aircraft, especially those conducting the arrival or departure phase of flight, or operating at low altitudes adjacent to areas of convecting activity. The rapid onset of dangerous downflow and tailwind shear must be met with quick responsive action by the pilot. The only safe way to deal with a microburst is to avoid flying in areas where microbursts may develop. Specifically, pilots should delay takeoffs, approaches, and/or landings when operating near convective activity until the convective activity has moved safely away from the flightpath."
http://info.publicintelligence.net/U...ightManual.pdf
