Oh well, I've crashed let's sell the engine in the pub!

[Fournierf5]

Some rather quaint reporting of an Australian crash gleaned from a NZ newspaper archive - with no mention of the aircraft type . . . any ideas what the 'Old pioneer' was
LAST YEAR'S CRASH.
LANDING !N THE BUSH.
ILL-LUCK OF ANDERSON.
Among the notable disasters which befell Lieutenant Anderson was that of September last, when, with Mr. Hitchcock, ho set out from Sydney in an endeavour to fly to London in 14 days. The attempt ended suddenly near Pine Creek, when the machine crashed. Mr. Anderson was endeavouring to make the last 200 miles to Darwin, when, about 30 miles from Katherine North, the radiator suddenly boiled and it was a case of landing almost immediately or getting a seized engine. The crash was well described as follows in his own message at tho time:—"l decided to try lo save the engine, as we were in for a crash in any case and where we were at that moment was about the most inviting place to crash, from the point of view of avoiding personal injury. I therefore 'pancaked* tho Old Pioneer—the engine was named the Old Pioneer—into some trees just short of a little cleared ground about 50 yards long. In 'pancaking' the wings hit the trees and broke our speed a bit. We then fell pretty heavily to the ground and, through striking another tree, were swung round until we faced the opposite direction from our approach." Hitchcock received a deep cut on his bottom lip and a strained right shoulder, but Anderson was unhurt. The machine was very badly damaged, but the engine appeared not to have suffered. He sold the engine to a publican at Katherine and then returned to Sydney.

[DaveReidUK]

any ideas what the 'Old pioneer' wasIt's probably a reference to Anderson's Westland Widgeon III, although that was more commonly referred to as "Kookaburra":

http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/G-AUKA%20old%20Print%20orig.jpg

Its remains are on display at Alice Springs:

http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/G-AUKA%20Remains.jpg

[Fournierf5]

Quote:
any ideas what the 'Old pioneer' was

Apologies, I omitted the date of the "Old Pioneer" crash which was September 1928 and their comment:
"….The machine was badly damaged, although the engine is o.k. Owing to the the heavy cost of freighting, the machine must now be written off. We are extremely disappointed, and will be heavy losers. We are anxious to return to Sydney to get another machine. …..."
Anderson & Hitchcock force landed their Westland Widgeon "Kookaburra" in the Tanami desert the following April, 1929 while looking for Charles Kingsford-Smith who had also force landed in the Southern Cross. They were not found in time and died of thirst.
It does seem to me that 'Old Pioneer' and 'Kookaburra' were therefore NOT one and the same! Or that they would have dispensed with the "Old Pioneer' name (which they were attached to) in favour of 'Kookaburra' which was a play on the registration letters AUKA!
There is a poignant photo here (http://keithandersonaviator.********.co.uk/2011/06/photo-of-kookaburra-in-tanami.html) of the downed aircraft …. apparently not found again 'til 1978 and - as you say - now at Alice Springs.
So what was 'Old Pioneer"?

[KelvinD]

In your original post, it states the engine was named Old Pioneer, not the aircraft so they could be one and the same.

[Fournierf5]

Kelv D: Thanks for the thought but I now seem to have found the answer to my own question, assuming the extract (below) from this link (http://press.anu.edu.au/apps/bookworm/view/Ten+Journeys+to+Cameron%E2%80%99s+Farm/10861/ch05.xhtml) is trustworthy! (It's a fascinating article that also reveals Anderson & Hitchcock were 'ejected' from Kingsford-Smith's planned Southern Cross flight. Subsequent litigation resulting in Anderson receiving enough money from Kingsford-Smith to buy the Westland Widgeon he would later fly to his death searching for a 'missing' Charles Kingsford-Smith . . . the irony!)

"In 1928 he and Anderson had set out on their own attempt to fly to Britain in record-breaking time. They got as far as Darwin, where they crash landed their Bristol."

The ever useful 'Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1928/1928%20-%200845.html?search=bristol%20tourer)' confirms this
Australia-England Flight
LIEUT. KEITH ANDERSON and Mr. Hitchcock left Sydney,
in a Bristol Tourer, for England on September 9, arriving the
same day at Charleville. Unfortunately, on September 11
they crashed at Pine Creek, and although escaping injury
themselves, the machine is badly smashed.


was this the 'old pioneer'?? here (http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/63500/B63273.htm)

It is!! G-AUDJ (http://www.territorystories.nt.gov.au/handle/10070/16066)

[John Hill]

Owing to the the heavy cost of freighting, the machine must now be written off.

I wonder why the freight costs would be too high when there was a railway to Darwin at that time.

[onetrack]

John - The freight costs mentioned would have been to get the airframe back to Sydney. Yes, there was a railway from Pine Creek to Darwin, but there was nothing by way of aviation-repair facilities in Darwin, that could rebuild a wrecked aircraft in 1928.

Even if the aircraft was railed to Darwin and managed to be able to be lifted aboard a ship, the cost of shipping by sea from Darwin to Sydney would have been prohibitive.

Selling off the components from crashed aircraft to locals was a common occurrence in the 1920's. Many a time a budding local aviator was overjoyed to be able to acquire a power source for a locally built aircraft from a wreck.

The Silver Centenary: Silver Centenary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Centenary)

Anderson and Hitchcock crash in the NT (http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/94046311?searchTerm=anderson%20hitchcock%20crash&searchLimits=dateFrom=1928-01-01|||dateTo=1928-12-31)

[Herod]

Oddly enough, only yesterday I was reading about Kingsford Smith in Wonders of World Aviation (1938). The three (K S, Ulm and Anderson) had failed to break the endurance record, which would have given them a prize big enough to make an attempt on the trans-Pacific route.
Quote "There was no alternative but to return to Australia. Keith Anderson was the first to go. K S and Ulm, so penniless they could not even buy cigarettes, flew the Southern Cross to Los Angeles, where they hoped to sell it." Luckily, a Captain Allan Hancock bought it from them and backed the flight. Quote again " For personal reasons, it was a disappointment to K S and Ulm that Keith Anderson was unable to be with them" There is no mention of anyone being "ejected" from the crew. Later, when K S was down in the bush; "Keith Anderson, with his mechanic, H.S. Hitchcock, had joined in the intensive search. Anderson and Hitchcock set out - and disappeared"

[M-62A3]

A quick look at Putnam's "Bristol Aircraft since 1910" shows the Bristol Tourer to a civil adaptation of the F.2B Fighter. Eight 260hp Siddeley Puma-powered three-seater models were sold in Australia.

Anderson and Hitchcock's attempted flight to England and the crash at Pine Creek are briefly mentioned. The aircraft involved was Tourer No. 6119, registered G-AUDK.

M-62A3

[onetrack]

M-62A3 - Is there an error in Ed Coates webpage? He states G-AUDK was C/N 6110.

Ed Coates Collection G-AUDK (http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/G-AUDK.html)

[Fournierf5]

M-62A3 - Obviously it's not possible to get folk to read my post correctly but can I refer you again to my post , No 5, which has a link at the end to a clear photo of - G-AUDJ at the crash site near Pine Creek! Hence, as 'One-track' surmises, there is no error in the Ed Coates website which states that AUDK crashed Lae in 1928.http://www.pprune.org/forums/images/smilies2/eusa_wall.gif

. . . and to 'Herod'
The term 'ejected' was mine alone but was my interpretation of the following extract from: Ten Journeys to Cameron's Farm by Cameron Hazlehurst' a story involving the demise of Bob Hitchcock's son in WW2.

Later that year Kingsford-Smith flew around the country in a record-making attempt with a new associate, Charles Ulm, who had displaced Anderson. Hitchcock happily accompanied a disgruntled Anderson and an observer, Charles Vivian, in the second Bristol. Their passenger was the representative of George A. Bond & Co., hosiery manufacturers, with whom Ulm had secured a sponsorship deal.

In the days that followed, Bob was to have a devastating shock. He had given up his job on the understanding that he was to take part in the world’s first east-west trans-Pacific flight. But when it came time to depart for the United States he was dropped from the team to make room for Ulm. Anderson too was eventually dumped. Believing themselves to have been the victims of broken promises, depriving them of places in the epic 1928 flight and the fame and financial reward that followed, both Hitchcock and Anderson had a bitter falling out with ‘Smithy’ and Ulm, now Smithy’s business partner. After prolonged recrimination and litigation the fractured relations remained unhealed. A ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ and a cheque for ₤1000 ― repayment of what he had invested in the enterprise ― had helped soften Anderson’s pain. Hitchcock was not so fortunate, eventually in March 1929 losing a costly and humiliating court battle over Smithy’s alleged and subsequently denied pledge that ‘on our return to Sydney we’ll pay you a thousand pounds for dropping you out’. The two teams went their separate ways. Bob scratched a living in Sydney with casual work as a mechanic. He boarded in a room at the Customs House Hotel in Macquarie Place. Whenever he could, he sent money back to support the family in Western Australia. In 1928 he and Anderson had set out on their own attempt to fly to Britain in record-breaking time. They got as far as Darwin, where they crash landed their Bristol. Hitchcock’s left leg was badly gashed and the wound, slow to heal, became infected.

On 30 March 1929, Kingsford-Smith, Ulm, and two companions took off from Sydney in their famous aircraft, the Southern Cross, to fly across the continent on the first leg of a round-the-world flight. Meanwhile Anderson, with Hitchcock’s aid, had been secretly planning a record-breaking 24-hour solo endurance flight in his own small aircraft, a Westland Widgeon III, which he had christened the Kookaburra. At the RAAF base at Richmond in New South Wales they were ready to set off when news came that the Southern Cross had disappeared somewhere in northwest Australia. Whatever their differences had been, Anderson ― ‘the Dreamer’ as he was known at Mascot ― had an abiding affection for Smithy. While others dithered over the organisation of a search he was sure he could find his old friends. After a whip-around, Jack Cantor, publican of the Customs House Hotel and former business associate of Smithy’s, made up an offer of £500 to defray the cost of a search

To my mind my use of the word 'ejected' better describes and suits the circumstance here .... What you read in 'Wonders of World aviation is possibly a rather anodyne version of events!

[M-62A3]

I apologise I did not see the note at the bottom of Post No.5.

The Putnam Bristol volume is apparently incorrect. I have been told by an Air-Britain colleague that he confirmed from a pre-war Australian register that the Tourer that crashed at Pine Creek was G-AUDJ - and not G-AUDK.

M-62A3

[M-62A3]

"M-62A3 - Is there an error in Ed Coates webpage? He states G-AUDK was C/N 6110."

onetrack,
I am informed by another Air-Britain colleague that the c/no. of G-AUDJ is recorded as 6118 and that of G-AUDK as 6119.

[onetrack]

In this article, dated 13th September 1928, Anderson clearly states he named the Bristol aircraft (not just the engine), the "Old Pioneer" due to her "past achievements".

Aviation News - Sept 1928 (http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/22953094?searchTerm=bristol%20%22old%20pioneer%22&searchLimits=dateFrom=1928-01-01|||dateTo=1928-12-31)

CAMOOWEAL, September 10.
MR. KEITH ANDERSON, in company with Mr. Hitchcock, who are endeavouring to fly to London in 14 days, advises:
"We were favoured with clear skies and little, if any, wind, on our journey for Longreach, arriving here at 4.30 p.m.
Everything is OK with the Old Pioneer, which name I have given the 'bus on account of her past achievements.
Both Mr. Hitchcock and myself are very pleased with the performance of the machine and engine, and are confident, given reasonable weather, we will make London in under 15 days' actual time from Sydney.
Tomorrow we will start on a non-stop journey from Camooweal to Darwin.
Our long hops subsequently will increase our daily average substantially. To-day has been hot, the thermometer registering 95 degrees here.
The country around Longreach and Winton is parched. We hope to make tomorrow's despatch from Darwin interesting."

[500N]

In the book, Hell, West and Crooked by Tom Cole, a few pages mention some (at least one) early pioneers of aircraft and the unfortunate fate that happened to him (them).

I think it said he crashed 3 different aircraft. All set around the era between the wars.

I have just had a look in the book but can't find the relevant pages.

[onetrack]

500N - "Gung-ho" is a description that best fits most of the aviators of the 1920's and early 1930's.
I have some copies of "Wings" (Australian Aviation magazine) from 1930 and 1932, and the contents are appalling by todays standards and requirements.

Typical articles;

"An excellent aerodrome for £8 ..."

"It's easy to Fly! - Educational series on Aeroplanes. #6. Seaplane Flying ..." (2 pages of instructions on how to fly a seaplane, of course!)

"Avro 504K for sale. Crashed, but complete. Engine and airscrew in serviceable condition. Inspection by arrangement. Will take £50, or good offer. Contact Larkin Aircraft Supply Co. ..."

In the "Rumours" page ...

"A little Bird tells Wings that ..."

"A Hercules piloted by Major Brearley carried 26 boys and 3 adults, although there was seating accommodation in the machine for only 14 passengers ..."

"Major Brearley says his pilots depend on the Defence Dept groundsmen to advise them if they contravene (flying) regulations ..."

In the "Incidents and Accidents" page ... (13 events for the month!)

"C. Kingsford-Smith, in Southern Cross landing with 14 passengers at West Maitland, broke the machines back ..." (!)

"J. V. Fairbairn, taking off at Camperdown, struck tree. Machine damaged ..."

"C. T. P. Ulm in an Avian crashed into HT wires near Geelong Rd. Machine wrecked. Pilot and passenger taken to hospital ..."

"R. Hawe overturned after striking log obscured by long grass in paddock near Nowra. Rudder, propellor and wing of DH50 smashed. Hawe was conducting short flights ..." (and a very short one, in that case!)

"F.O. Diprose, in "Bulldog", caught trouser leg on throttle, taxied into mailplane at Brunette Downs, damaging wing bracing ..."

Then there's the letters to the editor ... such as the one urging all commercial airlines to supply a parachute to every passenger, plus a rapid escape exit chute in the aircraft, for use of the pax, should there be an imminent crash ... :ooh:

These old mags make for some amusing reading and make one realise just how devil-may-care, many of the early aviators were. :)

[500N]

onetrack

Agree. Thanks for posting, they sound interesting :ok: