Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Airline and RPT Rumours & News in Australia, enZed and the Pacific

"Piss off, Trainee!"

Old 6th Dec 2020, 08:33
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"Piss off, Trainee!"

Next Tuesday, 8th December 2020, is the 68th Anniversary of the graduation of No 8 Post War Pilots Course at RAAF Base Point Cook in 1952. Des Nolan, a 24 year old genial former school teacher, topped the course in flying only to be killed a couple of months later when the Gloster Meteor twin engine jet fighter he was flying from a base in Japan broke apart in mid air.

Don Pinkstone, another graduate of our course, was shot down over Korea and captured. Lloyd Knight was lucky to survive after the engine failed in the Mustang he was flying at Williamtown. He made a wheels up crash landing on a beach and the Mustang was wrecked. Lloyd was knocked out and regained consciousness a few minutes later to find himself soaked to the skin in petrol. These events happened within three months of graduation.

Our course had joined at RAAF Point Cook in October 1951. Initially there were one hundred of us including 20 who were recruited as radio operators or signallers. With the Korean war hotting up in 1951, the RAAF decided to re-open flying schools at Archerfield near Brisbane and Uranquinty NSW near Wagga. These bases had been closed at the end of the war in 1945. We all did three months “Rookies” at Point Cook then while the signallers went to Ballarat for signaller training, the remainder were posted to Archerfield.

There we did ten hours in Tiger Moths for flight grading. After being tested at the five and ten hour mark, we were further split up for either pilot or navigator training. I was fortune enough to do well in flight grading and along with about 50 other trainee pilots were posted for further flying training at Uranquinty and later back to Point Cook for advanced flying training.

The end result was 37 trainee pilots were awarded the pilots brevet or “Wings” on 8 December 1952. Of the 37 graduates, seven were Royal Australian Navy pilots.

During my time at Point Cook there were several accidents. In Late 1951, a Wirraway crashed and the student pilot killed when he lost control while trying to barrel roll his aircraft at low altitude in the low flying area near the You Yang mountains to the north of Geelong.

Then on our first day of flying at No 1 Advanced Flying Training course at Point Cook on 13 August 1952, there was low cloud and a Wirraway with instructor Flight Lieutenant Fitzummons and trainee pilot Peter Schell disappeared over Corio Bay in the Geelong area. Wreckage was found in the water the next day. The cause of the accident was unknown although poor weather in that area was a possible contributory cause.

A few weeks later, trainee pilot John Seaton experienced engine failure at night in his Wirraway after takeoff from Point Cook runway 35. He managed to belly land his aircraft in a pig farm some 500 metres from the entrance to the base. The base fire tender ran into a ditch by the side of the road and it took some time before the aircraft could be seen in the darkness. John Seaton, an unflappable chap, shouted instructions until the fire crew saw him. On board the fire engine was the Commanding Officer still in his pyjamas. The cause of the engine failure was unknown although carburettor icing was suspected

The only incident of note that happened to me at Point Cook was during night flying training. In those days, Point Cook was a hive of activity with Wirraways and Tiger Moths in the circuit, the occasional Dakota, Mustang and Vampire dropping in for a visit and several Liberators in long term parking at the southern end of the aerodrome between hangars. There was the occasional Airspeed Oxford to be seen. ATC in the old wartime control tower had an Aldis Lamp to shine at the Tiger Moths which had no radios in those days. The tower operator also had a Verey pistol to fire red lights if needed

I was last on the roster and decided to kill time by going to the control tower and watch Wirraways doing night circuits. I suppose I should have telephoned the control tower operator for permission to visit the tower but there were no phones near the tarmac. I was in my flying suit as I climbed the external ladder to the tower cab. On reaching the top I opened the door only to sense the fragrance of perfume. I could see the outline of the control tower operator who was talking to a Wirraway on final.

On his lap was an attractive young WRAAF (Womens Royal Australian Air Force). The operator had one hand on the microphone and his other hand God knows where. I was about to say “Good evening” when the tower operator turned around and snarled “PISS OFF TRAINEE.”

I remember he had a walrus moustache as I stumbled back down the ladder thinking to myself that if ever I got scrubbed as a pilot I would apply to be an air traffic controller as that job certainly had its perks.

We were awarded our “Wings” a few days later. It was a grand affair with much marching and saluting of a very senior person none other than the then Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Sir Donald Harding DFC RAF. He was a senior Royal Air Force commander who began his flying career as a fighter pilot in World War I, achieving nine victories to become an ace.

Some years later I was a Flight Lieutenant placing a flight plan to a RAAF air traffic controller at Brisbane Airport. The aircraft I was flying was a Convair 440 of No 34 Squadron. The man behind the desk had a walrus moustache and looked just like the controller who had told me to piss off at Point Cook. I asked him if he was ever in ATC at Point Cook ten years earlier. He said he was. I then asked if he remembered the time he had a cute little WRAAF on his knee.

He looked suitable stunned and denied everything. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………








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Old 6th Dec 2020, 09:00
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Centaurus, Please keep your stories coming, they're great!! I look forward to many more.
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Old 6th Dec 2020, 09:47
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[QUOTE= ... the student pilot killed when he lost control while trying to barrel roll his aircraft at low altitude QUOTE]
The low level barrel roll probably has killed more than any other aerobatic manoeuvre!
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Old 6th Dec 2020, 11:20
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Centaurus, it seems like you could piece together a couple of books! Excellent accounts
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Old 6th Dec 2020, 18:14
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[QUOTE=SignalSquare;10941485]
Originally Posted by ... the student pilot killed when he lost control while trying to barrel roll his aircraft at low altitude QUOTE
The low level barrel roll probably has killed more than any other aerobatic manoeuvre!
Remember the Wirraway crash at Nowra some years ago now. An acquaintance of mine was the LAME sitting in the back seat. Ken Andrews once told me the Wirraway can be very unforgiving in such circumstances
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Old 6th Dec 2020, 20:33
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There was also the Trojan accident at Launceston after the air races that they used to have. The pilot of that aircraft had been fortunate enough to back seat with Bob Hoover during his display. When he tried to replicate the stunt he tragically discovered that he was no Bob Hoover.
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Old 6th Dec 2020, 20:40
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Centaurus, it seems like you could piece together a couple of books!
He already has, one at least in 2009 and it is an incredibly interesting book indeed, really worth reading! It is available on Amazon.
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Old 6th Dec 2020, 21:48
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I'd never willingly be party to plugging a book but this is the only spot I could find a picture of the volume for your information. At least my copy is autographed by the author with a nice note .... JL and I go back to the early 70s at Essendon ... As Tailly indicates, it is a collection of great yarns.

Tall Tails of The South Pacific (lulu.com)
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Old 6th Dec 2020, 23:57
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Ken Andrews once told me the Wirraway can be very unforgiving in such circumstances
That applies to any aircraft if the barrel roll is started at too low an altitude and allowance not made for the height loss during the recovery segment. One tragic accident occurred at RAAF Laverton where a USAF pilot flying a high altitude derivative of the Canberra bomber attempted a barrel roll shortly after takeoff. The aircraft dished out and hit the ground. The pilot had seen RAAF test pilot Milton Cottee execute the same manoeuvre the day before in an RAAF Canberra except Cottee ensured the aircraft was climbing before starting the barrel roll and thus allowing plenty of room to complete the manoeuvre. See: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/158852

Then in September 1962 the RAAF Central Flying School Formation aerobatic team of four dual control Vampires known as The Red Sales crashed during a practice formation barrel roll near East Sale RAAF Base. That was a low altitude barrel roll misjudged. All six pilots were killed. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/research/redsales.pdf

I flew with Squadron Leader Ken Andrews in the Wirraway at CFS during my instructor course in 1955. He was a good aerobatic pilot. I believe he is still around at the age of 102 in Sydney? Lastly, I nearly made a twit of myself in 1953 when flying a Mustang at an air show at Townsville when I tried an unrehearsed attempt at a low altitude barrel roll in front of spectators. I recall flying along runway 19 at high speed and 300 feet and pulling up to commence the barrel roll. Passing through the inverted part of the roll l was startled to see through the windscreen a small 700 feet high hill called Mount Louisa. It looked awfully close when viewed from an inverted position. I quickly reversed the direction of roll and was relieved to see Mt Louisa pass a safe distance below me. The lesson I learnt from that was to never attempt such a low level manouvre without previous practice at a safe height.
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Old 7th Dec 2020, 03:33
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Ahmen to that Centaurus.

Ken is now 102! God bless him, he made it.
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Old 7th Dec 2020, 09:42
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"TRAINEE" - he may not have been referring to you aerial brinkmanship

Really enjoying these short stories Centaurus, thank you for making the effort.
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Old 7th Dec 2020, 23:17
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Centaurus, I don't know whether this incident has stuck in your mind. I arrived at 34 mid 1969 to instruct on the BAC1-11. Due aircraft commitments, one day there I was with nothing to do, so you decided to give me a few circuits in the Dragmaster. The briefing was brief - "you fly and I'll talk you through". The first take-off and circuit went reasonably, and we settled on final at about the right speed. When we arrived at the point in the flare that I thought was about right, I slipped the thrust(?) levers to idle. ****! It was like hitting a wall. This being my first attempt to manage Darts and their strange propeller habits, it came as quite a surprise. I think it was about then that you pointed out that in a turboprop (if that is the right description) the power levers were sacrosanct until one was on the ground.
Trust you are still going well, as I am.
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