Stolen military aircraft

[threeputt]

The Bulkhead

That FO on 9 sqn was "Biggus" Dickus!

3P

[green granite]

I read an account of the raid on 617 for the Tirpitz bit, I think it was in this book.

The Fob's Kid Syndrome: Vulcan Bombers in Action
by BARRY GOODWIN.

[barit1]

My father was F/I in the WWII WASP program, and told of a Texan (Harvard) that went astray. A WASP graduate was tasked to fly a ship from Texas back to NAA Inglewood CA (now KLAX) for a refit. She ended up in Mexico, out of petrol, and out of daylight. Set it down on the Sonoran desert gear up. She was sent back to navigation school.

Anyway Dad and a work crew took a spare prop and some hoist gear along, and recovered the ship. There was plenty of dry lake bed to fly it out.

[HAWX]

Hi,

Came across this post. I was involved in this incident. Trying to be somwhat anonymous although I was never told that anything related to this incident was classified. I was working in a Air Force command post in Colorado and got complaint calls from angry retired millitary of an a-10 doing barrel rolls in the mountains under 500 ft. I also recieved calls about an aircraft dropping bombs in the mtns.
this aircraft was not on autopilot.

[overstress]

Does anyone know where the Vulcan pilot P*** A*******g is now, or even if he's still alive? He taught me to fly! A pm would be fantastic if anyone knows...

[Trolltuner]

45 minutes in a T-33

Thought I might re-awaken this thread with the following:

In September 1956, a crew chief sergeant in the Royal Norwegian Air Force decided to "borrow" one of RNAF 718 Sqdn's T-33s. He had no previous flight experience, but had carefully studied all the Lockheed manuals and planned the flight meticulously - it was the day after his 21st birthday.

The incident took place at Sola Airbase outside Stavanger, Norway. When it was shortly discovered that this was an unauthorized flight, all he*l broke loose at Sola - a SAS DC-6 loaded with PAX was de-boarded, F-84s and other T-33s already airborne were vectored to escort the miscreant back to base.

Several attempts at landing were made without success until the final safe touchdown; whereupon he soon lost a little directional control, hit a runway light, and collapsed the right main gear, coming to rest near the flight line where several other jets were parked. Not a scratch on him, but he was boiling mad about veering off the runway and had nothing good to say about the fellows who had attempted to force him down. He was summarily drummed out of the Air Force, left Norway, and spent the rest of his life in the USA.

The aircraft had Norwegian markings DP-I, tail number 51-11752 as shown in the picture below. (Also note the RNAF RF-84F Thunderflash in the background - this could have turned out much worse !). The T-Bird was quickly repaired and returned to service.

I'm looking to find out more about this story and the airplane's history. Particularly, missing details/pictures about its time with the French Air Force after retirement from the RNAF. I know it eventually ended up in the Thai Air Force and was taken out of service as late as 1993 after, apparently, a cockpit fire. Today it's in a museum in Chiang Mai, Thailand as far as I've been able to determine.

If anyone can shed any more details about this story or the airplane, I would sincerely appreciate it. I know a court of inquiry took place in Norway and that the control tower tapes were scrutinized - but try as I might, the tapes and inquiry commission records seem to have disappeared. (I know it's a small breach of forum etiquette, but if no one strongly objects I'm also posting this in the Aviation History and Nostalgia forum).

Cheers,

Tom

PS: Oh yes, forgot to mention something: the miscreant himself was my older brother, call sign "Alpine".

[Lou Scannon]

Just to add to the Thorney Island Varsity snatch:

The SDO that night was Flt Lt Taff Johns who took it upon himself to report the small problem of the theft. In what became folklore in the area he started the conversation with the AOC with the words (in a strong Welsh accent).

"Sir.....there's going to be an accident!"

How right Taff was!

[ACW599]

Only military in the sense that the aircraft concerned was ex-RAF but didn't someone "borrow" a Chipmunk (G-BCRX, ex-WD292 if I recall correctly) from Denham one evening in the late 1970s and land it on a grassed area at LHR before making a sharp exit?

[green granite]

Bit more on the Varsity from Hansard:

R.A.F. VARSITY AIRCRAFT (UNAUTHORISED FLIGHT)
HC Deb 04 May 1955 vol 540 cc123-4W 123W

§ 37 and 38. Wing Commander Hulbert

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air (1) what means were taken to track the Varsity aircraft which took off from Thorney Island on an unauthorised flight on Monday, 25th April, until it crashed in France;

(2) if he will make a statement about the unauthorised flight of a Varsity aircraft which took off from Thorney Island on Monday, 25th April.

Mr. Ward

At about 7 p.m. on 25th April a Royal Air Force Varsity aircraft No. WF 246 piloted by Leading Aircraftman Nanik Agnani took off from the R.A.F. Station, Thorney Island, on an unauthorised flight. At the time the station was engaged in a training exercise and was awaiting the return of three other Varsities. Leading Aircraftman Nanik Agnani was a member of ground crew. Attempts were made by the staff at Royal Air Force, Thorney Island, to prevent the aircraft from taking off, but these efforts were unavailing.

The Flight Commander, Flight Lieutenant Smiles, took off in another Varsity in an endeavour to shepherd Agnani back to the airfield and to pass landing instructions by radio. The aircraft piloted by Agnani, after circling the airfield several times, flew in the direction of Chichester and over Brighton at a low altitude. It then turned north and was 124W tracked by radar and by the pursuing aircraft as far as Hornchurch, where it turned westward and flew over Central London at heights sometimes as low as 200 ft. At this point, in the fading light, the pursuing aircraft lost visual contact. The aircraft was observed by radar to have turned north-east and the pursuing aircraft was directed on this course. A few minutes later, at 9.5 p.m., radar contact was lost and Flight Lieutenant Smiles reported a fire on the ground at a point which coincided with the last position of the aircraft as observed by radar, and Service and civil authorities were instructed to search for the wreckage.

Royal Air Force stations over a large area of Southern England were instructed to turn on runway lights in case the Varsity piloted by Agnani was in fact still airborne and endeavouring to land. A few minutes after midnight the aircraft crashed on the village of Onnaing near Valenciennes in Northern France, killing three people and seriously injuring three others, besides doing considerable damage to property. Leading Aircraftman Agnani was himself killed.

The unauthorised take-off and the subsequent crash are the subject of a Court of Inquiry. I should like to take this opportunity of expressing the sympathy of the Air Council with the relatives of those who lost their lives, and with the injured.

40. Mr. I. O. Thomas

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air if he will give consideration to making arrangements for payment to be made without delay of generous amounts in compensation to the people who were injured, and to the families and dependants of those who were killed, as a result of the Royal Air Force aircraft crash at Onnaing, near Valenciennes, France, during Monday night, 25th April, 1955.

§ Mr. de Freitas

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air what compensation will be paid in respect of damage done by the Royal Air Force Varsity aircraft which took off from Thorney Island on 25th April and which crashed in Northern France.

Mr. Ward

Compensation to those who suffered loss or injury will be paid as if the accident had occurred in this country, and arrangements have been made for dealing with claims.

[Haran_Banjo]

Incredible story !!! At least he survived that's good.

[JEM60]

ACW599.
Yep, I heard the Chipmunk tale, but can throw no light on it.

[ACW599]

>Yep, I heard the Chipmunk tale, but can throw no light on it.<

I'm fairly sure it's true. I flew that aircraft occasionally in the mid-1970s (it wasn't me that nicked it, honest) and vaguely remember the story doing the rounds at Denham at the time.

[Chugalug2]

Lou Scannon:

The SDO that night was Flt Lt Taff Johns...."Sir.....there's going to be an accident!"

Always somewhat economical with his words, for a Welshman! As a QFI he faced the unpleasant task of breaking the bad news to a student pilot, while doing the necessary debriefing paperwork, along the following lines:
"Now what's you name again?". "Smith, Sir". "No, no, I mean your first name, what does your Mummy call you?". "Oh! John, Sir", (relaxing slightly at this slight thawing of the prevailing temperature). "Well John, you're chopped!".
Apologies for the thread drift. But thanks for recalling those far off days at Thorney!

[henry A]

Dear John

There was no "Dear John" letter. I was Pauls ,at the time, 7 year old step son. We have every letter ever written between he and my mom. The letters we have are from 2 young lovers and a father that did miss his kids.

We have always known he was shot down, and really understandably so, but never have we seen it from any official source. We have tried and tried to have the offical reports release, but all of those have beed redacted to the come to no formal conclusion. Atthis point we are hoping that a pilot that was scrambled that day would like to get it off his shoulders to what really happened that day.

[NutherA2]

ACM Sir Paddy Hine's account of stealing a Glasgow RAuxAF Vampire and taking it ti Tangmere when he was a Fg Off is a great story.

[Aquatone1]

The B45 hit the east side embankment of the Kings Cross-Edinburgh line. He appeared to have been flying north of, but parallel with, the Alconbury approach.

Little of the Canberra was recognisable. However, the T33 appeared pretty much complete but minus canopy. I thought it may have come down down in a flat spin, if that is possible in a T33.

Although a schoolboy at the time, the sadness of those events is an abiding memory.

[MrBernoulli]

In the early 1980s a military Cessna 337 (known locally as the 'Lynx', with an air-to-ground attack role) was stolen from Thornhill Air Force Base, near Gweru (Gwelo) in Zimbabwe, and flown to Messina (I think) in South Africa. The 'pilot' was a line technician, IIRC, who often used to volunteer to go flying with the 4 Sqn pilots. They just assumed he was keen, but all the while he was 'learning' how to operate the aircraft. He also had a minor amount of gliding experience.

I recall hearing it take off during the afternoon, and those who saw it stated that it was an extremely dodgy takeoff (steep nose-up climb) and it very nearly came to grief doing so. I vaguely recall that the chap was arrested and jailed by the South Africans, although I think he was trying to claim asylum or was defecting. Apparently he may have had a few screws loose ....

The aircraft was returned sometime later by the South Africans ..... on the back of a truck, I think.

[Agaricus bisporus]

I've read this thread with delight, especially the 57Sqn Canberra tale linked in, but have this question.

Is ther any evidence at all that the US Herc was shot down? I've seen nothing but surmise and rumour so far. The absence of even a hint of evidence makes me doubt.
Especially when in one post the shootdown is credited to a Lightning and in another to - was it 6? - US jets?

Odd.

[Jhieminga]

As for stolen aircraft... on 7th March 1964 a Dutch mechanic 'borrowed' Grumman S-2F Tracker '153' from his detachment on Malta an flew it to Benghazi, Libya.

A week or so later the aircraft was flown back by a flight crew.



There is some more info here: Grumman S2F/S-2 Tracker C-1 Trader E-1 Tracer Repository (bottom of page)

[bigjok]

Another Taff John story; a man who wouldn't use one word when none would do!
After an "interesting" copilot sortie, instructor and said copilot were walking away from the aircraft and, as absolutely nothing had been said in the way of a debrief, the copilot asked if Taff had any comments. Taff put down his navbag, got out his notebook, licked his pencil, and said, "Tell me Bloggs.........are there one ..... or two tees......in atrocious?"