Truculent Turtle

The Navy were not going to let the Army Air Force get all the glory and decided that they would play ‘turtle’ to the Army’s ‘hare’. To show their aggressive attitude, they would provide a ‘Truculent Turtle’ to challenge their Army rivals.

A quick look at the map showed that Perth in Western Australia was the most distant city to the continental United States from which to attempt a record non-stop flight. Accordingly, after six months of intensive preparations, the US Navy’s Lockheed P2V-1 Neptune, serial number 89082, named ‘Truculent Turtle’, arrived in Perth on September 18th, 1946. It was the third Neptune off the Lockheed production line! The official Navy explanation for the flight was that it was a full-scale test for the aircraft’s endurance and for the effects of crew fatigue. It was announced that the flight would terminate at Seattle, on the US West Coast, some 14,992km, or an estimated 44 flying hours from Perth.

The Neptune’s crew were feted as national celebrities in Perth and the aircraft, together with the accompanying ‘flying workshop’ – a Douglas C-54 Skymaster – attracted large crowds to Perth Airport to view what were then looked on as ‘marvels of modern technology’.

During the latter part of September the crew, pilot Cdr Tom Davies and copilot Cdr Eugene Rankin and the two other crew members, undertook a number of test flights out of Perth to test the specially fitted endurance and safety equipment. Some of the survival gear not tested was the emergency fuel dumping equipment, which comprised a 10 inch diameter aluminium pipe, through which 2,500 litres of fuel could be dumped in 20 seconds and a seven man rubber dinghy. Among the other more unusual emergency gear also carried was a 4 litre can of bright yellow paint, which would be rapidly applied to the fin of the aircraft, to attract searchers, should the aircraft be forced down in the Pacific. Obviously the US Navy and Lockheed were confident in the flotation characteristics of the Neptune!

On its test flight on September 24th, the aircraft fired its auxiliary RATO (rocket assisted takeoff) rockets, which saw the aircraft lift off from Perth’s runway in a huge cloud of smoke and flame. These RATO units would prove essential for take-off of the heavily overladen machine, when it was to later take off on its record attempt. On board for the RATOassistedtakeoff was an Australian observer, Group Capt Colin Hannah, then RAAF Officer Commanding, Western Area, but later Chief of the Air Staff and later still, Governor of Queensland.

This spectacular RATO takeoff also served another purpose. It enabled the newsreel photographers to record the event and some of their film would be taken back to the United States in the ‘Turtle’, to be screened in American cinemas as the actual takeoff for the record flight!

The Neptune then repositioned to the RAAF Base at Pearce, 45km north of Perth, as it was considered safer for the record attempt to be made from the base, rather than Perth Airport, with its more densely populated surrounds. Should the worst happen and the ‘Turtle’ crash on takeoff, only a few cows grazing in paddocks near the Pearce airbase would witness the resultant fireball! The takeoff was scheduled for Friday September 27th, but had to be delayed for several days due to unfavourable weather forecasts in the central Pacific.

At last, on Sunday 29th everything was set to go. The crew were given their final physical checks and food for the long hop was placed on board. T his included bread, hamburgers, fruit juice, canned fruit, cake, ham, salads, etc, together with a huge hamper packed in dry ice and donated by a Perth restaurant, which contained crayfish, fillet steaks, chicken, two dozen oranges, two dozen apples and a dozen boiled eggs. Cooking would be carried out on a small stove carried on the aircraft and housekeeping chores would be shared by the crew.

A special Australian passenger was also to join the flight. An eight month old grey kangaroo named Joey was placed in a crate in the aircraft-a gift from the Perth Zoo to the Washington Zoo. It seemed a most appropriate passenger for the long ‘hop’ to America. Perth’s Lord Mayor, Joseph Totterdell, also gave Commander Davies a letter of ‘goodwill and friendship’, to be delivered to President Truman.

Pilot Tom Davies held a last minute press conference just prior to takeoff and confided to the reporters that the Neptune’s flight would not terminate in Seattle, but if conditions were suitable they intended to fly on to Washington, on the east coast. If fuel consumption was better than expected, they might even continue on to Bermuda.

With the ‘Turtle’ grossing 38 tonnes (12 tonnes over its design weight) and with 28,600 litres of petrol in its tanks, the machine started its takeoff roll along Pearce’s 1,830 metre long runway at 6. 10pm local time. After ‘chewing up’ 1,000 metres of the 1. 8km long strip, the Neptune’s speed was barely 60kts, when Davies fired the four RATOunits. T his extra thrust soon had the aircraft in the air. After dumping the four empty RATO bottles in the nearby Indian Ocean, Davies then swung the big black bomber onto a course to the north east and a destiny with history.

A sunset departure had been planned so that the Australian continent could be traversed at night to minimise the chance of turbulence buffeting the heavily laden machine. Alice Springs passed beneath the bomber at midnight, Cooktown at dawn, and then out over the Pacific Ocean, where the empty wingtip fuel tanks were jettisoned. Passing over Bougainville, heavy weather was encountered and continued for several hours.

T he ‘Turtle’ flew on over the Shortland and Marshall Islands and near Midway Island the crew witnessed their second sunrise of the flight. After brief radio contact with Honolulu, the Neptune headed due west for the long haul to the US west coast.

Approaching the California coast, copilot Eugene Rankin called up air traffic control and had a difficult time convincing a rather sceptical controller at Oakland, that they had flown all the way non-stop from Australia. All up and down the Pacific coasts, news broadcasts announced the ‘Turtle’s’progress, as it headed towards the Rockies. Near Ogden, Utah, the Neptune encountered heavy icing conditions, rain and headwinds – it is estimated that 500kg of ice formed on the aircraft’s wings. This reduced airspeed considerably, down to 100kts at times. One engine spluttered and stopped for a few seconds, before being restarted with the application of carburettor heat.

Some hours further on the ‘Turtle’ encountered another phenomenon, one which had baffled mariners of old – St Elmo’s fire. Brilliant fire balls formed on the tips of the propellers and dazzling electrical tongues of flame raced up and down the fuselage – but the sensation soon passed.

Some 500km west of Washington, Davies became concerned that he would have insufficient fuel reserves to reach the nation’s capital and so he headed to land the ‘Turtle’ at Columbus, Ohio. On landing, the Neptune had covered a total distance of 18,082km and had been airborne for 55 hours and 17 minutes. Only 450 litres of petrol remained inthe aircraft’s tanks and much of this was unusable. T he decision to divert to Columbus had turned out to be a prudent one.

Davies and his crew were immediately put aboard a Navy Skymaster and flown to Washington, where they were met by Navy Secretary James Forrestal. He awarded each of the fliers the Distinguished Service Cross and they were feted as heros.

The ‘Turtle’ was later flown to the Naval Air Station, at Norfolk, Virginia, where it is preserved to this day.