iscover
Tales
0 comment
Loose Lips Sink Ships….
On one particular aircraft that was being operated by my organisation, there was a PA system installed, but never used. Occasionally, due to an electrical fault or something in that area, the pilot’s calls were broadcast through the aircraft, so all of the passengers could hear what was going on. Now the Pilot-in-Charge was a bit of a ladies man, and his newest “conquest” was one of the nurses at the destination. The Chief Pilot was again on board, and they were discussing the finer points, when he was tapped on the shoulder, from behind, by the Matron of the hospital, who just gave him a little smile … talk about caught with your pants down!! (Mark White, Garbutt)
Dyslexic Gunner!
In 1968 I was a member of the crew of the RAN fleet tanker HMAS Supply as we left Sydney on our way north to Manus Island with a load of fuel oil to refuel HMAS Sydney during one of her trips to Vietnam. As we sailed up the North Coast of NSW we had organised for several Canberras to fly out from Amberley to test out the AAA gun drills of our 40/60 Bofors gun crews. Standing proudly on the Gun Direction Platform, which was a small area on top of the radar shack immediately aft of the bridge and equipped with an intercom system to the forward twin and aft single Bofors, was the Gunnery Officer. He had been newly appointed to the position and was about to leave a lasting impression on everyone who was standing nearby on the bridge. As the first pair of Canberras came in low and fast from the starboard side, the gunnery officer shouted his orders to the guns via the intercom – including “Two bogies approaching, bearing red 90” – and immediately all guns trained to port. On overhearing the gunnery orders, the Captain realised the error and called out “Don’t you mean green 90, Mister Jones?” – and amid the roar of two low flying Canberras passing overhead came the sheepish reply, “I’m sorry sir, but I was facing aft at the time!” By the time we on the bridge had composed ourselves and wiped the tears of laughter from our eyes, the two Canberras were nothing but receding specks on the horizon – probably with two very confused pilots wondering why the ship’s AAA guns had been turned away from them. (Bob Morrison, Engadine)
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
Feet Wet
Some years ago a select number of Ansett Airlines pilots were dual endorsed to fly Fokker F27 landplanes and Shorts Sandringham flying boats. 90 Australian Aviation June 1996 Tales Definitely the lighter side of aviation! They could one day be operating a landplane at Mascot and the next day a flying boat into the Rose Bay water airport. As one of those pilots I had often been asked, “have you ever considered that you could make a mistake and land a flying boat at Mascot Aerodrome or a landplane at Rose Bay?” my reply was usually “not yet”. On one occasion though a flying boat was returning to Sydney from Lord Howe Island and when 30 nautical miles out was instructed by the Sydney tower to continue on a westerly heading of 250 degrees thence a right hand turn and alight on a heading of 270 degrees at Rose Bay water airport. The Captain and the First Officer of the flying boat had operated a landplane service the previous day at Mascot and the Captain being “a bit of a skylark” decided to continue on the westerly heading for Runway 25 and when almost onto the aerodrome turned right and headed for Rose Bay. Whilst taxying back to the mooring the Captain turned to the First Officer and said “Ha, ha, ha, you thought I was going to land at Mascot, didn’t you?” He taxied to the mooring, shut down the engines, put on his cap, picked up his navigation bag, opened the forehead hatch and stepped out onto the water. The First Officer turned to the Flight Engineer and said, “I think he may need a life jacket!”. (Lloyd Maundrell)
Do you have a Tale to tell? If so, then why don’t you share it with the world by sending it in to ‘Tales’, Australian Aviation, PO Box 3105, Weston Creek ACT 2611 or fax it on (06) 288 2021. Readers who have their tales published will receive a six issue subscription with our compliments. Current subscribers will have six issues credited to their current sub. You can remain anonymous if you prefer and the editor naturally has the right to edit material as required. So go to it, tell us your favourite aviation tale, and join in the fun.
Avoidable Accidents
The following comes from a squadron report book during WWI and makes for some interesting reading. There were six avoidable accidents this month, the lead item announces….
- The pilot of a Shorthorn, with over seven hours flying experience, damaged the undercarriage on landing. He had failed to land at as fast a speed as possible, as recommended in the aviation pocket handbook.
- A BE 2 stalled and crashed during an artillery exercise. The pilot had been struck on the head by the semaphore of his observer who was signalling to the gunners.
- A pilot in a BE 2 failed to become airborne. By error of judgement he was attempting to fly at midday instead of during the best lift periods, ie just after dawn and just before sunset.
- A Longhorn pilot lost control and crashed in a bog. An error of skill on the pilot’s part in not being able to control a machine with a wide speed band of 10mph (17km/h) between top speed and stall speed.
- Whilst flying in a Shorthorn, the pilot crashed into the top deck of a horse drawn bus, near Stonehenge.
- A BE 2 pilot was seen to be attempting a banked turn at a constant height before he crashed. A grave error by an experienced pilot.
After those salient words of advice the report went on to list a number of unavoidable accidents.
- The top wing of a Camel fell off due to fatigue failure on the flying wires. A successful emergency landing was carried out.
- Pigeons destroyed a Camel and two Longhorns in midair contacts.
Accidents during the last three months cost three hundred and ten pounds, seven and sixpence, enough money to buy new gaiters and spurs for every pilot and observer in the RFC. (Brian Mansfield, Tighe’s Hill)
Hey Babe!
A flight engineer at Richmond had listed his aircraft U/S after returning to base. The unserviceability was that the aircraft was very dirty and was not fit for pigs. Now as pigs is the not so flattering nickname given to officers by groundies, the flight sergeant in charge of late shift saw an opportunity for some fun. After the aircraft was cleaned up the F/Sgt signed off the U/S in the A/C EE500 as aircraft cleaned and now fit for pigs. (Glenn Betts, Oman)
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Australian Aviation a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Australian Aviation as a preferred news source.
