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
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.
