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i »i»d by AustraUa Post bUcAustralian Flying Corps, pictured on page 14 of registeredasZK-ACR. One of these two, if not both, Melrose? The aircraft are the D.H.80 Puss Moth ‘High Adventure' by A.H. Cobby (1981 reprint came to Australia in the late twenties with a circus, that he flew in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race, by Kookaburra). but nothing further is known at present. That one and the Heston Phoenix in which he fatally example “vanished up into Footscray somewhere” crashed. Bob Fripp A clue is provided in the autobiographies of Sir may well be true - J. J. Smith, the last owner of Avro Lawrence Wackett and Sir Richard Williams, who 534 Baby VH-UCQ was for many years rumoured both refer to their early days in Egypt when No. 1 Question 22 to hold a Whippet in storage with the Baby, and he Sqn AFC was disbanded for a time and the was a Footscray butcher. MAURICE FARMAN SHORTHORN Australians were attached to various RFC units. It seems likely that Geere, because of his background. Question 7 Can anyone substantiate the date on which the would have gone to some instructional unit, A USTRALIAN HALIFAXES Maurice Farman Shorthorn VH-UBC was sold to possibly in England. Gary Sunderland. Frank Tallman of the U.S.A.? How many Half axes came to Australia? It has been established that M.F. Shorthorn . ,.7011717t> d ^r\ 17 AT>1 117T» VH-UCW was C/N 1326 and ex RFC A942 and AJN IS W liKb 1 U tl/AKLlliK Captain Geoffrey Wikner writes: VH-UBC was C/N 1228 but what was the RFC serial number? Ken Molson, Canada QUESTIONS ‘As I should imagine, I was the first private owner of a four-engined bomber, a Halifax, G-AGXA, and Question 23 Question 8 also made the first private flight from England to FOREIGN 737s IN AUSTRALIA AUSTIN WHIPPETS Australia after World War II. The aircraft was NR169,T, of 466 Sqn, an Australian squadron, and The photo opposite shows Air New Zealand Boeing How many Austin Whippets came to Australia, had flown on fifty one raids. 737, ZK-NAR, taxi-ing to the Hobart terminal where did they come from and what were their after arriving to inaugurate the airline's weekly fates? Continued on page 83 Christchurch-Hobart service on 8 January 1983. It is not often that there is anything that we in Tasmania can tell you about aviation matters so it's nice to have this opportunity. Has an Air New Zealand 737 been to Australia previously or for that matter has any other foreign carrier flown the type into this country? Rod Hayes I: Question 24 EX FINNAIR Ju-52s Can anyone supply photographs of the ex Finnair Ju-52s (VH-BUU and VH-BUV) that served in New Guinea in the 1950's. Required for a book celebrating Finnair's 60th birthday. Jukka Kauppinen, U.S.A. Question 25 ALBERT GEERE Has anyone details of the military service and subsequent history of Albert Edward Geere? Geere's early history is described in my article on the 62 Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 THE JOURNAL OF THE AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA ^/yiATION IIIERITAGE

VOLUME 22, NUMBER 3

AHSA AND EDITORIAL ADDRESS contents P.O. Box 117, Ashburton, Vic., 3147 64 WENTWORTH AIRSHOW 1960 by John Hopton In this, the first of a new series covering airshows of years gone by, we visit W entworth through the aid of J ohn Hopton’s camera, and recall the varied and interesting aircraft participating, many alas no longer with us.

EDITOR 70 THE COFFEE ROYAL AFFAIR by Keith Hatfield Peter Malone We conclude Keith Hatfield’s interesting account of the circumstances surrounding the loss of the EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Southern Cross. David Anderson Tony Self 71 TAA’S AIRBUS Bob Veitch Joe Vella A brief resume of TAA’s latest aquisition, with a double page spread of drawings by Joe Vella. EDITOR’S ASSISTANT 75 I HAD READ ABOUT QANTAS...... Greg Banfield Jan Drobik Another of Greg Banfield’s excellent interviews, this time with Captain Russell Tapp who recalls his early days in the RFC and then his career with Qantas from 1928 to 1958. editorial This is the last issue of Aviation Heritage (nee the Journal of the AHSA) that will carry my name as Editor. The AHSA Committee has requested my resignation and I have agreed to conform with their wishes. As outlined in Volume 21 Number 2, a Committee of four has been formed to edit and produce Aviation Membership is for one full calendar year and Heritage. They have already produced two issues, Vol. 21 No. 2 and Vol. 22 No. 2, and I believe the standard includes both Journal and AHSA News. achieved by these issues augers well for the future. I wish them every success. Annual Membership fees of $15.00 (Australian Currency) will be due for renewal during During my period as Editor the history of the Journal has had many ups and downs. On the debit side we have January each year. had typesetting and printing problems, financial restrictions and, at times, a chronic lack of material. On the credit side are the small, but much appreciated, group of authors and contributors who have given freely of INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS - All their time to help further the aims of the Society. Personally, I have always gained a good deal of satisfaction manuscripts for publication in the Journal through my small part in enabling Australian aviation history to be recorded, and in trying to maintain the should be typed or clearly handwritten on one standards set by my predecessors. I regard the Tiger Moth Special my high point as Editor and, obviously, side of each sheet only, and must be double my enforced resignation as the nadir. spaced. Photographs should where possible have a subject width of at least 5” (12.7 c.m.) During my period as Editor, a number of people have contributed greatly to the success of the Journal, none or 8” (20 c.m.). This is not essential, but is more so than Fred Harris. Fred did all the hard work in the change-over to the new format iruVolumes 17 and preferable, and photos of all shapes and sizes 18, and is the architect of the Journal (sorry. Aviation Heritage) as we know it now. Another who has assisted will be accepted. me greatly in recent years has been Jan Drobik who has contributed with proof reading, photography, layout suggestions, and as a critical sounding board for my ideas. Geoff Goodall virtually single-handedly kept the Where possible we prefer negatives, even if Journal supplied with articles over a very lean-three-year period, and without John Hopton and Frank Smith prints are also sent. This greatly simplifies the making available their extensive photo files the Journal would lack much of its interest. A special thanks is Editor’s job. All negatives will be returned also due to Mel Davis whose incredible research enabled the Tiger Moth issue to be produced. and prints will be returned if so marked. If you do not want prints cut, mark “Do not crop”. If Over the years a small, but talented, group of authors and contributors has gradually built up, and although we you are thinking of preparing an article, please may not always have seen eye-to-eye on all matters, I have always appreciated their efforts. My thanks to contact the Editor at the above address for David Anderson, Mike Austin, Kevin Baff, Ben Dannecker, Nigel Daw, David Eyre, Peter Gates, Ron further advice, and so we can plan ahead. All Gibson, ‘Mac’ Job, Clive Lynch, Roger McDonald, Greg Meggs, Keith Meggs, Neville Parnell, Barry work on this Journal is voluntary and no pay­ Pattison, Mervyn Prime, Tony Self Gary Sunderland, Bob Veitch, Joe Vella, David Vincent, Harry ment can be made for published material. Williams and J. Wilson. im . Jlllliil Published by: Aviation Historical Society of Since 1976 the Journal has occupied a major portion of my time, a job I have greatly enjoyed - It will leave a Australia, P.O. Box 117, Ashburton, Vic., big gap in my life. ■ 3147, Australia. IB Peter Malone i cover liH FRONT COVER fit © A fine atmospheric shot of the Southern Cross to highlight the second part of Keith 1983 Aviation Historical Society of Australia Hatfield’s article on the Coffee Royal Affair. (Hopton" Collection) REAR COVER 1 Large and uncluttered overland training areas are not readily available to the Singapore Air Force, and so they have been stationing detachments at RAAF Williamtown to take ISSN 0045-1185 advantage of Australia’s surplus of this commodity. 2 1. Hunter FGA Mk 74, 515 (ex XJ 643), 140 (Osprey) Sqn, Williamtown 9.3.83. 2. Hunter FR Mk 74B, 533 (ex XE 614), 140 (Osprey) Sqn, Williamtown 9.3.83. 3. Sqn badge on 533. White disc, black osprey head with yellow beak. iill: 4. Sqn badge on 515. Red and black checks. White disc with light brown talons over black 3 4 Printed by: Maxwell Printing Services, 669 map of Singapore. 5. A-45 Skyhawk, 657 (ex 144956), 143 (Phoenix) Sqn, Williamtown 22.2.82. Rudder, Spencer Street, West Melbourne. Telephone black and yellow. Sqn. badge, stylised yellow and black phoenix clutching red and 5 329 8448 or 329 8337. white scimitar on a white disc. (Photos: G. Meggs & P. Malone) ■ ill Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 II■ 63 I^BII AIRSHOWS REVISIT

In this issue we start the Jirst of what we hope will be 1959,tocelebratethecentenaryofWentworth, Some interesting statistics can be gleaned from a continuing series on Australian airshows, both , ^ airfield. This this listing. Aircraft listed on the ‘Australian Register military and civil, of previous eras. Apart from the event, organised by local Stock-and-Station Agent, of civil Aircraft’ then totalled approximately obvious nostalgia there is much to be learnt in such Thomas, was so successful that another was 1400. The 76 machines present at Wentworth an exercise. Airshows similar to that described here following year, and it is this second show therefore represented 5.5% of the then current Civil have all but died out. The friendly country at/nos- is the subject of our feature. Register: a fact rarely equalled at later events of this phere where the enthusiast could rub shoulders with nature. Of these aircraft the Auster family (23) com- the pilots and exhibitors and get close to the aircraft In succeeding years, further shows were held at prised 30%, the contingents from de Haviiland (14) he came to see have almost gone, to be replaced by centres in the Riverina: Cootamundra, NSW in and Cessna (12) 18% and 16% respectively. Piper 1961, Mildura, Victoria in 1962, Swan Hill, Victoria the large extravaganza complete with barriers, . a,, contributed 10% and an interesting 5.5% was made distant aircraft, formal flying displays, and a ‘now ^ ^^bury, NSW in 1964. Although larger up of the relatively rare Continental designs, the weve got your money why should we worry about numbers of aircraft turned up at some of these shows remaining 20% comprising other miscellaneous you’ attitude. It is also interesting to reflect on the and in some cases certain aspects of organisation types. Several of those listed are now in museums fate of many of the aircraft depicted here. were better, it is felt that the show at Wentworth in and a small number, scattered far and wide, still sur­ 1960 was the best, if for no other reason than the vive in private ownership, but the majority no longer divexsity of aircraft types present. __ exist.______-

This Air Pageant was organised by the Mildura This Air Pageant of more than a score years ago All photos are from the Author’s collection. Section of the Royal Victoria Aero Club, with two- provides a nostalgic look at one of the ‘Great Country thirds of the proceeds going to the local swimming Air Shows’. The later events, detailed above, were pool fund. Entrance fee was 4/-, and a program cost , all covered in the AHSA Journals for the period but this one was not: your author did not join the Society As is the case with every airshow since ‘way until the next month! back’, not all the advertised events took place, nor did all the aircraft arrive. ‘100 Aircraft’ was the August 28, 1960 turned out to be a dull, windy Above: G.H. Hillier’s Rearwin 9000L, claim made in the promotional handbill, but we day, but on arrival at the airstrip it was warming to VH-UYS, arrives at Wentworth. logged some 76 machines, representing 19 manufac­ see some 20 aircraft already parked. Prime among Below: A rare pair. Alex Oliver’s Klemm turers, on the ground and, with overflights, the total these were the veterans -UHU, -UUR, and -UYS, L.25D-II, VH-UUR, taxies past Michael that did show was probably 80-85. The accompany- all previously unseen by the author. A large con­ Richards’D.H.60M, VH-ULM, ‘Old Charlie’. ing table lists the aircraft logged. tingent from South Australia was also there, notable

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64 , Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 . amongst which was the Zlin -PXB. Throughout the morning the bulk of the visitors arrived, and the Pageant was opened at 1.30 pm by Air Commodore W.H. Garing, Officer Commanding RAAF Base Edinburgh, who had flown over to Mildura in a Meteor shortly before.

The majority of the flying displays were demon­ strations of new types by the representatives of com- ercial organisations, interspersed by parachute drops and gliding events with aircraft from the Waikerie, Renmark and Mildura (‘Sunrayasia’) Gliding Clubs.

Some of the individual flying displays were outstanding, notably those of Chris Braund in Mustang -FCB, eighteen year old Miss Lynette Clancy in her Auster Arrow -KAE, the demonstration by the Safir -AHA, and the aerobatic display of Tiger Moth -BLR by owner and WWI veteran R.L. Manuel, DFC & bar, from nearby Kerang. For a first-time viewing, the slow overflight by the Klemm, Rearwin, Taylor Cub, Widgeon, D.H.60M, and Auster 5A was specatcular, and Alex Oliver’s sideways-over- the-fence and flip-onto-the-runway landing in -UUR still stands out in the memory after all these years. A Great Show!

Above: Chris Braund's CAC Mustang 22 (c/n 1517). Right: Ryan ST-M2 (c/n 467) owned by the Treloar Brothers. - Below: Two Auster J-5P. VH-BTE (c/n 3200) owned by K.J. Thomas, and VH-BTG (c/n 3257) owned by J. Peter. Below Right: Two cabin-Tigers. VH-BRM (c/n 1083), K.H. Judd, and VH-ALU (c/n 1065), R.C. Bornholm. i

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Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 . 65 AIRCRAFT NOTED

Aero Commander 560 -CAW Auster J-1 Autocrat -AIK, -WMM J-IB Aiglet -ABS, -KBE J-IN Alpha -GMG, -KCW, - UEB V J-2 Arrow -KAE J-4 -BYE J-5 Autocrat -BWS, - KBM, -KSW, -KSZ J-5B Autocar -KAS J-5F Aiglet Trainer -BYE J-5G Cirrus Autocar -WED J-5P Autocar -BTE, -BTG J-5Q Alpine -BTI Avia LAO Meta-Sokol -DUX Beech D. 17 (R) M -MLC 33 Debonair -DHL M.35 Bonanza -BMC Cessna 150 -BWH 172 -REB, -RVP 172A -RJF, - RVQ, -Unknown 175 -GWW, -REB, -RFJ, -TED 182A -MGE 182B -BOH C.A.C. CA-6 Wackett Trainer -AKE CA-18 Mustang 22 -FCB De Havilland D.H.60M Metal Moth -ULM D.H.82A Tiger Moth -ALU, -ARM, -BLR, -BRM, -BRT, -SEC, -Unknown De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk -BAC, -BAD, -BWB, -RVS, -RVT, -Unknown Klemm L.25D-II -UUR Percival P.28 Proctor 1 -AUC P.34 Proctor 3 -BEG, -BPR, -see P.44 Proctor 5 -BDA Piper PA.22-135 Tri-Pacer -WAG PA.22-150 Tri-Pacer -BWP, -MTS PA.22-160 Tri-Pacer -CJR, -ELK, -RVA PA.24-160 Commanche -TLW Rearwin 9000L -UYS Roe 652A Anson I -FIC Ryan ST-M2 -RAE SAAB 9ie Safir -AHA Taylor J-2 Cub -BPK Taylorcraft E Auster 3 -MHT, -PCR J Auster 5A -ARX J Auster 5D -BYM Westland Widgeon III -UHU Zlinn 126 Trener -PXB

Left, Top to Bottom: Burner Air Taxis'Beech D.17(R)M, VH-MLC. Percival P.28 Proctor 1, VH-AUC (c/n K.253), B.H. Treloar. Percival P.34 Proctor 3, VH-BEG (c/n H.257), R. Long. Percival P.34 Proctor 3, VH-SCC (c/n H.44), J.H. Treloar. Percival P.34 Proctor 3, VH-BPR (c/n ), F.A. Shillabeer.

Below: G.H. Hilliers rare Rearwin 9000L, VH-UYS (c/n 535D)

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TA YLOR CRAFTS AND A USTERS

Left to Right, Top to Bottom, mmim VH-MHT (c/n 635), Taylorcraft E. H. Martin and O. Hinton. VH-BYM(c/n ), Taylorcraft J. Owned by E.R. Laurence. VH-WMM (c/n 1991), Auster J~1 Autocrat. Owned by I. Wyatt. VH-ABS (c/n 2699), Auster J-IB Aiglet. Owned by A.E. Humble. VH-KCW (c/n 3373), Auster J-IN Alpha. Owned by W.M. Kelly, operating as Westair Aviation Service. VH-KAE (c/n 2393), Auster J-2 Arrow. Elown in by Miss Lynette Clancy. VH-KSZ (c/n 2890), Auster J-5 Autocrat. Pinnaroo Aero Club. VH-KAS (c/n 2918), Auster J-5B Autocar. Owned by A.M.S. Norwood. VH-WED (c/n 3263), Auster J-5G Autocar. Dubbo Aero Club.

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Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 67 ■

Left Column, Top to Bottom illii ill Jlli Westland Widgeon III. VH-UHU (c/n W,4 1695). Arthur WhiVaker. , AuroAnsonl. VH-FIC(ex VH-GVD). OperatedbvFlinders Island Airlines De Havilland DHC-i Chipmunk TJO. VH-BAC (c/n C.I-0G4I). Aero. ' Club of Broken Hill. ' - ( De Havilland DHC-I Chipmunk T.IO. VH BAD (c/n C.l- % Aero Club: ^ of Broken Hill. ■ ' be Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk T.IO. VfFBWB (c/n C:IA)055). RoyaF Aero Club of South Australia. , . ■ Right Column, Top to Bottom \ De Havilland D.H. 82.4., VH-SEC(c/n 189). ‘The Airgroup'. Ha//NSW C.A.C. CA-6 Wackett Trainer. VH-AKF (c/n 403). K.W. McGee. Zlin 126 Trener. VH-PXB (c/n 762). Aviation Services (S:.i ) Ltd.'

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Left Column, fop to Bottom \ '. , Taylor J-2 Cub. VH-BPK (c/n 958). Owned br M. Breen. ~ Piper PA.22-150 Tri Pacer. VH-MTS (c/n 22-5593). Operated by Sunraysia Air Taxis. Avia L.40 Meta-Sokol VH-DUX (c/n 150.507).

SAAB Safir. VH-AHA (c/n 91-276). Operated by the .Aero Club of t*- Southern Tasmania, and flown in by Mr. H. D'AIton. U.-VI Right Column, Top to Bottom Aero Commander 560. VH-C.4W (c/n 729). The D.C.A.'s control base. ; Piper PA.22-160 Tri Pacer. VH-CJR (c/n 22-5586). '■ Cessna 150. VH-BWH (c/n 17639). Roval Aero Club ofS.A. Cessna 172. VH-REB (c/n 29559). Barrier Air Ta.xies of Broken Hill. - Cessna J75. VH-GWW(c/n 56217). Giro Pastoral Company. .'

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Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 69 THE COFFEE ROYAL AFFAIR By Col Keith Hatfield

Whilst this was happening to Keith Anderson, Les dead under the starboard wing. In the hope that the The method by which they maintained direction was Holden had been busy up at Wyndham. He had other man may still be alive we dropped a gallon of that Flying Officer Ryan, Gerry Gerrand, and the systematically searched quite a large area, and on water by parachute and then proceeded to W ave Hill others, used to fly ahead of them and come back and the morning of 12 April 1929, at round about 9.45 as per prior arrangement’. drop a message to say which direction they should he found the Southern Cross on the right hand bank maintain. It was on that basis that they proceeded of the Glenelg River. They flew low over the scene Meanwhile Charles Eaton had been coming up with a flight of five D.H.9s, and he had been systematically but of course down on ground level with the tempera­ and dropped rations and supplies to the stranded ture at around about 119°F, (there had been no rain airmen. All four of them were OK. They also searching on the way. Much earlier. Sergeant Eric Douglas, who was commanding one of the D.H.9s in this area for some seven years) you can imagine dropped messages. Incidentally for those of you who how dry the whole damn place was. Things were far may have forgotten who the other Canberra crew had dropped a note at a place called, Ryan’s Well, asking whether they had sighted an aircraft. They from comfortable and at one stage the land party got members were; there was Doctor Hamilton, who to within one and a half miles of the downed was the co-owner of the Canberra with Les Holden, replied by saying an aircraft had flown over there on , . .i. , , . a fellow called J.W. Stannage, Johnny Stannage, the morning of 10 April and that then established But as the horses were playing up and that in future the base of operations should be Ryan’s were very difficult to handle because they had been who afterwards spent a lot of time with Kingsford- as long as 26 hours without water, they turned back. Smith, and actually crossed the Atlantic with him as Well or farther north. On their way up to Tennant Creek, Charles Eaton’s engine, had seized and he They went back to the blow hole where they had his radio operator, and they also had a bushman on evidentally brought some water forward. And then board. In case they had a forced landing themselves, had to crash land the aeroplane on the site of the Tennant Creek Hotel as it is today. they tried to go in again. Quite a bit of adverse they dropped a message saying, ‘Can you hear our criticism was levelled at the RAAF about this radio?’, and the crew of the Southern Cross drew in The D.H.9s were old aeroplanes and they were on because Ryan could not interpret what had happened, the sand, ‘No hear vis Sydney’. They were flying the way out. One of the things which was evidently a He thought they must have reached the Kookaburra round the crash site. John Stannage typed out routine practice was in the morning, after a day’s then turned about and come back again, where as in ‘FOUND, FOUND, FOUND’ and Australia knew flying, when you were readying the aeroplane, as a actual fact they had not reached there, that their national heroes had been found and pre-flight inspection, you checked the amount, of everything was O.K. Well can you appreciate, of white lead in your oil and from this you deduced They eventually reached the Kookaburra on 26 course, the tremendous relief that was felt right whether there was anything abnormal with what was April 1929. They found that the person under the throughout the entire Commonwealth. This was 12 happening with the aeroplane. The absolute life of wing ofthe aircraft was Bobby Hitchcock. One of the April. the Liberty engine, was, at that time, rated as 400 ^^^^t things Moray Lawrence said to Charles Eaton Remember that Keith Anderson departed from hours. was, ‘If you spend any more than a half an hour beggaring around here we’ll join this fellow’. Charles Alice Springs on the morning of the 10 April. So the Charles Eaton had sent Ryan ahead of him to Kookaburra had then been missing for two days. Eaton said. ‘I’m not going back until such time as we Tennant Creek and to Newcastle Waters. On the find Keith Anderson’. So they sent Daylight off to When the excitement of finding the Southern Cross way up Ryan had seen the smoke, and communicated started to wear off, it was realised that there were two find Keith Anderson while they set about burying others who were also missing. Keith Anderson, with Charles Eaton and said, ‘I would not be Bobby Hitchcock. After an absense of about 25 or Bobby Hitchcock and the aeroplane. Kookaburra. surprised if they are not down out in the Tanami 30 minutes. Daylight came back and saidthat he had Desert, because I’ve seen smoke and there must be a found a dead white man about a quarter of a mile A.J. Cantor, who sponsored ihQKookaburra's flight, went to the Citfzens’ Committee, headed up by John reason for this . Charles Eaton had replied ‘Well, south-west of the aeroplane. They followed the track how much white lead was there in your oil this with Daylight leading the way, to where they G arlick and s aid, ‘ Well now what are you going to do even­ morning?’And Ryan said,‘Well I must admit to you tually- found- Keith Anderson’s body. about finding the Kookaburra ?’. And the Citizens’ that there was an excessive amount’. Charles said, Committee said, ‘Well you put him there, you get ‘WeU you had better wait until we get up there Anderson had set out from the aeroplane with the him out’. Cantor promptly got onto one of the because I don’t want you to go out on your own. evident intention of finding water. He carried with newspapers and there was a bit of a hue and cry Because if you go out and you have trouble you’ll be him two bottles of petrol and oil mixed and an air^ about the matter. S.M. Bruce (The Prime Minister) lost and then we will have two aeroplanes lost’. Now cushion. He was wearing his helmet and goggles and said, ‘The Government contributed funds towards it was this decision, which I believe was absolutely leather flying coat to start with, so quite obviously he the search for the Southern Cross and those funds, of correct, that in actual fact lost for the Royal Austra- was already starting to suffer the effects of deprivation which there is still a residue, are to be applied to the lian Air Force the distinction of finding the and thirst. He had initially gone in a straight line, search for the missing Kookaburra', Kookabura. then eventually started to curve around and it was in An approach was then made to Qantas and Hudson Anyhow, following on the discovery of the consequence of this that he was only a quarter of a Fysh decided that he would send Captain L.J. Brain Kookaburra by the Atalanta the Air Force contin­ mile away from the aeroplane. They buried Keith and the Atalanta, a D.H.50J, which was then in gent rendezvoused at Wave Hill. As it was not Anderson where he lay and Ryan flew over and Brisbane into the search area. Now Brain got himself possible to land alongside the Kookaburra a decision dropped a couple of wreaths and that was the end of organized pretty smartly. He got himself a chap from was taken that a land partly would lead it. He would that. 4QG Brisbane who was a very competent man with take Eric Douglas with him because Eric was a very Written on the lower section on the port side of the radio and he took Compston who was one of Arthur competent engineer and a very good pilot, and a Beard’s right hand men as engineer. They departed rudder of the Kookaburra was Keith Anderson’s good alrounder in every sence. Another man who diary. He’d been quite meticulous and when you and flew out into the search area by way of volunteered to go with them was Mr. Moray Longreach, over-flying Comoo weal, landing at consider the way in which he worded it, he’d Lawrence, who was the stock inspector for Vestey’s evidently been coherent until pretty nearly the last. Brunette Downs, and from there went to Newcastle Meat Works, and who was down at Wave Hill at Waters. This was an observation that Eric Douglas made. that time. The mode of transport to start with was a He said, ‘This man was not just an ordinary man, They spent a couple of hours on the ground at 1927 Buick Sports Roadster which in Eric Douglas’s this man was extremely courageous and he must Newcastle Waters and then response to a request by words, ‘Mr. Moray drove like a tank’. have suffered enormous tortures of body and mind in Charles Eaton who in charge of the RAAF contri­ The terrain in the Tanami Desert is torturous. The the latter stages of this whole tragic affair. Written bution to this search. Lester Brain was to fly to Wave area is overgrown with spinifex and turpentine bush on the rudder of the Kookaburra was, Hill where the Royal Australian Air Force aero­ which grows very tall and when it dries out and planes would rendezvous with hi. After departing breaks off there are sharp points that can puncture ‘DIARY 10/4/29 to -/4/29. Force landed from Newcastle Waters, Brain said, ‘We had gone tyres. Well it was not too long before the radiator on here 2.35pm 10th April 1929 thru push-rod about 50 miles when I detected smoke some distance the Buick was punctured and a couple of the tyres as loosening No. 2 cylinder cutting out (as at away to the south-west. I knew that the area was not well, and I suppose Sergeant Douglas was wishing Algebuckina SA on 9/4/29 but temporarily inhabitated by the aboriginals because of the absolute himself elsewhere. They abandoned the car and fixed K. V.A.) exhaust valve and 25% h.p. waterless nature of the terrain. The country was very continued on. They had 26 horses and were accom­ Cleared bit of a runway here which turned flat and when about 25 miles away from the smoke, I panied by three native stockmen, two of whom were out just insufficient or engine coincidentally noticed a large brown burnt patel, and when about 5 trackers. The most distinguished of these being a lost power. Since 12/4/29 all efforts of or 6 miles away I observed on the edge of the patch chap called Daylight. They pressed on out in the course same next to nil, thru having no water an object that did not belong to the desert. On direction of the aircraft, which was down 85 miles to drink, except solutions of urine (with oil. investigation this proved to be the Kookaburra and south-east of Wave Hill. They got out as far as the it appeared to be undamaged. We flew low over the water hole called Jinjiminji and that was the last Continued on page 83 scene and observed a man in underpants and singlet. water they were to have.

70 Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 ■

m m m m m m ■ ■■ ■ compiled by GORDON REID i ■ ■ added to by J.VELLA ■ ■ ■ 1 ■ ■ ■

■ *1 111

The 12th of January 1981 was a significant date time on R/W 27 on July 13th, 1981. The aircraft Above: VH-TAA ‘James Cook’ on take-off. for TAA as it marked the airline’s introduction to entered service on July 22nd, on TN534 from (Photo: TAA) the wice bodied jet. Airbus A300/B4-203 c/n 134 Melbourne to Sydney; initial services being four was rolled out at Toulouse, France, resplendent in return services daily on the Melb-Sydney route. The next A300, c/n 157 made its first flight as the gold, blue, white and grey scheme introduced in E-WZMG from Toulouse on August 24th. 1981. 1980 and carrying the dual registration VH-TAA/ TAA’s second A300, VH-TAB c/n 151, ‘John As VH-TAC it left for Melbourne on the 20th of F-WZEJ. (The first TAA aircraft to appear in the Oxley’ made its first flight as F-WZME from October. Crewing was Captain E.C. Clark. Captain new scheme was B.727/VH-TBL on November Toulouse on June 9th, 1981. This aircraft had the K.V. Lynch and F/E M.J. Darby. Routing was 12th, 1980). On May 6th, 1981, under the distinction of appearing at the 1981 Paris Air Toulouse - Bahrein (overnight) - Madras - Singa­ command of Airbus Industrie pilot Captain Chris Show and carried the Air Show number ‘136’ on pore (overnight) - Perth - Melbourne where the Krahe, F-WZEJ made its maiden flight of the nose. F-WZME departed Le Bourget on June aircraft arrived late on the evening of the 22nd. approximately three hours duration. Three days 14th, for Finkenwerder for outfitting. VH-TAB While passing through Perth it was officially later it was flown to Hamburg’s, Finkenwerder was handed over to TAA at Toulouse on August christened ‘ John Forresf. Revenue earning started Airport where Airbus Industrie carry out the 19th and departed on the 28th on its delivery flight. three days later on TN534 from Melbourne to interior fitting to their aircraft. After outfitting Crewing was Captain J. Rosenberg, Captain N, Sydney. VH-TAD, c/n 196 ‘William Lighf made it returned to Toulouse in preparation for the Grady and F/E D.J. McKenzie. Routing was its first flight as E-WZET from Toulouse on 13th handover ceremony on July 1st. Now registered Toulouse - Bahrein (overnight) - Madras - May, 1982. It was handed over to TAA on the VH-TAA and named ‘James Cook’ the aircraft Singapore (overnight) - Darwin - Brisbane 30th June, 1982 and arrived at Melbourne on 3rd was handed over to TAA’s General Manager, (overnight). July, 1982. Routing was Toulouse - Bahrein Mr. Frank Ball by Airbus Industrie chief executive (overnight) - Madras - Singapore (overnight) - Mr. Bernard Lathiere. Under the command of At a ceremony held at Brisbane Airport on August Perth - Melbourne. Crewing was Captain E.C. TAA’s Training Flight Captain E.C. Clark, 31 St, VH-TAB was christened ‘John Oxley’. Later Clark, CaptainN.A. Lewis and F/E J.S. Mitchell. VH-TAA left Toulouse on July 10th on its that day it flew on to Melbourne. It was used on a VH-TAD first service was TN542 Melbourne - delivery flight to Australia. Other members of the period of crew training starting on September 3rd Sydney on 4th July 1982. TAA's fifth A300 is flight crew were Captain J. Rosenburg who was the from Melbourne Airport. Its first revenue earning VH-TAE, c/n 218 formerly F-WZMZ which has A300 Flight Captain and F/E J.S. Mitchell, flight was operated between Melbourne and yet to be delivered. Registrations. VH-TAF. TAA’s chief Flight Engineer. Sydney on the same day. The first Airbus service TAG, TAH have been reserved. to Perth was flown by VH-TAA on TN004 on Delivery routing was Toulouse-Bahrein (overnight) September 5th, whilst VH-TAB operated the first Below: VH-TAA inflight. - Madras - Kuala Lumpur (overnight) - Perth Sydney-Brisbane flight TN414 on the 7th of (Photo: TAA) (overnight)-Melbourne, touchdown at 1435 local September. i AL UM/!^ tUA^ .

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Above: VH-TAB ‘John Oxley’. (Photo: TAA)

CREW TRAINING BY PETER BACON FLIGHT E NGINE E R TAA

In most contemporary writings on aviation., the The complete course was of 9 days duration and ferry flight which was crewed by Capt. E. Clark- aircraft and the pilot seem to earn the most concluded with a written examination of multi Training Flight Manager, Capt. J. Rosenberg- attention, however other members of an aircraft choice questions. A300 Flight Captain and F/E J. S. Mitchell-Chief crew (in an airliner context) perform an equally Flight Engineer who had completed the same important role. Peter Bacon is a Flight Engineer This was followed by a two day aircraft performance course in April 1981, and arrived in Melbourne on with TAA and here he describes the background to course. schedule. Despite the damage done to the aircraft his training to become a member of a A300 flight The crews then progressed together to do six by ground handling equipment, which delayed line deck crew. periods in the cockpit procedures trainer, which is training, all such training was eventually completed in reality a non-moving simulator. During this time smoothly and successfully. The initial line training “Five Captains, three First Officers and five all procedures were demonstrated and executed. was carried out by Aeroformation captains and Flight Engineers travelled to Toulouse to Aero- After the completion of the C.P.T. phase, the flight engineers until our own crews were endorsed. formation’s A300 Flight Training course. crews commenced their simulator, training. This These crews, captains and flight engineers then comprised six periods, with the seventh being a took over the training of subsequent crews. Aeroformation is one of the world’s most modern review/check period. ground training centres. It is located close to the With pilot endorsement being required every six A300/A310 assembly lines and flight test centre. After our aircraft, the first Airbus, VH-TAA months and TAA’s A300 simulator not yet installed, became available we commenced base training. endorsement was met by sending the pilots back to After an introduction we started the theory course. This was conducted from Toulouse-Blagnac air­ Aeroformation in France. This was done in learning carrels, i.e. the recipient(s) port with Aeroformation pilot and flight engineer being isolated either individually or as a crew and instructors. Each captain completed four hours This necessitated the presence of flight engineers learning through the medium of audio visual and First officers two hours, with the respective to form cockpit crews, so the flight engineers who presentations. flight engineer crewing each period. This type of were trained on the first courses are returning to training was quite different from that which Australian Toulouse for periods of three to four weeks to During these sessions there was regular questioning airline crews are used to. The audio/visual was a perform this function. to assess the progress of the trainees. new concept for most of us, as was the cockpit procedures trainer. The theory sessions were interspersed with practical The A300 has been well accepted by the air crews training on the operations of the various aircraft The training was very intense but was generally who fly it, and has proved to have a high level of systems. handled well by all crews. We all returned on the reliability. 74 Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 Russell Tapp grew up in England in the pioneering age of aviation and went on to become something of

I HAD READ a pioneer himself He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps and served in France and Belgium in 1918, and later in India. He moved to Australia in 1928 to join a small ABOUT QANTAS . . company, the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. His ensuing career spanned three decades of that company’s emergence as a major international airline. While holidaying in Sydney at the end of 1981, he THE STORY OF CAPTAIN RUSSELL B. TAPP recorded this interview with Greg Banfield.

I was bom in Bristol on 23 August 1898 and Harold had been posted to 70 Squadron which had then I went to the training establishment at Netheravon christened Russell Brooke Tapp. I was the second of been flying Sopwith 1 ti-Stmtters. Then the squadron for my flying training, four sons; my eldest brother was Harold, while after switched over to Sopwith Camels and in a very short me came Eric and Maurice. My mother wanted a time, most of their pilots were lost. The Camels were Netheravon had three hangars and 20 to 25 aircraft daughter and finally produced my sister, Ursula, very manoeuvrable but I think the pilots had not all told. I began my instmction on a Maurice Farman who was the youngest child and who is still living in solved sufficiently the problems attached to flying Shorthorn. The pilot sat behind me in the nacelle and England. them. Harold was killed flying a Camel in an air fight I was allowed just to feel the controls every now and In my schooldays I became very interested in flying over France early in 1916, and was buried in a then. After I had done about four hours’ dual and was a great model-maker. My first real contact Belgian cemetery where there are rows and rows of instmction and satisfield the instmctor that I could with proper aeroplanes came in 1910 with the graves of RFC pilots, mostly 18,19 and 20-year- fly the Farman, he got out of the back and said, ‘OK, Circuit of Britain Race when the aeroplanes landed olds. off you go.’ at the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company’s In January 1917 I enlisted as an Artillery Cadet and I didn’t cause too much trouble at Netheravon but ground at Filton, which was about three miles away did a complete Cadet course at the Royal Horse one day I was having a pleasant fly around, heading from my home. I tore across the fields to get there Artillery barracks at St John’s Wood. We were towards Upavon, home of the Central Flying School and saw a Deperdussin, which I think belonged to really put through the mill and had to double and about six miles from Netheravon. Suddenly I Roland Garros, and a Bristol Boxkite in which everywhere. We received very good training, includ- found that I had got to 3,000 feet and I thought that Maurice Tetard gave a little flight to keep up the ing horse riding, and finally we went to Salisbury was fine. I knew how to come down from 1,000 feet interest of the big crowd which had gathered. Down to actually fire guns and be ready for posting but I was not so sure about getting down from 3,000. overseas. Just at that time, a notice came around However, I very gently eased the machine down At school I had ideas of becoming an analytical asking for volunteers for the RFC and I applied until I got to 1,000 feet and then I knew how to land, chemist but the outbreak of war changed that. My straight away. I transferred to the RFC in August We did circuits and bumps and then after we had eldest brother, Harold, joined the Royal Engineers and went to the ground school at Readingfor training completed a certain number of landings, we were but was invalided back from France with jaundice. in theory of flight, map reading, Morse Code, etc. sent on longer flights, spending up to an hour in the In 1915 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps Xhis basic ground training took about six weeks and air at a time, and was sent to Egypt to learn to fly. I had been accepted from the OTC at school for a commission in the Royal Artillery but I wanted to get into the Royal Flying Corps. In those days you could not join the RFC directly, but had to be transferred from an Army regiment. When Harold returned from Egypt, I talked things over with him. He told me, ‘I’ve arranged it. All you have to do is make an application to the RFC and it is all fixed.’ The RFC headquarters were at the Savoy Hotel, which we used to call Hotel Bolo, and I went there to lodge my application. An answer came back shortly afterwards saying that as I had already been accepted in the Artillery through the OTC, I would have to get that cancelled by the commander (my headmaster), and ask him to make out another recommendation for the RFC. The headmaster was m very kind but he was unable to alter the application. mm England then had conscription and we had to sign on when we turned 17 years of age. Conscripts were either mobilized immediately or, if not required straight away for some reason, they were given an armband with a red crown on it to wear so that people would know they weren’t trying to evade service. On my 17th birthday, I reported to the Army HQ Office and was told I had to go back and complete another six months at school, but I was to parade with the Senior OTC at Bristol University, which I did every day.

Above Right: A Maurice Farman Shorthorn. It was on this type that Russell Tapp received his early instruction and carried out his first solo. (Malone Collection) Right: The R.E.8 had a reputation of being impossible to recover from a spin. Although Tapp had seen a spin recovery demonstrated, he resisted the temptation to try it himself. (Malone Collection)

Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 Eventually I was ready to progress to more compli­ cated machines and I was posted to Old Sarum, where I flew a B.E.2E and an R.E.8. In those days, many people thought the R.E.8 was very suspect and the rumour had spread that if you spun an R.E. 8 you couldn’t get it out. However, that story was disproved by a Major who had been flying them in France. He visited all the training aerodromes with R.E.8s and spun them for us to see. I did my five hours on R. E. 8 s but I didn’t try spinning them. I also did one short flight on a D.H.4 before I was transferred back to Netheravon. One night a severe storm completely blew down one of the canvas Basino hangars and destroyed many aeroplanes. Altogether I flew 28 hours at Old Sarum. It was December when I returned to Netheravon, where, this time, I flew Bristol Fighters. On one training flight, I changed fuel tanks and unfortunately the fresh tank didn’t come on. In the resulting forced landing, I hit the ground rather hard and ended up in hospital for some time. The accident set me back but The Squadron gradually moved into Belgium, from Above: Most of Russell Tapp's operational after I was declared fit again, I went to Whitney and aerodrome to aerodrome, until the Armistice was flying with the RFC was in the Bristol Fighter. It did some more Bristol Fighter Flying. In due course declared. It was then planned that we should go to was a superb machine with all the manoeuvra­ I was posted to Marsk, which was a fighter training Bonn but it was decided that, because of the large bility of the single seaters of the day. establishment. I had made only one flight there in an number of Army regiments moving in to form an (Malone Collection) Avro, when there was an urgent call for pilots in occupation force, there was no room to accommodate France. I was sent down to London to report for us and we remained at Thuilles, a few miles south of Brussels. On one occasion, I was given a special job to go out posting overseas. and bomb a certain village. When I got there, I found By the time I reached London, the RAF (it was after In India, riots had broken out in Amritsar in 1919 there was a crowd of people at the village and I 1 April 1918) had apparently got all the pilots they and 20 Squadron received orders to move to India to dropped my bomb, making a fairly good shot. wanted immediately and I was then sent to Chingford. assist the beleaguered garrisons. In April we boarded Shortly afterwards, there was a heck of a row Chingford was an RNAS Station which had been a special train to Marseilles, taking with us new because the Army claimed that I had bombed the closed down, but although there were no pilots, there aircraft still in their crates. From Marseilles we Jurgha, which is a meeting of the people, in a village were still some aeroplanes and a number of Naval sailed on an ancient P & O ship which had been used other than the one I was sent to bomb. The maps administration people there. The aeroplanes were for carrying Indian troops during the war. It was a were very rough but I didn’t believe that I had Naval Avro 504, the original toothpick type, and rough cargo ship, not a first-class passenger vessel, bombed the wrong place. Eventually I spoke with had a little fm in front of the rudder. I obtained but it was comfortable enough. the Political Officer, Major Grant, and I arranged permission to fly one of the Avros during my stay When we reached Karachi, we found that the that I would take him and show him where I had there. Amritsar riots had just been quelled by Brigadier- bombed; he could tell if it were the right place on the map or not. We flew over the village and Major Late in August 19181 was called back to London for General Dyer, who found himself in great trouble afterwards for the methods he used in settling them. Grant was satisfied that I had gone where I had been posting overseas. From the pilots’ pool I was posted told to go. to 20 Squadron, flying Bristol Fighters. Basically, The North-West Frontier Province police had muti­ we had two tasks: escorting bombers and dropping nied in 1916, and the frontier tribes were now On the way back, one contact breaker failed ( a bombs ourselves. The Germans were not so much in becoming rebellious, so we were sent to the frontier common failure in that climate), which meant that evidence then as they had been in the days of the as a preliminary to a complete take-over by the the engine lost six of its twelve cylinders. With only Richthofen Circus but we had some contact with Army. 20 Squadron’s job was to soften up the rebels half our power, we gradually had to come down. them. On bomber escort flights, once the bombers ahead of the Army. A special train took us to Fortunately I made it to the nearest emergency were on their way home, we left them to do an Rawalpindi, where there was abig aerodrome in flat landing ground, where we had the contact breaker offensive patrol, or O-Pip as we called it. At other country. We took over an Army mess and then replaced. Major Grant was very pleased to have times we each carried a 112 lb bomb, which made erected our aeroplanes. From Rawalpindi, we moved made it to safety because, had he been caught by the quite a difference to the performance of the Bristol. up to Kohat, over the Kohat Pass on the other side of tribesmen, he would have been in real trouble, as he After we had bombed our target and got rid of the the range. There we had hangars and our own had been going about the country on his own weight of the bomb, again we would climb and do an mechanics to service our aircraft, while our supplies disguised as a tribesman to collect information. He offensive patrol to see if the enemy were about, and if came in by train from the south. presented me with a super head man’s knife, a so, have a crack at them. We started operations there, carrying out bombing vicious-looking thing embossed with silver, which raids on various native villages on the Frontier one of his men had pinched from the head man of one The Bristol Fighter was a superb machine. It had all where the main sources of antagonism were. When of the villages. the manoeuvrability of the single-seater fighters but the Army moved up, we supported the troops in a 20 Squadron was the only squadron in the area until it carried an observer behind with twin Lewis guns concerted operation, mainly doing more bombing some time later, a squadron of D.H.lOs arrived. on a Scarf mounting, which made it very dangerous and photographing. We used to carry a 112 lb bomb They were based farther down the Indus at Dehra for the enemy to get on its tail and unless he could get and eight 20 lb Coopers under the wing: it was a fair Ismail Khan, which was the terminus of the railway right underneath, he couldn’t find a vulnerable load but we didn’t have to climb to 12,000 feet as we to the Indus and always referred to as D.I.K. The position. The Bristol was a general-purpose machine did in France. The Frontier is very mountainous new squadron did a few bombing raids with us and and was one of the most succes sful aircraft of World country and we could fly through the valleys at we had to lead them to the targets. The D.H.lOs had War One. The Rolls-Royce Falcon engines were 5,000 or 6,000 feet, diving to drop our bombs and a bigger bomb load than the Bristol Fi^ters and they subject to certain failures every now and then, but shoot up any available targets. Between the ranges used to drop their bombs from high up while we had there were no major problems. were the gulleys where the Army made its way. to go down low. We would watch their bombs One day I was over the German lines when an anti­ coming down all around us. aircraft shell exploded right underneath me. After My observer. Flying Officer Boothroyd, was the the bang, I thought the aircraft felt funny. Then I Squadron’s photographer and we did a lot of photo­ After a little over 18 months in India, I got very bad found a great hole through the windscreen in front of graphing. We would go over as a squadron and bomb jaundice and was hospitalised. I spent some time at a me where a piece of the shell had passed me, taking a particular village and then Boothroyd and I would convalescent home at Naini Tal and then I was with it the end of my ring sight. I fired a red flare to fly down low and take pictures of what damage we demobilised. By that time I had 200-odd hours in my indicate that I was going home and flew very gently had done. We received lots of bullet holes in our log book. Our machines had an endurance of only back to base. The mechanic told me I had been lucky wings from the rebels potting at us when we flew low. ZVi hours, it was not every day that we did a show and gave me the broken windscreen, which I still Also, when we were flying through the mountain and we never got two jobs in one day. I was in A have. We were shot at frequently, and I have seen gulleys, they sat high on the sides and shot at us as Flight, and with two other Flights, B and C, it was the tracer bullets coming at me, but that was the we passed. There were all sorts of patches on the usually three or four days between operations. nearest I came to being killed. wings but none of our aircraft was brought down. I returned to England in September 1921 and for the

76 Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 next couple of years I chased around with a friend, did three more landings. through Charleville to Brisbane. I lived at the watching cricket and Rugby and doing all sorts of When the flight was over, I was asked how soon I Commercial Hotel, one of the two Hotels in Longreach, things. Finally my father said it was about time I got but I often visited the Longreach Club, which is a a job. A bank inspector lived a couple of doors away could leave for Australia. I supposed that I would have to give the bank and Westland a month’s wonderful country club still in operation today. My from my home in Bristol and through his good offices firat,impression of the club was one of amazement: I joined Old Stuckey’s Bank in Yeovil. notice, but I was told that Q ANT AS were in a heck of a hurry and a ship was leaving in five days’ time. people would come in from all around the countryside When the Royal Air Force Reserve of Officers Back at Yeovil, I put my problem to the bank and to and they all knew each other. I found that in a couple (RAFO) was formed in 1926,1 immediately joined. Westland. Both told me I should go and wished me of months I knew everybody too. That is one of the The RAF contracted out their training to various the best of luck. The managing director of Westland marvellous features of being right out in the West - schools around England and the Reservists went to presented me with a very nice gold-mounted fountain they are grand people out there and you get to know the nearest convenient school to do their three hours pen, which I still have. everybody. flying per annum. I asked to be allocated to Bristol’s As well as the route flying, which went on regularly at Filton, which was quite close for me, and there I I sailed in August 1928 on ihQ Jervis Bay. When the ship reached Adelaide it was held up by a strike on everyday of the week, we did special charters in wet again flew Bristol Fighters. The only variation was the wharves, so I disembarked and took a train to weather, carrying sick people or picking up children that instead of having Rolls-Royce Falcon engines, Melbourne. There I made contact with Major Murray- 8°boarding school these machines had Bristol Jupiter engines, which JonesoftheDepartmentofDefence’stivilAviation ■ W*’®" special flight was wanted and none of were more powerful. As the Bristol Aeroplane Branch. I acquainted him of my new job with the other pilots was available, Hudson Fysh would Company was running the school, it was natural that Hudson Fysh and he asked when I had last flown. ^elp out In addition, Arthur Baird, the they would use their own engines wherever possible. When I told him the date, he said, ‘Oh, six weeks engineer, who had originally learned to fly with Usually I arranged to do my Reserve training during ago. You qualify for a refresher.’ Out at Fishermen’s ‘h® Air Force, helped out by flying several route trips some of my holiday time from the bank, and I would Bend, I went up with Johnny Summers in a RAAF ‘^“""8 one penod when we were rather short of go to Filton for about a week and thus qualify for my £30 a year retaining pay and so much flying pay. D.H.9. We had a good fly all around Melbourne and Summers pointed out the landmarks to me. After we Lester Brain ran the flying school that QANTAS Thanks to my period of Reserve training, I qualified landed, I did a couple more solo landings and he was were operating in Brisbane. In November 1928, he for the issue of a Commercial Pilot Licence, which satisfied. took three months leave to go to England to bring was issued to me by the Air Ministry in 1926. While himself up to date with the latest developments in With my papers then in order, I caAght a train from at the bank, I got into touch with Westland, through a aviation. I went to Brisbane and took over the flying Melbourne to Sydney via Albury, apd from there up friend who knew their chief pilot, Louis Paget, and school while he was away. As well as the flying to Wailongabba on the Queensland border, where I was allowed to fly one of their Widgeons. I would school, we had a charter operation at B risbane with a transferred to another train to Charleville. By the visit the various air meetings, taking prospective D.H.50 especially for that work. We used to do a lot time I got out at Charleville I had just about had it. customers up and trying to persuade them that the of special flights up to Toowoomba and once I flew ‘Skip’ Moody was flying the route and he picked me Widgeon was much better than the Moth, because it the D.H.50 to Sydney. On flights between Brisbane up andtookme toLongreachinaD.H.50.I was with afforded such a fine view, and so on. and Sydney, we always had to land on the beach at QANTAS from then on. Coffs Harbour, down below the high water mark on Louis Paget was killed testing a new fighter, the When I arrived at Longreach in September 1928, the hard sand, to refuel, Westland Wizard. Manufacture of the Wizard stopped the pilots working for QANTAS were Percy Moody The airline pioneers, Hudson Fysh with QANTAS, altogether and I was asked to do more work for (who was always known as ‘Skip’), Arthur Affleck, Norman Brearley with West Australian Airways Westland. The Widgeon I was still at the factory Eric Donaldson, C.W.A. Scott and Lester Brain, and Jimmy Larkin with Australian Aerial Services, when I started there. It was a beautiful aeroplane who was running a Branch at Brisbane. Actually, by had to pressure the government in order to get with diamond-shaped wings. Only the one Widgeon the time I got there, Charles Scott had had an subsidies for their operations. The politicians had to I was built because the wing was too expensive to accident. He had taken Air Marshal Salmond to be persuaded in a very big way that the services manufacture, but eventually I delivered that machine Adelaide and on his return on 4 September, he ran would be of value to the outback but eventually they to Canterbury for Dr Whitehead-Reed, who used it into bad weather and crashed. Scott was not badly foresaw that aviation would improve communications for quite a long time before he killed himself in it. hurt but Nutson, his engineer, travelling in the cabin and be of great worth to the country. Hudson Fysh Westland came up with a straight-wing version, the of the D.H.50, was killed. Eventually Charles Scott and Sir Fergus McMaster, the QANTAS chairman, Widgeon III, and I did the production test flights. In returned to QANTAS and flew through another both spent a great deal of time in Melbourne' 1927 I demonstrated the Widgeon III for Flight short period before he decided he was going to go persuading the government that it was to the country’s magazine while they photographed it. after the record for a flight from England to Australia, benefit to open up air communications, carrying and resigned. I was still working at the bank and my flying for mail, passengers, urgent medicine and so on. The Westland was for pleasure. There were two mana­ QANTAS had bought one D.H.50 and then built a eventual financial benefit was perhaps the greatest gers at the bank, one business and the other what you further seven at Longreach, where Arthqr Baird was argument. For instance, we used to fly bottles of might call social. The bank was a great place for in charge of the works. The D.H.50 was a good, solid serum for cattle out to the Northern Territory, at a country people and on the social side. Colonel aircraft with a Siddeley Puma engine. Then we fitted cost of about two shillings and sixpence per bottle, Goodall was very good to me; I would say I wanted two of the D.H.50s with Bristol Jupiter engines, each of which contained enough serum to inoculate to go and do a test flight and he would agree. which made a great difference to their performance, some thousands of bullocks. However, I wanted to get back into flying properly. I The Jupiter was a most reliable engine and it had all When QANTAS extended their route from Charle­ had read all about QANTAS in Flight and The the power we could ask for. The Jupiter-engined Aeroplane and I thought that flying in Australia was machines were used in special long-distance charters ville to Brisbane in April 1929, we operated the the sort of job I would like, so I wrote to Hudson such as when Lester Brain went out and found service with two new D.H.6Is, powered by the bigger Bristol Jupiter MkXIA engine with a geared- Fysh applying for a job. The mails took a long time Hitchcock and Anderson when they were lost in the but finally I received a reply from Fysh saying that Kookaburra, but mainly they were used for wet down propeller. We had a lot of trouble with these engines at first, mainly overheating. The oil tempera­ he was sorry he had no vacancies at present but that weather work. The Jupiter would get you off with a ture often used to go up above the maximum he would make a note of my name. very short run from a soft bit of ground that you permissible on hot days and we would have to land. couldn’t get off with a Puma. I have taken off from It didn’t look as though I would be going to Australia We had quite a few unplanned landings and we Camooweal, using the Bristol engine, when the and I was still thinking what next I would consider wrecked a few engines in the process. One I saw at ground was a sea of mud except for a little patch, when I received a telegram from De Havilland Charleville when it was dismantled had the con-rod asking me to contact them urgently. When I telephoned, about the length of a house, out from the hangar. I positioned the D.H.50 in the back of the hangar and bent in a U-shape in the middle. Very often on the they asked if I were still interested in going to climb, the oil temperature would riseto the maximum with a couple of fellows hanging on to the tailplane, I Australia. I said, ‘Well, yes.’ ‘In that case,’ I was and we would have to throttle back and let it cool told, ‘come up to Stag Lane. We’ve been told by got the engine running full bore; when I got moving, I pulled the aircraft straight off the ground a short down for a while, then climb a bit more; sometimes QANTAS to check you out.’ I borrowed a Widgeon the temperature would not come down and we would and flew to Stag Lane. I found that one of the distance outside the hangar. The Bristol had the power to do that and consequently we always ran it have to come back. It got to the stage where we instructors at the De Havilland school was an old couldn’t carry on with the Mk XI engines and we friend from 20 Squadron, and I knew the others by at reduced revs, otherwise we would have been eating up too much fuel. installed a Jupiter MkVI in one of the D.H.61 s. The name. I went up with one of the instructors in a Mk VI was a very reliable engine but it had nothing D.H.9 to show I could fly it. It was a beautiful day, The work was very interesting and I enjoyed all of it. like the performance of the other and if you had a full we could see for miles and we had a very enjoyable W e used to fly from Longreach to Cloncurry and the load on, it took a lot of getting up to height However, flight all round London. When we came back, I next day either up to Camooweal or to Normanton. Bristol sent out two of their experts from England landed the D.H.9 and my instructor got out while I Later on the route was extended from Longreach and eventually a solution to the overheating problem Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 77 was found. When the MkXIs were working properly, the Mk VI engine was replaced. In the middle of winter in Western Queensland we had the opposite problem. Then we had to heat the oil by placing heaters in the oil tanks before we could start off. Although we had a number of engine problems, Bristol attended to them in a very big way. way. During 1930, Imperial Airways proposed an experi­ mental airmail service from England to Australia, with the mail to be transferred at Darwin to QANTAS for onward carriage. The first flight began with the departure of a regular Imperial Airways service from London on 4 April 1931. At Karachi, the terminus of the regular service, the mail, comprising 15,000 letters, was transferred to the D.H.66 G-EBMW. Unfortunately, this aircraft forced landed at Koepang on Timor when it ran out of fuel, but there were no injuries to the crew and the mail was saved. QANTAS at that time had no suitable aircraft to make the flight across the Timor Sea so Charles Above: The D. H. 60MMoth usedfor instruction Bottom: Departure from Brisbane of the first Kingsford Smith was engaged to fly to Koepang in by the Qantas Flying School at Eagle Farm, Australia-to-England Experimental Air Mail, the Southern Cross and bring the mail to Darwin. Brisbane. April 1931. Hudson Fysh on extreme left, R.B. Kingsford Smith arrived in Darwin on 25 April and Below: D.H.50A, G-AUFW, was the first Tapp (pilot) third from left, Mr. H. Harman on the mail was transferred to my D.H.61, VH-UJB aircraft with a fully-enclosed passenger cabin to extreme right. Apollo. I set off for Brisbane, arriving there on 28 be put into service in Australia. (Photos: Qantas) April, and the mail was then again entrusted to Kingsford Smith when one of his Australian National Airways aircraft flew it on to the southern capitals. Following this experimental service, QANTAS discussed with Imperial Airways the joint operation of a regular airmail service between England and Australia. At that time Imperial were not enthusias­ tic about entering into a partnership and in 1932 QANTAS had discussions with West Australian Airways and Australian National Airways regarding some form of association to participate in the mail service which was then being advocated. KLM were seeking to extend their service from Batavia to Australia and conflicts of interest amongthe Austra­ lian airlines eventually precluded any joint approach. QANTAS realised that their only hope of remaining in business lay in an association^with Imperiaf Airways, and in February 1933 the negotiations were successfully concluded. As a result, Qantas Empire Airways was formed with equal share­ holdings by QANTAS and Imperial Airways, and the new company was registered in Brisbane on 18 January 1934. For some time, QANTAS had been endeavouring to have De Havilland build an airliner, powered by four Gipsy engines, which would be suitable for the Timor Sea crossing and late in 1933, Imperial Airways stepped in and sponsored the design of this machine, which became the D.H.86. On 19 April 1934, Qantas Empire Airways were awarded the tender to operate the Brisbane to Singapore sector of the new air mail service, using five D.H. 86s. Later in the year, Lester Brain left for England to collect the first machine, VH-USC, which he delivered to Darwin on 10 October. Holyman’s Airways had also bought two D.H.86s but on 19 October, less than three weeks after their first aircraft, VH-URN, went into service, it was lost without trace in Bass Strait. Then on the delivery flight of the second Qantas aircraft, VH-USG, piloted by Captain A.R. Prendergast of Imperial Airways, the D.H.86 crashed at Baimsdale near Longreach on 15 November. The cause of the crash was unknown and it looked doubtful that the new service could start as planned on 10 December.

However, Imperial Airways agreed to operate temporarily the Singapore-Darwin service with Armstrong Whitworth Atalantas while Qantas operated the Brisbane-Darwin sector using a D.H.61 and a D.H.50. Consequently the service was able to

Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 start on the planned date. The mail was loaded at Brisbane into the two aircraft, the D.H.61 VH-UJC Diana, flown by Lester Brain, and the D.H. 50J VH- ULG Hippomenes, which I flew. I had already flown two return trips to Darwin so it was arranged that I would hand over to Scotty Allan at Roma and return to Brisbane in his aircraft. On this flight I suffered an attack of colic and had to receive medical attention in Brisbane. The mail from both Qantas aircraft was loaded into the Imperial Airways Atalanta Arethusa at Darwin and duly reached London on 20 December. I did a supernumerary flight on the Atalanta to Singa­ pore and back with Imperial’s Captain R.O. Taylor. Later I did another trip to Singapore and came back on the deUvery flight of the D.H. 86 VH-USF with Captain Jimmy Youell, another Imperial Airways pilot, who had ferried it out. However, an inspection of VH-USF on arrival revealed a defective fitting on the fin post and the aircraft was grounded by the Civil Aviation Branch pending modification. Because of the crash of VH-USG, Qantas had been unable to train their pilots on the D.H. 86 as planned, but when the aircraft were cleared by the CAB, Lester Brain converted us on to the type. He took us up and showed us what was what and then we each did a few landings at Archerfield. One day, with Lester Brain in command, we flew one down to Sydney to show it off. There were several pilots on board and we used the trip to gain more experience on the aircraft. Scotty Allan, Bert Hussey, Orm Denny, Bill Crowther and several other pilots had joined us by then, as the D.H.86 required a two-pilot crew. The D.H.86 was the first of our aircraft to have radio and all our first officers were Radio Officer Pilots from the Air Force. Lester Brain flew the first overseas service for Qantas on 25 February 1935 when he took over a D.H.86 at Singapore and brought it to Darwin. The ten-seater D.H.86s were beautiful aeroplanes to give me the sight readings from which I could work Top: TheD.H.61, VH-UJB Apollo] whichJJew and were most reliable. The Gipsy Six engines never out the position, the mn for the day, and so on. In the Brisbane to Darwin sector of the first stopped. Our service linked up with Imperial’s at Brisbane there was a former marine captain who Australia to England Experimental Air Mail Singapore but occasionally we extended up to Bang­ opened a navigation school, and I took lessons there. in 1931. kok and linked up there when Imperial happened to It was quite a big exam and I did a lot of work for it. have problems. By this stage we were based in Above: D.H.50J, VH-ULG ‘Hippomenes’ was Later I did another exam for astro navigation. I built atLongreach by Qantas. In company with Brisbane, where Qantas had m_oved its headquarters borrowed my father-in-law’s marine sextant and when we started the new route. the D.H.61, VH- UJ C, it opened the first regular when I went out on a trip, particularly when crossing Australia to England service on 10.12.34, With the commencement of the service to Singapore, it the Timor Sea, I would take sunshots to get in a bit of flying the Brisbane to Darwin sector. became a requirement that pilots held a C and D practice. (Photos: Qantas) Ground Engineer Licence, which merely authorised The Empire Airmail Scheme required the use of an us to replace unserviceable parts. We did exams in aircraft with a greater capacity than the D.H.86. Brisbane and I remember having to make a nice The practical solution at that time was a large, four- run on RAF lines, the school was a civil operation splice on a wire rope. My licence was endorsed for engined flying boat and Imperial Airways were and the course cost about £5,000. The first part of the D.H.50, D.H.60, D.H.61 and the D.H.86, and working with Short on the design of the Empire the course comprised a fortnight’s sailing and then later the flying boats. flying boat. Qantas were also to operate these we flew the school’s Cutty Sark amphibian. On 11 January 1936,1 damaged VH-USC during a aircraft and Rose Bay was selected as the Sydney At the end of the course, we each did a supernu­ landing at Singapore in a big thunderstorm. I thought terminus. Towards the end of 1937, while the merary trip with Imperial Airways on their Empire the wind was blowing my way to land, although it slipway was being built and the base established at boats. The trips were to give us handline experience was a bit of a crosswind, but it turned out I had a Rose Bay, Lester Brain went to England to evaluate and I went down to Durban on a very interesting tailwind. As I was over-running the field, I ground- and train on the Empire boat. flight. We flew from Southampton to the big bay of looped the aircraft and struck a railway line at the Later that year, Scotty Allan, Bert Hussey, Orm Marseilles, and on to Brindisi, Then to Alexandria aerodrome boundary. There were no injuries but the Denny and I also left for England to do courses on where we stopped over and I made a rush sightsee­ starboard mainplane, undercarriage and propellers the flying boat, its engines and propellers. We ing trip to Luxor with the Imperial Airways skipper, were damaged. Fortunately it wasn’t very serious travelled as far as Singapore on our D.H.86 service getting back in time for dinner. From there we flew to and didn’t take too long to put right again. but Imperial Airways’ flight out of Singapore was Khartoum and on down the Nile, landing on the river On another occasion, on 27 April 1936,1 hit a flat full and couldn’t take us. Instead we were put on a as we went, until we reached Entebbe on Lake spot of air while landing at Sourabaya and came first class Dutch passenger ship and we had an Victoria. Next we went to Mombasa, down on the down heavily. The starboard tyre burst and stripped excellent trip to Port Said. From Port Said we coast, then to Mozambique, Lourenco Marques and from its rim. Then the wheel rim dug into soft ground travelled to Alexandria where we picked up the finally to Durban, returning then to England. The and caused the D.H.86 to swing violently. Again Imperial Airways service. Imperial were already Imperial Airways crews were absolutely grand; they there were no injuries but four longerons broke close operating the C-Class Empire flying boats on that were all more experienced than we were. to the stem post and the starboard undercarriage was run and we flew on one to Brindisi and then on to I left England on New Year’s Day 1938 on the damaged. England. Imperial flying boat. Their flying boat service only came as far as Singapore and there I transferred to During 1937, I obtained my Second Class Flight We went to Short at Rochester for the airframe one of our own D.H.86s. We weren’t ready for the Navigator Licence. I have always been interested in course, then to Bristol for the engine course and to flying boats then and I went back to the normal navigation and when I came out on the ship from De Havilland for the course on the variable pitch D.H.86 work, based in Brisbane. England in 1928, I had got in touch with the third propeller. As well, we did a course on flying boats at officer, who was the navigating officer, and he used the Air Service Training School at Hamble. Although The introduction of flying boats represented a major

Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 79 undertaking for Qantas and was an operation totally The boats were superb. They were an operational damage may not have been extensive, corrosion different from what we had been used to. Gradually and financial success. In the main cabin was seating from the salt water would be enough to cause the staff were moved to Sydney and in March Scotty for 15 passengers on the starboard side, as well as 5 machine to be written off. Insurance premiums were Allan brought out from England VH-ABB, the first tables between the seats, while on the port side was a much heavier on flying boats than on landplanes. of our five Empire boats. VH-ABB was then used for promenade with a rail, where you could stand up and crew training in Sydney and, as the others were look at the view through the big windows. Up in the The period of the flying boat was really outstanding delivered over a period of time, the flying boat nose was a cocktail bar, and behind the main cabin from the point of comfort and equipment. The boats service started to build up and the D.H.86 service was a smoking cabin that seated 8 or 10. Behind that had a big flight deck upstairs with a navigation table ran down. The route was reorganised and the boats was the cargo hold, where we used to at the back, and I used to practice a bit of star carry a spare shooting with a sextant. The old Empire flying boat operated from Sydney to Brisbane, Gladstone, Towns engine when needed. Underneath the wing and ville, Karumba, Groote Dylan dt and Darwin, then ahead of the main compartment was the spar compart- was a gentleman’s aircraft. Flying boats are most interesting machines because once they are in the via Koepang, Sourabaya and Batavia to Singapore. ment, which had one table and two chairs. air, they are the same as any other aeroplane; but on The passenger loadings on the D.H.86s varied a lot. The crew of the Empire boat comprised two pilots, a the water it is different altogether. The wind, cross­ We usually had quite a few people travelling out radio operator, a purser and a steward. It was the tides, state of the sea and different conditions west as far as Cloncurry but then there wouldn’t be radio operator’s job to handle the moorings since his demanded different methods of operation; you had so many people going on into the Northern Territory. radio work was finished as soon as we had landed to land the right way or you would get into trouble. There were always one or two travelling within the and he was free to go down to the front hatch. The Terntory itself, or people going out to stations, and purser, whom we called a flight clerk, did all the When the Second World War started, many of the from Darwin on, at times I have carried only two paperwork, such as passenger lists and cargo manifests, Imperial Airways captains were called back to the passengers, at other times as many as seven. But the RAF. To make up for the shortage, we took over and flying boat service was very popular and we carried We operated through to Singapore where our aircraft extended our route to Karachi. were taken over by Imperial Airways crews and many passengers on every service. The boats were , In September 1940, Qantas were asked by the taken on to England. We picked up the aircraft really comfortable and it was first-class travel in Australian Department of Civil Aviation to assist in which Imperial had brought out and took them on to those days. In addition, the service stopped at s^bh ferrying Catalina aircraft from the United States for Australia. The aircraft always went right through interesting places, where passengers could go out at the RAAF. The flights had to be made by civilian only the crews changing. Although we operated both night and see the sights. crews because the United States was not then at war. Qantas and Imperial Airways machines, all the With the deliveries spread over the best part of a boats were identical. It was a most successful joining year, most of the Qantas pilots had a chance to gain up which continued on over the years under the experience with this long-range operation. financial an-angement of a pooling agreement. Below: The ten-seater D.H.86s were beautiful The flying boats had one snag: if you hit anything in On 4 October 1941,1 left Honolulu in the Catalina aeroplanes and were most reliable. They were the water, the boat could well sink. You couldn’t A24-15, in company with two others flown by Bert also the first Qantas aircraft equipped with always avoid objects in your path and we did lose a Hussey and Bill Crowther. Bill (P.G.) Taylor was radio. (Photo: The Aeroplane) couple of boats that way. On a landplane, a small my navigator and , although I was officially in Bottom: Charlie Chaplin, pictured here with accident which damaged a wingtip would be repaired command, the credit for the flight is more due to him Captain Tapp, actress Paulette Goddard, and by replacing the wingtip. On a flying boat, a similar than to me. From Canton Island, by care ful use of her mother, disembarking from a Qantas accident would submerge the wing, the boat would long-range cruise power settings, we managed to fly D.H.86 at Batavia in 1936. (Photo: Qantas) tip over and end up half submerged. While the direct to Sydney, while Hussey and Crowther landed at Noumea to refuel. The records show that that flight took 26 hours but I say it was 24 hours to the minute. We were down to a fuel consumption of 42 gallons an hour on the engine operating plan for long- i range cruise, whereby we just kept reducing power to ■ I Hi just keep over the hump as we reduced the fUel load, and when we landed we had left two hours’ fuel at a li consumption of 42 gallons per hotm. ------Two months later, Japan entered the war and before long Singapore was threatened. We began to evacuate people from Singapore to Batavia. In February 1942 Singapore fell and we altered our route to come down through the Andaman Islands, down the west coast of Sumatra and then to Batavia. As the Japanese rapidly advanced, Qantas were asked to operate evacuation flights from Tjilatjap, in Java, to Broome. Imperial Airways had fitted extra fuel tanks to some of the boats but the one I flew to Tjilatjap on 18 February hadn’t'been so fitted. Without the extra tanks, I didn’t have the range to get to Broome so I obtained a lot of 4-gallon tins of petrol and stacked them at the rear of the flight deck. You could walk inside the wings to get to the fuel tanks so it was a simple matter to put a pipe up into the fuel tank and pump the petrol up with a hand pump, four gallons at a time. I was lucky and made it to Broome the next day, carrying a number of Dutch people and a lot of our engineers from Java. As we were going in to Broome, we heard the secret radio signal that Darwin was being attacked. We rather thought that the signal was suspect and that somebody had pressed the wrong button, but in fact Darwin had been bombed. Broome was full of Dutch evacuees and, because of the chaos there, I had great trouble getting fuel. I was there for a day before I was able to obtain petrol and get away.

When we arrived at Darwin, we found the harbour a mass of sunken ships, the superstructure and masts of some protruding out of the water. The town was in ruins and RAAF Headquarters, where I had to go to

Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 persuade somebody to bring petrol for us, was shattered. It was a hell of a mess. One of our flying boats had been moored in the harbour at the time of the attack. Bert Hussey and Bill Crowther were there and they rushed out to the boat, started the engines and, right in the middle of the bombing raid, took straight off and got over to Groote Eylandt. I don’t think the old Nip could have seen that boat streaking off to the east, and they got away with it. On 3 March, Broome was raided properly and we lost two boats there. As 1942 wore on, the Ameri­ cans began to arrive in Australia and we started working for them through the RAAF and the Depart­ ment of Civil Aviation. On 22 March I was given a rush trip to take an American Army artillery section from Sydney straight ■ up to Darwin and then I was to turn around and come straight back. The trip was too long for me and my first officer, V. Lyne, alone so I was given Lew Ambrose as a second captain and we took it in turns flying the various sectors. The Empire boat, G- AEUF Corinthian, was stripped but there was a bunk downstairs for crew rest. I flew the sector from Karumba to Groote Eylandt, landing at night. Lew Ambrose took over for the next sector while I went down for a rest. I did go downstairs for a while but I was wide awake so I went back upstairs. On the flight deck, the first officer was nodding off to sleep so I sent him off to rest and I took over and acted as first officer. As we came down to about 1,000 feet just on the approach to Darwin, some one shone a searchlight smack at us and we couldn’t see a thing. I signalled on the Aldis lamp, ‘Your searchlights are impeding my vision,’ but they took no notice and followed us around until we were practically approaching the jgili harbour. Then they must have recognised the boat and switched the searchlight off. We circled round and came in to land. Lew was doing the landing and I was calling out the speed for him. I remember saying, ‘110,’ and the next moment there was a colossal crash. I thought we had hit the mast of one of the sunken ships but what actually happened, I don’t know. All I remembered afterwards was seeing a funny light and wondering what it was. Then I realised I was under the water so I kicked like the devil until I came up to the top. I found that the flying boat was upside down and the light I had seen was the headlight still shining. When I surfaced I couldn’t see or hear any other ' survivors so I swam about around the wing shouting, but got no answer. The Control Launch came and picked me up, then it moved to the front of the overturned aircraft where Lyne was found unharmed. Then we heard shouts for help on the other side and found that the aircraft had broken in two parts at the centre section point. People were standing in the ■IIH open end, dazed and bewildered. Lew Ambrose and ill some others were m the water and hanging on to the bottom of the fuselage, which was really the roof. Lew was obviously badly hurt and we got him iilii IB aboard the launch first. We then got the remaining ill ■III 11 ■ people on board as fast as possible, as the hull was ■■I slowly sinking. ■111 iiilli One of the Americans shouted, ‘There’s another man inside,’ so I jumped over the side of the launch lliil * and swam quickly inside the wreckage but was iiilli■I ii ■IllSi ■■■Iiilli . lii# lili I _ Top to Bottom iiiiiii ill Short Empire VH-ABB, ‘Coolangatta’, at ■iiiii Townsville, circa 1942. illl A hard worked VH-ABF, ‘Cooee\ rides at anchor awaiting the next cargo. VH-ABG, ‘Coriolanus\ taxies in to pick up the mooring buoy at Port Moresby. m m Consolidated LB-30 Liberator G-AGKU at Mascot. (F. Smith Collection)

Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 , 81 unable to find anyone. The hullwas upside down, the A year later, BO AC’s Captain O.P. Jones brought before the war. Colonel Webster was very helpful only light was from a spotlight on the launch and it out two Liberators for the Indian Ocean service and and found for me an old Chevrolet car that had been was almost impossible to identify anything. I couldn’t we transferred to them. The Liberators were very used by the Japanese. The starter switch had been stay long as the hull was sinking and I would have unsuitable aircraft really, but by taking off from removed by the Japanese so I had to twiddle two been trapped inside it. The Americans continued to ‘Potshot’ at Exmouth Gulf (then an American base wires together to start it, but there were few other make a count of those picked up as we were taken and later known as Learmonth), the flight time was people who had cars at all. ashore to the hospital and they confirmed that one cut to around 17 hours compared with the Catalina’s man was missing. 28 to 30 hours. I had been appointed Senior Route I sent a cable to Sydney telling Qantas I was in Captain when the Catalina service was started and Singapore and a reply came back asking what on Lew Ambrose had a huge gash in his leg, right to the earth I had gone there for. I answered that I wanted bone, and various smaller cuts. I had cuts and then when Bill Crowther returned to Sydney early in 1945,1 replaced him as Manager Western Division.* to start the flying boat service again and I was given scratches all over me and I must have been thrown approval to stay. The Royal Navy had its ships out through the windscreen, although I knew nothing We had wanted a more useful aircraft than the completely covering the whole harbour and I had about it. The next morning I went out with a diver in Liberator and, as the war situation in Europe nowhere to land flying boats. I arranged a high-level a launch to look for the missing American. The diver improved, it was decided that a Lancaster be modified conference with the Navy and brought along the went down and searched the sunken boat but there for the England to Australia service by taking out the Harbourmaster, a retired RN Captain, who the was so much muck about that he couldn’t see bomb bays, putting fuel tanks in their place and Navy thought would be on their side. He wasn’t; he anything. fitting a few seats. I flew to London to collect the first was on my side. He stuttered, and told them to ‘move In my report at the time, I considered the basic cause Lancastrian and did a conversion course there. I was their bloody ships.’ of the accident was the searchlight shining on us; it in England longer than had been anticipated because the aircraft wasn’t ready, but finally, on 11 April With the arrangements made, Qantas sent up a half-blinded me and probably Lew Ambrose too. flying boat from Sydney to see if the operation was Officially, however, the accident was attributed to a 1945, I left in G-AGLS and flew it direct to Australia. satisfactory. By the time it returned, events had loading error which allowed the American’s heavy overtaken us: the Lancastrians were ready and took equipment in the forward lower compartment to shift Having brought G-AGLS to Sydney, I then flew it to over the route entirely. Qantas ran only two or three as the aircraft alighted, resulting in splitting of the East Sale carrying several of our skippers, to demon­ more boat trips through Singapore, going up to hull. Of the survivors, a dozen were injured. After a strate the Lancastrian to them. The RAAF had a Japan. I stayed on and looked after the station and couple of days to recover, I came back via Brisbane Lancaster, A66-1 (ED930 Qfor Queenie ), at East then when Singapore reverted to civil status in April to Sydney on an Imperial Airways flying boat. Sale and it had been used to train crews for Qantas 1946,1 was officially appointed Manager Singapore. pending the arrival of the Lancastrian. After doing Before long we moved up to Townsville and based I remained in Singapore until October 1948, when I ourselves there. We flew in and out of Moresby and some instruction at Sale, I went back to Perth and took over the management there. received a cable asking what was my opinion of occasionally to Milne Bay, carrying up troops, opening up a civil service to Japan. We had been taking up equipment and sometimes bringing back While I had been in England to collect the Lancas- operating a Lancastrian service to Iwakuni for the wounded. On one occasion I brought back to Austra- , trian, the RAF was planning on moving its forces out PLAAF since December 1947, running troops and lia a Japanese prisoner. to Australia to pursue the Far East campaign. Cocos mail up there, and I had seen many people visiting In June 1943, Bill Crowther and I went over to Perth Island figured in their plans and, as I had landed a Singapore from Japan. I advised in favour of such a to start the Perth-Colombo route using Catalinas. Catalina at Cocos, I was able to assist in that service. We were followed shortly afterwards by Lew Ambrose. movement. After my return to Perth, I did only one trip to Ceylon and back and then I was posted to Next I received a cable instructing me to come back The previous month the RAF had made three to Sydney immediately, so I packed my effects off on experimental flights with Catalinas from Ceylon to Ceylon as Manager. When I flew to Ceylon to settle in to my new post, I stopped flying entirely, with a a ship and got on an aeroplane. With Nowell Jones Perth to prove the feasibility of the operation. Then a of the Commercial Department, I went to the few more flights were made by the RAF, on which ■ total of over 18,000 hours in my logbook. Meanwhile, more Lancastrians had been delivered to BO AC and Philippines, Hong Kong, Iwakuni and Tokyo on a we travelled to gain experience. BOAC (formerly survey of the Far East. When the service was Imperial Airways) ferried five Catalinas out to the route from England to Australia was run by Lancastrians, right through in 66 hours. established in 1949,1 became Line Manager for the Ceylon, where we took them over. I flew the ___ Hong Kong and Japan Services. Then in 1951 I did ' inaugural Qantas service from Koggala, Ceylon, to I had only been in Ceylon a few days when V-J Day the same thing for the South African service and took Perth on 10 and 11 July in G-AGFM. was celebrated, and Singapore was liberated. I over the line management of that as well. I was based didn’t sit in Ceylon but moved out. Through contacts in Sydney and used to travel up and down one route, Below in Kandy, I managed to force myself on to a and then up and down the other. Captain Tapp emerges from a Qantas Lancastnan . Sunderland and got to Singapore. The authorities mail plane after a training fright at Archerfield had begun taking all the head civiHan people back to In 1955 I was asked to go to London as manager there. I continued in that position until I retired in on 29 April 1945. (Photo: Qantas) Singapore; they were all in service uniforms and had all been given military ranks, as generals, colonels or 1958, although I was retained by Qantas for another what have you. When I arrived, I was able to get in three years in an advisory capacity. In 1978 I returned to Australia and settled in Brisbane. ill touch with people I knew there who arranged transport for me from Seletar. I went to the Sea View Ted Wixted, of the Queensland Museum, organised a Hotel to try to arrange accommodation and I found celebration for the 50th anniversary, in April 1981, the old manager there, but he didn’t want to know of the first airmail flight to Australia. A bag of me. commemorative mail was flown out from London by I went back to the Royal Air Force, whom we used to Qantas and delivered to me at Eagle Farm. From depend on for everything. I saw the senior operations Eagle Farm I was flown to Archerfield in his Beech If officer. Group Captain Gordon Pirie, and he invited Baron by Keith Carmody, an ex-airline pilot who is i me to stay in the mess. The he asked. ‘Have you got a now managing director of his own engineering firm ■ uniform?’ I had my Qantas uniform in my case and in Brisbane. We had a special radio call-sign for the he told me to put it on. I had my First World War day of Apollo 2 which I had to use. campaign ribbons on my uniform and, seeing them. The mail contained congratulatory messages to me Gordon said, ‘You put them on quickly! Nobody from the Australian High Commissioner and all the else has got them.’ Agents General in London, as well as 1,300 The AOC was Air Commodore the Earl of Bandon, commemorative envelopes which I signed for the a fine man who was always known as ‘Bandy’. I Queensland Museum to help raise money for another showed him around Singapore and then when we expedition to try to recover the Lockheed Altair in returned to headquarters, I spoke with Colonel which Kingsford Smith was lost off the west coast of Webster, who had been a solicitor in Singapore Burma. I also signed another 1,000 envelopes for the RAF Museum in London, which were produced to help fund an extension of the museum. Footnote To round off 1981, the Governor of Queensland, Sir When the Catalina service ceased in 1945, Captains James Ramsay, presented me with the Guild of Air Tapp, Crowther and Ambrose were jointly awarded Pilots and Air Navigators’ Master Air Pilot’s theGuildofAir Pilots and Air Navigators'Johnston Certificate, at a ceremony in Brisbane on 11 Memorial Trophy in recognition of their work. December. I was very pleased to receive that.

Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 THE COFFEE ROYAL AFFAIR with the for all of the publicity appertain- tation for Kingsford-Smith and Ulm, and for the ing to their exploits and this had increased their sales Civilian Committee of New South Whales, for Keith From page 70 enormously. But there were sour grapes about it Anderson’s estate, Hitchcock’s estate and so on. In because Smith’s Weekly and the Guardian had also the end the Court of Inquiry found that there was no petrol, methylate [spirits] from compass) tendered for this. The suggestion was raised by the evidence what-so-ever to substantiate the contention \ directed on obtaining sufficient power from newspaper that the disappearance of the Southern that th'eything had been in any way premeditated. engine to permit successful take-off. No Cross was nothing more or less than a publicity ^ take-off above to be attempted since 11/4/29 thing. But there is no conceivable way this was done The Committee leveled some criticism at Smithy for due increased debility from thirst, heat, flies intentionally because as Smithy said, ‘Why would I the fact that he did not turn around and come back and dust. Left Stuart (Alice Springs) 7.15 risk the lives of myself and my crew and an aeroplane, when they lost the aerial, and at the administration am local time and followed telegraph line that in our language today is worth $300,000, in because they had not been more particular about for 100 miles (600 kilometres) which was order to get some publicity’. I mean if you had their emergency rations. It was considered they intention. Cut off then direct from point $300,000 you could buy yourself one hell of a lot of should have burned oil from the engines in order to between Wave Hill and Ord River Downs. publicity. And that was the crux of the whole thing, make smoke, but anybody who has burnt oil knows it On a/c cross winds and inaccurate compass The other thing is this, would he go and get himself makes black smoke, and you can’t see it beyond 100 and having practically only sun for guidance lost with no rations. The other thing is would Keith yards. Some of their criticisms may have been valid as large map showed only featureless desert Anderson have set out to find him knowing where he with the benefit of hindsight, but in the main the determined to above or nor’rard of course was without making proper preparation if the whole Committee really didn’t have too much to say that which am sure have done. As was in the air 7 thing had been a preconceived idea. If it had been was of an adverse nature. Anyhow, up to the time of hours and am. Pretty confident had preconceived they would have laid down rations all their deaths, Charles Ulm in the wastes of the Pacific ‘duckpond’ on my starboard. I figure position alongthe way and they’d have flown up, landed here Ocean and Smithy off Burma, the stigma of this now to be . . .’ and gone there and so on. So it was an absolute whole incident persisted and so on. Anytime that falacy. they could be held up to criticism they were. Even But he never filled it in. One of the most graphic comments that Charles Eaton made about the whole The inquiry was set up by, and this was the first time when Smithy had troubles with the cowling on the Lockheed Altair and could not participate in the tragic affair was, ‘We saw it in a cloudless sky high that there was a Royal Commission ever held in Mildenhall to Melbourne Air Race they sent him above the Kookaburra, a perfectly formed cross. It Australia. The inquiry was set up by the Australian . ^ , ...... may only have been cirrus cloud. We did not say Government to inquire into the circumstances of the white feathers and things of this sort. much to each other but we certainly thought a lot as forced landing of the Crops'oh the Glenelg u • p a we made our weary way homewa^’. River to the subsequent forced landing of the When Smithy returned to Sydney after being found ey y in the Tanami Desert and all the attheGlenelg River, there were oidy 3000 people at You’ll remember that I said earlier that Smithy and factors appertaining there-to. It was chaired by Mascot aerodrome when the Southern Cross landed there. 3000 people that booed and hissed him and Ulm found themselves embroiled in a newspaper Brigadier General Lochlan-Wilson, who was a cat-called and went on and the more he tried to talk war. The Daily Guardian was owned by the same Queensland chap, and the members of the Board organization that owned Weekly eccidSmith’s were the President of the New South Wales Aero to them the more violent they became. ‘Isn’t it Weekly was one of the most controversial news- Club and the President of the Victorian Aero Club incredible?’. He said, ‘From national hero to whip­ papers. It’s not with us any more. Ulm had contracted and in addition, of course, there was legal represen- ping boy in less than 6 weeks’.

INFORMATION ECHO From page 62 I had planned to do a twelve months tour of Australia, free of cost, to raise funds for the RAF and RAAF Benevolent Funds. I sought the loan of a Flight Engineer from the RAAF and they refused to co-operate. I then sought help from the RSL with the same negative results. I endeavoured to sell it to the RAAF for training purposes but they were disinterested. In the meantime DCA were pressing me to remove the Halifax from Mascot. I then offered to give it to the Museum at Canberra and would have delivered it to the airfield there. My offer was not accepted as they said there was no accommodation for it. After advertising it for some months I finally sold it to a group who called themselves Air Carriers Pty. The departure of Halifax G-AGXA, ‘Waltzing Ltd. After months ofwasted time removing the black Matilda’, from Hum on 24 May 1946. It Journey’s End. The arrival of‘Waltzing Matilda ’ paint and polishing it up to an ‘Airline standard’, carried nine men, ten women and three children, at Mascot on 15 June 1946. Photograph from a they finally secured a contract to fly a load of dogs to (crew included), on the flight to Mascot which painting by Howard Barron in the National Singapore to replace the ones that had been eaten was accomplished in 73 hrs 27 mins Library at Canberra. during the war. A return cargo had been arranged, but the deal fell through, and instead of waiting for another contract they flew the plane empty back to Sydney, burning out a motor on the way. Debts forced the company into liquidation and the aircraft was sold to a scrap dealer. I have heard that the fuselage was used for a mobile canteen, but this is only hearsay. About a year later two Halifaxes arrived at Mascot. They were owned by Doctor Humby who evidently had some plans for their use. I think they had been converted to carry passengers by Handley Page. ■ I understand Dr. Humby fell very ill and was unable to carry on with his project. From hearsay, I also understand that an Australian crew was enlisted and flew one back to England. The fate of the second one is unknown to me.’

Aviation Heritage Vol 22 No. 3 /

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