AVIATION HERITAGE Li Lii■ R II I
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w-'W liiiiiiii iiliili VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2 ■■■I■■lllil AVIATION HERITAGE li lii■ r II I . till ■ lllil AVpATiON^mSTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA iilM ■iiii I■ ■ m On this page we invite readers to ask questions for vital answers you may have been seeking for years to complete research on a particular subject. The INFORMATION answers may have eluded you but another reader may have it at home collecting dust. If you don’t ask, he doesn’t know you require it. ECHO Each issue we intend publishing the replies so that all readers benefit along with the one who Question 13. first asked the question. From whom, when, and how did the RAAF receive its seventy odd Boston/Havoc aircraft? Question 18. M.S. Flanagan, Nightcliff, N.T. Does anyone have information on: Question 14. (a) The colour schemes of Australian Sunderlands; I would like to know the history of the aircraft (a DC-3) that I fly. (b) The colour schemes of Australian DO-24s; and For many years it operated in Papua New Guinea with TAA as VH-SBG, then with Air Nuigini as P2-SBG, before being (c) The colours and markings of RAAF World War II registered as N5 5 90A (possibly for sale in the U.S.). It was finally Ground Vehicles. placed on the Australian register as VH-BPL in about October Kevin Goss, 1982. N.S.W. L.N. Cooke, Cairns, Qld. Question 15. ADDENDUM (a) Could anyone supply a short history of the airfield at Moruya, NSW? With respect to the Tiger Moth Special Issue of the “Journal” (b) In December 1950,1 travelled from London (Heathrow) to (Volume 22 Number 1), the following error has been pointed out Karachi on an Air Ceylon C-54/DC-4. The aircraft had by one of our members. been leased from an Australian airline (I think TAA). Could you please confirm if Air Ceylon did lease aircraft Dear Sir, from an Australian airline at that time, and provide I was greatly interested in the Special issue of the Society’s further details? Journal featuring the Tiger Moth, especially the historical G.S. Clark, reference to the grand old Gipsy. A.C.T. However, the item on page 5 where reference is made to the Question 16. aircraft which originally bore the name “Tiger Moth” is in error. (a) The photograph below shows Piper PA18/135, CR-TAO, I attach a photostat of the Air Accidents Investigation in a grey/white scheme at Moorabbin, Victoria on 14th July Committee report of this event. 1974. Did this aircraft come on the register, when, where, With regards. and what is its present status? Yours sincerely, (b) When did Beech Bonanza VH-CAQ (in DOT logo) make a K.W. HUTCHINSON forced landing and where? “A” Licence No 1174 (1933) (c) When did Cessna 150 VH-RGS collide with another Cessna aircraft type on the ground? Did RGS fly again? TIGER MOTH CRASH What was the registration of the other aircraft involved in the incident? At about 5p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, 1930, Mr. David J. Vella, Smith, a class pilot, took offfrom Mascot Aerodrome in Victoria. Tiger Moth VH-UNH, for a test flight in an experimental machine. The take-off was normal, and when travelling at high speed, at a height of approximately 1000feet, the aircraft was seen to dive suddenly, then rise, and the pilot observed to fall from the machine, which subsequently dived to the ground. The pilot was killed and the machine completely wrecked. The Committee found that there was no evidence to show that the pilot was other than medically fit on the day of the accident. As the aircraft was an experimental type, built to break the light aeroplane speed record, and as it was being flown within a three- mile radius of an aerodrome, no permission or Certificate of Airworthiness was necessary, but there was no evidence to show that the aircraft and engine were other than airworthy on the day Question 17. of the accident. The pilot had not taken the precaution to affix the safety belt Does anyone have any photos of Tiger Moth G-BEWN before leaving the ground. (Ex-Al7-528, VH-WAL) before I bought it at Ballarat in 1970? I would like to know what colour scheme it had during the war, and It was the first flight made by the pilot in this aircraft, which ^s if possible, a full history. extremely sensitive to elevator control at high speeds appear that the pilot used the controls coursely, Henry Labouchere, inexperience in this type of aircraft, thus causing Norfolk, England hunt, during which he was thrown from his seat. 22 THE JOURNAL OF THE AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA /aviation heritage J;t. 0 I r ST. 132-25 - ST. 162 VOLUME 22jJ^MBER^ - CANOPY I DATUM fuselage 45-72'‘ 25%TA1LPLANE AHSA AND EDITORIAL ADDRESS JOINT rsS7.o€i — CHORD DATUM P.O. Box 117, Ashburton, Vic. 3147 ^ ^ ~ incidence ST 279-75 EDITORIAL COMMITTEE" . - i i ill "’r David Anderson -(I.ENGINE - -<Jony SelL. .1- i:: ■ 8 ' ^FUSELAGE •I - - I -Bob Veitch ---.bHJ- Joe Vella ^ 8-25'^ J 21;° JINDIVIK byJ^^xSdt 4-5‘’CONSTANT j^rh«rGovernment-Aircraft Factories lindivik aircraft is perhaps the,most successful ^target drone ever produced, and is Australia’s only mass produced locally-designed jet. Membership is for one full calendar year and ■ StilFin productiorrafter thirty years, the Jindivik’s story makes fascinating reading. includes both Journal and AHSA News. [41" Annual Membership fees of $15.00 (Australian I Currency) will be due for renewal during January L each year. 34 SYDNEY/TOA- MELBOURNE BY AIR 1952 AND 1982 by Harry Williams\ Air travel has progressed a long way in the last thirty years, and Harry Williams recalls INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS - All the nostalgia of the fifties as he compares a 1952 fli^t in a DC-4 with a 1982 flight in an manuscripts for publication in the Journal should Airbus. I I be typed or clearly handwritten on one side of I I I each sheet only, and must be double spaced. I Photographs should where possible have a I subject width of at least/5” (12.7 c.m.) or 8” (20 c.m.). This is /ot\essential, but is 36 THE COFFEE kOYAL AFFAIR by Keith Hat^d preferable, and photos of all shapes and sizes will In the first pairt of the intriguing story of Kingsford-Smith’s |^‘Coffee Royal Affair”, Col. be accepted. Hatfield describes The-circumstances of the tragedy and controversy. Where possible we prefer negatives, even if prints are also sent. This greafly simplifies the Editor’s job. All negatiyes will be returned and prints will be returned if bo mark^. If you do not cov^r t2|—( want prints cut, mark “ibo not fmp^YI||bu are f pp ON^ CCbVFR thinking of preparing ail article, please7contact_J_ 279-75** the Editor at the aboVe addfess for further KSAF^JindlVlk Mk.2, AS2-\TZ, cIllriBs advice, and so we can rflan ahead. All work on Qut from Wobmera airfield on a weapons this Journal is voluntary! and na payment can be 4atrials flight. made for published matjsrial. - ^PhorarRAAF \ BACK COVER J The Fokker /vIIB'^si 58-9" 26-9 FLAP ‘Southern Cross’. AILERON ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ! Drawing: Joe Vella V The kind assistance of the following is gratefully acknowledged: FROM YOUR FRIENDLY EDITORIAL COMMITTEE I Ron Freidman '.Y Government Aircraft Factories WelcomeLoJbe fiTstiewJookjssuejrf.the AHSA Journal - “Aviation Heritage”. You SBfi§dSK!D STATICALLY DEFLECTED Svill potice a number of changesjin both format and content of our new Journal, and we trus^this will help’keep our So|ie^ to {tM forefront as we continue with the ideals of RAE Llanbedr 78-89** pro] mj COrdihgpur country’s ^yiation heritage. What you as a member can do LANDING SKID FULLY EXTENDED is to promote th^ AHSA (teil ypftr Iriehds, have them join us), become rpore involved in 86-99“ Branch activities, and continup with your own personal projects so that we can all benefit from them when they arb published in our “Aviation Heritage”. From now on, Published by: Aviation Historical Society of Australia, P.O. Box 117, Ashburton, Vic., 3147, “Aviation Heritagel’ is to be puifelished atre^laoptervals, coming out in March, June, Australia. September and December of each year. The EdiiBrial Committee look forward to your support throughout the year, arid trust you will enjoy sitting back and enjoying this issue © 1983 Aviation Historical Society of Australia of “Aviation Heritage”. ISSN 0045-1185 Dave Anderson ^^^inted by: Maxwell Printing Services, Tony Self ' Spencer Street, West Melbourne. Bob Veitch ^^Bdephone: 329 8448 or 329 8337 Joe Vella 23 IKfclll nililli ■1 !■ / iiii ■ by Tony Self The Government Aircraft Factories Jindivik is quite different. For space and weight reasons, the perhaps the most successful target drone ever pro manned version carried less fuel and consequently duced, and is Australia’s only mass produced had a flight endurance of only about 30 mins. locally designed jet aircraft. The concept of a THE UNMANNED VERSION - JINDIVIK remotely controlled jet target evolved in 1948 It was also fitted with a retractable undercarriage. A tentative order for twelve Project B Jindivik when Australian and British Government officials The aircraft was equipped to be flown manually by Mk 1 pilotless aircraft was initially placed with discussed and formulated specification E7/48 for the pilot or by push buttons through the automatic GAF. Since this first order, the Jindivik has been a ‘‘high speed pilotless target aircraft”.