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The Quarterly Journal. Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia Inc The Quarterly Journal . ofthe Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia Inc. Volume 13 Number3 2002 Publishedby the FleetAir ArmAssociation of AustraliaInc . Print PostApproved -PP201494/00022 Editor: JohnArnold - PO Box662 NOWRANSW 2541 Australia Phone/Fax (02) 4423 2412- Emailslipstream@sbaal net a11 Slipstream ~ -------------- FOREWORD by ViceAdmiral C.A. Ritchie AO RAN Chiefof Navy First, let me thank the National President,Commodore 'Toz' DadswellAM RAN (Rtd), for his kind invitationto provide the forewordto such a fine journal. Slipstreamprovides not only a wealthof informationto the ex-Navymembers of the FAAAbut also an importantlink to the menand women of today'sNavy. I confess that I havean affinityfor the aviationworld. As the CAGTAS, and a greatjob it wasfor a youngwarfare officer, I servedat ALBATROSS • and embarkedin the "big war canoe", as MELBOURNEwas affectionatelyknown. I havemany fond memoriesof my timeat sea withthe FleetAir Arm. In my mindNavy's people never 'retire'. OnceNavy is in the blood,it remainsforever. This is veryclear in the way that the FAAAmaintains its links with today's FleetAir Arm. The initiativeof the FAAAin providing 'hampers'last Christmas to the embarkedflights deployed overseas was a clearsign of the strongties of loyalty thatbind the navalaviation community. Whilequite different in size and shapeto the carrier-basedFleet Air Arm of the past,today's Naval Aviation is everybit as essentialto our missiontoday as it was then. Navy's embarkedhelicopters are at the heartof combinedoperations in the MiddleEast and in borderprotection operations to our north. Everythingour aviatorsdo, they do with greatcredit -at everyturn. The professionalismof the peoplethat makeup today's squadronsand embarked flights is quiteoutstanding. The levelof integrationof aviationassets into surfacecombatants today is impressive;helicopters are not just an extensionof the sensorsand weaponsof our fleet -they are integraland vital. Our Seahawksand Sea Kingsare in greatdemand at sea and our aircrewand aviationtechnicians are puUingin moresea timethan ever before. Becauseof the very high operationaldemand we also have the Squirrelembarked in the Hydrographicships for surveillanceduties in the north. As VADMShackleton remarked at the Divisionsthat markedhis departure from the RANin July "theaviators are making a magnificentcontribution to operations". Thechallenges that lie aheadfor NavalAviation are major,but they are alsocertain to be veryrewarding . I am confidentthat, as always,we will bringnew aircraft systems into serviceand maximisetheir fightingcapability. It is in the spiritand the historyof the FleetAir Armto do so. Puttingaside the unfortunatemedia exploitation of delaysin the project,I am confidentwe will havean excellentweapon system in the SuperSeasprite. We hav~ introduced,ahead of schedule,new ForwardLooking Infra-Red (FLIR) equipment to the Seahawks,which is provingexceptionally effective in currentoperations. System upgrades to the Seahawkand introductionof a Night Vision (NVG)capability to both Seahawkand Sea King, now underway,will boost our operational effectivenessvery significantly. As I close,I wishall FAAAmembers and past aviators the verybest of fortuneand I knowthat youwill join me in wishingwell the currentmembers of our squadronsas theyserve their countryand their Air Armforebears with pride. I, andthe menand women of today'sFleet Air Arm,greatly value the supportof the Associationand we look forwardto ever-prosperingties betweenthe past, the presentand the future of aviationin the Royal AustralianNavy. 2 Slipstream BIOGRAPHY EDITOR'S - ~ ViceAdmiral Chris Ritchie, AO CORNER !.\ -=~·-·.· . ,• '~ RoyalAustralian Navy . ' ' _,. : . Chiefof Navy Greetingsreaders . Pleaseaccept my apologies for the delay in producingthis edition of - ~) ViceAdmiral Chris Ritchie graduated from the RANCollege in Slipstream,but the circumstanceshave been 1968 and receivedfurther trainingat sea and in the United beyondmy control. Kingdom before undertakinga succession of seagoing This editionhas beenproduced with the financialassistance appointmentsand a staff appointmentat the NATOSchool of of BovisLend Lease and on behalfof all, I thankthem. MaritimeOperations at HMSDRYAD. I alsothank the mysterydonor who sent in the MoneyOrder for the Slipstream account, the gesture was very much His commandshave included HMAS TARAKAN,HMAS appreciated. TORRENS,and HMAS BRISBANE. During his period in Whilstreading through various newsletters, particularly from commandof HMASBRISBANE the shipdeployed to the Arabian the RoyalNavy Associations, I start to feel quiteenvious of the Gulf,where she participatedfor the durationof the GulfWar. In rapportthat exists betweenthe 'old and bold' and the current 1991,as a resultof this service,he was appointeda Memberin servingmembers . Apparentlywhen they leavethe service,the the MilitaryDivision of the Orderof Australia. doordoesn't clang shut behindthem, but remainsslightly ajar for • . the exchangeof news and updatesof the servicethey helped In 1992,Vice AdmiralRitchie attended the Royal Collegeof pioneer.It is a sourceof greatangst to methat the samecourtesy DefenceStudies in the UnitedKingdom. On completionhe was is notextended to ourAssociation by the currentFleet Air Arm. promotedto Commodoreand had appointmentsin NavalPolicy Despitemany attemptsby myself and the previousand and Warfare,and MilitaryStrategy and Concepts.In 1997he currentNational Executive, trying to get informationand updates waspromoted and appointed as MaritimeCommander Australia, is nighon impossible.Most 'news' that youread in thisjournal has returningto Canberrain May 1999to serve brieflyas Deputy to be extractedfrom the localpress, which I can onlypresume is Chiefof Navy beforetaking up the appointmentof Head of indicativeof our positionon the 'birdies'totem pole. CapabilitySystems . As a consequenceof his servicein these Theonly recent exception has been the totallyunsolicited, and appointmentshe was promotedto Officerin the MilitaryDivision very much appreciated, submissionby AndrewWhittaker, the of theOrder of Australiain January2001. CommandingOfficer of 816 Squadron,which appearsin this edition. He is obviously very proud of his Squadron's ViceAdmiral Ritchie was appointedas CommanderAustralian achievementsand· is preparedto sharethat pridewith those who Theatreon 3 August2001. He wasthe first wentbefore . Commanderto havepreviously served as a Component Commander to the To the memberswho requestedupdates following the 723 Headquarters.On 03 July 2002, he was SquadronAnniversary , I apologise. After two requeststo the appointedas Chief of Navy and was squadronthe informationhas notbeen forthcoming. promotedto ViceAdmiral. I supposethat we are regardedas 'boringold farts'by the up andcoming, but restassured, it is a conditionthat catches up with ViceAdmiral Ritchie is marriedto Juliaand everyonein thefullness of time. hastwo adult sons. Be kindto eachother. ANOTHERTOUGH COMMITTEE MEETING! SOTHIS IS A CANBERRADESK JOB! FRONTCOVER: SEEARTICLE PAGES 12 AND 13 DEADLINE!FORNEXT EDTION 11 NOVEMBER 2002 3 Slipstream ~ -------------- DearEd '64 to '66 and initially usedto fly to Avalonwith Neil (Limpy) Louer The last issueof Slipstreamwas up to the and we billetedat PointCook. Later , JerryO 'Daytook overand usualstandard . I knowfull well the efforton we thenbilleted at Laverton. yourpart to producethe same.My very best As I recall, the aircraftcarried 2 rocketswith dummy heads on L......Jw....J...Q.,Laa.,:,=:........i wishesto youfor thefuture . the portwing to counteractthe weightof the blackbo x unit on the The story 'UP and DOWNa UniqueExperience' by Sandy starboardwing. One day , the 'torpedodrop ' wentoff courseand i t Sandbergcertainly stirred some memories. First up let me say a landedin the bushon the westerns ide of the Geelongh ighway. 'BigThank You', Sandy . This is the first timesince the eventthat Theboffins and I jumpedinto two cars andshot straight across all theArmourers have been acknowledged for theireffort. four lanesinto the scrubto recoverthe unit beforeany 'not for youreyes ' spottedit. Luckily,there wasn 't a lot of traffic about but I commencedworking in the EjectionSeat Bay at the RANAS therewere a fewstartled drivers nevertheless . Armouryin August1958 as a Mech1. By the timeof the ejection in June 1960,I would have servicedeach Ejection Seat both Sometimesthe rockets ando ther equipmentwere de liveredto Mk4A's and Mk3B's at leastseven times each , ably assistedby Avalonby the DC3,but on oneoccas ion I drovedown from Nowra my NavalAirman offsider Peter McDonald. The SafetyEquipment with the two rocketson my roof rack, well wrappedin a tarp. I lads wouldattend on an 'as requiredbasis' to servicethe seat often wonderwhat would have been the reactionof the local harnessquick release box . gendarmesif they'd unwrappedit or if I was involvedin an accident. Of moreinterest, however , was the fact that we had not Jong before began to strip and service the Drogue Guns and "Hullo, hullo, wot'sthis then? " BarometricTime ReleaseUnits. Joe Gregoryand myselfhad "Oh,just a couple of old rockets, mate." beensent to RAAFAmberly to learnhow to strip and inspectthe "Andwhy are you carrying them on yourroof rack?" variouscomponents of these units. The RAAF had sent their "Well, I mightfire them at some buggerwho won't let me peopleto the MartinBaker Factory in the UKto learnthe 'ins and pass." outs'of theseitems. We did it thecheap way. I reckonI 'd have beenin the slammerso quick and tryingto The drawingsfor
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