Lii'iiiwlfi M Ilii 'I*Iiiii Ill Liili •Ill III I||Ili Lllll
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■I 1 m Wi ■ m w ■J ■I ■ 1 m m m 1m ■i j ( m ■ m ■ i m — Ill It iililii ilM llllllll iiiil "iiiiiiife iiMllllllllllli :■||ii■ MIpiiiii "i|«isliiilsilllli ■ ■ ill ill m ■ 1 ""Wsiiillllllllllll* * YM ill II iiiiiiliiliiliiil ■1ilii lllll ill III ill :B,,«.«lIliiillll|||lir CAPT. VAL ST.LEON ....if« DON’T CALL ME KILLER lllll 111 ill Hi IP III ill iii ■ill lii'iiiWlfi m ilii 'i*iiIII ill liili •ill III i||ili lllll . iiiit* '■iiiiiii!iii" ■Illlli .1 ii tiil ill i;ij||||lHM iii IlHlI fill iiiiii ^■H■II|i■liif i ilBBW iii The Journal of the AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY of AUSTRALIA Inc. A00336533P, ARBN 092-671-773 Volume 35 - Number 3 September 2004 EDITORIAL EDITOR, DESIGN & PRODUCTION Bill Baker Firstly I must apologise for the mistake I made on the last cover Address all correspondence to; where I put the March identification panel on it in place of the June The Editor, AHSA, one, however it was correct on the Editorial page. P.O. Box 2007, South Melbourne 3205 Victoria, Australia. In the Val St Leon biography it is very interesting to read about the 03 9583 4072 Phone & Fax strikes that crippled Qantas in 1957 and 1966, as Val was a E.mail: [email protected] member of the Qantas executive of the Australian Federation of www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/ahsa.html Air Pilots (Overseas Branch). Coming from the pilots side some of Qantas actions do seem a little bit childish. It would be great to Subscription Rates; have some one write this up so we could publish it, forty plus years Australia A$45. should make it easier to do so. Asia-Pacific A$55 Rest of World A$68. Editors wish list: Overseas payment to be in Australian currency Priority 1: First to Fly in Australia^ Still waiting, waiting.) by International Money Order or Bank Draft. Any facet of Australia’s aviation history, Malaya, GAF Nomad, Overseas personal cheques cannot be accepted. Korea, Vietnam, anything that interests you and can be printed. Articles for Publication; How about the history of Airbus in Australia? Or some photos out Are to be on an Australian theme. of your collection for the Member’s Photo Page? Don’t forget that The Editor reserves the right to edit any article Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands come under our accepted for publication. banner also. Anything!! Payment is not made for articles. Please include sufficient postage for the return of Cover: Our cover this issue comes from Val St. Leon’s originals if that is required. biographical article. The scene is the proving flight of Australia to South Africa and was shot at Cocas Keeling Island during a A - H and the Computer; Contributions for the landing. Journal are most welcome in any form, but if you have a computer, exported on a i'll disc in Next Issue: Volume 35 Number 4 will be in your letter-box in the ASSCII format (plain text), or WIN 6, would be first week of Deceember 2004. just great! (Include hard copy also). However Macintosh discs can be translated. All Contents: photographs submitted will be copied and the 91 Capt Val St. Leon Greg Banfield originals returned within 5 days of receipt. 108 Fate Deals a Double Tragedy John M.Smith Disclaimer; 109 Those Rottnest Catalinas Arthur Jones 1. Whilst every effort is made to check the 130 Addendum to Yeoman/Cropmaster History authenticity of the material and advertising A.Eckford/C.Lynch printed, the Publishers, Editors, and the Aviation 113 Don’t Call Me Killer Kristen Alexander Historical Society of Australia and its Office 124 Qperation Comex Sole-1956 Mike Flanagan Bearers cannot accept responsibility for any non 130 Disaster at Mornington performance. 130 Forty Three Years Ago Bill Roepcke 2. The views expressed in 'Aviation Heritage' are not necessarily those of the AHSA or its Editors. Meetings of the AHSA: Melbourne Branch: The fourth Wednesday in every month, 7:30 at the Airforce Association, 4 Cromwell Street, South Yarra. Further information - Keith Meggs 9580 0140. NSW Branch: The first Wednesday in every month 7:45 Studio 1 at the Powerhouse Museum, enter from the Macarthur Street end. Further information - Warwick Bigsworth 02 9872 2323 AVIATION HERITAGE Queensland Branch: The last Friday in every month 7:30 at the ISSN 0815 -4392 RQAC Archerfield. Meals available. Contact Richard Hitchins, 07 Print Post Approved PP 320418/00017 3388 3900 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2004 by the Publishers; THE AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY COME ALONG TO A MEETING. OF AUSTRALIA INC., JOIN A FRIEND. A0033653P ARBN 092-671-773 P.O. BOX 2007, SOUTH MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA AHSA Aviation Heritage CAPTAIN VAL ST. LEON A Gloster Gladiator of No. 3 Squadron, RAAF in early 1941. Norman Valentine St. Leon enlisted in the RAAF in 1939 as an engineer, serving with No.3 Squadron in the Middle East before returning to Australia to duties with No.2 OTU based at Mildura. He then set up and ran the Allison engine overhaul department at Oakey, leaving the Air Force in 1946 to join Qantas. With the introduction of Lockheed Constellations in 1947, he became Qantas' first Chief Flight Engineer. In 1952 he remustered as a pilot, becoming a Captain on the Douglas DC-3, Lockheed Electra, Boeing 707 and Boeing 747. Val St.Leon was decorated with the Middle East campaign Stars, both Vietnam medals, and the rare Air Efficiency Award (AE), and served in the RAAF Reserve until 1965 as a Flight Lieutenant. During his career he became a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society (FRMetS), a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society (MRAeS), and a Member of the Royal Institute of Navigation (MRIN). Now aged 82, he is hoping to complete a Master of Literature Degree in 2004. He recorded this interview with Greg Ban field on 6th August 2003. Ail photos Val St Leon. I was born in Sydney on 6th November 1921, into a apprenticeship he went straight up to New Guinea to get theatrical family. Family mythology encouraged a belief more flying experience with Guinea Airways. He then that my great-grandfather started the first circus in joined Australian National Airways, subsequently became Australia in 1842, when he arrived in this country. My their Flight Superintendent, and had a very good career son's research shows that the circus was operating in the with them. We met again briefly in Brisbane in 1950. early 1850s and that he changed his name four times for theatrical reasons. The whole of my family otherwise was At a very early age I had decided I would do the connected with show business in general. Both my mother tradesman's entrance examinations to join the RAAF. This and father were on the Tivoli, Clay's, J. C. Williamson and I did at the age of 17 years and two months, which was J. and N. Tait circuits and I grew up in that atmosphere, quite illegal as the minimum age was 18. I passed the oral but the entertainment profession never appealed to me. and practical trade test examinations very successfully and was accepted for enlistment for a period of six years, but My mother had been teaching me with the aid of then I had to inform the Air Force that I had made a Blackfriars Correspondence Schools during our constant mistake in my age. The Air Force wrote me a very nice travelling but my formal education did not start until the letter asking me to complete the medical examinations, age of ten. I went into the correct class for my age when I have two teeth filled, and said that they would then think began school in Sydney. When my secondary education about allowing me to enlist before the specified age was completed I was accepted into Sydney Technical College when I was apprenticed at Coote and Jorgensen When war broke out in September 1939 I was called (now Borg Warner) as a fitter and turner at the age of up, and enlisted in the Permanent Air Force on 16th sixteen. October, before I was 18. I hadn't completed my apprenticeship at that stage but when I came out of the Air I served alongside Charlie Gray, a senior apprentice Force seven years later I was given my papers because who was a couple of years ahead of me. Charlie was the engineering work I had been doing was the equivalent learning to fly and was building up his hours to get his B standard and I was a recognised tradesman. Licence, which was what the Commercial Pilot Licence was then called, and I got a bit of the aviation bug from I completed my training at Laverton and graduated as him. When he gained the required 100 hours, he was a Fitter 2E, and was then posted to Richmond, where I issued with his licence, and as soon as he finished his started to learn a little bit about aircraft and engines in general. One of my most unusual jobs was to make the 91 AHSA Aviation Heritage Scarfe gun mountings for the Qantas C Class flying boats when they were impressed by the RAAF and converted to military configuration. My next unusual job was to land every Lockheed Hudson that came by ship Into Sydney Harbour. The outer wings had been removed for shipment and I would enter the fuselage and pump the landing gear down after the Titan crane lifted us from the ship's deck. After the crane deposited us on the wharf, I would insert the landing gear pins and the aircraft would then be transported by road to Richmond.