Volume 34 Number 3 . ■“■■■■ili September 2003 :il|: ...............* ....liil III iiiliii Illili llllllll il III iili ■ ill III iili ill .................... 1... ■fiiiiS Ray Parer - Part 2 ■■■I Mosquito Down !■ The Journal of the AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY of AUSTRALIA Inc. A00336533P, ARBN 092-671-773 Volume 34 - Number 3 - September 2003 EDITOR, DESIGN & PRODUCTION EDITORIAL Bill Baker Here we go again another Aviation Heritage, which I hope Address all correspondence to; you all enjoy. The Editor, AHSA, Reflecting on things, I was thinking about the increasing use P.0, Box 2007, of Web Sites for the dissemination of information. I was South Melbourne 3205 Victoria, Australia. looking at a site the other day and it was like a game of 03 9583 4072 Phone & Fax 'Snakes and Ladders’ with one thing leading to another. I E.mail: [email protected] found that it was very confusing with it being very hard to get www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/ahsa.html a complete picture of the story. I thought a good story Subscription Rates; ruined. It’s very hard to refer back to items that have may Australia A$45. have looked at, unlike picking up a book. You might gather Asia-Pacific A$55 by all this that I am not a real fan of the WWW. There is no Rest of World A$68. substitute for the printed word, after all, that is what ‘Aviation Overseas payment to be in Australian Heritage’ is all about. Keep writing! currency by International Money Order or Bank Draft. Overseas personal cheques Editors wish list; cannot be accepted. Priority 1: First to Fly in Australia^ Still waiting, waiting.) Articles for Publication; Any facet of Australia’s aviation history, Malaya, GAF Are to be on an Australian theme. Nomad, Korea, Vietnam, anything that interests you and can The Editor reserves the right to edit any be printed. How about the history of Airbus in Australia? Or article accepted for publication. some photos out of your collection for the Members Photo Payment is not made for articles. Page? Don’t forget that Papua New Guinea and the Pacifio Please include sufficient postage for the Islands come under our banner also. Anything!! return of originals if that is required. A - H and the Computer; Contributions for Cover: Edward Fletcher has come up trumps again with his the Journal are most welcome in any form, article on WA’s Lockheed Electras. This great picture shows but if you have a computer, exported on a VH-ABV under thirty donkey power “taxying” from the 3V2" disc in ASSCII format (plain text), or swamp. WIN 6, would be just great! (Include hard copy also). However Macintosh discs can be Next Issue; Volume 34 Number 4 will be in your letter-box translated. All photographs submitted will be in the first week of December 2003. copied and the originals returned within 5 Contents; days of receipt. 83 WA Lockheed Electra Edward Fletcher Disclaimer; 88 Mosquito Down Mike Flanagan 1. Whilst every effort is made to check the 94 Ray Parer Part 2 Greg Banfield authenticity of the material and advertising 110 Korean War K-Sites Clive Lynch printed, the Publishers, Editors, and the 111 Wings Over Mesopotamia Keith isaacs Aviation Historical Society of Australia and its 122 Harold Shelton Mac Job 123 Confusing the Enemy John Hopton Office Bearers cannot accept responsibility for any non-performance. Meetings of the AHSA; 2. The views expressed in 'Aviation Heritage' are not necessarily those of the Melbourne Branch: The fourth Wednesday in every AHSA or its Editors. month, 7:30 at the Airforce Association, 4 Cromwell Street, South Yarra. Further information - Keith Meggs 9580 0140. AVIATION HERITAGE ISSN 0815 -4392 NSW Branch: The first Wednesday in every month 7:45 Studio 1 at the Powerhouse Museum, enter from the ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Macarthur Street end. Further information Warwick © 2001 by the Publishers; Bigsworth 02 9872 2323 THE AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF Queensland Branch: The last Friday in every month 7:30 AUSTRALIA INC., at the RQAC Archerfield. Meals available. Contact Richard A0033653P ARBN 092-671-773 Hitchins, 07 3388 3900 P.O. BOX 2007, SOUTH MELBOURNE, ____ VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA AHSA Aviation Heritage Pre-war Civil Aircraft of Western Australia By EDWARD FLETCHER The Lockheed lOA Electra ABW airborne, but not flying. Unloading the Electras at Port Adelaide. Photo;Frunk Colquhoun In 1929 the Detroit Aircraft Corporation obtained a and Pan American, entering service by June of that year. controlling interest in the Lockheed Aircraft Company but The company offered three basic variants, the 10A fitted the group's fortunes declined rapidly in the early years of with 400 hp Wasp Junior SB2 engines, the 10B fitted with the Depression. By October 1931, the Corporation went 440 hp Wright R-975-E3 power plants, the IOC with Wasp into receivership and the small trickle of orders were only 450 hp SCI engines as well as the most powerful type, just sufficient to stall off bankruptcy. the 10E which came with 600 hp Wasp R-1340-S3H1 engines. 148 machines were constructed after the In June 1932, a group of American businessmen prototype and were widely sold across the world. It was a acquired the Lockheed assets and reformed the company. most successful and reliable machine and was to be the Among them were Walter Varney, the owner of an airline, starting point of several other similar types such as the and Lloyd Stearman who became the company chairman. Models 12, 14, 18, 37 and the well-known variant of the The new owners resolved to re-enter the market with a Model 14 Super Electra, the Hudson. Nine Model 10 newly-designed all-metal airliner. Stearman was in favour Electras were imported into Australia of which six were of a single engined machine but the success of the Boeing type 10A and three were type 10B. 247 changed their thinking and instead they turned to a twin-engined design with a retractable undercarriage. The MacRobertson Miller Airlines (MMA) in Western new aircraft was designated the Model 10 and named the Australia were operating the Perth to Daly Waters route Electra. It was designed to carry 10 passengers with a under a five year contract to the Department of Defence crew of two and with an estimated maximum speed of from October 1934 to October 1939. In July 1938 the around 200 mph, It aroused immediate interest from airline company came to a temporary agreement with The operators. Department (The Department of Civil Aviation) to extend the service to Darwin to link Perth with the new Empire Flying Boat service from Singapore to Sydney. This agreement was only granted for a period of six months and was due to expire in February 1939. Two de Havilland DH 86 aircraft were bought as a stop gap measure as the only aircraft available at short notice that could traverse the route in two days and the company notified the Department that, if they placed m ! an order for three - later modified to two-Lockheed Electras by August 1938, they could be delivered to WA by the year's end. MMA realised that with only a temporary contract of six months, they would be in a difficult position if they were to lose the route only a few weeks after buying the aircraft. An agreement was reached with the Department that, in the event of loss Twin Set, May lands ABV and ABW early 1946. Photo; Author of contract, the Department would purchase the aircraft and spares at book value or reimburse MMA The prototype first flew on 23 February 1934 and for any loss they may sustain on their resale. The seven machines were immediately ordered by North West Department were not being unduly generous as they 83 AHSA Aviation Heritage intended to make it a condition to any new operator that company morale, the all-metal machines being robust and they would take over the aircraft at a cost sufficient to easy to maintain and fly. reimburse the Department for any outlay they had made. Lockheed 10A Electra VH-ABV c/n 1130 With this obstacle safely negotiated MMA immediately placed an order with Brown and Bureau, the Australian RMA Gascoyne u. , u agents for Lockheed, for two Model 10A Electras at a base The Gascoyne was due to become the black sheep of the pair, suffering several accidents of varying degrees of severity in its time with MMA. But, as so often happens to the black sheep, it had amazing recuperative powers and always came back for more. As we will see, its sister ship had a far more tranquil life but suffered a sudden and violent end while ABV is still extant today and possibly now airworthy! ABV had a busy schedule on the North West run, making landings at Geraldton, Carnarvon, Onslow, Roebourne, Whim Creek and Port Hedland for an overnight stop. The next day the aircraft flew to Broome, Derby, Nookenbah, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Wyndham and Darwin, the total flight time being 15 hours and 45 minutes and each Electra making one return trip every week. All Famous Last Words - ''No - thaFs not the undercarriage retract lever’\ Jack went well until January 1942 Gethin, Guinea Airways chief engineer ruefully inspects the propeller Damage. The outbreak of war with Japan was to December 1938. Photo;Frank Colquhoun have an immediate impact on MMA. Large cost of A£ 17,000 each plus spares and additional numbers of refugees from Singapore and Timor started equipment. They were shipped to Port Adelaide SA, coming down from the North and while most of them were arriving on the SS Tolken on 5 December 1938 and were in aircraft which carried on to Maylands, the traffic from transported to Parafield aerodrome where Guinea Airways Darwin increased sharply.