AHSA Newsletter Vol. 32, No. 3, July 2016 – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

1942 Warrant Flying Officer Nobuo Fujita completed a recconnaissance flight over Sydney Harbour in his Yokosuka E14Y "Glen" two-seat float plane, launching his aircraft from the Japanese submarine I-25 on Tuesday 17 February 1942. Source: ozatwar.com website

1974 A RAAF VIP aircraft carrying the Prime Minister's wife, Mrs Margaret Whitlam, had to make an emergency landing at Goulburn on 17 February 1974 when it developed engine trouble. A Government spokesman said last night, the pilot of the aircraft, a twin-engined turbo-prop Hawker Siddeley 748, saw a red warning light come on while flying over the Southern Tablelands area. The pilot immediately made an emergency landing at Goulburn at about 5.15pm. The aircraft landed safely and no one was injured. The spokesman said the pilot inspected the engines but found no sign of a fire. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said last night Mrs Whitlam was “unperturbed” by the incident. “Mrs Whitlam was flying back to Canberra from Sydney after she and Mr Whitlam visited Cessnock”, the spokesman said. “She left Mr Whitlam in Sydney to fly home to Canberra to unpack.” “Mrs Whitlam told me she was unperturbed by the incident and on arriving at the Lodge unpacked”, the spokesman said. The spokesman confirmed there was no fire in the aircraft's engine but that the indicator light had malfunctioned. The aircraft was earlier used by Mr Whitlam to fly from Canberra to Cessnock and back to Sydney. Mrs Whitlam is not allowed to order a VIP flight but as the aircraft was returning to Canberra, decided to fly back as well. A second Hawker Siddeley, also returning from Sydney, was called to Goulburn to take Mrs Whitlam on to Canberra. A RAAF team will be sent from Fairbairn RAAF Base today to make a thorough inspection of the aircraft at Goulburn. Source: The Canberra Times, Mon 18 February 1974, Page 1.

2002 On 17 February 2002, the first contingent of RAAF F/A-18 Hornet personnel was officially welcomed home to RAAF Base Williamtown following a 3½ month deployment to Afghanistan under Operation Slipper. Source: aph.gov.au website