Junkers F13 – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

DerekB30/09/202319/11/2023

Aviation Heritage Vol. 54 No. 3 (September 2023) Contents Listing

The latest quarterly AHSA journal – Aviation Heritage – has recently been posted to members. The contents of all articles are listed below: Aviation...

1942 No. 467 Squadron RAAF was formed at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom, under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) on 7 November 1942 and was equipped with Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. Under the terms of the EATS, the squadron was nominally a Royal Australian Air Force unit, but it was manned by a mixture of Commonwealth personnel, the majority being British originally, although as the war progressed more Australians were posted in. Soon after becoming operational the squadron moved to RAF Bottesford, Leicestershire; it remained for a year before moving back to Lincolnshire, at RAF Waddington. Source: RAAF Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History Volume 3: Bomber Units. Canberra: Australian Capital Territory: AGPS Press. ISBN 9780644427968

2008 Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain Panther VH-OPC crashed 3 km North of Bathurst airport, NSW on 7 November 2008. The aircraft was being operated on a private flight under instrument flight rules from Moorabbin Airport, Vic. to Port Macquarie via Bathurst, NSW. On board the aircraft were the owner-pilot and three passengers. The flight from Moorabbin to Bathurst was conducted in accordance with the pilot's flight plan and a review of recorded air traffic control data and communications did not reveal any problems during that flight. After refuelling at Bathurst Airport, the pilot departed from runway 35 for Port Macquarie in dark-night conditions with light rain in the area. At about 20:24, some 2½ minutes after reporting airborne, residents of Forest Grove to the north of Bathurst Airport, heard a sudden loud noise from an aircraft at low altitude. Shortly after, there was the sound of an explosion and the glow of a fire. The aircraft was found to have impacted terrain resulting in serious damage to the aircraft. The four occupants were fatally injured. The aircraft had impacted the ground upright, slightly right wing low, at a descent angle greater than 20°. The wreckage trail, oriented on a ground track of 165° M, extended for about 300 m. Almost all of the major aircraft parts were seriously impact and fire damaged. The propellers indicated high rotational energy. The landing gear and wing flaps were retracted. Due to fire and impact damage, and limited information about the sequence of events after takeoff, the evidence available to the investigation was limited. There were no indicators of aircraft malfunction or pilot impairment prior to the accident. After extensive examination, the investigation found there was no evidence of any aircraft unserviceability and that airworthiness was not likely to have been a contributing factor in the accident. The investigation was unable to establish why the aircraft collided with terrain; however, pilot spatial disorientation or pilot incapacitation could not be discounted. Sources: ATSB investigation report ao-2008-076; aviation-safety.net website