RFD Winged Target – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

DerekB06/03/202303/06/2023

Aviation Heritage Vol. 54 No. 1 (March 2023) Contents Listing

The latest quarterly edition (March 2023) of the AHSA journal – Aviation Heritage – has recently been posted to members. The full contents are...

1938 de Havilland DH.84 Dragon VH-UXK operated by North Queensland Airways crashed at Mundoo, near Innisfail, Queensland on 29 August 1938. The aircraft had departed Cairns at 5.45 am on a scheduled service to Townsville via a landing at Ingham to drop off 1 passenger. Departed Townsville just after 8 am with full load of 8 passengers, for Cairns with scheduled stop at Innisfail. The weather was fine but aircraft stalled in circuit while preparing to land at Innisfail. The pilot, B. H. Goodson, and 4 passengers were killed, and 4 passengers survived. An investigation report stated the aircraft was correctly loaded, 180 lb below Max All Up Weight, had flown 4,680 hours of which 3,620 hrs were in Australia over previous 23 months. Pilot B.H. Goodson had been with the airline only 3 days and had gained his Dragon endorsement flying a service to Townsville return not fully loaded and without landings en-route. Goodson had 2,000 hours experience and had been an instructor with Rockhampton Aero Club, later CFI (Chief Flying Instructor) of Kingsford Smith Aviation Services, Sydney, but had never flown a DH.84 Dragon. The investigation found that he allowed the aircraft to stall during a discontinued approach which was made because of a tractor on the runway. Source: aviation-safety.net website

1951 WOFF Ron Guthrie became the first RAAF pilot to eject from an aircraft in combat after being shot down over North Korea on 29 August 1951. Guthrie joined the RAAF at the tender age of 18 in 1943 and qualified as a pilot at age 19. He served in Australia during the war flying the Fairey Battle aircraft at an aircrew training school. At the end of the war, he was posted to an aircraft storage disposal unit where he was able to fly a wide variety of RAAF aircraft. He then briefly served as as an Air Traffic Controller before being posted to fighter pilot duties serving initially with No 76 Squadron flying Mustangs and then No 75 Squadron at RAAF Williamtown where he flew the Vampire. Posted to 77 SQN in Korea in mid 1951, he was one of the few 77 SQN pilots with fast jet experience and in the transition to the Meteor, completed 14 combat missions up until 29 August 1951. On that day Guthrie was flying Meteor A77-721 in a mixed formation of eight 77 Squadron Meteors and 16 USAF Sabres at about 10,000 meters altitude on a fighter sweep. They sighted a formation of 12 MiG-15s at altitude and broke formation to engage in a fierce dogfight. Several Meteors incurred significant damage while at the same time engaging the enemy aircraft. SQNLDR Wilson, a 77 Squadron Flight Commander, was struck by cannon fire and broke off the engagement nursing his damaged Meteor home, where it was found that his port aileron had been almost shot away. Guthrie was not so lucky. His aircraft was struck causing it to enter a nose-down dive at 36,600 feet. With all controls gone, he decided to eject using the Martin Baker seat with which the Meteor was fitted. It was actually the first time that a Martin Baker seat had been used in combat, and his altitude is still the record for the highest combat ejection in the RAAF. The altitude of his ejection has only been exceeded in the RAAF by peacetime ejections at 38,000 feet from two Sabre jets involved in a midair collision in 1960. It took almost 28 minutes for Guthrie to descend via parachute. Landing in farmland, he was quickly beset by North Korean soldiers, one of which he shot with his pistol, only to then be captured. He spent the next two years as a prisoner of war managing to escape once only to be recaptured. Meanwhile, his squadron, who did not really see him bail out, only learned of his successful bail out months later at a UN sponsored prisoner of war exchange of information initiative. Guthrie served two years as a POW in a North Korean/Chinese POW camp finally being released in September 1953. After the Korean War, Guthrie returned to the RAAF as a Flying Instructor retiring as a Squadron Leader in 1980. Guthrie's experiences are retold in the excellent book "Escape from North Korea."

1981 Piper PA-32-260 VH-PON crashed 53km ENE of Finke, Northern Territory on 29 August 1981. The pilot was intenting to fly from Moorabbin to Alice Springs carrying three passengers. After becoming lost near Alice Springs the pilot called Alice Springs and asked for radar guidance. He was then informed that Alice Springs was not equipped with radar and asked if he required navigational assistance. The pilot replied 'affirmative'. The Uncertainty Phase of Search and Rescue procedures was then implemented. As radio communications with VH-PON were intermittent, messages were relayed through other traffic and the pilot was aksed if he could climb to 10 000 feet. Communications then improved and Alice Springs was able to ascertain from the pilot that his last positive visual fix had been Oodnadatta. It was calculated that VH-PON was east of track. The pilot was therefore instructed to steer a heading of 320 degrees magnetic. At 2150 hours, he reported the ADF was indicating 030 degrees, but he could not see any lights or ground features. At 2157 hours, the pilot was instructed to steer a heading of 300 degrees magnetic, in the hope that he would come within range of the Alice Springs VOR station. Three minutes later he advised that his VOR equipment was receiving Alice Springs and he was on the 320 radial. As this indicated the aircraft was northwest of Alice Springs, the pilot was asked to confirm that his equipment indicated 320 'to' and not 320 'from' the station. No reply was received to either this or subsequent repeated calls. SAR procedures were upgraded to the Distress Phase and an extensive air and ground search ensued. VH-PON was not equipped with an emergency locator beacon and the wreckage was not located until 0755 hours on 31 August. Parts of the aircraft were spread over a considerable area and a trajectory analysis of the various components indicated VH-PON had broken apart while heading 050 degrees magnetic, in a steep dive of at least 46 degrees and within an altitude range of 2750-3850 feet. Examination of the wreckage found no evidence of pre-existing defect. The left wing, both left and right stabilators and the rudder and fin had separated from the aircraft as a result of overload forces, in excess of the design strength of the aircraft. The cause of the accident was that, following a loss of control, the aircraft was subjected to aerodynamic loads in excess of its design limit. The reason for the loss of control was not determined but the pilot's lack of training and experience at maintaining control in the absence of external visual reference, fatigue and prolonged stress arising from navigational difficulties were probably contributing factors. There were 4 fatalities. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website