Smithy (movie) – 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...

1929 After a forced landing the previous day, Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harold Litchfield and Tom McWilliams were stranded west of Wyndham, WA for a second day on Monday 1 April 1929. Ulm recorded the following entries in his log: "Smithy and myself spent practically the whole day improvisiong a belt drive for the radio generator. We had no tools. The flies are awful. Eight o'clock Sydney time, listened in again. Food has run out, but plenty of water. All are very weak. Mac and self are the worst, because we get no sleep. Got Sydney on the radio and they say a launch has left Wyndham to search the Drysdale River, also that a plane was to leave Derby in search. Litchfield fixed our position this morning about 120 miles from Derby and about 180 miles west of Wyndham. The plane is our main hope. We used one third of a tin of gruel which we were taking to a sick child at Wyndham. Turned in about 8.20 aftehard physical work by Smithy and self trying to turn the radio fast enough to get out a message, but doubtful if it is any good. Monday night: Smithy and Litchfield had less than one hour's sleep, Mac half an hour, myself none. The mosquito bites are appalling. All are much weaker. Have named this place "Coffee Royal." Smithy and myself trudged through the mangrove swamps searching for oysters but found none. Saw a small kangaroo on Sunday, but have seen nothing since Monday afternoon. Moved the plane round to slightly drier ground." Two newspapers, The Sun (Sydney) and The Herald (Melbourne) organised with Western Australian Airways to send an aircraft to search for the missing crew, and a deHavilland aircraft under the command of Captain Woods flew from Port Hedland to Fitzroy Crossing on its way to the Wyndham area. This forced landing and its consequences became known as the "Coffee Royal" affair. Sources: Parnell, N. and Boughton, T., Flypast, A Record of Aviation in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld), Mon 15 Apr 1929, Page 9, "LIEUTENANT ULM'S LOG"; The Sun (Sydney), Mon 1 Apr 1929, Page 1, "The Sun" Sends 'Plane to Rescue of Southern Cross

Log book entry by Charles Ulm on 1 April 1929 while stranded at "Coffee Royal"

1945 RAAF Flight Lieutenant Warrick (“Wack”) James Turner (403773) aboard Kittyhawk A29-423 was partaking in No.40 Fighter Operational Conversion Course (FOCC) onto Kittyhawks at 2 Operational Conversion Unit, Mildura, when a barge strafing exercise ended in tragedy. The authorisation and briefing for this exercise was – The flight duration of 1 hour, the duty being “Barge Strafing with Camera Guns”, this exercise consisted of a flight of four aircraft searching for two moored barges on the Murray river, attacking each barge 4 times at right angles to the river, with steep attacks of approximately 40 degrees from a height of 800 to 1000 feet, making a tactical withdrawal at tree-top level, and to cease firing and break away at a minimum height of 200 feet. On completion of this exercise, they were to climb reform and return to base (2OTU). FLTLT Turner became airborne around 12:15pm within a flight of 4 Kittyhawks aboard A29-423 as Red 1 and the leader of the flight, his No.2 (Red 2) was FLGOFF Bruce William Atkinson (433559); the flight set a course along the river to search for and locate the moored barges. Flying Instructor F/Lt Maxwell Coupland Johnston (400622) was the range officer aboard the R/T Control boat situated between the two moored barges, he observed the flight of Kittyhawks locate the barges and reform to echelon for the attacks on the barges. 4 attacks were made as briefed on the first barge, the flight then carried out attacks on the Control boat, This was a very tense time for FLTLT Johnston being on the boat. On the second attack FLTLT Turner on pulling out of his dive close to the water, the aircraft squashed (stalled) then struck the water surface. It then ricocheted off the water straight into a large tree on the bank where the aircraft exploded into flames at 12:45pm, and FLTLT Turner was killed instantly by crash disintegration. The cause of this accident as determined by the resulting Court of Inquiry – “FLTLT Turner departed from the said instructions in that, after attacking the first barge correctly, he then attacked the R/T Control boat instead of the second barge and carried his attack far too low”. Source: 2OTU Heritage

1948 Three RAAF squadrons were re-formed as Citizens Air Force squadrons on 1 April 1948: No 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron reformed at RAAF Laverton, No 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron reformed at RAAF Archerfield and No 25 (City of Perth) Squadron reformed at RAAF Pearce. These squadrons were to undertake a role similar to their pre-war training of fighter pilots and ground crew. All three squadrons were equipped with Australian-built CAC Mustang fighters. de Havilland Tiger Moths were provided for initial training and CAC Wirraway aircraft were provided advanced flying training. Source: airforce.gov.au

1996 In early April 1996, CASA board members rejected calls for their resignations from the new Minister for Transport and Regional Development, the Hon John Sharp MP. Source: Australian, 20 April 1996, 10 July 1997. via aph.gov.au website

2000 The Aviation Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2000, later to become (No. 1) 2001, proposed after a review of civil aviation legislation by CASA entered Parliament on 1 April 2000. The Bill sought to facilitate the ongoing review of civil aviation regulations in line with ICAO standards. The Aviation Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2000 aimed to liberalise restrictions on airline ownership and increase penalties for breaches of the Sydney Airport curfew. Source: House of Representatives, Debates, 12 April 2000, p. 15754. via aph.gov.au website

2004 On 1 April 2004 the Federal Government announced the proposed establishment of a Departmental Directorate to handle airspace change regulation, instead of the normal implementation of such matters by Airservices Australia. Source: Australian Financial Review, 2 April 2004, p. 10. via aph.gov.au website

2013 Cessna 210H VH-EFB crashed at Anson Bay near Cape Ford, 100 km NNE of Wadeye, Northern Territory on 01 April 2013. During a flight from Bullo River to Emkaytee, the pilot tracked along the planned coastal route towards a thunderstorm, probably encountering conditions such as low cloud, reduced visibility and turbulence, and as a result of one or more of those factors the aircraft descended and collided with water. There were 4 fatalities and the aircraft was destroyed. Source: ATSB

2015 Frederick Moreno (pilot) and Gary Burns (passenger) set a record for "Speed over a recognised course" (in the category Powered Aeroplanes C-1c ) of 393.19 km/h on 01 Apr 2015. They flew a Lancair IV from Canberra to Christchurch, NZ. Source: FAI Records website, ID=17433