Supermarine Southampton – 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...

1967 Mr Allen Fairhall, Minister for Defence, announced the formation of the Royal Australian Navy Helicopter Flight Vietnam (RANHFV) on 14 July 1967, for service in support of allied forces during the Vietnam War. The new flight was to be integrated with the United States Army 135th Assault Helicopter Company (AHC) flying Iroquois helicopters in both the utility and gun-ship configurations. Source: navy.gov.au website

1978 Piper PA-24-250 Commanche VH-WGP crashed 8km south of Inglewood, VIC on 14 July 1978. The aicraft was on a flight from Moorabbin to Broken Hill, the flight proceeded apparently normally until, at 1158 hours, when in the vicinity of Inglewood, the pilot advised Melbourne Flight Service Unit (FSU) that he had dropping oil pressure and would be making a forced landing. At 1200 hours in response to a query by the FSU the pilot advised that he had found a place to land. He was requested to report by radio when the aircraft had landed and this message was acknowledged. There was no further communication with the aircraft. The wreckage of VH-WGP was found by a searching aircraft at about 1225 hours. VH-WGP had struck the ground in a steep nose down attitude, while rotating to the left, consistent with a loss of control at a low altitude. The aircraft was in the landing configuration with the landing gear extended and the flaps fully down. The loss of oil pressure arose from the failure of the oil cooler inlet line which had ruptured due to heat deterioration, permitting the escape of a considerable quantity of engine oil. No other defect was found in the aircraft or its control systems which could have contributed to the accident. There were 4 fatalities. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website