Target towing – 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...

1924 WGCDR Stanley Goble and FLTLT Ivor McIntyre continued their around-Australia flight in Fairey IIID A10-3 on Wednesday 30 April 1924 (journey day 25, flying day 13). Leaving Port Hedland at 8.42 am on 30 April, they reached Onslow at 11.30 am and beached the Fairey IIID on the sandy shore for refuelling. There were supposed to be no rocks in the area, but as the tide went out it was found that the floats were rubbing on jagged rocks. Refuelling was immediately stopped and the plane was moved half a mile down the beach. With full tanks, they left for Carnarvon at 2:25 pm. They reached Carnarvon at 5:55 pm. The Gascoyne River was very narrow and full of sandbanks due to low tide, so McIntyre had to land on Sharks Bay and taxi up the river. On the way they were met by a launch with members of the local sailing club. The secretary whose first thought was for refreshment, held up a bottle of whisky in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other and yelled "What are you going to have?" However, as they were stuck on a sandbank at this time and still three miles from the beaching place, the seaplane crew decided to wait until they were safely on the beach. Source: The First Round-Australia Flight, 1924 by Neville Parnell, AHSA Journal, vol 6, no 12, December 1965

1951 No. 24 (City of Adelaide) Squadron was reformed at RAAF Mallala on 30 April 1951. The squadron was equipped with Mustangs and Tiger Moths, similar to the other Citizens Air Force Squadrons, but Wirraways were replaced with CAC Winjeels. Source: airforce.gov.au

1981 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain VH-KMS operated by Royal Flying Doctor Service crashed at Boulder, 4 km east of Kalgoorlie WA on 30 April 1981. The aircraft was on a mercy flight from Jameson to Boulder. At 1828 hours, when 55 km from Kalgoorlie, the pilot contacted Kalgoorlie Flight Service Unit and received details of the weather, as recorded thirty minutes earlier. This information included an observation of lightning to the west-south-west and a line of thunderstorms from north-west to south of the aerodrome. At 1840 hours, when about 13 km from Kalgoorlie the pilot advised that he would use runway 28. No further communication was heard from the aircraft. Witnesses at Boulder, 4 km east of Kalgoorlie, subsequently reported that a severe squall entered the area shortly before the aircraft was seen turning on to final approach for the runway. The strong wind had generated dust clouds and the aircraft was seen to enter one of these, whilst executing a number of sudden attitude changes. It then collided with a mineshaft head-frame. The left wing was torn from the aircraft which then crashed to the ground nearby. No pre-existing defect or malfunction which could have contributed to the accident was found during the examination of the wreckage. There were 4 fatalities. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website