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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 23, 2005 21:25:20 GMT 12
I came across this article in the Waikato Times today when researching. The issue was dated Friday 15th of December 1939. I think it must have been NZ153. I thought Ivan may be interested in this for the excellent adf serials website www.adf-serials.com/nz-serials/as it gives more background to the crash: AIR FORCE BOMBER DESCENT IN COOK STRAIT PILOT ESCAPES UNHURT (By Telegraph - Press Association) WELLINGTON - Thursday As the result of engine trouble an Air Force Baffin bomber, one of three engaged in a flight across Cook Strait, made a forced landing in the sea in Island Bay at 12.30 o'clock this afternoon. Pilot-Officer S.G. White of Woodbourne Aerodrome, the only occupant of the machine, was unhurt and did not even get wet. Two Miles From ShoreResidents of Island Bay stated that the bomber came down two miles from the shore. Mr L. Meo, an Italian fisherman, returning in a launch from the Tarawera coast, went out to the aeroplane, and the pilot told him he was all right. Another launch, the Anena, in charge of Mr Rafael Creco, brought the pilot ashore. Three fishing launches were used to tow the bomber into the shore, but because of the strong head wind and the fact that it was a dead weight, having all but submerged, progress was slow. At an early stage the machine turned turtle and at least an hour was occupied in bringing it within 400 yards of the beach. Endeavours were then made to bring the tail over so that the bomber could be hauled in on her wheels, and considerable damage was done in the process. Several attempts were necessary before the machine was brought ashore. While the salvage party was working the tail of the bomber was torn away. When Pilot-Officer White arrived back on the beach to watch the salvage operations the main rope broke and the end of it struck him in the eye. Efficient Equipment Pilot-Officer White, whose home is in Havelock North, North Hawke's Bay, was at one time a memebr of the Royal Air Force, and flew his own Moth from England to Australia. He joined the territorial air force shortly before war was declared. Grouap-Captain L.M. Isitt said tonight that the flotation bags in the rear of the fuselage of the Baffin had worked most efficiently and were responsible for keeping the tail above the sea. The department greatly appreciated the action of the Italian fishermen and others who gave assistance. The Baffin arrived in New Zealand about a year ago. It is said to be between £6000 and £7000.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 23, 2005 21:33:15 GMT 12
I meant to add, does anyone know about the flotation bags used in this Baffiin?
a) Were they inflated by CO2 or another type of gas cylinder?
b) Did they automatically inflate on contact with water? Or did the pilot have to manually inflate them?
c) Did the Baffin that crashed into water at Onerahi also use the same floatation equipment, because it was able to be towed to shore and recovered too. Or the one that crashed at Waimari Beach?
d) Did other aircraft types have this sort of floatation equipment? It makes such sense that they should have it. A pity the Catalina that came from the USa and crashed into the Pacific in 1994 didn't have a similar deal.
How would you feel to crash into the sea without a scatch or even getting wet, be rescued, get ashore and then have a rope hit you in the eye. Damn!
Want to hear another Baffin story? I've got one.
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Post by Bruce on Mar 23, 2005 22:12:11 GMT 12
Heres an interesting point with this story - A week or so ago on the thread about the Cambridge airfield, I mentioned the DH60G ZK-ADT, recently restored in Northland. That Moth was the aircraft Pilot Officer (Stan) White flew from England to australia (Shipping it from sydney to Auckland). as mentioned in the article. Interesting that he should pop up on several unrelated threads... His Daughter Jan White is a prominent member of the Tiger Moth Club (She has flown ZK-ADT regularly since its rebuild) and Sport Aircraft association. Please tell us another Baffin Story - even though the Baffin could go on the "Uglier than Vincent" list
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Post by Bruce on Mar 23, 2005 22:27:40 GMT 12
Oh... The other thing about floatation gear. the Baffins were ex FAA aircraft and floatation equipment was specified on all of thier aircraft regardless of whether they were land based or not, it was part of the specifications presented to the manufacturer. Therefore the Fairey IIIF's, Gordons and Vildebeest would also have had similar gear on board (I'll refrain from any Vildebeest comments) From what I gather, and I may be wrong, the equipment was very similar in operation to an inflatable dinghy and would probably be operated by compressed air (Rather than CO2) and activated by a Lanyard in or near the cockpit. Hopefully it wouldnt be like some people I heard of recently who borrowed a liferaft as required when they intended to fly thier Piper Seneca to Norfolk Island. Unable to obtain a 6 Person raft, they hired a 20 person commercial job, packed in its special container. Stopping at Kaitaia to refuel before the leg to Norfolk, one of the crew decided to check the raft, stowed tidily in the rear baggage compartment. BIG MISTAKE. opening the canister on these rafts deploys them, and within seconds the entire cabin of the aircraft was filled with the giant liferaft - almost trapping the unfortunate crewman against the top of the baggage hatch. Unable to deflate the Raft, they had to attack it with a knife before sheepishly returning to Auckland and explaining it to the people they hired the Raft from - True Story....
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 23, 2005 22:33:23 GMT 12
Hey, that's interesting, cheers Bruce. But you have absolutely no taste for beautiful biplanes mate ;D Baffins are great!
The other story I have in mind is When No. 3 (GR) Squadron formed in 1940, the original intention was for them to actually be a fighter squadron, according to Norm Todd who was a Flight Mechanic on the Sqn from its formation as a regular unit.
However, he said they fitted a forward firing machine gun to one of their baffins, and a crew took it out over the sea to test the gun, and shot the prop off! It wasn't synchronised right. They got back ok, and survived, but automatically it was decided that they'd better carry bombs and not guns, and converted to become a General Reconnaissance squadron. What a crack up!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 23, 2005 23:12:52 GMT 12
Interesting about the flotation gear too Bruce, which you posted as I was writing my first reply to your comments. Cheers. Were the Vildebeest FAA aircraft? Never heard that before. I thought the RAF operated them. Surely they were not carrier aircraft?
Regarding the raft story, not too long before I started working in the Liferaft Bay at Whenuapai in 1990 an incident happened that became legend. Some Safety and Surfance workers were removing one of the large MS26 rafts from a Hercules (these things are 26 seat massive rafts, which seat 26 people comfortably but would take more than 40 at a squeeze. More than twice the circumference of the MS10 you saw on Air Force the other week). The lanyard snagged and "boom", it began to inflate inside the fuselage. The certain Corporal must have seen millions of dollar signs pass before his eyes, because without doubt the pressure would have done immeasurable damage to the Herc's structure. Luckily by chance someone had a knife, or sharp screwdriver, and was able to hack through the chambers and prevent wrecking the aircraft. The MS26 has real thick skins too, and when under pressure woulnd't be easy to stab. From memory they had two cylinders that inflated it very rapidly. Quick thinking by all. I'm unsure if the MS26 could be repaired but probably was.
Another incident this reminds me of I shall never forget. This chap who was a mate of the Sgt in the Liferaft section had bought a boat. He'd sailed it down from the islands, one of the French colonies like Noemea or New Caledonia I think - and when he docked in Auckland he decided he'd best check the safety gear out.
So he called Steve, the Sgt, and said can you guys take a look at my liferaft. He brought it in, and we looked at it and balked. It was a funny shape, I mean, not the shape it should be, like it was packed wrong. the laces were lose!! It was grubby too, but that can happen on the outside. Then we opened it, and my God. What a mess. It was all wet inside (shouldn't be by the way!), the fabric of the raft was perished, the emergency food was all sodden and ruined, the pyro flares were also looking decidely dangerous.
The first thing we did was get an armourer to remove and destroy the dangerous flares, while an Air Force photographer took evidence photos. I haven't mentioned the best bit yet. The CO2 bottle was rusted through with a hole a couple of inches across!!!! The only thing this liferaft was good for was an anchor, and I think it's previous owners might actually have used it for just that!
The poor chap who'd bought the boat felt quite ill to think he'd sailed down through the Pacific over several weeks thinking if he hit a storm he had a safe raft.
The RNZAF took this issue so seriously, coloured photos of the raft and especially the cylinder were sent around all the bases, and put into Air Force publications, and I saw the photos even pinned to a few walls as safety posters. And more importantly they were given to several yachting magazines who published them, in the interest of making people aware they HAVE to get their rafts serviced.
Never buy a boat until you've checked the documentation of the servicing on the survival gear. If it is not up to date, don't buy the boat because the owners have no regad for safety and maintenance and therefore you will be buying something possibly very dangerous. Rafts HAVE to be serviced regularly. They are packed very, very tighly into their cases and that pressure over time causes problems you cannot see. When I serviced rafts almost half of all in for an annual check would have pinholes that had formed and needed patching. They have to be pressure tested to ensure they'll stay up too. If your raft deteriorates like that, and you leave it five or six years without a service, you might as well not have one. It is like not servicing an emergency escape parachute - also highly dangerous but idiots neglect them too. And then they wonder why when the time comes it doesn't open! Another thing is fire extinguishers - they cannot hang on the wall forever and then have to work when needed. They need annually recharging too in most cases. People are just not aware of maintenance.
Sorry this is so off topic but it is important stuff and I hope a few people take note and check their gear.
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