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Post by 14liney on Mar 12, 2008 4:58:21 GMT 12
Welcome to the forum 14liney, it's great to have you here. have you any memories or photos you'd be keen to share with us? I don’t have any photos so really appreciate seeing the ones posted here but I did take some 8mm movies in Singapore, around the base at Tengah and on the flight line. Like Phil says you had to be careful not to get caught, the Provos were a little paranoid. Had the home movie put onto a DVD recently and if I can figure out how to edit some clips out of it I will post them. A couple of memories about working the Canberra on the line, it had a big rudder which was not power assisted so when it was windy at Ohakea which was often the aircraft would taxi to and from the runway with a rudder lock in place. We had a landrover especially for this purpose which had a platform built over the bonnet. The drill was when the kite was positioned for takeoff at the end of the runway to drive underneath the tail and remove the rudder lock, kind of an interesting procedure with the engines running. We would then go round the front and show it to the pilot so that he knew that we had actually removed it. Similar thing in reverse after landing. Never heard of anyone actually taking off with a rudder lock still installed but who knows. It also had 3 fuselage tanks which had to be filled in sequence to ensure that it did not sit on its tail. We would find out the fuel load requirements and fill # 1 first then # 2 and 3, 2 was always filled to the top as I recall. You always had 2 hoses going at the same time (no pressure refueling) and you had to juggle them to ensure that the front tanks filled first. If you weren’t paying attention a tank would overflow and fuel would run down the wing and make a hell of a mess. The wing tanks were filled last I think. You probably know this but the navigator’s parachute was stowed next to the entrance door and in an emergency he would have to retrieve it and clip it on. There was a door jettison handle which was pulled to get rid of the door and allow the nav to bail out. When the door jettisoned a little windbreak door popped open and this broke the airflow and theoretically allowed the nav to get out. This door is visible in Phil’s photo of the runway overrun in Korat. Who knows what this door did to the controllability of the aircraft when it opened. |
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Post by phil82 on Mar 12, 2008 12:52:53 GMT 12
Ahh....the rudder kings! If I remember correctly, that Landrover had a working platform built over the bonnet so the rudder lock could be reached. I watched it one day when the lock was removed and Liney, on his own, runs around to show the pilot, while the Landrover quietly slips away backwards aided by the jet thrust..... I recall a US Navy R4D, starting up after one of the ground crew had removed the locks , climbed aboard and closed the door, and the aircraft began to taxi. As interested observers [nosey buggers], I noticed the rudder lock still in place and it wasn't at all windy, so indicated the pilot to halt and used sign language to indicate his problem. Door opens and embarrassed US Navy guy jumps out and removes rudder lock.
Liney, we must have been in the Airmen's Club at the same time, although I never fell over and so kept my hair' I still have most of it! |
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Post by phil82 on Mar 12, 2008 13:31:08 GMT 12
There was another occasion when I was chased in a Landrover after going out to 27 to lead a US Navy C121 [Constellation] back to the pan. This aircraft had taken off from Christchurch for Hawaii when some female called to say there was a bomb on board. The aircraft diverted to Ohakea, but the message we got was that it was carrying explosives, not entirely unusual for a military type.
Anyway, we turn in front of the Connie, and he follows us, slowly at first, but we kept having to increase speed as he got too close, to the point that we were flat out and all I could see were four bloody great props! So we pulled over and let him go and followed him to where he parked opposite 4 Hangar, then all hell broke loose. There were doors opening and windows and people vacating the aircraft like it was on fire!. The Pilot decided to leave it where it was for 24 hours, but the CO wanted it moved so he taxied down to the end of 33 and left it there!
Some 18 months later a woman in Christchurch was jailed for the phone call.
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Post by 14liney on Mar 12, 2008 14:47:54 GMT 12
Liney, we must have been in the Airmen's Club at the same time, although I never fell over and so kept my hair' I still have most of it! Still got all mine to, it may be grey but its mine. Remember that big photo of a Canberra over the bar? |
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Post by 14liney on Mar 15, 2008 9:03:28 GMT 12
can you remember any names of the S&S guys around at the time. Pete Mason was an S & S guy and I think another might have been Brian Purdy. |
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Post by phil82 on Mar 15, 2008 9:20:09 GMT 12
Pete Mason still works at Whenuapai I believe, as a sort of GSH. I knew him well.
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Post by 14liney on Mar 15, 2008 9:42:17 GMT 12
Click on the link to view a video of Javelins at Tengah around 1968. Not very good quality I'm afraid. It was taken from our barrack block which was Learoyd, a really noisy place to live as we were right next to the dispersal and close to the runway. I will post a 14 Sqdn flight line clip if I can ever get it decoded. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1mm6zi14DBA"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1mm6zi14DBA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> |
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Post by 14liney on Mar 15, 2008 9:48:20 GMT 12
Pete Mason still works at Whenuapai I believe, as a sort of GSH. I knew him well. Yep Pete is at Whenuapai and you may have seen him in some air force ads a couple of years back. Saw him last time I was in NZ 2 years ago, hasn't changed just older. |
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Post by phil82 on Mar 15, 2008 10:30:47 GMT 12
Ahhh...the Javelin. The only aeroplane ever designed to match the amount of thrust available to the drag produced. There were two squadrons at Tengah, 60 and 64, and between them they lost four aircraft while I was there. One went into the Straits, and his mate followed him when he went for a look. All four ejected I think, collected by the duty Wessex. Another threw a fan belt over the jungle, and both the pilot and his joy-rider passenger ejected safely. The fourth, which I watched, was turning onto short finals over the O Mess at Tengah when the throttle locks engaged and it developed the glide angle of a brick. The aircraft came down remarkably intact, sans crew who ejected. Then there was the T-bird which tried to jump that mossie ditch taking a short cut home. When I was at Seletar in 1975 there was a pile of Javelins stacked three deep on the far side of the airfield.
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Post by ianbw12 on Mar 15, 2008 12:05:58 GMT 12
Love that clip, thanks for posting 14liney!  |
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Post by sniff on Mar 15, 2008 15:41:01 GMT 12
Confirmed. Pete is/was working at Airmov WP. I last saw him in June last year when he popped over to say gidday to me. He was a Loadmaster too; we flew together on many a fine trip on 1 SQN in the Andover days. His most memorable advert is performing AI on a cow while trying to convince "his son" to stay on the farm rather than join the RNZAF! I am sure Pete loved making that ad! |
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Post by 30sqnatc on Mar 15, 2008 23:15:42 GMT 12
When I was a young fella living in Singapore (1966 - 68) the father of one of my playmates in the flats we lived in was a Javelin 2nd seater (navigator?) and he had to eject. Wonder if it was one of the crashes you mentioned.
Paul
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Post by 14liney on Mar 16, 2008 10:59:20 GMT 12
RAF Tengah 1968. A video clip of 4 14 Sdn Canberras breaking to land. The occasion was the 70th anniversary of the RAF. There was a parade and a flypast of all the aircraft on the base. As we marched off the RAF guys lined up and applauded us!! Taking the mickey of course. The whole affair was followed by much beer drinking. You will see a watermark in this video and that is because I am too cheap to pay for the software and am using a non-registered trial version. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9fY8OXD8QSQ"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9fY8OXD8QSQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> |
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Post by 14liney on Mar 16, 2008 11:05:05 GMT 12
A taxi ride in Singapore 1968. Also some other scenes of the harbour.Comments re watermark apply here as well. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/shliu4QrH9E"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/shliu4QrH9E" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> |
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Post by 14liney on Mar 16, 2008 11:18:07 GMT 12
Some scenes from Tengah village 1968 <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kkg4V5sAZ7A"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kkg4V5sAZ7A" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> |
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Post by shorty on Jun 8, 2008 15:39:09 GMT 12
That photo of the Tengah flight line ("Medium Bomber North") with the Vulcans in the background was either Vanguard X or XII, My slide of it is an Agfa one and they didn't date their plastic surrounds. IT's probably XII, Can't have been XI as I didn't do that one and the slides from IX are Kodak..
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 8, 2008 15:44:23 GMT 12
Welcome to the forum Shorty. It's great to have another Canberra man here. We'd love to see your slides if you have means of scanning them please.
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Post by l79935 Kevin on Jun 8, 2008 16:33:31 GMT 12
Great series of photos. Pity there are not more around available. I was informed Ohakea had a fire in Photo Section so many were destroyed. Have been hunting photos of the Blue Line scrip used on DC3s etc. Kevin.
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Post by phil on Jun 8, 2008 19:14:02 GMT 12
Any one interested in old (well older than 20 years) photos can contact Mr Mathew O'Sullivan at the Air Force museum in Wigram. All negs get sent there once they reach the 20 year mark.
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Post by 14liney on Oct 10, 2008 9:19:28 GMT 12
Liney, we must have been in the Airmen's Club at the same time, although I never fell over and so kept my hair' I still have most of it! Was having a couple of cold ones with my cronies from the local Legion a while back and related the story of the famous Ohakea airman's club haircuts. They had never heard of anything like that and thought it was the funniest thing. They have some good stories of their own to. |
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