Complete? RNZAF Ejections 1957 to Current

[paulmcmillan]

All

Trying to make "sence" of the RNZAF Ejections on the ADF Serials Website - I wonder if anyone can fill in the details - I know at least one Ejectee is around here

The trouble is Forster/Gyde are quoted on ADF Serials as "Tenth and eleventh RNZAF ejections, seventh and eighth in New Zealand and first non-aircrew ejection."

That means I must be missing at least 1 from the list below in NZ

Can anyone fill in the missing details ?? and maybe provide Armour's and Fraser's forenames

Many Thanks  Paul


RNZAF #1 29 April 1957 Venom - WR282 - F/Lt Ian Pitt Palmer#73485, Singapore, No. 14 Squadron

RNZAF #2 3 July 1957 Venom - WE409 - F/O Geoffrey Charles “Geoff” Hubbard #774712, Singapore, No. 14 Squadron 

RNZAF #? 16 June 1970 A-4K Skyhawk NZ6207 Wing Commander Frederick Martin 'Fred ' KINVIG #709721

RNZAF #"6" 3 July 1985 Strikemaster Mk 88 NZ6367  P/O Peter ‘Pete’ Lindsay

RNZAF #? 21 March 1992 Pilatus PC9/A A23-055 Grp/Cpt Francis Stanton ‘Frank’ Sharp RNZAF #A82915 Australia

RNZAF #? 21 March 1992 Pilatus PC9/A A23-055 Fl/Lt Ronald James Tghacker #Y89078 Australia

RNZAF #8 23 July 1992. A-4K Skyhawk NZ6208 Flying Officer S. Armour

RNZAF #9  27 October 1992 Strikemaster Mk 88 NZ6368 P/O Sean Lyndon Singleton-Turner RAAF A233634

RNZAF #10 13 October 1993 Aermacchi MB339 NZ6465 LAC Stephen E ‘Steve’ Gyde

RNZAF #11 13 October 1993 Aermacchi MB339 NZ6465 P/O Craig J ‘Force’ Forster

RNZAF #12 20 June 1996 .A-4K Skyhawk NZ6203  Flight Lieutenant A. Fraser

RNZAF #13 March 2001.  TA-4K Skyhawk NZ6203 Flight Lieutenant Phillip Barnes ‘Barnsey’ Off Australia Coast


You can also add maybe the following

RAAF 1st Dec 1951 Meteor Mk 8 A77-251 P/O Vance Drummond #033624 Near Sunchon, North Korea (Drummond was born in NZ)

RAAF 25th October 1978 F-111C A8-141 Wg/Cmdr (P) David Norman ‘Dave’ Rogers, # 0221357 Hauraki Gulf (near Auckland, NZ)

RAAF 25th October 1978 F-111C A8-141 Fl/Lt (N) Peter William Growder # 0117122 Hauraki Gulf (near Auckland, NZ)

RAAF 24th August 1979 F-111C A8-137 F/O (P) Mark Kelly #0124252 RNZAF Ohakea, NZ


RAAF 24th August 1979 F-111C A8-137 Fl/Lt (N) Alan “Big Al” Joseph Curr # 0117504 RNZAF Ohakea, NZ


Paul

[aileronroll]

Could we count Group Captain Ross Donaldson's ejection from US Navy TA4-J ON 2nd Dec 1969?

[aileronroll]

Scott Armour

[paulmcmillan]

aileronRoll

Thanks for that info I think you are correct on Group Captain William Ross Donaldson’s bird strike on 2 Dec 1969 his student managed to get the plane home

That put him at #3 I still think the number don’t match up !

But thanks for Scott Armour as well


Paul

[snaphead]

I'm not100% sure of this BUT I recall a Canberra off an island somewhere in Malysia that went down, the navistor was killed. The name "Bang Seat Bevan" rings a bell . Was the aircraft RAF or RNZAF?

[angelsonefive]

#13. Should be NZ6256 ?

[angelsonefive]

Mar 5, 2019 9:23:33 GMT 12 snaphead said:

I'm not100% sure of this BUT I recall a Canberra off an island somewhere in Malysia that went down, the navistor was killed. The name "Bang Seat Bevan" rings a bell . Was the aircraft RAF or RNZAF?

Canberra WF915 of 75 Sqdn, RNZAF, 27/10/61.

ASN link here : aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=20746

[McFly]

Mar 5, 2019 5:23:32 GMT 12 paulmcmillan said:

All

Can anyone fill in the missing details ?? and maybe provide Armour's and Fraser's forenames

Paul

As already posted 'Scott Armour' and also 'Antony Fraser'

Along with the 75 Sqn Canberra in Malaysia in 1961 you may also be missing Strikemaster NZ6369 which crashed 2 Dec 1991, pilot ejected but was fatally injured.

Also think the date you have for WGCDR Kinvig hopping out of Skyhawk NZ6207 should be 18 Oct 1974 and not 16 Jun 1970.

[errolmartyn]

A few more full names:


RNZAF #"6" 3 July 1985 Strikemaster Mk 88 NZ6367 P/O Peter Alan ‘Pete’ Lindsay

RNZAF #11 13 October 1993 Aermacchi MB339 NZ6465 P/O Craig James ‘Force’ Forster

RNZAF #12 20 June 1996 .A-4K Skyhawk NZ6203 Flight Lieutenant Anthony Blake Fraser

RNZAF #13 March 2001. TA-4K Skyhawk NZ6203 Flight Lieutenant Phillip Russell Barnes ‘Barnsey’ Off Australia Coast

Errol

[errolmartyn]

Mar 5, 2019 9:23:33 GMT 12 snaphead said:

I'm not100% sure of this BUT I recall a Canberra off an island somewhere in Malysia that went down, the navistor was killed. The name "Bang Seat Bevan" rings a bell . Was the aircraft RAF or RNZAF?

From Vol Two of my For Your Tomorrow:


Thu 26 Oct 1961
FAR EAST AIR FORCE
Night navigation exercise from Tengah to Butterworth, Malaya, and return
75 Squadron, RNZAF (Tengah, Singapore - 224 Group, RAF)
English Electric Canberra B.2 WF915 - took off shortly after 1900 piloted by Flt Lt P G Bevan, at 40,000 feet unexpectedly flew into the violent turbulence of a cumulo-nimbus cloud, struck by lightning and fell out of control. At 27,000 feet Bevan ordered his navigator to bale out, himself ejecting at 8000 feet after partially regaining control only to lose it again. Concussed during the ejection, he descended unconscious into a tree, injuring himself on falling to the ground when a branch broke as he climbed down after coming to. He was, however, able to walk west until striking a jungle track, where he was found wandering by a Chinese woodcutter on the 30th. Bad weather had meanwhile hampered searchers looking for the missing bomber. Over 20 aircraft of the RNZAF and three other air forces, and ground parties were involved. They finally located WF915 on the 31st some 6 miles from where Bevan had ejected, near Bahau, in the Palong Forest Reserve (at position 02°45’29.9”N:102°37’50.2”E). The dead navigator lay 50 yards away, still strapped into his ejection seat, and was buried near the scene. He was later reinterred in the Ulu Pandan Cemetery at Singapore, but because of redevelopment of the cemetery area in the mid-1970s his remains were exhumed and transferred to the CWGC cemetery at Kranji. (Note: WF915 was an RAF Canberra on hire to the RNZAF.)
Navigator: 77296 Fg Off David Lloyd FINN, RNZAF - Age 24.

Errol

[errolmartyn]

Mar 5, 2019 11:23:46 GMT 12 McFly said:

Mar 5, 2019 5:23:32 GMT 12 paulmcmillan said:

All

Can anyone fill in the missing details ?? and maybe provide Armour's and Fraser's forenames

Paul

As already posted 'Scott Armour' and also 'Antony Fraser'

Along with the 75 Sqn Canberra in Malaysia in 1961 you may also be missing Strikemaster NZ6369 which crashed 2 Dec 1991, pilot ejected but was fatally injured.

Also think the date you have for WGCDR Kinvig hopping out of Skyhawk NZ6207 should be 18 Oct 1974 and not 16 Jun 1970.

From Vol Two of my For Your Tomorrow:

Wed 20 Nov 1991
Low-level navigation exercise
14 Squadron, RNZAF Base Ohakea (detachment at Tauranga)
British Aircraft Corporation Strikemaster Mk 88 NZ6369 - took off with two others from Tauranga, where the Squadron had been participating in Exercise FALCON’S ROOST for three days. Failed to recover whilst performing aerobatics and crashed in dense forest near Ohaaki, some 20km NE of Taupo, shortly before 1253. Guided to the site by an Aermacchi MB-339CB circling overhead, a Philips Search and Rescue Trust helicopter was first on the scene, shortly after 1300, and quickly established that NZ6369’s pilot, the sole occupant, was dead. His funeral in Ohakea’s No 3 hangar on the 25th was attended by over 600 people, following which he was cremated.
Pilot: N90195 Flt Lt Craig Jonathan Wylie TANNER, RNZAF - Age 29.

Errol

[skyman]

My list of ejections from aircraft by RNZAF personnel totals 15 which I have listed in chronological order below:


1)   29 April 1957 over Johore Strait between Singapore and Malaya from DH Venom WR 282 of 14 Squadron, RNZAF.  Flt Lt M.F.McD. Palmer.

2)   3 July 1957 over Johore State, Malaya from DH Venom WE 409 of 14 Squadron, RNZAF.  Fg Off G.C. Hubbard.

3)   26 October 1961 over northern Johore State, Malaya from EE Canberra B2 WF 915 of 75 Squadron, RNZAF.  Flt Lt P.G.Bevan.  (Navigator unable to eject and was killed)

4)   2 December 1969 near Tallahassee, Florida, USA from McDD Skyhawk TA-4F of VA445, USN.  Sqd Ldr W.R. Donaldson.  (Ejected from rear cockpit after eye and facial injury from bird strike, student  

        landed aircraft safely)

5)   18 October 1974 near Bulls, NZ, from Skyhawk A-4K NZ 6207 of 75 Squadron, RNZAF.  Wg Cdr F.M. Kinvig.  (First ejection in NZ)

6)   3 July 1985 Waiau Valley, North Canterbury, NZ, from BAC Strikemaster  NZ 6367 of 14 Squadron, RNZAF.  Plt Off P. Lindsay.

7)   20 November 1991 southwest of Reporoa, NZ, from BAC Strikemaster NZ 6369 of 14 Squadron, RNZAF.  Flt Lt C.J.W. Tanner.  (Ejected too low, out of ejection envelope and was killed)

8 & 9)   21 March 1992 west of Albany Airport, Western Australia, from Pilatus PC9 A23 055 of 2 FTS, RAAF.  Gp Capt F.S. Sharp and Flt Lt R.J. Thacker.  (Sharp RNZAF Defence Air Attache and Thacker on

               exchange from RNZAF)

10)   23 July 1992 near Herbertville, Wairarapa, NZ, from McDD Skyhawk A-4K NZ 6208 of 75 Squadron, RNZAF.  Fg Off S.N Armour. 

11 & 12)   13 October 1993 over Awanui Estuary, Rangaunu Harbour, near Kaitaia, NZ, from Aermacchi MB 339 NZ 6465 of 14 Squadron, RNZAF.  Plt Off C.J. Forster and LAC S.E. Gyde.  (Gyde being first

                   RNZAF non-aircrew ejection)

13)   20 June 1996 at Kakariki near Marton, NZ, from McDD Skyhawk A-4K  NZ 6203 of 75 Squadron, RNZAF.  Flt Lt A. Fraser.

14)   27 October 2000 at Shieldhill, near Dumfries, Scotland, from Sepecat Jaguar XZ 111 of 54 Squadron, RAF.  Flt Lt B. Clarke.  (On exchange from RNZAF)

15)   20 March 2001 over Indian Ocean, 90 nm west of Perth, Western Australia from Skyhawk TA-4K NZ 6256 of 2 Squadron, RNZAF.  Flt Lt P. Barnes.  (Flying solo, last RNZAF ejection to date)


  Al 


 

[paulmcmillan]

All

Thanks for corrections/update especially Al, McFly and Errol

Thanks for sorting all this out

The ADF Serials list confused F/Lt Ian Pitt Palmer #73485 for this incident

a) RNZAF #1 29 April 1957 Venom - WR282 , Singapore, No. 14 Squadron ->
Confirmed FLT-LT. MICHAEL Palmer, 28, see: Straits Times 30th April 1957
-> Flt Lt Michael Frank McDonald ‘Mike’ Palmer #73486.

B) Re:
4) 2 December 1969 near Tallahassee, Florida, USA from McDD Skyhawk TA-4F of VA445, USN. Sqd Ldr W.R. Donaldson. (Ejected from rear cockpit after eye and facial injury from bird strike, student

landed aircraft safely

This was a TA-4F of VA44 (Attack Squadron 44) Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Florida. The Student Pilot was Lt John ? Wilson US Navy. The BU number for this is currently unknown.

14) Jaguar XZ111 new to me: But pilot was Flt Lt Brendan "Torch" Clarke


I think the ADF Serials missed out Thacker/Sharp to get their 'Numbers'

Flt Lt Peter Granville ‘Bang Seat’ Bevan also parachuted as a P/O (Student) from Vampire Vampire T55 NZ5706 16th Dec 1957. Pilot was Sqn Ldr David Ewan Jamieson (instructor) #X73483 (later Air Marshal David Ewan JAMIESON, C.B., O.B.E.) ,


There are maybe 2 Fatal Ejections I think:

25 March 1981 Skyhawk NZ6253 Flight Lieutenant John Nicholas Dick U85647 I have seen this reported as "ejected to low"

20 Nov 1991 Strikemaster Mk 88 NZ6369 Flt Lt Craig Jonathan Wylie Tanner # N90195 Killed

There is also one final 'NZ' ejection but very loosely -- Skyhawk NZ6251 TA-4K which was sold to Draken International in 2012 and registered in the USA as N140EM on 01 March 2013.

18 August 2016 Crashed on approach to Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas USA. The sole occupant, a civilian pilot, ejected with minor injuries

Kind Regards

Paul McMillan

[skyman]

The only RNZAF ejection with fatal results was Strikemaster NZ 6369 southwest of Reporoa (my RNZAF list entry number 7) when Flt Lt Tanner ejected too low and out of the seat's ejection envelope.


The fatal crash of Skyhawk TA-4K NZ 6253 near Taihape on 25 March 1981 flown solo by Flt Lt John Dick, as far as I know was not an ejection. Although a parachute was seen in the bush near the crash site I understand it was flung there by the force of the impact of the aircraft crash. My information is that the ejection cartridges were not initiated.


There have been three ejections in NZ from aircraft flown by RAAF personnel, see below :


1)  25 October 1978 off Waiheke Island, Hauraki Gulf, NZ, from GD F-111 A8 141, 6 Squadron, RAAF.  Wg Cdr D.N. Rogers (Sqn CO) and Flt Lt P. Growder (using escape capsule).


2)  24 August 1979 at RNZAF Base Ohakea, NZ, from GD F-111 A8 137, 1 Squadron, RAAF (witnessed by this writer).  Fg Off M. Kelly and Flt Lt A. Curr (using escape capsule).    


3)  27 October 1992 southeast of Pahiatua, NZ, from Strikemaster NZ 6368 of 14 Squadron, RNZAF, while being flown solo by RAAF exchange pilot Flt Lt S.L.Singleton-Turner.


Al

       

[noooby]

How about NZ6211? I thought Murray Neilson had attempted to eject before the aircraft impacted the ground but was outside the envelope. Can anyone confirm that?

[skyman]

The piece on the crash of Skyhawk NZ 6211 Don Simms "Skyhawk" book says there was no attempt made to eject and this tallies with what I have been made aware of.


Al 

[paulmcmillan]

All

Thanks for this

Just noticed Bevan also bailed out of NZ5721 Vampire FB52 on 15 December 1958.

No one he called 'Bale Out'

[lesterpk]

Mar 6, 2019 13:54:08 GMT 12 noooby said:

How about NZ6211? I thought Murray Neilson had attempted to eject before the aircraft impacted the ground but was outside the envelope. Can anyone confirm that?

I can confirm ejection was not initiated.

[paulmcmillan]

RNZAF 16 June 1970 A-4K Skyhawk NZ6207 Wing Commander Frederick Martin 'Fred' Kinvig #709721

Also have

Frederick Martin 'Fred' Kinvig aslo bailed out of Harvard NZ1073 which collided with NZ1064 over Wigram 10 February 1953. NZ1064 was beging flown by Colin William Rudd A75049

Later Group Captain Colin William Rudd , OBE, AFC

[skyhawkdon]

Mar 6, 2019 20:19:46 GMT 12 skyman said:

The piece on the crash of Skyhawk NZ 6211 Don Simms "Skyhawk" book says there was no attempt made to eject and this tallies with what I have been made aware of.


Al 

Correct