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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 8, 2019 2:54:14 GMT 12
In light of previous thread and for completeness can anyone Provide additions or details of airman involved
I have restricted this to in NZ as no doubt some NZ airman bailed out in operations until VJ and beyond and while serving with RAF/RAAF/RNZAF Sqns etc
However if there are any 1949 bale outs worldwide I would be interested if added
#1 NZ3085 P-40M Warhawk (ex - 43-5784) on 25 May 1945 4OTU Mid air collision with NZ3277 during formation training flight on 25 May 1945. Sgt Ronald Frank Peet #4311339
#2 NZ3277 P-40N Warhawk (ex 43-22969) on 25 May 1945 -4OTU Mid air collision with NZ3085 during formation training flight from Ohakea on 25 May 1945 F/O Richard Basil Roberton #NZ421534
#3 NZ5729 Vampire FB52 Sgt Thompson/THOMSON 22-FEB-1952 Probably AVM “Tommy” Thompson -> Albert Edward 'Tommie’ THOMSON CBE, AFC . # 75004 -> A formation of five Vampires was approaching Whenuapai when two of them, NZ5725 and NZ5729, collided and crashed.
#4 NZ5725 Vampire FB52 Flt Lt Ronald Charles Cecil ‘Ron’ Nairn 22-FEB-1952 -> A formation of five Vampires was approaching Whenuapai when two of them, NZ5725 and NZ5729, collided and crashed.
#5 NZ5756 Vampire FB 5 ex WA376 22 November 1955 P/O F P Brown -> Written off in mid air collision with NZ5723 near Wanganui on 22 November 1955. -> The wingtip of NZ5756 struck the cockpit of NZ5723 and the fuselage disintegrated.
Pilot Officer Henry Halley Van Paine #74203 in NZ5723 was killed instantly in the collision.
#6 NZ5773 Vampire FB 5 ex WA451 20 August 1957. Flt Lt Ian Albert Hutchins AFC #457833-> Destroyed in midair collision with NZ5768 ex VZ852 near Flock House on 20 August 1957. NZ5768 damaged in collision with NZ5773 near Flock House on 20 August 1957 and crash landed at Ohakea ->
#7 and #8 NZ5706 Vampire T55 * 2 (Jamesion/Bevan) 16 December 1957. Crashed in Rangitikei River after failing to recover from uncontrollable spin at 28000 feet on 16 December 1957.
Both crew bailed out.
Air Marshal Sir David Ewan Jamieson and Peter Granville Bevan (1st)
#9 NZ5764 Vampire FB52 ex WA342 F/O Gabriel 02 April 1958. . Crashed near Hunterville after entering uncontrollable spin on 02 April 1958. F/O John? Gabriel
#10 NZ5721 Vampire FB52 F/O Peter Granville Bevan (2nd) 15 December 1958. Crashed near Rongotea after engine fire while carrying out aerobatics and destroyed 15 December 1958.
#11 NZ5777 Vampire 55 ex WA392 Flt. Lt. Michael Charles Airey, Crashed at Kairanga on 21 August 1962 after engine fire. Pilot bailed out safely.
#12 NZ1073 Harvard 10 February 1953 Acting Pilot Officer Frederick Martin 'Fred' Kinvig - NZ1073 Crashed and written off after mid air collision with NZ1084 over Wigram 10 February 1953
#13 NZ1084 Harvard 10 February 1953 Acting Pilot Officer Colin William Rudd - NZ1084 Crashed and written off after mid air collision with NZ1073 over Wigram 10 February 1953
#14 NZ1094 Harvard ex EZ363 Crashed into sea 70 miles off New Plymouth after engine fire on 10 November 1962. Pilot Graeme Millward. Pilot rescued by Tourist Air Travel Grumman Widgeon which landed in rough seas and failing light to uplift him.
Thanks
Paul
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 8, 2019 7:41:27 GMT 12
#1 NZ3085 P-40M Warhawk (ex - 43-5784) on 25 May 1945 4OTU Mid air collision with NZ3277 during formation training flight on 25 May 1945. Sgt Ronald Frank Peet #4311339 #2 NZ3277 P-40N Warhawk (ex 43-22969) on 25 May 1945 -4OTU Mid air collision with NZ3085 during formation training flight from Ohakea on 25 May 1945 F/O Richard Basil Roberton #NZ421534 Those two are wartime. WWII continued till the 2nd of September 1945. |
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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 8, 2019 8:05:53 GMT 12
Dave
I know that’s why VE in title and VJ mentioned In text
Paul
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Post by errolmartyn on Mar 8, 2019 10:00:20 GMT 12
Some additional details:
#3 NZ5729 Vampire FB52 Sgt Thompson/THOMSON 22-FEB-1952 Probably AVM “Tommy” Thompson -> Albert Edward 'Tommie’ THOMSON CBE, AFC . # 75004 -> A formation of five Vampires was approaching Whenuapai when two of them, NZ5725 and NZ5729, collided and crashed.
Sgt G E Thompson (full name unknown)
#4 NZ5725 Vampire FB52 Flt Lt Ronald Charles Cecil ‘Ron’ Nairn 22-FEB-1952 -> A formation of five Vampires was approaching Whenuapai when two of them, NZ5725 and NZ5729, collided and crashed.
His number was 70164.
#7 and #8 NZ5706 Vampire T55 * 2 (Jamesion/Bevan) 16 December 1957. Crashed in Rangitikei River after failing to recover from uncontrollable spin at 28000 feet on 16 December 1957.
Both crew bailed out.
Air Marshal Sir David Ewan Jamieson and Peter Granville Bevan (1st).
At the time Jamieson was 73483 and a Sqn Ldr, and Bevan a Plt Off (number unknown)
#9 NZ5764 Vampire FB52 ex WA342 F/O Gabriel 02 April 1958. . Crashed near Hunterville after entering uncontrollable spin on 02 April 1958. F/O John? Gabriel
Confirm John Gabriel (full name, but number unknown). Was a Plt Off at the time.
#13 NZ1084 Harvard 10 February 1953 Acting Pilot Officer Colin William Rudd - NZ1084 Crashed and written off after mid air collision with NZ1073 over Wigram 10 February 1953
Actually Havard NZ1073? His number was 75049.
#14 NZ1094 Harvard ex EZ363 Crashed into sea 70 miles off New Plymouth after engine fire on 10 November 1962. Pilot Graeme Millward. Pilot rescued by Tourist Air Travel Grumman Widgeon which landed in rough seas and failing light to uplift him.
Graeme Gordon Millward. Was a Fg Off at the time (number unknown)
Errol
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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 9, 2019 1:29:35 GMT 12
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Post by errolmartyn on Mar 9, 2019 9:48:48 GMT 12
I'm sure you are correct about John Gabriel. Kinvig in NZ1084 and Rudd in NZ1073. Errol |
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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 10, 2019 2:12:31 GMT 12
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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 10, 2019 2:48:05 GMT 12
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Sat 23 Feb 1952 Page 1 Jet pilots escape in collision
Jet pilots
escape in
collision
Auckland, Friday
Two pilots. escaped
almost unscathed when
their Vampire jets col-
lided and exploded in
midair today.
Five R.N.Z.A.F. Vam-
pires were in formation
over Mangere, 11 miles
from Auckland.
Flight-Lieutenant R. C.
Nairn and Sergeant-Pilot G.
E. Thompson were flying
side by side.
Their wing-tips touched,
and each plane burst into
flames.
Nairn's Vampire exploded
almost Immediately.
A farmer watched the
other plane streak down in
flames, and saw Thompson
bail out.
Thompson landed near
him and walked a few paces
before he fell.
Nairn had parachuted
into a mud flat and walked
up to' the farmhouse.
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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 10, 2019 2:51:05 GMT 12
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Post by errolmartyn on Mar 10, 2019 9:46:55 GMT 12
Almost certainly Graham Edward Thompson, I should think. Man of this name appears as a 'pilot' in the electoral rolls of 1954 (in Christchurch) and 1957 (in Te Atatu, Auckland). Errol |
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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 10, 2019 10:22:47 GMT 12
Errol
Yes I think we have him!
Good collaboration
On a Web site it says he went on to be captain with Air NZ
Also found Nairn description of incident in a book from the 1970’s
Kind regards
Paul
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Post by paulmcmillan on Mar 10, 2019 21:33:05 GMT 12
Arizona Highway Department, 1973 - Arizona books.google.co.uk/books?id=D31LAQAAMAAJThe scholar Dr. Ronald Nairn, chancellor of the Prescott Institutions, Chancellor of Prescott Institution The flight was lancing across Mangere Harbor. Nairn felt a wingtip slap on his own. He looked up. A wingman had flipped inverted. His Vampire crashed, canopy to canopy, on Nairn's ship. Noise. Flash. Heat. Nairn's little fighter was in an inverted spin. It was on fire. The voice spoke: “Ronald, after all this, after all this flying and fighting, you are going to die.” Nairn says there was no doubt. He was ready to accept it. The Vampire was breaking up. A wing snapped off. But by some quirk of aerodynamics, the sudden separation righted the airplane. Nairn shoved himself through the shambles of his cockpit. He could see flames lapping over half an airplane. He saw a way out and kicked himself free of the airplane. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 18, 2022 20:50:40 GMT 12
#3 NZ5729 Vampire FB52 Sgt Thompson/THOMSON 22-FEB-1952 Probably AVM “Tommy” Thompson -> Albert Edward 'Tommie’ THOMSON CBE, AFC . # 75004 -> A formation of five Vampires was approaching Whenuapai when two of them, NZ5725 and NZ5729, collided and crashed. #4 NZ5725 Vampire FB52 Flt Lt Ronald Charles Cecil ‘Ron’ Nairn 22-FEB-1952 -> A formation of five Vampires was approaching Whenuapai when two of them, NZ5725 and NZ5729, collided and crashed. This was definitely Graham Edward "Tommy" Thompson. I interviewed him recently and his interview will be released in November through the WONZ Show, including his account of this accident and bale out, and his injuries. #5 NZ5756 Vampire FB 5 ex WA376 22 November 1955 P/O F P Brown -> Written off in mid air collision with NZ5723 near Wanganui on 22 November 1955. -> The wingtip of NZ5756 struck the cockpit of NZ5723 and the fuselage disintegrated. Pilot Officer Henry Halley Van Paine #74203 in NZ5723 was killed instantly in the collision. See the thread here: rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/30302/vampires-collide#6 NZ5773 Vampire FB 5 ex WA451 20 August 1957. Flt Lt Ian Albert Hutchins AFC #457833-> Destroyed in midair collision with NZ5768 ex VZ852 near Flock House on 20 August 1957. NZ5768 damaged in collision with NZ5773 near Flock House on 20 August 1957 and crash landed at Ohakea -> From The Press on 21 August 1957 JETS COLLIDE IN MID-AIR
One Crashes In Flames
(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, August 20.
Two Vampire jet fighters of 75 Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F, collided between Ohakea and the coast when they were returning to Ohakea after practising interceptions and formation flying today. The jets, flying in a formation of four, were changing their position to line astern before returning to land when the third and fourth aircraft collided.
One of the pilots immediately bailed out. His aircraft crashed and burned about one mile southeast of Flock House.
The other pilot managed to return his damaged aircraft to Ohakea, where he landed safely. Neither pilot was injured.
The pilot who bailed out was Flight Lieutenant Ian Hutchins, A.F.C. aged 24, of Hamilton. The pilot who brought his plane back was Flying Officer G. C. Derby, of New Plymouth. The aircraft were flying at 1700 feet when the wingtip of Flying Officer Derby's plane touched the plane of Flight Lieutenant Hutchins’s aircraft. The planes were then about eight miles from Ohakea.
Flying Officer Derby landed safely at Ohakea with part of the other plane’s tailplane still wrapped around his wingtip. Flight Lieutenant Hutchins said afterward, “Everything was going, smoothly. Suddenly there was a-bump. I found I had no control of the aircraft. It immediately went into an upside-down spin.
'“I decided to bail out. I released all my safety straps and I wound the canopy back. I didn't have to stand up at all. I just fell out of my seat. The parachute worked perfectly and I landed in an open paddock about 200 yards from a farmhouse. My aircraft crashed about a mile away about the same time as my feet touched the ground.”
When rescue parties arrived at the farmhouse, Flight Lieutenant Hutchins was sitting in the kitchen drinking tea.From The Press dated 17 December 1957 R.N.Z.A.F. Pilots Escape From jet Out Of Control
(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, December 16.
Two Royal New Zealand Air Force jet pilots, an instructor and a pupil, parachuted to safety near Ohakea this morning after they struggled to free themselves from a jet aircraft which was plunging to earth out of control.
The instructor, Squadron-Leader David Ewan Jamieson, aged 27, and his pupil, Pilot-Officer Peter Granville Bevan, aged 22, were in a twin-seater Vampire jet from the R.N.Z.A.F. station at Ohakea.
At 9.55 a.m., during aerobatics at 28,000 feet, south of Marton, the aircraft went into an uncontrollable spin which became more violent as the Vampire plunged earthwards. The instructor jettisoned the canopy and told his pupil to bale out. The pupil managed to get himself half out of the fighter, but air pressure and the centrifugal force of the spin pinned him there, unable to jump clear. The instructor managed to bump the aircraft sufficiently to shoot the pupil pilot clear. Then the instructor stood on the seat and, kicking the control column with one foot, also shot himself clear.
As Pilot-Officer Bevan was forced clear of the spinning aircraft, his right shoulder struck portion of it, breaking his collarbone. This left him with scarcely sufficient strength to pull the ripcord of his parachute, but with a desperate second attempt he succeeded.
Both men landed safely, 200 yards from each other, on the banks of the Rangitikei river, about five miles from Ohakea. The aircraft crashed into the flooded Rangitikei two miles upstream, leaving only the tail portion above water.
An R.N.Z.A.F. officer, praising the cool courage of Squadron Leader Jamieson, said it must have taken great nerve to remain at the controls and free his pupil before bailing out himself. The aircraft did not have the standard ejector seats. Some other two-seater Vampires at Ohakea have them, and the conversion of the others is under way.
Squadron-Leader Jamieson was born at Shirley, Christchurch, and educated at the Christchurch Boys’ High School and New Plymouth Boys’ High School. He was a member of the Air Training Corps, and in April, 1949, joined the R.N.Z.A.F. He was commissioned at the end of his pilot training, and after a flying instructor’s course at Wigram, was posted to exchange duties with the Royal Air Force in Britain and Europe as a fighter pilot. He returned to New Zealand last year and has been a jet fighter instructor since. He was married in Australia in July.
Pilot Officer Bevan was born in London and came to New Zealand with his parents when he was seven years old. He was educated at Nelson College where he was a prefect and a warrant officer in the Air Training Corps squadron at the college. He joined the R.N.Z.A.F. in 1954 as a cadet pilot and was later selected to attend the R.A.F. college at Cranwell. He returned to New Zealand in April this year after completing the three-year course at Cranwell. He was at Wigram from June to September and is at present on a fighter conversion course at Ohakea.From The Press, 3 April 1958 VAMPIRE JET CRASHES
Pilot Bails Out Safely
(New Zealand Press Association) WANGANUI, April 2.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot bailed out of his spinning Vampire jet plane in the Upper Turakina valley about 2 p.m. today. The pilot, Pilot-Officer John Gabriel, of Auckland, landed in rugged country, but escaped injury. Residents in the area saw the plane spin, and the pilot bail out.
Pilot Officer Gabriel landed in rough, hilly country on the property of Messrs Fernie Brothers, at Pohonui, about 12 miles west of Mangaweka, and south west of Taihape. A topdressing pilot working in the area, Mr Rex Garnham, saw the accident, and flew to the scene. He saw pilot officer Gabriel walking towards the road, about two miles to the east. Landing his Cessna on a nearby topdressing airstrip. Mr Garnham picked up Pilot Officer Gabriel and flew him to Ohakea.
The Vampire burned fiercely when it crashed. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 19, 2022 17:17:14 GMT 12
#11 NZ5777 Vampire 55 ex WA392 Flt. Lt. Michael Charles Airey, Crashed at Kairanga on 21 August 1962 after engine fire. Pilot bailed out safely. (N.Z. Press Association) PALMERSTON NORTH, August 21. A Royal New Zealand Air Force jet pilot is believed to have risked his life this afternoon to prevent his flaming Vampire aircraft from crashing on the built-up area of Palmerston North. The Vampire crashed in flames near an airstrip at Kairanga, about two miles from the 2ZA radio mast after the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Michael Charles Airey, aged 27, had baled out. Flight Lieutenant Airey, who was uninjured, was picked up by Mr H. W. Jensen, of Longburn, and taken back to Ohakea. According to eye-witnesses, the Vampire was on fire as it passed over Palmerston North, but the pilot stayed with the aircraft until it was well clear of the city. Mr Mark Redward, who was at Longburn, said the plane appeared to be about 1500 to 2000 feet up when the pilot baled out. “When I first saw the plane, there appeared to be a small amount of flame and quite a bit of smoke,” he said. “It banked to the left, then came down in a steep dive and hit the ground in a great burst of flame. There was a terrific puff of smoke like a mushroom.” Mr Jensen said he and his wife thought someone had gone through the sound barrier. “When we went outside to look, we saw Flight Lieutenant Airey parachuting down. We were amazed to see him so calm. He did not appear to be depressed. He rolled up his parachute and then we brought him up to our house and gave him a cup of tea.” Flight Lieutenant Airey’s main concern, Mr Jensen said, was that when he had turned the plane over and had baled out, he wondered where the plane was going to land. Although there were farm buildings in the plane’s path they had been avoided. The crash occurred at 4.22 p.m., about half an hour after Flight Lieutenant Airey took off from Ohakea on a training flight. The aircraft was heading back to Ohakea when the pilot was forced to bale out. An Air Force spokesman described the aircraft as a complete write-off. He said a court of inquiry would be held into the crash. Flight Lieutenant Airey, who is married with two children, is a member of No. 75 Squadron. He joined the service eight years ago. The aircraft crashed on Mr M. C. Kearins's farm and disintegrated on impact, carving a hole in a paddock stocked by ewes and lambs. Hundreds of pieces of the Vampire were scattered for about 300 yards. The hole left by the impact was about five feet deep, 12 feet wide and 25 feet long, starting with a gash at the point of impact and ending with the smoking remains of the engine buried in the earth. The flaming plane was seen by the Milson airport control tower and the Middle Districts Aero Club’s chief instructor, Mr A. B. Milne, took off in a club aircraft to pinpoint the crash. He returned when he saw the pilot parachuting to safety. Tonight Flight Sergeant P. E. Clarke, of Ohakea, was in charge of the wreckage and sightseers were barred from the area. PRESS, 22 AUGUST 1962 |
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Post by camtech on Sept 19, 2022 17:20:19 GMT 12
One small correction - NZ5777 was a FB 5, not a "55".
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 19, 2022 17:24:18 GMT 12
Information Ban On Vampire Crash
(N.Z. Press Association) PALMERSTON NORTH, August 22.
In view of the impending official inquiry Air Force authorities today imposed a ban on all information regarding the crash of a Vampire jet aircraft in a field at Kairanga yesterday afternoon.
The Court of Inquiry has begun its investigations. It will sit for four days. The Vampire, which was worth about £30,000, is a write-off.
Since soon after the mishap at 4.22 p.m. yesterday. R.N.Z A.F. guards have been patrolling the area keening souvenir hunters and sightseers away.
The force of the impact was such that the aircraft's jet engine was buried under about 10 feet of soil. Only about six pieces of wreckage are too large to be carried easily in one hand.
An area of hundreds of square yards is thickly strewn with small pieces of torn metal, twisted instruments, machinery and wiring. The back of the pilot's seat was found this morning almost half a mile from the scene of the crash but the perspex canopy of the cockpit has not been recovered. The grass for several yards surrounding the spot where the aircraft hit and then cartwheeled is badly scorched and damaged by the burning parafin.
Mr M C Kearins, on whose farm the crash occurred, said the area would probably have to be resown.
Since Vampire aircraft were first brought into service with the RNZAF in 1962 [sic] they have been involved in 13 mishaps. The biggest was in 1952 when two Vampires in a flight of four collided over Mangere.
Other accidents have occurred about the Ohakea area and at Hunterville. On one occasion a Vampire disappeared without trace. Fifty-nine Vampires have been in service with the R.N.Z.A.F, 47 ground attack aircraft and 12 dual-control trainers. All have been based on Ohakea.
The pilot, Flight-Lieutenant M. C. Airey, said today that a few minutes before his aircraft caught fire yesterday afternoon he was doing aerobatics and the Vampire was functioning quite normally. His action of heading the aircraft away from the built-up area was "purely routine procedure.” said Flight-Lieutenant Airey. “I did actually consider a crash landing, but the flames had damaged the pitot head on the tail section and as a result my air speed indicator was not working," he added.
“The fire broke out behind the cockpit which soon filled with smoke, but I had no difficulty in maintaining control and normal flight. “I was then heading back to Ohakea and I realised I would not make it and baled out.”
Saved By Letter
A letter from his mother-in-law probably saved Mr Kearins from being dangerously close to a shower of burning wreckage from the Vampire. Just before the crash Mr Kearins brought in the mail from the front gate. He was about to leave the house to attend the ewes in a paddock when Mrs Kearins called him back to read the letter from her mother.
A few minutes later, and while listening to the letter being read, Mr Kearins heard a screaming noise and went outside to investigate. Both he and his wife arrived outside to see the Vampire crash into the paddock.
“I saw it crash into the paddock not far from the fence line and in the general direction of where I would have been if I had not been listening to my wife reading her mother’s letter,” he said. "One wheel came to rest not far from where the aircraft hit and another one hurtled across the paddock and stopped about 400 yards from me.” said Mr Kearins.
PRESS, 23 AUGUST 1962
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 9, 2024 20:29:33 GMT 12
From The Press, 15 April 1958:
Restriction On Flying Of R.N.Z.A.F. Vampires
(New Zealand Press Association)
PALMERSTON NORTH, April 14.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is believed to have restricted the flying of Vampires in recent weeks, three Vampires from Ohakea have gone into spins, and twice the occupants had to bail out. After the third such incident last week, a ban is believed to have been placed on the use of these jets in some manoeuvres that are normally carried out in training and in aerobatics.
It is also believed that the restrictions have been imposed only until the findings are made known of an Air Force court of inquiry at present being held into one of the accidents. But it has been officially stated that the restrictions do not apply to the Vampire aerobatic team, which will perform at Milson aerodrome on Saturday, when the official opening ceremony of the airport will be held.
An Air Force spokesman in Wellington tonight refused to comment on the reported ban. He said the whole matter was sub judice while a court was inquiring into the accident near Hunterville on April 3. No information about the aircraft could be released which might influence the court until its findings had been made known, he added.
The Vampire jet aerobatic team performed last Saturday at Oamaru at the North Otago Aero Club’s pageant. It was said that the Royal New Zealand Air Force was unwilling for the machines to appear there, the reason given by the Air Force spokesman being that as a general rule the aerobatic team made only one aero club appearance a year — at the annual pageant of the Royal New Zealand Aero Club.
This year, the Minister of Defence (Mr Connolly) decided to waive this rule, said the spokesman. The reason given by the Minister was that residents of the South Island were disappointed because they had seen so little of the visiting aircraft which came to New Zealand for the Air Force Day celebrations at Ohakea on March 29. The spokesman added that the Vampires would perform as scheduled at the opening of Milson on Saturday.
On December 17 last both pilot and instructor had to bail out of a spinning Vampire over the Rangitikei river. On April 3, another Vampire crashed in the Upper Turakina valley after the pilot had had to bail out when the machine went into a spin. It is believed that this pilot got the plane out of its initial spin, but it immediately went into another spin. Last week another Vampire went into a spin, but the pilot regained control and landed safely.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 16, 2024 23:33:52 GMT 12
#14 NZ1094 Harvard ex EZ363 Crashed into sea 70 miles off New Plymouth after engine fire on 10 November 1962. Pilot Graeme Millward. Pilot rescued by Tourist Air Travel Grumman Widgeon which landed in rough seas and failing light to uplift him. Graeme Gordon Millward. Was a Fg Off at the time (number unknown)Errol From The Press, 12 November 1962 Pilot “In A Hurry”(N.Z. Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, Nov. 11. Flying Officer Millward, describing his experience today, said that with dense smoke filling the cockpit, he sent his distress signal, switched everything off and bailed out. “I was in too much of a hurry to repeat the signal,” he said. “I didn’t want to be sitting in the middle of a fire.” He knew his Mayday message would be picked up because he had previously heard other aircraft talking on the same frequency. Flying Officer Millward did not have time to invert the plane. He scrambled out of the cockpit and dived over the side. With the engine cut the plane was rapidly losing height and he knew it would stall and crash into the sea. Flying Officer Millward did not see the plane crash because he was facing the wrong way while descending on his parachute. “I did get a good view of Mount Egmont though,” he said. “I was nine or 10 miles from the coast and the weather was perfect.” There were no waves, but a fairly high swell was running when Flying Officer Millward hit the sea. He slipped out of his parachute harness just before plunging deep into the Tasman. He used carbon dioxide bottles to inflate first his lifejacket and then the rubber dinghy which had been attached to his parachute. Bitterly Cold Although he was bitterly cold he found conditions were otherwise good. About 20 minutes after he had landed the R.N.Z.A.F. Dakota carrying Air Vice-Marshal G. Morrison came into view about two miles away. "I fired rockets to attract attention. I knew because of the swell it would be hard to find me,” Flying Officer Millward said. “I was quite prepared to spend the night there. I was all tucked in and prepared for it when the Grumman Widgeon arrived.” Using the paddles attached to the rubber dinghy, Flying Officer Millward paddled across to the aircraft and after two attempts grabbed a wing float and was assisted aboard by one of the two pilots. It was the first time Flying Officer Millward had bailed out since he joined the Air Force as a pilot at the beginning of 1958. He has been at Whenuapai since June and before that was two years and a half in Fiji. Flying Officer Millward arrived at Auckland wearing a singlet, two pairs of overalls and a pair of socks contributed by the two pilots of the rescue aircraft, Captain B. Packer and Captain J. R. Grimes. Captain Grimes was piloting one of the company’s three Grumman Widgeons on a charter flight close to the area in which Flying Officer Millward bailed out. Captain Grimes diverted his aircraft to the area when requested by air traffic control, Auckland, and finally reached Auckland about 6 p.m. Air traffic control had asked that the plane then be refuelled and placed on stand-by, but when Captain Grimes returned another Grumman Widgeon was standing by fully fuelled. “At 6.20 p.m. we got the action command and took off,” Captain Packer said. It was already getting dark when the aircraft took off from Hobsonville to meet the Bristol Freighter at Ganns Island. “The Grumman Widgeon is not built for the open sea, and I would not make a landing like that again for fun,” Captain Packer said in describing the rescue. Twice the aircraft taxied close to the dinghy and cut its motors to drift right up to it. The first time, however, Flying Officer Millward could not get close enough because of the danger of the propellers as he bobbed up and down. “Then he got hold of a float and we were able to get him aboard.” Captain Packer said. “Fortunately, he was not injured and was able to help himself. Captain Grimes assisted him aboard while I concentrated on getting airborne.” Captain Packer said that civil twilight, the latest time for landing without nightflying facilities occurred just after 7.30 p.m. on Saturday. The amphibian took off from the sea about 7.47 p.m. “I had almost lost the horizon.”    |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 16, 2024 23:42:38 GMT 12
Also from The Press, 12 November 1962:
PILOT RESCUED FROM SEA
Amphibian Arrives Just Before Dark
(N.Z. Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, November 11.
With only seconds to spare an amphibian aircraft snatched a young RN.Z.A.F. pilot to safety from the Tasman Sea, 70 miles north of New Plymouth, on Saturday night. The rescue was made more than two hours after the pilot had parachuted into the sea from his smoking aircraft.
The pilot is Flying Officer G. G. Millward, of Whenuapai, aged 22, whose parents are Mr and Mrs G. W. Millward, of 110 Mungavia avenue, Porirua East.
In spite of his ordeal, Flying Officer Millward suffered only slight shock and exposure and was up and about at the station hospital at Whenuapai today, although still under observation.
Engaged in a navigational exercise, Flying Officer Millward, who is flying wing adjutant at Whenuapai, was returning to his base from Ohakea on Saturday afternoon when his troubles began. His aircraft was a Harvard attached to station headquarters. Whenuapai. He had flown from Whenuapai to the Palmerston North airport on Saturday morning and then to Ohakea.
He took off from Ohakea at 3.35 p.m. and made for Hawera, where he landed and stayed a few minutes to see his sister, Mrs J. E. Richardson, of 70 Argyle street.
He was checking his navigational instruments about 5.15 p.m. when he noticed a small amount of smoke beginning to come into the cockpit. “I then rapidly checked all the equipment to ensure it was nothing electrical,” he said in a telephone interview today.
He said the fault did not appear to be electrical but he still did not know what caused the smoke. The cockpit filled so rapidly with smoke that within seconds he could not see his instruments. He then sent a distress signal by radio and bailed out at 3500 feet.
Message Picked Up
The message was picked up by an R.N.ZA.F. Dakota of No. 42 Squadron which was taking the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal I. G. Morrison, from Rukuhia, Hamilton, to Wellington. The Dakota was at that stage the nearest aircraft to the position given—15 miles north-west of Tairua Point—and it began a search of the area.
Twenty minutes after the distress signal was received the dinghy was sighted from the Dakota by Mrs K. E Fennessy, wife of the previous commander of the Te Rapa Air Force station, Wing Commander Fennessy, who was also aboard the aircraft.
A few seconds later the Chief of Air Staff’s wife also spotted the dinghy and the Dakota began circling the spot to keep the craft in sight. The Search and Rescue Organisation at Wellington had been alerted and an R.N.Z.A.F. Bristol Freighter from the Transport Support Unit and a Devon from No. 42 Squadron, Ohakea, were put into the search.
These two aircraft, with the freighter arriving first, joined the Dakota about 6.40 pm. They assisted in keeping the dinghy in sight but, with the light failing, this became increasingly difficult.
Amphibian Ready
A Grumman Widgeon amphibian aircraft of Tourist Air Travel, Ltd., Auckland, which had been ready to take off if called on, was ordered to attempt to pick up the pilot. The pilots of the Grumman Widgeon were Captain B. Packer, of 29 Mariri road, Onehunga, and Captain J. R Grimes, of Parnell road, Auckland. When the amphibian was still 10 minutes away, those in the search area momentarily lost sight of the dinghy. They realised that they would be unable to keep it in view much longer.
Then the Grumman Widgeon arrived, guided by the Bristol Freighter, and a smoke canister was dropped near the dinghy to mark the dinghy’s location.
The amphibian made one quick pass over the dinghy and then landed at 7.35 p.m. To those in the air watching the rescue the next 11 minutes before the Grumman Widgeon became airborne seemed hours.
The rescue plane went back to Whenuapai, where Flying Officer Millward was admitted to the station hospital soon after the plane landed at 8.50 p.m. An inquiry would be held into the loss of the Harvard, an R.N.Z.A.F. spokesman said yesterday.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 16, 2024 23:45:36 GMT 12
From The Press, 10 October 1964:
BRAVE PILOT
(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, October 9.
A citation from the Queen commending the courage and skill of a civil aviation pilot, Captain B. H. Packer, was presented at a special ceremony at the R.N.Z.A.F. station at Whenuapai tonight. The award was made in recognition of Captain Packer’s part in the dramatic rescue of an Air Force pilot who ditched off the Taranaki coast on November 10, 1962.
The pilot, Flying Officer G. G. Millward, on a flight from Ohakea to Whenuapai, was forced to abandon his aircraft, a Harvard, when it filled with smoke about 15 miles north-west of Tairua point.
An amphibian, belonging to Tourist Air Travel, Ltd., and piloted by Captain Packer, was immediately sent out to pick up Flying Officer Millward.
It arrived at twilight and Captain Packer was faced with a very difficult decision in view of the swell which was running and the impending darkness. He did not hesitate to land and, according to the citation, placed himself in danger by doing so.
With Flying Officer Millward on board, Captain Packer took the amphibian safely back into the air under very difficult conditions. The amphibian, not equipped for night flying, landed safely at Whenuapai an hour after nightfall.
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