RNZAF Test Pilots

[Dave Homewood]

NO MOVIE GLAMOUR

R.N.Z.A.F. TEST PILOTS IN REAL LIFE

FLYING ANYTHING WITH WINGS

Test pilot! This is a job the American moving pictures have surrounded with a great deal of glamour — the usual type of stuff about great big handsome men who, with their minds on tremendous romantic problems, manage to perform all sorts of aerobatic stunts which have the theatre-going public-twisting in their plush seats. So, the movie type.

But up at a northern base a representative of ' The Dominion ' met the chief test pilot, who is not only a very quiet and unassuming young married man but shows an even calmer nature by spending any spare time he has playing patience. In fact after a spell in the Pacific area as a fighter pilot he finds test flying just everyday work. There was not much he could say about the job, however spectacular and risky it may appear to the general public. He only expanded when it came to expressing his confidence in the work of the ground staff who assembled the aircraft.

What he had to say made a perfect link between the man putting aircraft through all sorts of difficult paces way up in the sky and those 100 per cent, faithful and efficient New Zealand craftsmen who toil and sweat in the assembly hangars below to turn out the work that would not let down their flying friends.

Every machine that comes into New Zealand (except Tiger Moths, which are dealt with at Wellington by the de Havilland company) is tested by the chief test pilot or his assistant, a steady-looking young man from Mid-Canterbury. Some aircraft like the first Grumman Avengers, which have folding wings and are easily accommodated on ships' decks, come in whole, but the most are in bits and pieces carefully packed and with their metal parts encased in a layer of grease to prevent rust. Cleaning the grease off the parts is probably the worst job in the assembly.

A tour of the assembly hangars shows all manner of aircraft in various stages of taking shape. Everything is done on the triple check system, and the assembler signs for every section of the job he does. If anything did go wrong with a plane while on test then the fault in assembly could be traced back. So far, however, the test pilots have lost neither life nor limb, and it would have to be a major fault that their flying skill could not cope with.

TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS ON ENGINES.
One of the, most interesting-assembly personalities is Flight-lieutenant R. J. Johnson, who is in charge of this work. He has grown up with flying. Back in 1915 he was with the old New Zealand Flying School on the shores of Auckland Harbour, when this private company built its own aircraft — by 1944 standards rather primitive craft — and New Zealanders who had the urge to be in the first flight of twentieth century air warriors were paying their own flying tuition fees to fit them to go abroad into the Royal Flying Corps.

Since then Johnson has hardly been out of the sight and sound of aircraft. The Pacific war multiplied the work and responsibilities of assembly bases many times. With the backbone of a skeleton staff from less pretentious days, young New Zealand craftsmen from garages and factories, and others trained under the R.N.Z.A.F. trades scheme, filled the ranks and produced the goods.

To-day they assemble some of the most modern of the United States aircraft in which other New Zealanders fly away to fight. The staff aim to send them away confident in fault-free assembly. That is why there is the tie-up between the test pilots—and all others flying New Zealand-assembled aircraft —and the ground staffs.

When the test pilot takes up a new fighter he may climb it to 10,000 ft and dive at a speed of up to 400 miles an hour. He does all the aerobatics like spins, loops, rolls, and so on, and the less spectacular tests of the undercarriage, flaps, etc. If the fighter makes the grade, it is fit for any qualified pilot to fly in action.

There is no stunting with the bigger aircraft like twin-engined bombers, but enough "off the level " flying to turn the stomach of those whose experience has been confined to the straight air travel of commercial passenger lines. One of the features of qualification for test piloting is ability to fly all types of aircraft, from the biggest to the smallest. When new types come out there is the advantage of technical data compiled from the experiences of test pilots on the same types of aircraft overseas. It is not the sort of job every flyer would like to take on. So, when fresh appointments are,to be made, an apparently suitable man is first asked if he is willing. Like all service flying, the volunteer spirit comes in; a genuine love of the job.


EVENING STAR, 10 FEBRUARY 1944

[Dave Homewood]

I wonder who all the various test pilots were in the RNZAF. Here is the list we have compiled so far:

At the Aircraft Assembly Unit, No. 1 Aircraft Depot, Hobsonville, there were:
John Joseph 'Jack' Busch NZ1132 (test flew many of the Hudsons)
John Roy Butcher NZ1255
John Rae Hutcheson NZ39967
Alan Victor 'Pete' Jury
Roderick William McMillan NZ404914
Stanley Gilbert 'Stan' Quill NZ1059
Alexander Estcourt 'Bill' Willis NZ1030

Test Pilot Flight At No. 1 Repair Depot, Rukuhia, there was:
Sidney Stewart Obery
Frederick John Adams NZ1220
Arthur Brian Chitty NZ40617
Maurice Pirie NZ1294

Base Depot Workshops, Espiritu Santo
Aitken Maxwell "Max" Davis NZ414719
Douglas Alexander "Grata" Greig NZ1293
Roderick William McMillan NZ404914
Hector Alexander "Pop" Mullins NZ413883

Aircraft Assembly, RNZAF Station Harewood
V. G. H. Gee
Kossuth John Newman DFC NZ401286 (P-40's and Hudsons)

Pacific Ferry Flight, NAS Kaneohe, Hawaii
Robert Francis 'Chunky' Watson NZ401794

de Havilland New Zealand Ltd, RNZAF Station Rongotai
Peter Jason de Havilland (Civilian)
John D. Neave (Civilian)
R. Kanvanagh (sailed NZ from UK December 1939 to test aircraft for NZ Govt, assume this is DHNZ?)

Non-Test Pilots Who Test Flew Newly Assembled Aircraft
Edgar 'Eddie' Brooke-Taylor NZ1276 (Test flew new Hudsons while with No. 1 (GR) Squadron)
Ronald Joseph "Nugget" Cohen NZ1015 (Prewar, test flew first Baffin, maybe others, at Hobsonville while with serving FTS Wigram)

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RNZAF Test Pilots In The UK In WWII
Robert James Dall DFC NZ41535 ((with D. Napier and Sons, testing Napier Sabre engines)
Vaughn Charles Fittall DFC NZ411873 (with D. Napier and Sons, testing Napier Sabre engines, became Assistant Chief Test Pilot)
Thomas Bernard Fitzgerald RAF40783 (with Hawkers)
Owen Jamieson (de Havillands test pilot for five years)
Peter Jordan (test pilot in India)
Brian Layne (testing Sunderlands)
Owen McCabe (Mosquito test pilot)
James Hugh 'Jim' McCaw DFC NZ414311 (with D. Napier and Sons, testing experimental engines)
Donald Malcolm Mackenzie AFC, mid, NZ401776 (test pilot for MU's in Ceylon and India)
Francis 'Frank' Murphy DFC NZ411928 (with Hawkers, became Chief Production Test Pilot, including testing the Fury in its development)
Keith Bernard Rogers DFC NZ415368
Montague James Rowland NZ401781 (test pilot in Iraq, later killed over Sicily)
Clyde McGregor Simpson DFC NZ40415 (test pilot for six months at Cawnpore, Burma)
James Bayntun Starky DSO, DFC, mid NZ401787 (Empire Test Pilot's School graduate, Multi-engined aircraft test pilot)
Harvey Nelson Sweetman DFC NZ40992 (Empire Test Pilot's School graduate, with Hawkers)
Richard Macklow Trousdale DFC* NZ2414 (Empire Test Pilot's School graduate)
Alfred Ernest 'Spike' Umbers DFC* NZ404003 (with Hawkers)
Richard Webb NZ391853 (test pilot in the Middle East)

Pre-War and Wartime Kiwi RAF Test Pilots
F/Lt Harold L. Piper (Short Brothers, test flew the Mercury in the Mercury/Mayo combination)
F/Lt Charles William Kelvin Nicholls 34224 (was Test Pilot in RAF Egypt Command for a year c.1938, later served with RNZAF in Pacific)
F/Lt Cyril Kay (RAF test pilot in the 1930's)
P/O Donald G. Cobden (tested Spitfires at Hornchurch)
F/O R.W.H. Carter
P/O Charles Alan Washer (killed testing a Beaufort with the Bristol Aeroplane Company)
Arthur Edmund Clouston 29162, RAF (Air Ministry experimental test pilot)
G/C Henry Neville Gynes Ramsbottom-Isherwood DFC, AFC 29116 (test pilot pre-WWII)

New Zealanders who were Test Pilots in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
Donald James 'Don' Nairn (Tested aircraft in Washington DC to assess suitability for FAA, helped develop the Corsair)
Lt Peter Thurston Medhurst
Nelson Frederick Tolerton (tested aircraft and techniques in development in the UK, including H2S radar)

Immediate Postwar RNZAF Test Pilots
Arthur Frederick Tucker OBE, DFC, mid NZ414703

[davidd]

Dave,
Off the top of my head, there was also A M (Max) Davis at Espiritu Santo (testing Corsairs assembled by the Base Depot Workshops, along with R W McMillan (named above) and H A "Pop" Mullins, also D A "Grata" Greig. J R (Jack) Day was also a test pilot at Hobsonville and later at Los Negros (FG-1D Corsairs). Another well-known TP was K John (Kos for Kossuth) Newman, who was a test pilot at both Hobsonville and Harewood (latter for period May to Sept 1942, Hudsons and Kittyhawks) before sailing off to fly with the RAF in late 1942. S G (Stan) Quill was one of the first RNZAF test pilots in 1939/1940 period, testing rather elderly Gordons and Vincents/Vildebeests at Hobsonville, and A E (Bill) Willis was another who served at Hobsonville; he also test flew the Zeke at Hobsonville in about December 1945, a flight authorised solely by himself in his capacity as OC the Base. Test Pilot for DH's at Rongotai was initially P J (Peter) de Havilland; he was replaced in about 1942 by J D (John) Neave, a civilian who must have been a good 6'6" tall. Probably a few others to root out, but these would have been the main ones.

[planewriting]

I will put in a good word in here for my father, Brian Layne. Seconded to the RAF, and after serving on 201 Squadron, he became a Sunderland test pilot on new and repaired Sunderlands, primarily at Wig Bay. One of those aircraft was ML761, in 1944, which went on to become New Zealand's first Sandringham ZK-AMB. He carried on this role in New Zealand on the four Mark IIIs NZ4101 to NZ4104 after overhauls. He is also air-tested NZ4104 on its becoming ZK-AMK with NAC. As a quirky aside he also commanded Doug Keesing's and A V "Peter" Jury's Sunderland practice (see Dave Homewood's second post above) before Jury went to Sydney to collect ZK-AMB for the final leg of its delivery. Dad would have been its first N Z captain; I wonder if Jury was the second NZer to fly it?

[tbf25o4]

another test pilot was Alfred "Fred" Tucker who retired as a Group Captain post war. He went to Japan with 14 Squadron post WWII and because he had been a gunnery instructor at Ardmore, teaching
rocketry on the Corsairs was seconded to the RAF Spitfire squadron and the RAAF Mustang squadron in Japan to introduce them to rocketry on both types carrying out testing of the installations for
both aircraft types and then training pilots in their use. He also undertook test flying when posted to the UK for weapons training with the RAF and RN in the late 1940s

[Damon]

Another test pilot albeit in the RAF in wartime England, Harvey Sweetman. Testing Hawkers finest, Hurricanes . My two cents

[camtech]

Two others who test flew aircraft are E. Brooke-Taylor, who amongst others flew NZ2024 (with a note that this was a test of a dual aircraft) 4 Dec 1941 and NZ2033 9 Jan 1942, as well as V. G. H. Gee, while at 3 EFTS test flew various Tiger Moths and Hudsons (including NZ2055, 57, 59 after assembly) along with Oxfords.

[davidd]

Just a clarification, in that any military pilot could be ordered to test an aircraft at any time, although it would be expected that he had some familiarity with the type in question. However full-time "test pilots" in the military were generally just pilots considered as competent and methodical, as they were not carrying out aircraft or engine development, just ensuring that the aircraft they were testing was up to the mark as regards operation of all controls, engine adjustments and operation, and all auxiliary equipment functioning as it should, although weapons (if fitted) were not usually tested. Test flights were meant to confirm that the aircraft flew perfectly normally for the type under normal conditions, and usually included stalls (and spins if permitted) under various conditions of flight, high speed flight and manoeuvring, deployment of flaps, etc., as well as performance of engine under varying conditions. In other words, just "type testing" for full airworthiness. In the wartime RNZAF (this applies only to the "home RNZAF", in New Zealand as well as the Pacific war zones) the only units that were allocated specific "test pilots" were the aircraft assembly depots, and repair depots, or their equivalents. Hobsonville was the main assembly depot, along with Harewood (briefly) in 1942, and Base Depot Workshops (Espiritu Santo), as well as Corsair Assembly Unit (CAU) at Los Negros in 1945. As pointed out by Dave, the DH company at Rongotai had a full-time civilian test pilot. Large operational and training stations often also had a test pilot, usually attached to the HQ of the maintenance organisation. Hobsonville, being the predominant assembly depot, usually had two full-time pilots. The repair depots (at Rukuhia, Ohakea, and Harewood, as well as Espiritu Santo) usually had just one, although at the height of Corsair assembly at Espiritu Santo in mid-1944 the pilot strength was at least three, before they got over the hump of new aircraft.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, and that distinction is welcome. Most squadron pilots ended up test flying aircraft after routine maintenance or repairs, that was the duty f a pilot who had had an aircraft allocated to him (and his crew) for example.

What I was looking for here were the 'test pilots' who were on RNZAF assembly units or those testing aircraft full time, such s at Rukuhia.

I know of several RNZAF pilots who because test pilots in the UK during their rest periods for maintenance units and manufacturers (such as Harvey Sweetman mentioned above), but it is the RNZAF units I am most interested in.

Another pilot who I have interviewed years go who spent a period as the station test pilot for Ohakea was Gerry Burton. He told me one day he test flew six of No. 3 SFTS's Hinds that had all had varying amounts of maintenance and repair. He finished the sixth one and had them all nicely lined up on the flightline when another Hind with a student groundlooped on landing and careered into them all and smashed most of them up! I think from memory however he was acting mainly as a Service Pilot on the station for the schools there flying gunners in training, etc, rather than a full time test pilot.

[Dave Homewood]

Dec 31, 2019 18:30:38 GMT 12 camtech said:

E. Brooke-Taylor, who amongst others flew NZ2024 (with a note that this was a test of a dual aircraft) 4 Dec 1941 and NZ2033 9 Jan 1942

Eddie Brooke-Taylor was a member of No. 1 (GR) Squadron at that time so he was likely just brought over to Hobsonville from the squadron to test these two aircraft on the day, rather than being a regular unit test pilot.

[davidd]

Dave, another official full-time RNZAF test pilot that I had somehow forgotten was F/L Robert Francis (later known as "Chunky") Watson, at NAS Ford Island, Territory of Hawaii, from about mid-1943 to mid-1944. His job, of course, was testing all those brand new PV-1's which had just been assembled by the United States Navy technical staff after arrival from California. The PV-1's were shipped by means of aircraft carriers or oil tankers which just happened to be scheduled to come in this direction at the time, and had large enough decks to accommodate largish aircraft without having to undertake too much expensive disassembly beforehand. Often the outer mainplanes had to be removed, sometimes also tailplanes. Rather inexcusable that I had forgotten this man as I mentioned his name quite often in my fairly long (and ongoing) article in the AHSNZ Journal over recent times.
Dave D

[Dave Homewood]

Ah yes of course, thanks David.

[Dave Homewood]

I have updated the list in the second post on this thread, HERE

Paul, I assume you must have meant Arthur Frederick 'Fred' Tucker, rather than Alfred?

[tbf25o4]

Dave yep correct (altzimers hits again!!)

[isc]

I suppose that the incident covered in chapter one of Miles King's "The Sky My Canvas, might be counted as a Squadron pilot being used as a test pilot, being asked to find the absolute altitude of a Corsair, and got to 37,640ft. getting down was the tricky bit, with the ASI stuck over on the stop, in a vertical dive the aircraft was out of control until it was at 3000ft above the Manukau harbour, then flying on the trim tabs back to Ardmore. Test to distruction. An interesting story, did he go super sonic? isc

[davidd]

One would wonder why an inexperienced pilot such as King would be asked to "find out the absolute altitude of the Corsair" when the manufacturer as well as the US Navy and the Fleet Air Arm had already spent a whole lot of money on establishing that particular aircraft's performance envelope. Perhaps the officer who issued this "request" (maybe it was just an off-hand, flippant remark!) was just trying to get him off his back! The fact that he almost destroyed his aircraft in recovering from the resulting dive is covered in that book. Quite possibly it was his good luck that the elevators of this aircraft type were fabric covered and consequently partially stripped off which may have lessened the stress he was able to subject his tailplane and rear fuselage to, and thus prevent catastrophic structural failure! The photo in his book of the bedraggled elevators is one to ponder over. Such overstressing by pilots in dire peril was not unknown on Corsairs, or other types for that matter.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

Yep, that is a good point, why was he sent to do that?

And you're right that he was not the only one, Trevor Pearce, who was an experienced pilot, had a similar a flight when he converted to the Corsair at Ardmore. He wrote in his memoir:

"After I had looked around to admire the view I did a wing-over and headed for the ground bloody fast and boy was this thing getting up speed, and then a terrific vibration set in and I find that no matter what I do the aircraft has a mind all of its own, and speed is well over 600mph or should that be knots as the AI [airspeed indicator] was in knots - this being made for the US Navy.

Boy, were we going down and oh brother the ground was coming up just as fast. Still struggling and now well down below 20,000ft I noticed that the vibration seemed to be easing off and eventually ceased altogether and now all I had to do was to get this thing levelled out. Eventually at just below 5000ft I had control of it again. All the way down of course I had the stick all the way back into my stomach.
Upon landing I went into the flight room just in time to hear the check pilot say to the pilots who had not yet flown not to exceed I believe 650 knots under any circumstances.

“Why's that, Sir?" I asked “As I have just done over that and I experienced a lot of vibration”

“Ground that plane," he ordered.

He then went on to say that there had been many accidents in the USA where the pilots had died and they wanted to examine the aircraft to see if there was any apparent damage, as most of the aircraft that they had examined had been involved in crashes. Now if you can cast your mind back to those days, it was just becoming apparent that these aircraft [Corsair, Typhoon and even the Spitfire] were getting up to the speed of sound, and that is what I apparently encountered. And of course up to this stage the method of getting out of the situation was still an unknown factor. So it was just good luck that I had got out of the dive in one piece."

[isc]

King's CO remarked after walking round the aircraft " I hear you nearly left the squadron King." isc

[Dave Homewood]

I have added in F/O Arthur Brian Chitty, who was posted from No. 1 (GR) Squadron to the Test Pilot Flight at No. 1 Repair Depot, RNZAF Station Rukuhia, on the 21st of June 1943. I do not have a service number for him yet.

[errolmartyn]

May 4, 2020 17:25:45 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

I have added in F/O Arthur Brian Chitty, who was posted from No. 1 (GR) Squadron to the Test Pilot Flight at No. 1 Repair Depot, RNZAF Station Rukuhia, on the 21st of June 1943. I do not have a service number for him yet.

NZ40617.

Cheers,
Errol