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Post by davebstevens on Jan 24, 2021 22:51:55 GMT 12
I've written a short story about the last flight of NZ6205, the last operational A4-K Skyhawk in the RNZAF. If anyone can spot any technical mistakes, I'd appreciate the feedback. Thank you. www.wattpad.com/user/davebstevens |
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Post by lesterpk on Jan 25, 2021 2:18:55 GMT 12
A few that stand out to me......
Final colour scheme at the last flight would be all green, not green, khaki and brown.
Woodburne is spelt Woodbourne.
Would be very unusual for a flight sergeant to be out on the flightline, more likely a Corporal or at that time a civvy contractor. Flight sergeant would be inside doing the crossword ;-)
A-4K came with steerable nosewheels.
In a Skyhawk you don't pull your calves back against the seat for ejection, you make sure your legs are straight out and on the rudder pedals, tucking them back will create a gap under your thighs and you'll break both legs when the seat goes up. You have to trust your legs will be flicked back in as the seat goes, has been proven to work.
Canopy doesn't shatter, the whole canopy and frame is jettisoned before the seat fires.
Parachute doesn't pull the pilot from the seat, a small rocket (nicknamed the ear burner) rotates the seat away.
Not my area of expertise but I did spend some time on start crews and I'm pretty sure hydraulic pressure was driven by the engine, it was one of the checks after start up the flightline guys did, there is a small gauge in the wheel wells. So the bit about showing pressure to the pilot before he gets in seems wrong to me but someone else will know that for sure. What was shown were the 5 pylon/rack pins, these were stowed while the walk around happened and then the 3 gear pins were pulled and stowed after engine start.
Hope that helps.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jan 25, 2021 6:48:20 GMT 12
Hmmm!!
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Post by baronbeeza on Jan 25, 2021 7:02:33 GMT 12
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Post by l29 on Jan 25, 2021 7:55:48 GMT 12
Well that certainly was a artistic impression!
Perhaps stick to the mills n boon
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Post by davebstevens on Jan 25, 2021 9:53:37 GMT 12
A few that stand out to me...... Final colour scheme at the last flight would be all green, not green, khaki and brown. Woodburne is spelt Woodbourne. Would be very unusual for a flight sergeant to be out on the flightline, more likely a Corporal or at that time a civvy contractor. Flight sergeant would be inside doing the crossword ;-) A-4K came with steerable nosewheels. In a Skyhawk you don't pull your calves back against the seat for ejection, you make sure your legs are straight out and on the rudder pedals, tucking them back will create a gap under your thighs and you'll break both legs when the seat goes up. You have to trust your legs will be flicked back in as the seat goes, has been proven to work. Canopy doesn't shatter, the whole canopy and frame is jettisoned before the seat fires. Parachute doesn't pull the pilot from the seat, a small rocket (nicknamed the ear burner) rotates the seat away. Not my area of expertise but I did spend some time on start crews and I'm pretty sure hydraulic pressure was driven by the engine, it was one of the checks after start up the flightline guys did, there is a small gauge in the wheel wells. So the bit about showing pressure to the pilot before he gets in seems wrong to me but someone else will know that for sure. What was shown were the 5 pylon/rack pins, these were stowed while the walk around happened and then the 3 gear pins were pulled and stowed after engine start. Hope that helps. Thanks. That's very helpful! |
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Post by StuArmourer on Feb 15, 2021 7:36:51 GMT 12
I think you would want your boy to release the seat pack before landing otherwise he might break his legs aka Fred Kinvig
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Post by mcmaster on Feb 19, 2021 13:21:19 GMT 12
I think aviation stories are always good with radio chatter. Adds a element of realism and people all know them from the black box replays on those air disaster shows. Question for anyone in the know.. what was 75 squadron's callsign? Was the Kiwi Red display team name derived from their radio callsign? If so assume colours were used for other individual flights ie Kiwi Red, black etc. Did 2 sqn have anything different? I recall when 2 sqn were in Aus they used Kiwi also i.e. "Kiwi Gold" seemed to be the lead callsign but also heard the colours used for other flights. Wondered though if "Kiwi" is also for all RNZAF flights when not in NZ, bit like how "Aussie" (I think) is used for the RAAF when OS but not really used at home and squadron callsigns are used instead.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Feb 25, 2021 15:28:23 GMT 12
Yes Kiwi Red came from the 75 Sqn formation call sign. When 2 Sqn was based at Ohakea it used Kiwi Gold. 14 Sqn was usually Falcon black. When there were multiple flights within a formation then I recall Black and Aber were also used to diferentiate different formations.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 2, 2021 8:52:21 GMT 12
I have always wondered why No. 14 Squadron uses Falcon as their call sign, when their squadron symbol is a Kea. The only squadron in the RNZAF that I am aware of that adopted the falcon as their symbol was the Wellington Territorial Squadron/Wellington General Reconnaissance Squadron. Does Kea not scan well in the radio calls?
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Post by McFly on Mar 2, 2021 11:05:26 GMT 12
I have always wondered why No. 14 Squadron uses Falcon as their call sign, when their squadron symbol is a Kea. The only squadron in the RNZAF that I am aware of that adopted the falcon as their symbol was the Wellington Territorial Squadron/Wellington General Reconnaissance Squadron. Does Kea not scan well in the radio calls? A couple of possible answers from Dave's 2016 post on the same topic... ( Here)  The use of 'Falcon' began with the introduction of the Macchi 339. Standard RNZAF practice is for radio callsigns to be the aircraft type (e.g. 'Skyhawk', 'Trainer', etc) followed by the tail number. Because 'Macchi' sounds very similar to 'Massey' (the callsign of Massey Aviation aircraft, who had been operating in the Manawatu for some time), this wasn't acceptable for ATC use. Why 'Falcon' was chosen over 'Kea' I can't explain - it may be something as simple as being a cooler sounding pro-word. There is possibly another connection to the origin of "Falcon" as the callsign for 14 squadron, based on the creating of the Falcon's Roost exercises, which were a lead on from the Wise Owl FTW exercises, the Falcons Roost exercises being a more "operationally oriented" exercise in the lead-up to operational flying. Most of the codenames came from the big NATO book on allocation of exercise/operational names. The classic example is having to change Red Owl (FTW) camps to Wise Owl as the NATO book stated that any "Colour" in an exercise represented a state of operational readiness training i.e. the "Red Flag" series conducted in the US |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 2, 2021 12:28:11 GMT 12
Ah that makes sense, and now I vaguely recall that thread.
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Post by planecrazy on Mar 2, 2021 14:23:43 GMT 12
Off topic a little, was fortunate to meet Chris Underwood who flew the last A4 in New Zealand, signed Don's book for me when he visited flying an XL 750 on a ferry flight, another machine it seems days may be numbered perhaps?   |
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Post by mcmaster on Mar 2, 2021 15:36:10 GMT 12
That's a good catch planecrazy. Im thinking the XL 750 is a tad more comfortable crossing the ditch than an A4. Although the A4 probably had company in the air but still both just that one engine. Respect
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