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Post by agalbraith on Oct 15, 2008 11:58:29 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 15, 2008 13:48:34 GMT 12
He does have a few more, they are on a FlyPast Forum thread forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=82045And only this morning I asked Mortmer if I could be allowed to post that photo here on this forum to which he has replied feel free, so...
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Post by corsair67 on Oct 15, 2008 14:16:18 GMT 12
Yes, it is an amazing shot.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 15, 2008 15:19:22 GMT 12
Note how they've gone around the tail number during the repaint!
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Post by corsair67 on Oct 15, 2008 15:29:34 GMT 12
Yep, no expense spared or corners cut on frontline repaints in the wartime RNZAF. ;D
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Post by agalbraith on Oct 15, 2008 15:56:28 GMT 12
I should have known you guys were on to it!
Thanks for the link, there is some great stuff there.
Cheers Anthony
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Post by angelsonefive on Oct 15, 2008 17:02:51 GMT 12
Has anyone else noticed the pics of RNZAF planes on the WIX PBJ thread ? On page 2 the Corsair coming in to land, and on page 3 the Venturas parked on each side of the strip.
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mortmer
Leading Aircraftman
Posts: 1
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Post by mortmer on Oct 16, 2008 2:38:07 GMT 12
Hello, I am the person who posted the Corsair picture on WIX and the Australian/New Zealand pictures on the Flypast Forum. The pictures came from a collection that I was lent, to archive, after the owner died. The owner was a photographer with the US Marine Corps who served in MAG 61 (VMB 433) as an a aerial photographer during 1944/45 in the South Pacific. All of the photographs in his collection are on a website I am hosting at - spike.cs.umass.edu/~pbinder/FrankMAG61/There is a section there labeled Allied Planes which has all of the Australian and New Zealand Air Force planes I have IDed so far. If you can identify any planes/location or provide any information for any of the pictures I would be grateful since most of the photographs are not labeled. Thanks, Paul
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Post by FlyNavy on Oct 16, 2008 7:46:20 GMT 12
Thanks Paul (mortmer), what an amazing website! ;D
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Post by 43willys on Dec 11, 2008 18:47:24 GMT 12
Heres another shot of the same Corsair taken minutes before
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 11, 2008 22:15:05 GMT 12
Very, very brave men.
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Post by shorty on Dec 12, 2008 12:12:10 GMT 12
These days OSH would insist they wore the approved safety clothing and by the time they got into it all would be too late. Was that the freedom they were fighting for?
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Post by FlyNavy on Dec 12, 2008 12:30:12 GMT 12
shorty, I don't get your point about 'freedom they were fighting for'. Times change along with any 'freedoms'. Today I think all would be glad of modern safety equipment and procedures, including the pilot in the burning plane (if that is the scenario). Chaps with modern equipment could rescue that pilot much better than the brave chaps in WW2 pictured. Think about it. I take nothing away from those times but those times are long gone thank goodness. We all learn how to do things better - usually.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Dec 12, 2008 14:26:31 GMT 12
Interesting how they are spraying foam on just about everything BUT the fire! PPE wouldn't be too practical to wear in the tropics either I'm picking
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Post by corsair67 on Dec 12, 2008 17:17:15 GMT 12
There was an incident at Jacquinot Bay (I think) in 1945 when F4U-1D NZ5482 crashed on landing and burst into flames.
The pilot F/Sgt Lyall Wiig was knocked unconscious in the crash but was dragged from the wreckage by an RNZAF doctor (wearing only shorts and a shirt) whom leapt to his assistance after the firefighter who was trying to rescue him collapsed over the wing from heatstroke after running across the strip in his full fireproof suit.
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Post by FlyNavy on Dec 12, 2008 17:21:15 GMT 12
One might ask: Why was a fully fireproofed suited fireman expected to run in such a condition? I'm just asking. Good on all involved.
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Post by corsair67 on Dec 12, 2008 17:35:54 GMT 12
FN, from what I recall of the story the fireman only had to run a short distance from the fire truck to the crashed aircraft, but the heat from the fire plus the tropical conditions were all a bit much for him.
There are photos somewhere (Warren Russell's Corsair Special?) of the fireman collapsed over the wing with the pilot slumped in the cockpit just above him, while the other firies spray foam over both men.
The pilot apparently suffered bad burns to his face, arms and hands.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 12, 2008 18:00:12 GMT 12
There were certainly some bad aviation fires where brave men did brave things to save lives. Perhaps even more brave were the Air Force firemen who had to deal with whole fuel dumps going up in flames, which did happen a few times. One such was ex-Cambridge airman Hugh Marshall who was awarded a Certificate of Commendation for outstanding service in one such fire detailed on my site www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Hugh%20Garden%20MARSHALL.htmMy grandfather, Jim Homewood, apparently pulled a guy from a burning Corsair that crashed on his Ardmore farm at one point, though he must have been shy about getting recognition because I cannot find mention of his deed in any documents I've seen (several aircraft crashed on their farm throughout the war), and he certainly never got a George Medal or such like, as others who did the same thing did. But Nana and Dad both saw him do it. Mind you I saw Dad bend a car door clean in half so he could get in and pull two guys, one of them unconscious, out of a burning car in 1988. The petrol tank had burst too and there was a full tank of gas in the upside-down car's roof. After pulling the guys out he then stoped a truck, grabbed it's extinguisher and ran back into the flames and put the fricking thing out. Most heroic thing I have ever seen, and despite my attempts to help him, Mum firmly had hold of me and Dad was yelling to stay back. It was amazing to see what his adrenalin did, that Vauxhall Viva door was bent back double down the middle like a car crusher had hit it! Aferwards Dad couldn't believe he'd done it, and also admitted he'd thought all the liquid was just beer as they had just been to the liquor shop and stocked up for a big party before the car rolled. The driver was sobre as, and ended uo with just a cut ear. The passenger was actually asleep in the back seat and after Dad pulled him out only then he woke up and said "What's going on?" he didn't have a scratch. A few seconds later without Dad they'd both have fried.
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Post by FlyNavy on Dec 12, 2008 18:42:32 GMT 12
Corsair67, There is only so much an unprotected human being could achieve without (some kind of) protection. All depends on conditions at the time so I can only generalise. Radiant heat from a fire, especially a petroleum fire, can disable one at some distance from the fire itself. We see perhaps a lot of foam in the picture with a small fire (don't know if it had been doused at that stage) but I'm not really relating anything to that particular circumstance of the Corsair crash.
Any protection from radiant heat from a fire is essential. Of course then there is actual physical protection from flames; but then one needs to be right at the fire. Stand anywhere near a fire with and without protection of some kind to FEEL the difference. I live in a bushfire prone area surrounded by National Park nearby. This and military (general ship) firefighting education/training has given me huge respect for having protection from radiant heat.
I have a quiet chuckle to myself whenever TV news shows the beshorted and thonged home owners on their roofs with a trickle hose facing an oncoming wall of bushfire. Good Luck Mate. Meanwhile around them valiant Bush Fire Fighters in suitable protective gear get on with the fire fighting job and do it very well. :-) All Hail VBFB (Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades). And drink plenty of water.
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Post by fletcherfu24 on Dec 15, 2008 20:49:56 GMT 12
I think the Corsairs just been set alight to get rid of it,theres no skid marks leading up to it,the propeller blades aren't bent,and in the second picture theres a rather large fire underneath the cockpit,just where you'd pile up the old tyres to get it burning.
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