This 48 page ‘bumper’ issue is the combined June and September 2024 magazines. Due to ill health and hospitalisation I was unable to produce the Volume 35, Issue 2.
The much anticipated Federal Council Meeting of the FAA Association of Australia will take place on 26th October with just one agenda item: The future of the National Executive. Delegates from all Divisions will meet to decide this important matter. Each Division has received a Draft Discussion Paper and any member wishing to read it should contact their respective State Secretary.
This issue contains a range of interesting articles and features. Graeme Lunn’s research into the first RAN jet pilot explores who, how and when that milestone was accomplished. On 30th August Graeme’s book ‘ADMIRAL VAT SMITH’ will have been launched at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. See page 45 to order your copy from the publisher. With the recent commemoration of Vietnam Veterans’ Day it was timely to include several stories from that conflict. On a lighter note, a chapter from Dave Benge’s yet-to-be-published book ‘THE LONG WAY HOME’ is a good read.
In closing my final issue of ‘Slipstream’, I wish to thank all contributors over the past few years. I have given notice of my resignation from the National Executive and editor’s role effective from the October Federal Council Meeting.
MEET OUR PATRON
REAR ADMIRAL ANTHONY CARL DALTON AM, CSM
Anthony ‘Tony’ Dalton was born and educated in Victoria before joining the Navy in 1980 as a direct entry aviator, completing his pilot training in 1981.
Over the next 17 years he amassed over 5500 flying hours in Iroquois, Sea King, Gazelle and Seahawk helicopters making him one of the most experienced Australian naval aviators. He flew on four Australian Naval Air Squadrons and spent time on exchange as an instructor pilot with the Royal Navy’s 705 Squadron. He commanded 805 Squadron during 2000-01 and the Fleet Air Arm in 2008-09.
He held various staff appointments in Navy Training Command, Navy Systems Command, Fleet Headquarters and the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO). He is a graduate of the US Naval War College - Class of 2003.
Dalton was promoted Rear Admiral in 2012 to head the Defence Materiel Office Helicopter Systems Division, responsible for the acquisition, sustainment and disposal of all the ADF's rotary-wing and tactical unmanned aerial system assets.
He took over as the head of the Joint Systems Division in 2015 before retiring from the Navy in early 2016.
In 2017 he joined the Australian Public Service and was appointed as the General Manager Ships and became responsible for National Naval Shipbuilding within the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group in the Department of Defence.
News from SA Division with Roger Harrison
February saw some of the Members travel to the Port Adelaide Naval Association club rooms for dinner, catch-up and rowdy entertainment by a quartet on stage who blasted out popular songs you would struggle not to hear. All in all, a good night with the General Service sailors making us very welcome indeed. We will return.
March 20th was this Division’s Annual General Meeting held at the Keswick Military Barracks, which I hasten to add, has yet to be sold off. Some heritage buildings are protected but others are not. Back to the AGM. Executive committee Members were elected as per the last AGM, and those who attended were quietly elected as committee Members and I suspect some have yet to realize that.
President: John Siebert
Vice President: Gerry Dowling
Secretary: Roger Harrison
Treasurer: Ian McBeath
Auditor: Michael Cain
Committee Members:
Mark Morris
Murray Staff
David Smillie
Ian Laidler
And for those Members clambering to be involved with the running of this Division, not to worry as we know who you are. Some of you late paying Members will not be reading this as we have suspended your access. This can be reversed with your payment to the Treasurer. All fees are unchanged as from last year. A saving to you.
April was saved for ANZAC Day in Adelaide. Member Henry Young laid a wreath at the Dawn Service as he usually did over many years, and he was there because I saw him on the ABC outside broadcast. The Division met at 0930 along North Terrace in complete indifference to the RSL ANZAC Committee’s information sheet which had been altered but no one knew. Being Navy, we sorted it out.
CMDR John Siebert led the Division off at the correct beat as the local community band members at the front of us, struggled with the doppler affect as sound bounced off the tall buildings. Locko Lockett held the FAAA Flag, Henry Young’s lad Mike, held the FAAA Banner as did I, Paul Sheils was on his red scooter behind us followed by Henry Young as the righthand marker, and remember that Henry is over 100 years old, so the troops had to slow down to keep up with Henry which could have been a
mistake as those of us leading the Division had no idea of the widening gap developing behind us. Had Sir Victor seen the shambles, he would insist we GO AROUND. It looked OK on the ABC broadcast so let’s leave it at that. About a dozen of us met after the Parade at the Queens Head for calming drinks and a serious catch-up. Lunch was booked at The Windsor Hotel, and some of us got there as did Henry Young and his minder Gerry. A lovely lunch with no stokers present to lower the tone.
Speaking of Henry Young, he arrived back in Australia over Easter after competing in Spain at the Very Old and Wrinkly Tennis Championships and later he was awarded the Tennis SA most outstanding 30+ Tennis Senior Award over the ANZAC weekend. Henry has made the rest of us look like major under-achievers.
Henry’s FAA flying history dates back to an age when pilots clapped goggles over their eyes and with extravagant grunts, started their aircraft with a prop swing.
BZ Henry Young and regards from the lot of us.
May 15th has us meeting at the Keswick Barracks for lunch and our General Meeting held either outside under the spreading oak tree or inside the Café. No rain here not unlike NSW. Always a cheerful group and this meeting we will have some issues to discuss as well as the Federal Executive urgent request for help to manage the National FAAA. Perhaps not so cheerful. Optimistic as I am, things will work out as they always have.
June/July should see the Division return to harass the Port Adelaide Naval Club as well as the Port Adelaide Aviation Museum which currently hold a Wessex and Sea Venom plus other aircraft of minor interest. The President has hinted at an exercise travelling north again to the wine region of SA. Happy with that.
At the May Meeting, the committee will discuss who will be travelling to Nowra for the FAAA General Meeting held at the FAA Museum in October, and I suspect a meeting which could be somewhat tense and full of anxiety. Still October is a way off.
Paul Shiels is still monitoring the Navy Memorial for AB Todd killed on WW2 mine clearing duties here in SA. More details to follow.
As winter tightens its grip, and here for our Queensland cousins, I will explain “Winter.” It is a noun and describes the coldest season in the southern hemisphere from June to August and is caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis and so winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the sun, definitely a time to spend around an open fire sipping a hot cocoa, read gin and tonic, and dwell on our shared past Navy life. Would you believe that in the middle of this paragraph slagging off Queensland, my old Navy mate, Darryl Greer, living in Rockhampton, rang me and asked how I was coping with winter as he was enjoying a sunny day. Freaking me out. Stand at ease sailors Blakemore and Whiteman RAN Rtd. Qld.
OK back to what’s happening in South Australia.
July the 1st (Monday) saw several Members (9) travel north to the Gawler aerodrome for a guided tour by Vice President Gerry Dowling around the gliding aircraft and towing aircraft hangars. Gliders bother me as the distinct absence of sound up front causes sweaty palms and a sphincter factor of nine. The tour was followed by a BBQ lunch, salad and fresh bread while seated inside the excellent Soaring Club dining room. Our President, John Siebert and daughter Heather, flew his RV 4 from Goolwa to Gawler. The landing was critiqued and from the smooth touch-down, we assumed Heather was flying.
The July 17th (Wednesday) General Meeting was more social than structured in the Naval tradition as we assembled at the Port Adelaide Aviation Museum prelunch for a wander around aircraft various until we entered the hangar with the FAA Wessex and Sea Venom parked up. Broad smiles all round as we talked about experiences on either aircraft, good or bad. Here I checked my arms for the usual Wessex wire-locking scars, but they had faded away. The head count for Members attending was eleven. Around 1230 we drove over the Port River to The Birkenhead Tavern for a lunchtime Meeting led by our President, John Siebert. One of the shortest Meetings recorded and as Secretary, I will have to do some creative writing for the July Minutes to look more businesslike.
August the 18th (Sunday) is Vietnam Veterans Day and held at the Torrens Parade Grounds, Adelaide. Several Members will attend, and our President will lay a Military Book/FAA Navy Vietnam on the Memorial when directed. Parking on the Parade Ground apparently. Starting at 1100 for a short Service followed by a light meal in the Combined Ex-Services Mess.
September 18th (Wednesday) FAAA General Meeting back at the Keswick Barracks Café around 1130 for a light lunch followed by a light Meeting. Hoping Paul Shiels will be back from visiting his Boys in Victoria and able to expand on his team’s research and development for a permanent Memorial to honour the two sailors killed at Beachport SA while disarming a German mine. A lot of effort has gone into the request for State funding and at the moment, it is looking promising after several alterations in Red Tape required from Paul and his Team.
October the 26th (Saturday) Federal Council Meeting at the Naval Museum, HMAS Albatross. Both the President and Secretary will attend this very important Meeting which will discuss our FAAA future direction. Hoping it will be worth the long drive over and back. Well, it will, just to catch up with Bomber Brown and Judy in Cambewarra, and others as well, of course.
November 11th will see some of the FAAA Members attend the Remembrance Day Service held at the 808 Squadron Memorial Plaque, Cadell Street, Goolwa. This is a possible but not a definite as the lines of communication between the Fleet Air Arm Liaison Officer and Ex-Service Organisations here borders on non-existent. The Squadron has visited here on several occasions without any FAAA Members being informed. Here could be one of the reasons the FAAA have issues with attracting Serving Personnel into this Association. Them and us policy firmly in place.
November 20th will see Members gather at the Keswick Barracks Café for the General Meeting after a light lunch and tall stories. Always a casual and cheerful gathering of regulars and their time and energy spent with this Association is always appreciated. Everyone is more than welcome to attend the GM either to observe or comment on the direction of this Division.
December 15th is the FAAA End of Year lunch held at The Windsor Hotel, Windsor Gardens from 1130 for 1200.
WA DIVISION SHARON SPARGO
It’s been a busy period for our Division, which began with a change of leadership in February. Mike Keogh took over as President from Past President Greg Kelson; Mick Spahn took on the Secretary’s position from Jim Bush and Dennis Nixon stepped up as Treasurer.
Representing the Fleet Air Arm Association, on Friday the 5th of April, President Mike Keogh, Past Secretary Jim Bush, Secretary Mike Spahn, Senior Vice President Bill Atthowe and Barbara Atthowe, and Brett Dowsing, attended Graduation Ceremony of No 273 PH 2 ADF Intermediate Pilots Course.
The venue for members of the Safety Equipment Branch was Kings Park on a warm and sunny day. Pictured below are:
Members L-R Owen Gardiner, Paul Hodgkinson, Alan Winchcombe, Paul McGregor, Jim Bush, Mike Keogh, Darryl Christie, and Mike Spahn.
L-R Shirley Gardiner, Lyn Keogh, Christine McGregor, Lynne Christie, Judy Hodgkinson, and Jan Bush
Busselton Trip
On what has become an annual 4 days of rest, relaxation, fine food and finer wines, we headed down to Busselton for our 3rd trip. The bus tour of wineries and breweries included a Gin stop, so all tastes were catered for. My husband and I headed to Augusta where we had a lovely lunch, overlooking the best pub view in Australia! Or so I’m told.
Overlooking Perth from Kings Park at Dawn on ANZAC Day. It was windy and cool, but a big crowd gathered in the dark for the service. An enthusiastic crowd enjoyed the parade through the sunny streets of Perth and the members made their way to Jonny Fox’s in Northbridge where the beverages flowed nearly as much as the conversation.
I am happy to report that ‘Birdies’ has reached many readers who had no idea the Fleet Air Arm existed! They are very impressed with your extensive history and appreciative of your service. Many veterans have expressed their pride in having their story read, and their memories refreshed. Many thanks. Take care. Sharron.
By Councillor Tricia Hitchen
I have had the privilege of knowing Colin Kelson, or ‘Pussa’ to his friends for a very long time. The word hero is used a lot these days, but it’s people like Col who truly deserve that title.
Col joined the Navy in 1964. During his service at sea he served on the HMAS VAMPIRE and VENDETTA, doing troop convoy escort duty to Vietnam and performing diving operations in Vung Tau harbour against saboteurs.
On the VAMPIRE and VENDETTA and on another two tours on the HMAS STALWART he was deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve, a warlike theatre of operations.
In 1970 Col was awarded the Fleet Commander’s Commendation for Bravery in respect of his actions as part of the ship’s diving team attempting to salvage a ditched helicopter in rough seas off Jervis Bay on the 13 November 1969.
Col completed his engagement and was discharged holding the rank of Chief Petty Officer in 1976.
He was awarded the Australian Active Service Medal with clasp, Australian Logistic Support Medal, Australian Service Medal and clasp, and the Australian Defence Medal.
Upon his return to Sydney, after serving his country, Col then decided to serve his community and joined the NSW Police Force in 1976. He became an accredited Police Rescue Operator. For the next 15 years Col performed many dangerous and hazardous rescue operations in the western Sydney Region.
In 1987 he was awarded the Commissioners Commendation for Bravery for outstanding devotion to duty and meritorious actions involved in the rescue of four persons at Plumpton and two persons at Mount Druitt.
In 1991 he was awarded the Commissioners Commendation for Valour (the highest award for Bravery in the NSW Police
Force) for the attempted rescue of a man trapped in a submerged vehicle amid floodwaters in Toongabbie creek.
Col was fearless in the execution of his duties. For almost 60 years, Colin Kelson served his country and his community. He committed acts of outstanding bravery, risking his life many times to save others, he was a leader, a mentor and a great friend and he was a hero.
How well do we know each other?
During my 23 Years Naval Service, my two youngest brothers also enlisted. Colin Michael as a Nirimba MOBI and Robert as a Leeuwin JR. Robert served short term as Seaman on board Stalwart a long time going nowhere and Colin more distinguished 13 years. We never served together, seldom in the same place and had contact even less.
There are many of you in the broader Navy family know them both more intimately than I, especially the MOBI Birdies. Referring to Colin, I learned more of his Navy service from a Eulogy presented by Capt Anita Nemarich RAN, and the Secretary of the Nepean Naval Association who conducted the military service, then I learned of his Community service from OIC Blacktown Div SES, followed by NSW Police Chaplain Gary Raymond.
Penrith Mayor, Tricia Hitchen published a glowing tribute to Colin in the Nepean News, 9 May 2024. Tricia has served Penrith since 2012, is a former highly decorated commissioned Police Officer.
His cortege was led by three ceremonial Police Motor Cyclist outriders followed by units of Police Rescue.
J. Greg Kelson, R50651, POATA
News from Victorian Division with Mal Smith
Greetings to all members from the Victoria Division.
We are well into a Melbourne winter and a lot of us are hibernating or heading north for some warmer weather.
The only get together we have had since our last report was the ANZAC day march and Reunion. Our marching numbers were slightly down on previous years but the turn out for our reunion was the best for some time. We had hoped to have some “ Birdies” from HMAS Arunta join us but unfortunately the ship was unable to make the trip to Melbourne. My thanks to all those members who donated prizes to our legendary raffle which is always a highlight of the day. I have enclosed a couple of photos from the march.
We will shortly be convening a committee meeting to map out our agenda for the balance of the year. At this stage the highlight of the next period will be a weekend at the Navy Ski Lodge Mt. Buller. We have done this once before just for one night but hopefully we will be able to extend it to two nights this year. We are looking at November to hold this event and I am indebted to committeeman Jeremy ( Harry ) Butler for his organisation skills.
The committee is yet to determine if we will hold our Memorial Service at HMAS Cerberus this year and this event may have past its use by date.
On behalf of the Victoria Division we congratulate two recent National appointments. Rear Admiral Tony Dalton who has agreed to become Patron of the Association and Rear Admiral Mark Campbell who returns as our National President.
Yours Aye
Mal Smith
NEWS FROM THE RANHFV
Vietnam Veterans’ Day & Reunion at Old Bar
We kicked off this year’s reunion with a Meet and Greet on Friday night at Club Old Bar where we picked up our name badges so people could be addressed by their name rather than “Mate” by those of us who have memory struggles.
Club Old Bar was the meeting place again on Saturday for our BBQ lunch where Club President Wayne displayed his Master Chef skills cooking our lunch. He was assisted by Function Manager Sharon who is the face of Club Old Bar at all our events.
Master Chef in Action
Our formal dinner kicked off at 6pm for 6:30 where we were joined by four currently serving members from FAA HQ to bring the number of diners to forty-seven. The attendees came from the US, NZ and from all over Oz. We representatives from the RAAF’s 9 Squadron and the Army’s 2 RAR. Pat Vickers (the first RANHFV member to be killed in Vietnam) brother Ross came down from Bundaberg to join us.
After entrée, a list of well wishes and apologies were read out followed by the unveiling by of an honour board displaying the names of the five RAN and 32 US Army members of the 135th AHC who were killed in Vietnam. This honour board will be a permanent fixture in the club.
Formal Dinner
The Unveiling
Sunday morning, we gathered at the Old Bar Village Café for brunch and more catch up chats and getting ready for the afternoon’s precision marching.
A 26-member Royal Australian Navy Band joined us for our 1pm march along with Navy Cadets from TS Manoora, Old Bar Public School and community members. LCDR Cameron McDowell did an excellent job of Parade Marshal and our National President RADM Mark Campbell, who represented CN, took the salute.
Brunch at the Old Bar Village Café
NEWS FROM THE RANHFV
The Vietnam Veterans’ Day Service was held at the Old Bar Public School’s Hall where the School Leaders provided the MC role with professionalism beyond their age and are a great credit to the school.
Vietnam Veterans’ Day Service
The service was attended by our Local Federal Member Dr David Gillespie and local State Member Mrs Tanya Thompson. They took the opportunity to have a chat with the current serving members and FAAAA National President Mark Campbell.
LEUT Mark Cameron-Davies, Dr David Gillespie, Tanya Thompson, LCDR Cameron McDowell, ASLT Elise Cowley, SBLT Sanjuna Rajapaksha and RADM Mark Campbell chat with the pollies.
At 4:30 we gathered again at Club Old Bar for some bubbles and nibbles before adjoining outside to watch the Royal Australian Navy Band perform a Ceremonial Sunset. The weather was closing in, so this impressive performance started at 5pm with the TS Manoora Navy Cadets doing the flag work.
The few remaining stragglers gathered at the Old Bar Village Café for a farewell breakfast before hitting the road home. A great weekend came to an end.
Many thanks to all who attended and made this such a memorable reunion. Also, thanks to Club Old Bar, the Old Bar Public School, the Royal Australian Navy Band, FAA HQ, the Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia and the Old Bar Village Café.
I hope to see you all again next year.
JOHN MACARTNEY
For Vietnam Veterans, there's nothing like the sound of a Huey, or Iroquois as many Aussies called them too, and at Sunday's Australian Vietnam Veterans Day, a specially-arranged salute took place by HARS ex-RAN Huey 898 over the Shoalhaven. In the pilot's seat, decorated Vietnam Veteran & HARS volunteer retired RAAF Group Captain Michael 'Mick' Haxell, youngest recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross with 9 Squadron in South Vietnam. Huey 898 performed two fly-pasts to dramatically open this year's commemorative service at Bomaderry's Walsh Park. The hour-long service was addressed by the son of a Vietnam War veteran, Luke Johnston, who followed his father's footsteps back to modern-day Vietnam to help him overcome PTSD and ended with the laying of wreaths and playing of the Last Post by 90-year old bugler Peter Williams.
Group Captain Mick Haxell DFC, RAAF (rtd) co-piloting HARS Huey 898 on Viet Nam
Royal Australian Navy Band performing for the Ceremonial Sunset at Club Old Bar.
Vets Day 2024
CDRE Matthew Royals RAN, Commander Fleet Air Arm, observing Viet Nam Veterans’ Day 2024.
Howard Mitchell photographs
Vietnam- The Long Way Home
David Benge’s book “Vietnam-The Long Way Home” is a very readable, highly entertaining account of one man’s experiences in the Vietnam War with the US Army’s Experimental Military Unit (EMU).
His account of prewar experiences allows readers to get to know him and his sense of fun, as a young Australian sailor visiting various ports. The enjoyment of lively shore leave will bring a smile to the faces of readers, while his tale of romance and young couples parting captures the feelings of the times and will evoke memories of wartime partings and long separations among older readers.
Benge was then transferred to the EMUs as a part of Australia’s military support for America in that war. His style captures the atmosphere of his war in Vietnam – the combination of horror and violence, yet fun, as the troops struggle to remain sane and find relief in the sort of humour epitomised by the TV series “MASH” (which was placed in the earlier Korean war but reflected the ethos and attitudes of Vietnam). In interludes from the war, Benge conveys an involvement with the 60s and 70s era. A rollicking use of the Australian vernacular allows the horrors of war to be portrayed, while understatement dampens readers’ reactions to the dreadful situations the author finds himself in. Using words to be expected from the mouth of a grandmother, Benge speaks of the bloodshed, mayhem and treachery encountered from both sides. It is one man’s story pitched against friend, foe and the environment.
This book should therefore be enjoyed by all age groups and the tale of Benge’s Vietnam war experiences, with his knowledge of weaponry and tactics, will enthuse the military minded and the lay reader alike.
Eric Andrews, Associate Professor (Retd) University of Newcastle
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Aussies’ Rules
The art of sleeping in the tropics was to have a damp mosquito net over you and have a fan handy to blow them away, this caused a slipstream of breeze over your body. By the time the sun was at its meridian, it was too hot for anything. So let it rain at three pm every afternoon just like it does every other afternoon in this monsoon rainy season. The temperature would drop so quickly and the roar of noise on the corrugated iron roofs would make you sleep like a baby, even through the heavy B-52 raids, which were offcourse sometimes.
One odd Red Alert I was sleeping like a log with my mossie net stretched out, dressed in my Aussie underwear, fan going over a bowl of iced water to make things cool. When out of nowhere, our illustrious huge Negro cook Willie, wearing a gasmask, came through the barracks yelling out, “We’re hit, Red Alert.” I was still non-
compos; completely out to it. So, Willie simply ripped off the mossie net, and staring right in front of me was the worst sight imaginable. This monster from some S&M dungeon was staring at me through a gas mask, stark naked!! He was trying to yell out “We have been gassed sergeant, we’ve been gassed.” Instantly I started to choke and generally have convulsions, my skin was itching so much that I wanted to peel it off. This black madman had inadvertently destroyed the only protection I had against this type of chemical attack. If I had stayed under the moist net, I would have probably been all right and been able to get away with it.
His actual initial appearance was horrifying to say the least, the 250lb black man was wearing only a gasmask and was yelling to me to get out and in the bunker. That was the last thing I wanted to do.
I grabbed my boots and uniform and ran for the showers and jumped under to get the gas particles off me. By this time my groin area was on fire, the pain soon went away but made the affected area most uncomfortable.
Getting my clothes on was so awkward, by this time the gas was blown away leaving us and the rats suffering badly. It sure got rid of the vermin from under the barracks and the ditches that surrounded the base.
Rats, some the size of cats, were running madly everywhere around us. Many were shot. That night after we were all given cream and other ointments to soothe our pain and suffering, and we promptly started our own way of pain and punishment; a case of VB appeared.
By the time we had finished all we wanted to do was sleep, until Naval Airman Bernie Fisher started to scream and carry on that he had been bitten on the finger by a rat. Sure enough he had been bitten on the end of the trigger finger. He thought he was going to die from some rat carrying disease and be buried in South East Asia.
Bandages were placed over the gaping wound, and we dragged him over to the infirmary where our Royal Australian Navy medic “ Doc” Sitki was on duty reading “Playboy” magazine thus keeping up with the world and its shapely attractions in their finest naked forms. There was no racing form inside either. “I’ve been bitten Doc! The bastard’s bitten the end off my finger, look at it!” After close examination, Doc was cumulating his thoughts and asked seriously if Bernie knew where the end of his finger was.
“Down the f***ing rat’s throat. Where else do you think it would be?” Panic had set in on top of a full gut of VB. All of us present laughed out loud. After all, we could not feel any pain. Furthermore, it was Bernie who was in trouble, not us. We were half full too, but it didn’t hurt a bit.
Doc yells back at Bernie, “What do you think I can do if you haven’t got the bloody end of your finger here so I can
sew it back on for you? Here, hang on to that!” passing back the remains of a damaged finger hanging off his fist wrapped in a bandage.
Doc Sitki bent down, pulled out the bottom drawer and unearthed an Esky full of ice-cold VB. He calmly grabbed six and punctured one, grabbed Bernie’s finger, pulled the bandage off and poured some ice-cold brown, amber fluid over it from the open can of Victoria Bitter. Bernie went berserk with the shock. By this stage we’re all pissing ourselves laughing over his antics. Doc rammed the remains of the can into his hand and told him to swallow the remains quickly so as not to spill any on his nice clean floor. He then passed the rest of the cans to us as a good will gesture. Bernie was still having a shocker. After all, would half a can of beer kill all the germs, or would he have to keep up the full course of VB? Doc bandaged his finger once more and politely said to him that he was to find the rat that bit him and kill it. Then find the remains of the tip of his finger in his guts and bring it back for him to sew on. “But If I were you, I would count your blessings and cut your losses mate.” Bernie was sent back to our hooch to sober up and told to come back in the morning so the real doctor could look at it
Bernie was ok. No bad results from any queer diseases, he was almost human again.
There were some bad and very odd cases of disease running around the countryside up there. The base was always under the flight line of the spray aircraft and helicopters doing their daily spray runs around the Rung Sat swamps and other low life areas just to the south of us.
It was not uncommon to be sprayed at Bear Cat during the morning roll call, almost on purpose I would imagine. There were no living trees at Bear Cat
at the end of 1970 before we departed for the Mekong Delta area at Dong Tam.
Agent Orange, or whatever chemicals containing dioxin were sprayed over us, had some very strange effects on the foliage as well as the humans on
the scene. Bear Cat had lots of trees but none with leaves on them.
Medical problems were abundant before the first year back from Vietnam. Many of us had sebaceous cysts evident, which were similar to tumors, and they were also to be present in some of our children at a later stage.
Everything seemed to happen at once. One of our Aussie E5s got mixed up with the 240th AHC “Greyhounds” and the 335th “Cowboys” which lived next door to the 135th AHC compound. After a large drinking session one young man got himself into a brawl, and unfortunately for the CO of the 240th, he became the victim of a great left hook and was decked severely: …7, 8, 9,10, you’re out! So was our junior sailor. He was on the next plane out to Australia. It was a very unfortunate incident because the circumstances were never clear to us. There were so many conflicting stories to be heard from so many different sources; it was the only course of action to be taken. He went to Holsworthy Detention Camp for a brief period. Booze had taken its toll.
The 4th July 1970 was a real milestone for us as it was a big day for the Americans with their celebrations. We were now eligible to put up our “Grunt Short” calendars. That meant we had less than one hundred days to go before we returned to Australia.
The first half of the “Flight” who came in to Vietnam in September ’69 were thirty days shorter than us to get on the freedom bird and back to our world. At least we could give the other men whom we worked with, some stick. SP5 Paul Kornoelly, my Prop and Rotor sidekick, had some three hundred days to go. He had extended so that he could DEROS from his tour of Vietnam and be discharged from the Army as soon as he set foot back in the USA.
“99 and a wakey”; “Short mother f***er”; what a great feeling.
There was a hell of a lot of war to finish off yet but it was certainly much better than three hundred and something days of misery, bad food, heat, rain, sweat, smell from hell, noisy cannons, too much work, sweat rash, mortar attacks and funerals, terrible pay and anything else they could throw at us. We had a revival of energy and attitude. It seemed like a breath of fresh air, suddenly we were really on the downhill run to the day of departure for Australia. It would seem similar to a convict getting out of prison after his term of incarceration.
The 222nd Cav proudly invited all of us down to their area for another big drink. They, as usual, wanted some
thing from us. What they needed was one impartial Aussie to get dressed up in a Civil War Southern Confederate Generals Uniform complete with this huge sword. All they wanted him to do was to impersonate this Confederate General, parade out at a given time in front of the 222nd troops, and give a rebel yell at the top of his voice and yell out loudly the famous saying, “The South Shall Rise Again!” This would be the Southern boys’ attempt to upset the Yankees at the 4th of July party.
Peter Montgomery was an Australian Naval Airman Handler who had the supply truck job of getting all the supplies for the mess hall and anything else they could throw at him.
This man was six foot something, of big stature to boot, and he had just been volunteered to be the unbiased Confederate General at the party tonight. The uniform was indeed a brilliant piece of work. It was in fact a genuine article of a Confederate Uniform. Where it came from was another matter. Who cared? The uniform was in a sea trunk along with the hat and sword and carefully packed away. The long riding boots with silver riding spurs were polished so well it was a credit to whoever made them way back in the 1860s.
Show time! The Aussies were well aware of this show of defiance towards the Union-oriented Yankees, so the
intrepid Mr Montgomery was dressed up for the occasion: white shirt, starched collar and what appeared to be a tie of sorts, breeches, cumber band, holster and Navy Colt pistol.
Our Aussie Southern Gentleman was looking great with the hat and plumed feathers; he even had the gloves in the belt that held his sabre scabbard.
No one from Australia took a photograph of this huge strapping handsome man dressed in this period costume to remind Monty of this moment.
It was time to go and see this reenactment of history. Monty was supposed to come out of the rear of the mess hall and give the yell and rouse all the Confederate sympathisers and then walk on this big plank and draw his sword and yell out that famous saying, waving the sword to advantage and get attention.
Then, after this, he was supposed to do an about-turn and do it all again then retire like a ghostly figure. Mind you, this was supposed to be done initially through a smoke screen from a CO2 fire extinguisher to give it the appearance of a staged effect; the plan was brilliant.
Eight pm, and Monty was dressed and ready to go. He was at the 222nd Cav Officers Quarters and was being driven down to the Enlisted Men’s mess hall.
Nobody could find a real horse for the re-enactment. They should have spoken to the Australian connection, there were six of them, although small, in Ton Son Nhut airport racetrack. It was time for the “General” to enter the mess hall and do his thing.
Monty was looking great, his lines were well prepared, he was keen as mustard, and eager to go. The CO2 “smoke” was released by two of the committee. Suddenly, the parting crowd was in awe at what was going on, a spot light suddenly came on to illuminate the area where it was all to take place.
His famous “Rebel Yell” was enormous. It was nothing less than brilliant. It held everybody in shock to see this real live Confederate General come out of the smoke with this awful blood curdling, screaming yell, blasting everyone into absolute silence. The scene commanded instant attention from everyone. The huge sabre was slowly drawn from its scabbard. He then slowly paced the plank forwards toward the middle of the suspended narrow stage. Monty was doing great. Meanwhile there was utter silence everywhere, Monty even looked the part; he was playing the part to success.
Suddenly and without notice he yelled out at the top of his voice in his best Yankee imitation 1861 Southern Carolina accent:
“THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN!”
This famous verse was heard everywhere in Bear Cat. The response from the gathered audience was positively something else. The show was nothing
less than brilliant. Accompanied with sabre swishing through the air, cameras were flashing everywhere.
Unexpectedly at the height of the response, there was a loud cracking noise, followed by lots of swearing Aussie style, short and sweet, lots of the “f” word. The heavy-duty plank stage simply broke in two, slap bang in the centre of the grease trap; the stage area was the back of the mess hall that contained the grease trap. It was covered in some form of carpet to keep the grease smell down and give the image of something more pleasant, unfortunately it was floating on top of the biggest greasy smelly trap you could ever imagine; deep too, very deep indeed.
Monty was in slow motion going down with his sabre still swinging above his head sinking into this terrible messy smelly goo; yelling out some indescribable message to his culprits who set up this terrible Union ambush, all that was left was the hat and the sabre above the slimy watery goo. He had been set up like a dinner. This was supposed to be a secret of high priority; nobody was supposed to know about it at all. It was supposed to be an enormous surprise, not a drowning. Some Yankee had a hand in this trap.
Surprise was the operative word. Everybody was to benefit from this entertainment. Monty was drowning. The broad-brimmed complete with feathers hat was floating off to one side, the remaining two feet of sabre blade was only giving an indication of where the main body was. It was mayhem. By this stage of the opera, there were people giving orders whilst the remainder were laughing their heads off at the way it had all happened.
The Confederate supporters were astonished at what happened and were helping in the rescue of one of their allies out of this shit pit. How did it all
happen? There were supposed to be two old main rotor blades there instead of the timber planks to walk on. Peter Montgomery was covered in smelly slime from head to boots, but he did not lose his sense of humour at all. He did not lose any of the precious uniform either, but he did stink to high heaven. The smell stunk worse than the ‘shit-burners’ on a bad day. People were still rolling on the ground with gut
busting laughter; tears were rolling down their cheeks. Cecil B. De Milles could not have planned this epic presentation any better.
The rise and fall of this southern warrior all happened in less than thirty seconds, did someone sabotage the heavy -duty plank or was Peter too heavy for the ordeal? We’ll never know, but I will never know what happened to the Uniform and its inherent smell; what a mess it was in, he looked so good in it. Laughter was still in the air sometime later after the 222nd Cav had their 4th of July party; no one will forget the incident. Well at least the Impostor Confederate General did rise to the occasion and lived to tell the story that will go down in Cav history.
By next morning every unit in Bear Cat and all the Fire Support Bases around the area knew about the incident, it must have been very funny to say the least to those who had no idea what was going to happen that night, it was certainly a great surprise to all but the biggest was to Monty.
The Disappearance of an S-2 Tracker and Four Naval Aviators, January
22, 1966
SUMMARY: On the morning of January 22, 1966, the four crewmen aboard a U.S. Navy S-2 Tracker antisubmarine aircraft had nearly completed their routine surveillance mission over the Gulf of Tonkin when the pilot, Lieutenant William S. Forman, spotted something bobbing on the unusually calm surface of the water. Forman radioed that he and his crew would checkout the unidentified craft before returning to the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CVS-12). Just after he sent that message, the S-2D he was flying disappeared from the radarscopes of all allied vessels in the vicinity. The only trace of the men and their plane ever found was an empty life raft and a flight helmet. All four aviators remain listed as missing in action.
FULL STORY: Communist Vietnamese troops continued to hold the military initiative on land in the winter of 1966, but the United States unequivocally dominated the sea and skies. The U.S. Navy 7th Fleet controlled the Gulf of Tonkin to such an extent that the small North Vietnamese Navy was rarely seen far from its safe harbors on the coast. In order to maintain control over the waters of the South China Sea, American aviators regularly combed the skies looking for smugglers and enemy gunboats. One of the units that performed this duty was Anti-Submarine Squadron 35 (VS-35) based on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CVS-12)operating on Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam.
Lieutenant William Stannard Forman’s S-2 Tracker launched from the deck of the Hornet at approximately 2:20 am on January 22, 1966. Forman was 26 years old from Pipestone, Minnesota. With him aboard the aircraft were copilot Lieutenant junior grade Erwin “Skip” Templin, Jr., 25 years old, from Houston, Texas, and a 1963 graduate of the Naval Academy; Aviation Mechanic Chief Edmund Frenyea, the “old man” of the crew at 35 years old, from Ukiah, California; and Machinist’s Mate Second Class Robert Sennett, a 26-year-old from Mar Vista, California. Their routine morning mission lasted about four hours, during which they found nothing unusual. But just before the sun came up, the crew noted a surface contact on their radar screen
The nearby destroyer USSBerkeley (DDG-15), which had been monitoring the Tracker’s progress, radioed the crew to remind them it was time to return to their carrier.
The Disappearance of an S-2 Tracker and Four Naval Aviators,
January 22, 1966
Forman acknowledged this, but he said they wanted to check out one unidentified surface vessel before doing so. Just moments after this radio message, the Tracker disappeared from Berkeley’s radarscope. At first, this did not raise any alarms. The S-2 had surely descended toa low altitude to inspect whatever they had found midway between Hainan Island and the coast of North Vietnam, and whenever aircraft did this they often vanished from friendly radar for several moments. But the S-2 never reappeared, and no one in the area received any further communication from the aircraft. Within hours, Navy and Air Force authorities organized a search-and-rescue operation.
As the sun rose over Hainan Island, it seemed likely that the four men would be rescued. The weather conditions were ideal for both SAR aircraft as well as for survival at sea if for some reason Forman had been forced to ditch the aircraft. The Gulf of Tonkin was almost placid and the weather was clear and mild, with visibility stretching to 40miles in any direction. But an extensive search of the area around the Tracker’s last known position failed to turn up any sign of the four aviators. They had simply vanished, and the mystery began.
According to Navy investigators, a few hours after the beginning of the search operation, Radio Hanoi announced that the North Vietnamese had shot down an American aircraft near Bach Long Vi Island. It is possible someone did shoot down the S-2, but the small island of Bach Long Vi was approximately 30 miles from the Tracker’s last known coordinates, and in the opposite direction of its expected line of travel. It is just as likely that the North Vietnamese noticed the large search-and-rescue effort which involved numerous planes and helicopters from the Navy and the Air Force flying overhead near the island and made up the story for propaganda purposes. On February 1, a Navy jet spotted the crew life raft from the missing Tracker, which officials later positively identified by its serial number. But the raft was empty and had no signs of damage or of having ever been occupied. It was designed to inflate automatically upon contact with the water. More than a month after the finding of the raft, a South Vietnamese fisherman located Skip Templin’s flight helmet and turned it over to authorities. These were the only traces of the four men that were ever found.
Forman, Templin, Frenyea, and Sennett were all listed as missing in action. Some people held out hope that the four men might somehow have been captured alive and become prisoners of war, but after North Vietnam released all their American prisoners in 1973, the Department of Defense transitioned each of their statuses to deceased and their remains non-recoverable. Forman and Templin were each promoted, while missing, to Lieutenant Commander, while Frenyea and Sennett attained the ranks of Master Chief and Senior Chief, respectively. All four men are memorialized on Panel 4E, Lines 82–83 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
SPRAY-PAINTING ONBOARD
HMAS SYDNEY AT SEA DURING THE VUNG TAU
RUN IN THE 1970’s
The spray party consisted of a team of four, that being a leading seaman and three able seamen. The team sprayed compartments in the ship during the silent hours and they slept during the day in separate accommodation to the rest of the ships company. Thus, you could imagine trying to sleep during the daylight hours with various parties chipping paint and the general noise around them.
The leading seaman fortunately shared a small compartment, formerly the CPO’s Pantry, (converted to two bunks and lockers) on Sydney with another leading hand. The three able seamen’s unit unfortunately was abreast a main passageway so sleeping was difficult during daylight hours for them.
Which compartment to be sprayed was determined by the 1st Lieutenant through the Chief Buffer (CPO Seaman).
The equipment used to paint compartment were two large, pressurized paint pots with long leads of compressed air attached to a Samson spray gun and a container for paint. The party wore overalls, and their heads covered by an antiflash hood. On the feet they wore sandshoes. When spraying out a compartment our exposed faces and hands were cover with large dobs of Vaseline (petroleum jelly).
When a compartment was to be sprayed out the air was turned off (internal ducted air) and all exposed areas (not to be painted) masked over or covered in Vaseline. Drop sheets were spread out over the
deck area. The white paint used was poured into the paint pots and traces of red added to give the offwhite appearance.
The operation commenced for the team at about 10pm at night and concluded when the job was finished or about 2.30am. The group worked in teams of 2. The following night after spraying the team removed the ground sheets, masking tape and Vaseline.
From my personal experience (being the leading hand of the group) the team worked well but there were times through the lack of fresh air in the compartment when we had to shut down the operation and seek the upper deck for fresh air. On one occasion one of the sailors sprayed continually in
one spot with paint running down the bulkhead and chuckling to himself, it was time to exit the compartment and seek fresh air.
One interesting compartment to be sprayed out was the Coxswain’s flat which consisted of a number of offices. On that night we did the preliminaries and then painted out the flat and offices. In the morning
after the job was done, I was rudely awakened by one of the coxswains and told to report to the Chief Coxswain in his office. The chief was not happy with me and informed me he had to wear sunglasses when he entered his office as the brilliance of the paint on the bulkheads was too much for him.
We had kind of mixed too much red with the off-white paint and it now looked very red even to me; thus the following night we repainted the Coxswain’s flat and offices. At the time we believed the ship’s interior needed brightening up, nobody other than ourselves thought so.
When finished our nights work, we headed for the CPO/PO dining room to make our breakfast – around 3am that morning. That consisted of at least half a pound of bacon cut into strips with 6 or 7 eggs beaten up and placed on a pussers plate. This was slowly slid onto a horizontal tray under the toaster and cooked until done. The eggs on the plate were slowly withdrawn. Using a hot mitt the mixture was inverted onto another plate and then cooked again under the toaster. The omelette was consumed with six slices of toast. We were fortunate to have drums of goat’s milk on board which only the spray party had access to. There is nothing like ice cold goat’s milk to wash down our breakfast.
In the two years onboard Sydney we painted almost every bathroom, office flat, passageway and many other smaller compartments plus the Wardroom and Gun Room.
Finally, when I left the ship in 1972, we were back spraying out A Hangar at HMAS Albatross, where I began before I joined Sydney in 1970. Gary Tearle
Ex-CPOAVN
Whilst at sea on the Sydney I carried out spray painting duties. When in Vung Tau Harbour myself and Ron Venning, a fellow LS Handler, did marshalling duties on the flight deck of the Sydney
During time of anchor in Vung Tau harbour all the weather decks were manned by sailors with SLR’s to look for bubbles from foreign divers. The ship’s divers were on stand-by who, on occasions, dropped stun grenades over the side of the ship. The ship’s boat in the background towed behind it four spaced long lengths of barbed wire, I suppose to snag foreign divers who could attack the ship.
If the ship could not load or off load in one day they would sail overnight to sea and then complete the task back in harbour in day light hours. I did six trips on the Vung Tau Ferry to Vietnam and each trip was different, event wise.
Picture 1. The Kiowa helicopter I boarded to take the later photos of the Sydney.
Picture 2. From the left is Verryl Clark (LS Handler), Keith Doncon (LEMAW) part of Helo Flight - Vietnam, partly shown Keith Dally in a fire suit (AB Handler), unsure of the others except me in the flight deck jacket.
Picture 3. Me giving brakes to the Chinook helicopter as he just landed. The pilot did take some notice of me as they were afraid that their wheel may hook the safety nets on the ship. The troops were off/on loaded either by the ship's four landing craft or by Chinook helicopter.
Picture 4. I took through the perspex of the Kiowa of Rod Venning marshalling us of the deck.
Picture 5. The shot I took from the Kiowa of Sydney offloading aid (trucks mainly) for the Vietnamese.
The RAN Fleet Air Arm assigned eight pilots to fly with RAAF 9 Squadron in South Viet Nam between May 1968 and April 1969.
LOUR FIRST JET PILOT
ieutenant Peter Goldrick RAN, who had been shepherded back to Sydney off the Korean west coast when wounded while attacking flak positions along the Yesong River in his Sea Fury XI, later became the first Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm aviator to fly a jet in Australia. Logging a dual familiarisation sortie in a Vampire 33 at RAAF Base Williamtown on 7 April 1954, he went solo two days later in a Vampire 30. After 60 hours of jet flying Peter flew the 20 minutes from Bankstown to Albatross/Naval Air Station
Nowra delivering the RAN’s first Sea Vampire (837) on 18 June 1954. One of 190 Vampires built under license in Australia by the de Havilland factory at Bankstown they were powered by Rolls-Royce Nene engines built at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Victoria. Taken on charge by 723 Squadron, Peter commenced converting other Sea Fury pilots to the jets before they sailed to the UK to eventually fly
Sea Venoms with 808 Squadron.
Peter was not, however, the first Australian naval aviator to fly jets, that milestone having been achieved in England several years before his 1954 flights in Australian airspace. In contention for that honour is Lieutenant Richard ‘Digger’ Bourke RAN from Perth. Digger had graduated from the Naval College in December 1941, was a Midshipman in Australia at the Battle of Savo Island, and a Sub-Lieutenant in the sloop Redpole escorting the first assault convoy to Gold Beach during the Normandy D-day landings. At war’s end he was undertaking a pilots course in the United Kingdom, one of only two RAN general list officers who commenced pilot training during World War 2.
After flying fighter reconnaissance with 827 (Firefly FR1) Squadron on Triumph, Digger was a founding member of 816 when it reformed as an Australian squadron in 1948. Follow-
ing service as Senior Watchkeeper in the cruiser Australia, Digger was posted to a Royal Navy Air Weapons Officers Course from September 1951. After graduation he joined 787 Squadron at RAF West Raynham as their Senior Pilot and AWO in July 1952. This base held the RAF’s Central Fighter Establishment and his naval squadron was an air fighting trials unit equipped with the RN’s first front-line jet, the Supermarine Attacker F.1. Flying Vampires since September 1947 the squadron had received their first Attacker in January 1951. In the absence of any logbook record to tell us if Digger flew jets during his AWO course we must date his jet flying from July 1952.
This leaves the Fremantle born Lieutenant-Commander Fred Sherborne RAN in pole position for being the first Australian naval aviator to fly jets. Fred originally served as a Royal Australian Naval Reserve ordinary seaman gunner aboard the liner Imperial Star, badly damaged by Italian air attacks and scuttled in the Mediterranean in September 1941. Rescued by the destroyer Oribi Fred was commissioned an RANVR Sub -Lieutenant in September 1942. His simple, yet bold, subterfuge of joining an interview queue for RNVR aircrew selection led to him becoming one of only three RAN Volunteer Reserve pilots before the unconditional German surrender in May 1945. By the time Navy Office in Melbourne caught up to his whereabouts they accepted that the situation was a fait accompli.
Lieutenant Richard ‘Digger’ Bourke RAN
AOUR FIRST JET PILOT
warded his wings at the US Naval Air Station Pensacola in January 1943, Sub-Lieutenant (A) Sherborne RANVR flew Grumman Wildcat Vs with 882 Squadron off the assault escort carrier Searcher. Providing fighter cover and attacking ground targets on 19 August 1944, in support of the allied invasion of Provence, his Kiwi flight leader SubLieutenant (A) Alan Sharpe RNZNVR was shot down and killed. In the same diving attack against the German occupied airfield Fred’s Wildcat was hit in the wing. Escaping at low level, he almost immediately attacked another airfield on his own where his aircraft was hit again, in the engine and windscreen, wounding him. After a dead engine forced landing in a field Fred hid his parachute and evaded up a creek line in case of tracker dogs.
Sheltered by courageous local farmers until the Germans started retreating Fred walked to find friendly troops, was repatriated through Naples and continued flying. To have ‘walked through enemy territory to freedom’ qualified him as a member of the ‘Golden Boot Club’, the less well known brother of the ‘Caterpillar Club’ and the ‘Goldfish Club’, whose membership required saving of life by silk parachute or dinghy respectively. Fred was Mentioned in Despatches for his ‘distinguished service and gallantry during the invasion of the south of France’
Demobilised in 1946, a newly married Fred joined the nascent RAN Fleet Air Arm in January 1948.
After serving as Senior Pilot of 805 (Sea Fury) Squadron, having been awarded his Bridge Watchkeeping Certificate aboard Sydney in November 1949, he was appointed in April 1951 for seaman duties in the frigate Shoalhaven. Three months later, as Sydney and her CAG worked up for active service in Korean waters, Fred embarked in the Dominion Monarch for passage to the UK and loan service with the RN.
After six months flying Sea Furies Fred joined 702 Squadron at Seahawk/Naval Air Station Culdrose on 18 March 1952 for a Short Jet Course. Since April 1949 this squadron had been the naval Jet Evaluation and Training unit. Initially having four Sea Vampire F.20s it was also the first squadron to receive the Meteor T.7. A specially hooked Meteor had flown deck landing trials in June 1948 but embarkations by this secondline squadron, on Implacable in September 1949 and Theseus in May 1950, were with Vampires giving the navy experience in operating jet aircraft from carriers prior to their entry into service with front-line squadrons.
That initial front-line jet unit was 800 Squadron, which reformed with eight de Havilland Attacker F.1s in August 1951. These were powered by the centrifugal flow Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.3. Their first embarkation was to Eagle on 4 March 1952, only three days after that new 46,000 ton Audaciousclass carrier commissioned. When Fred joined 702 the same month it was now part of the Naval Air Fighter School, converting piston engined pilots to jets.
Initial conversion flights at Culdrose in 1952 were in a Gloster Meteor. Slower and less well armed than the German Messerschmitt Me 262 the twin-engined Meteor F.1, the RAF’s first jet fighter, had entered service in July 1944 with 616 Squadron against the V1 flying bombs over southern England. Although carrier landing trials on Implacable had taken place with a navalised Meteor F.3 in June 1948 the type was mainly used by the navy as a land-based trainer flying the two-seat Meteor T.7.
With over 1200 flying hours in his logbook Fred flew his first jet familiarisation in Meteor 652 on 17 March 1952. After three further flights and just over three hours on type he soloed on 25 March in Meteor 645, these flights confirming him as the RAN’s first jet pilot.
Fred in Chateaurenard, Provence, France Aug 1944
AOUR FIRST JET PILOT
lmost 900 Meteors were eventually lost in RAF service alone, 145 in the year after Fred’s solo, with a death toll of 450 pilots. A jets higher speed meant bailing out successfully - overcoming high g-forces and fast airflow pushing the pilot towards striking the tailplane - was extremely difficult. The casualty rate improved with the introduction of a Martin-Baker ejection seat from 1949’s F.8 variant onwards but Fred’s flights were in a Meteor T.7, which lacked ejection seats.
After Meteors Fred flew the squadron’s de Havilland Vampire FB.5s. The first RN deck landing of a pure jet aircraft had been Vampire LZ551 with a 2,700 lb thrust Goblin engine on Ocean in December 1945. Although the type entered RAF service in 1946, and the RN ordered navalised FB.5 Sea Vampires to replace Sea Hornets, the slow spool up of early jet engines if waved-off by the carrier’s batsman, and their short fuel endurance, meant they never saw front-line service. Fred completed his Jet Conversion with seven hours on each type. Fred immediately went on to a formal Twin Conversion Course in April. After 29 hours in the Mosquito T3 and the Sea Mosquito
at St. Davids in Wales, Fred was appointed senior pilot of 703 Squadron. A composite service trials unit flying multiple types, based at Peregrine/Naval Air Station Ford in Sussex, Fred quickly logged flying hours on another type, the Grumman Avenger, including four deck landings at the end of June to add to his 218.
Involved in testing catapult and arrestor gear after a carrier’s refit, the squadron also tested new photographic and radio equipment as well as the latest armament and instruments. Proposals from the Safety Equipment School and the Medical Air School were examined, which is perhaps how Fred found himself at Farnborough that August experiencing a ‘High Explosive Decompression with Pressure waistcoat’!
Just as the Attacker had evolved from the Supermarine Spitfire stable, the Sea Hawk came from the Hawker Sea Fury line.
First flown in 1951, by September 1952, 703 Squadron were conducting intensive flying trials of this elegant new jet. Now with the Mk.101 version of the Roll-Royce Nene engine, producing 5,000 lbs of thrust and improved acceleration times, the day fighter entered front-line service with 806 Squadron in March 1953, embarking in Eagle a year later.
Sea Hawks also saw service aboard the Royal Netherland Navy’s aircraft carrier Karel Doorman, the Indian Navy’s Vikrant and from West German Marineflieger air stations. The Dutch Marine Luchtvaartdienst Sea Hawks were fitted, naturally, with a Philips UHF radio.
Fred was appointed Commanding Officer of 703 in July 1953 but, to his undoubted chagrin, found himself several months later on Staff Course.
50 TR.Mk33 Sea Mosquitos served with the Royal Navy from 1946
Fred (flying No.2) in WF143, the first general development production Sea Hawk - 23 March 1953.
TOUR FIRST JET PILOT
he welcome command of 805 (Sea Fury) Squadron and embarkations in Sydney followed his return to Australia. ‘Digger’ Bourke was appointed CO of his 787 Squadron in October 1953, that squadron having recently taken delivery of Sea Hawks in addition to their Attackers.
At the end of his loan service ‘Digger’ became Albatross’s Air Warfare Instructor before commanding 805 in turn when Fred, unable to continue avoiding a Navy Office desk, was promoted and appointed Deputy Director of the Naval Air Warfare Division in 1955.
Originally from Melbourne, Graeme Lunn served as a reserve naval diver before entering the Royal Australian Naval College as a Senior Entry in 1976. He was sent to the University of New South Wales for a Bachelor of Arts degree and found a love for history there. Later adding a master’s degree in military history from the University of New England, he then served as a seaman officer in the carrier HMAS Melbourne
After flying training, Graeme’s Fleet Air Arm postings included HC723 and HU816 squadrons with the venerable Wessex in its counter terrorist role and a tour with the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. He did an exchange posting with the RNZN flying the Wasp whose short endurance helped him accrue 1,749 deck landings.
His staff work there helped ensure the successful introduction of the two-seat de Havilland Sea Venom all weather fighter, which served in Australia from Melbourne’s arrival in 1956 until 1966.
Story by Graeme Lunn.
On return from New Zealand in 1988 the prospect of a desk job in Canberra was not enticing, so he joined British Airways. During a 33year career he subsequently qualified on almost the entire Boeing range (B737, B757, B767, B777, B747 and B787).
After 22,000 flying hours he retired (compulsorily) when he turned 65 and moved permanently back to New Zealand where his wife Rowan hails from. Graeme’s mission is to make the history of Australia’s naval aviators from 1911 more widely known.
805 (Sea Fury) Squadron pilots aboard Sydney - Fred on the right
Deck Hockey on Sydney - played with a bent iron bar it was not for the faint hearted. Fred Sherborne centre.
OUR FIRST JET PILOT
First RAN Aviator to Sit in a Jet
Commodore Norman Lee RAN (Rtd) recalls that shortly after he soloed in a Tiger Moth, at RAAF Base Point Cook in early 1949, he visited his father serving nearby at RAAF Base Laverton. Squadron Leader Lee, an engineer officer with No.1 Aircraft Depot, was in charge of erecting the first Vampire F.2 (serial A78-2) which had arrived at the depot in August 1948 for evaluation. A Vampire F.1, powered by the 3,100 lb thrust de Havilland Goblin engine, had been received in May 1947, but this second arrival was powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene producing 4,500 lb thrust.
Allowed to sit in the Vampire’s cockpit the young Norman was wide eyed at all the instruments. It was several years, and a war in a Firefly later, before Lieutenant Norman Lee flew a familiarisation flight in Vampire 925 under Peter Goldrick’s watchful eye on 30 July 1954
The RAN’s Last Jet Pilots
The final fighter operated by the RAN was the McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk in its TA-4G and A-4G variants. 805 Squadron had reformed at Nowra in January 1968 under Lieutenant-Commander John Da Costa, the first Australian to fly the jet when converting with the United States Navy.
Sixteen years later, on 30 June 1984, Captain Da Costa was Director of Naval Personnel Services when he and the Commanding Officer of VC724 Squadron, Lieutenant-Commander John Hamilton AFC, flew the two-seater 880 on the Skyhawk’s last official flight with the RAN.
There were still a series of short maintenance test flights to be flown the next month by Hamilton. On successful completion the remaining ten fighters were accepted by the Royal New Zealand Air Force and he decommissioned VC724 Squadron. These flights, however, only made John Hamilton the penultimate FAA jet pilot.
The last was Lieutenant-Commander Murray Coppins, Naval Liaison Officer at RAAF Base Williamtown, where Lieutenant Peter Goldrick had first flown a RAAF Vampire three decades before. Murray was such an excellent instructor that in 1982, when SNO at RAAF Base Pearce, he had managed to teach me to fly a Macchi jet trainer.
Attached to the RAAF’s fighter force HQ from September 1984 Murray oversaw the Air Force’s new, but short lived, fleet support role flying both RAAF and transferred/repainted RAN airframes.
On his final day in Australian naval uniform, before joining Qantas and eventual B747 command, Murray flew three sorties including a coordinated strike by six Macchis against fleet units followed by a combat air patrol. These flights, in A7 -058 and A7-060, on 25 March 1987 established him as the RAN’s last jet pilot.
Vampires A78-1 and A78-2 at RAAF Laverton
A young sub-lieutenant Norman Lee in the UK in 1950. Firefly Mk. 1 in the background.
LCDR Murray Coppins, our last jet pilot.
NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE CORNER
AND ACROSS THE GLOBE
FLEET AIR ARM MEMBERS RECOGNISED IN KING’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS
A message from the Governor-General
This is my last Honours list as Governor-General.
Presiding over investiture ceremonies and having the opportunity to meet so many diverse recipients in our honours system has been a tremendous privilege. Learning their stories has been inspiring and makes me enormously optimistic for our future. Congratulations to all recipients in the King's Birthday 2024 Honours list.
MEDAL OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (OAM) IN THE MILITARY DIVISION
ROYALAUSTRALIANNAVY
CHIEF PETTY OFFICER
WILLIAM JAMES CARTER
For performance of duty in the field of Navy Aviation Engineering and operational deployment support.
Chief Petty Officer Carter’s consistent contribution through leadership, knowledge and dedication has positively influenced the technical and operational support of Navy aviation. His efforts have earned him the respect of his sailors, peers, and Command. Through exemplary technical mastery, Chief Petty Officer Carter optimised operational aircraft availability while his leadership and mentoring have provided a long term benefit to the Navy and in particular the Fleet Air Arm.
CONSPICUOUS SERVICE MEDAL (CSM)
ROYALAUSTRALIANNAVY
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER
TIMOTHY LUKE CRAIG RAN
For meritorious achievement as the Training Officer of 723 Squadron - Joint Helicopter School.
Lieutenant Commander Craig designed and implemented system-level improvements to course scheduling and delivery for the Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army aircrew, and led the instructors of 723 Squadron - Joint Helicopter School in challenging established practices in order to deliver high quality training to produce more trainees in less time.
In so doing, he assured the Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army aircrew capability requirements, and ensured Australia has the next generation of helicopter aircrew it needs.
CONSPICUOUS SERVICE MEDAL (CSM) ROYALAUSTRALIANNAVY
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER
WILLIAM
ANGUS STOW RAN
For meritorious achievement in the field of Naval Aviation training and operations.
Lieutenant Commander Stow was instrumental in driving significant reform in the Naval Aviation enterprise for the Royal Australian Navy. His remarkable contribution and management of transformational change within the Fleet Air Arm will deliver profound improvements in the management of the Naval Aviation capability. His steadfast professionalism and commitment to the growth of the Fleet Air Arm will set the conditions for the future Fleet Air Arm, directly contributing to the ability of the Royal Australian Navy to perform its mission.
NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE CORNER AND ACROSS THE GLOBE
NOWRA
S 130-YEAR OLD IRON BRIDGE TO BE RETAINED
Transport for NSW (Transport) proposes to rehabilitate and repurpose the historic Nowra Bridge spanning the Shoalhaven River at Nowra, to create a dedicated pedestrian and cycle path (the proposal). Completed in 1881, the historic Nowra Bridge holds local and State heritage significance as one of the oldest functioning crossings in the region, and for its rare pin-jointed Whipple wrought iron truss configuration.
The historic Nowra Bridge is one of three bridges that currently span the Shoalhaven River. It is about 340 metres long and six metres wide. The historic Nowra Bridge previously carried two lanes of Princes Highway southbound vehicular and pedestrian traffic. In February 2023, construction of a new four-lane bridge was completed and was opened to Princes Highway northbound traffic. The historic Nowra Bridge was then permanently closed to traffic and southbound traffic was shifted onto the adjacent three-lane bridge that previously carried northbound traffic.
The proposal includes repairing and replacing damaged and degraded features of the bridge and installing new features so that the historic bridge meets current safety standards suitable for use by pedestrians and cyclists.
Planning and development of the new Nowra Bridge project involved extensive investigation and assessment of potential future uses of the historic Nowra Bridge, given that it would no longer be conveying traffic. These included retaining the bridge, relocating the bridge or demolishing the bridge.
Community and stakeholder consultation dating back to 2014 determined that there was overwhelming support for the retention of the bridge. The National Trust of Australia, Engineers Australia, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and Shoalhaven Historical Society all voiced their opposition to the historic Nowra Bridge being demolished or relocated, and that efforts should be made to ensure the preservation and continued functionality of the bridge in some form.
In 2018, a decision was made to retain the bridge for adaptive reuse as a pedestrian and cyclist path. This decision was based on the historical significance and heritage value of the bridge, while also taking into consideration the expected benefits and community feedback.
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NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE CORNER
AND ACROSS THE GLOBE
AC-130J ‘GHOSTRIDER’ HAMMERS
AMPHIBIOUS WARSHIP DURING RARE
APPEARANCE AT RIMPAC 2024 SINKING EXERCISE
The U.S. Air Force has released a video showing one of its AC-130J ‘Ghostrider’ gunships firing its 30 mm cannon and 105 mm howitzer at the ex-USS Dubuque during a recent sinking exercise (SINKEX) in the Pacific. The Austin class amphibious warfare ship was sent to the bottom of the ocean as part of the larger biennial Rim Of The Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.
At the same time, a review of the AC-130J fleet’s capabilities is underway, which may lead to the aircraft losing their iconic 105mm guns, amid a broader shift away from counterinsurgency operations to preparing for highend fights, especially one against China.
A rare player in SINKEXs, the AC-130J, assigned to the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, is seen peppering the ex-Dubuque’s superstructure and other portions of the bow end of the ship, as well as its rear flight deck, with 30mm and 105mm fire in the footage from RIMPAC 2024. The former USS Dubuque, which the U.S. Navy decommissioned in 2011, had a fully loaded displacement of nearly 17,000 tons when it was in service, but was stripped down ahead of the sinking.
NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE CORNER
AND ACROSS THE GLOBE
REVAMPED AUKUS DOCUMENT REVEALS HOW US AND UK CAN WALK AWAY FROM NUCLEAR SUBMARINE DEAL
By ABC correspondent Andrew Greene
Australia would foot the bill for any loss or injury caused by sensitive technology and radioactive materials transferred by the United States and United Kingdom for nuclear submarines, under a revamped version of the AUKUS agreement.
An updated document for the trilateral partnership reveals Australia would indemnify the United States and the United Kingdom against such an outcome.
It also reveals the US or the UK could pull out of the submarine deal with just a year's notice if either nation decides the deal weakens their own nuclear submarine programs.
Details of the "understanding" signed by all three AUKUS partners last week in Washington have now been tabled in federal parliament with the agreement to "remain in force until 31 December 2075".
Article I specifies that the US and UK can transfer "material and equipment relating to conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines to Australia" providing this does not constitute an "unreasonable risk" to their own defence and security.
"This is a $368 billion gamble with taxpayers' money from the Albanese government," Greens senator David Shoebridge said following the tabling of the document on Monday.
"Article I of the new AUKUS agreement says that if at any point the United States thinks supplying
material under the AUKUS agreement to Australia prejudices their defence, they can effectively terminate the agreement and pull out.
"What this agreement makes clear in black and white: If the United States at any point thinks they don't have enough submarines for themselves, they can pull out of AUKUS 2.0 why isn't the Albanese government being honest about the size of the gamble?"
According to the document, "Australia shall be responsible for the management, disposition, storage, and disposal of any spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste resulting from the operation of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Plants".
The Albanese government has also agreed to indemnify the US and UK against "any liability, loss, costs, damage or injury (including third-party claims) arising out of, related to, or resulting from Nuclear Risks" connected with the project.
"The inclusion of indemnity provisions for activities undertaken on behalf of other parties is not uncommon in such arrangements," an Australian Submarine Agency spokesperson told the ABC.
The ASA says under the agreement, Australia will indemnify the UK and the US for "nuclear risks connected with nuclear material and equipment transferred or to be transferred to Australia "and "only applies to nuclear risks".
Other "appropriate exclusions" include "where the UK or the US have received payment for the same liability from a third party" and it does not apply to the "two in-service Virginia-class submarines that Australia will purchase from the US until the point of transfer".
The head of the AUKUS submarine program has refused to say whether an almost $5 billion government payment to the United States would be refunded if no nuclear-powered boats were delivered to Australia.
The agreement for "cooperation for naval nuclear propulsion" is also contingent on Australia and the US remaining in the ANZUS alliance, along with the US and UK staying as NATO members.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the agreement "expressly rules out enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in Australia" and prevents AUKUS partners from any activity that would contravene international non-proliferation obligations.
"The Albanese government, alongside AUKUS partners, continues to re-affirm that Australia's acquisition of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines will set the highest non-proliferation standards through the AUKUS partnership.
"The agreement is unequivocal that, as a non-nuclear weapons state, Australia does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons," Mr Marles stressed.
Last week, President Biden revealed the existence of a letter to Congress in which he said the non -legally binding "understanding" had provided "additional related political commitments".
NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE CORNER AND ACROSS THE GLOBE
SECRETIVE GUIDED MISSILE SUBMARINE
USS FLORIDA'S 727-DAY DEPLOYMENT
The 41-year-old prized submarine travelled more than 60,000 miles while packed with special operators and fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Houthi targets
The Ohio class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine (SSGN) USS Florida returned to its homeport of Kings Bay, Georgia in July after 727 days deployed traversing more than 60,000 miles “undetected” around the globe.
Nearly all of its missions remain unknown to the public, but Florida launched an unknown quantity of Tomahawk landattack missiles (TLAMS) at Houthi facilities in Yemen on Jan. 11. It was part of an international response to the Iranianbacked rebel’s campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping. That is customary for this type of operation if an SSGN is in the area.
“The Florida circumnavigated the world. That’s a unique accomplishment, being able to prepare for not only the 5th and 6th Fleet, like we typically do, but the 5th, 6th and 7th fleets [the Middle East, Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific respectively]. For both crews to be able to operate worldwide, undetected for over 700 days, was a unique challenge that required the entire enterprise to come to bear to get us ready to do that.”
Large and stealthy, it can carry up to 154 TLAMS and dozens of Navy SEALs into contested territory to ply their quiet trade. The Ohio SSGNs can also launch undersea and aerial uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs).
HOW THE US NAVY TRAINS SAILORS ABOARD ITS OLDEST SHIP
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Train how you fight. And, if you’re stationed aboard the oldest commissioned Navy vessel, that means occasionally climbing into the topsails for a little Master and Commanderstyle training
Earlier this year, sailors aboard the USS Constitution conducted a climbing evolution, heading up into the rigging and sails of a ship that was commissioned all the way back in the 18th century. It’s certainly not a job for someone who is afraid of heights.
Serving aboard the USS Constitution is considered a special duty, as most of the job is interacting with visitors each day. But it also means, unsurprisingly, that the sailors have to know a bit about sailing.
“I ask my sailors to be an 1812 sailor some days, but I also have to make sure they’re a 2024 sailor and ready to go do the mission the Navy asked of them,” the ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Billie Farrell said.
Climbing into the rigging is a chance for the sailors to practice handling lines and sails and operating a ship that is almost as old as the United States itself. Moored in Boston, the USS Constitution is a relic from the age of sail, and serves as a museum ship, open to the public. It doesn’t sail much these days, but given its long history, it’s currently the only Navy ship afloat that has sunk an enemy vessel. First commissioned in 1797, the USS Constitution was one of the Navy’s original six frigates.
NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE CORNER AND ACROSS THE GLOBE
LASER WEAPON APPEARS ON CHINESE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP
China appears to have installed a laser directed energy weapon on one of its Type 071 amphibious assault ships, mirroring U.S. and other nations' expanding activities in the same arena. Recent actions against Houthi drones in the Red Sea have helped to spur further interest in fitting warships with directed energy weapons of various types,
vehicles, and as many as 800 troops. It is loosely comparable to the U.S. San Antonio (LPD-17) class.
While the status and the capabilities of the Chinese system are unknown, it's worth noting that the US Navy’s 150kilowatt class LWSD Mk 2 Mod 0 was primarily developed to provide ships with an additional line of defense against unmanned aircraft and small boat swarms.
Additionally, the U.S.laser can be used as a dazzler for blinding optical sensors
although most of China's activities with laser weapons have, so far, been conducted on land.
Until the arrival of the Type 075 landing helicopter dock, the Type 071 was the PLAN’s largest operational amphibious warfare ship. The Type 071,which displaces around 25,000 tons, includes a small flight deck at the stern and hangar space for up to four Z-8 heavy transport helicopters. It also has capacity for four air-cushion landing craft, up to around 60 armoured fighting
and seekers. Being equipped with integrated full-motion video cameras, for tracking and aiming, the LWSD Mk 2 Mod 0 can also be used to conduct surveillance. A similar set of capabilities is entirely conceivable for the Chinese system, too.
The PLAN already uses at least some forms of lower-power laser dazzler systems, which it has reportedly even employed in confrontations with maritime patrol aircraft from both Australia and the United States.
BySR-71PilotMauryRosenberg
I was a participant at the 1983 Toronto airshow. We flew just a couple of flybys and then flew the aircraft back to Beale Air Force Base. So when I came back into the Sacramento area and I was descending down to land at Beale, we had a lot of fuel. We had to work on the holiday and I asked the backseater: “You want to make an approach at Sac Metro?” And he said: “Can we do that?” And I said: “Why not?”
So when we got over to Approach Control I asked if Sac Metro was available for an approach and they said they’d switch this over to Sac Metro and they cleared us for an approach. So as we were coming down final and we had configured the airplane with the gear down and we’re about two miles out on final, they switched us over to tower.
I asked the tower: “Would you like a flyby down the runway or down the ramp?” The guy said: “Down the ramp!” When I said okay I sucked the gear up, pushed the power up.
We started heading towards the ramp, towards the tower. As we were approaching it I rolled the plane up away from the tower and lit the afterburners. We went around and made a pass. The tower controller said “Beautiful, beautiful, come back and do another one”. I said: “I better not, I’m gonna go to Beale.”
We landed and as I came down the ladder from the aircraft the Base CO looked at me and he said: “Maury, do we have any regulations that say we can’t make approaches at Sacramento Airport?”
“No sir.”
“Haveitonmydeskat7amtomorrow”.
NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE CORNER AND ACROSS THE GLOBE
HMAS SYDNEY FIRES ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY’S FIRST NAVAL STRIKE MISSILE DURING A SINKEX
During Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, HMAS Sydney V achieved a first with the successful firing of a Naval Strike Missile.
This is aligned to the Government Direction announced in the 2022 Defence Strategic Review and in the 2024 National Defence Strategy
The airframe design and the high thrust to weight ratio give the NSM extremely good manoeuvrabil-
The Royal Australian Navy has accelerated Naval Strike Missile installation in Surface Combatants which culminated in the 18 Jul live firing demonstration off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise RIMPAC.
ity. The Kongsberg designed missile is completely passive, has proven its excellent sea-skimming capabilities and with its advanced terminal manoeuvres, it will survive the enemy air defences. The Autonomous Target Recognition (ATR) of the seeker ensures that the correct target is detected, recognized and hit.
In the 1980s, the F-14 Tomcat became one of the most iconic and best -known aircraft of the US Navy, not least because of its starring role in the blockbuster 1986 movie Top Gun. But the F-14 story really begins back in 1965, with the first flight of the prototype of a radical new US Navy aircraft.
It was an interceptor, it used variable geometry wings, it was big, it was heavy, it was complex, it killed several experienced test pilots during flight testing and it quickly gained the derogatory nickname the “Sea Pig.” The new swing-wing aircraft was generally assessed to be a disaster. But it wasn’t the F-14………!!
In 1961, newly appointed Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was concerned by the escalating costs of the US Army, Navy, and Air Force. Both the US Navy and the USAF were pushing for a new aircraft to be
GRUMMAN F-14 TOMCAT – THE BIG
CAT WITH 2 TERRIBLE ENGINES
developed to replace the F-4 Phantom.
McNamara had what seemed like a great idea at the time: a single design would be created that would suit both services, potentially saving millions of dollars in research and development.
The Tactical Fighter–Experimental (TFX) design competition was launched in late 1961 to find a suitable aircraft. Both the Navy and USAF favoured the proposal submitted by Boeing. McNamara chose the cheaper submission from General Dynamics. Worst of all from the perspective of the US Navy, McNamara put the USAF in charge of developing the new aircraft. The F-111 was initially destined to be used by the US Navy.
The design developed by General Dynamics (in partnership with Grumman) was for an aircraft with
variable-geometry wings capable of both achieving over Mach 2 while having long range and endurance. Critically, the new aircraft would also be capable of carrying the new AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-toair missile.
The USAF version of the new aircraft (mainly intended for low-level bombing) was given the designation F-111A while the navy interceptor version became the F-111B. Flight testing simply confirmed what many naval aviators believed: the heavy, complex, underpowered F-111B would never be an effective interceptor capable of operating from carriers.
After the deaths of several pilots during testing, there were serious doubts about whether the F-111B was even airworthy! Development limped on but at Senate hearing in the late 1960s, Vice Admiral Tom Connolly was asked if the F-111 could be an effective navy aircraft if it were given more powerful engines? His answer became famous and effectively killed the F-111B program:
“Mr. Chairman, there isn’t enough thrustinallChristendomtomakea Navyfighteroutofthatairplane.”
In 1968, McNamara resigned as Secretary of Defense and the F-111B program was terminated. But by that time, Grumman had submitted an unsolicited proposal to the US Navy for a new interceptor that could carry the AIM-54 missile, but that was also an agile air superiority fighter.
The proposal submitted by Grumman was for a two-seat, variable geometry aircraft that would be capable of meeting US Navy requirements for high performance and long range.
However, there were concerns that Grumman lacked the expertise to create an effective new combat aircraft and the initial contract signed by the US Navy contained some brutal penalty clauses. Grumman would be fined, amongst other things, $440,000 for every 100 lbs that the new aircraft was overweight, $1.056 million for each knot over the requested approach speed and $5,000 for every day it was late in delivering the first prototype.
Somehow, Grumman delivered the prototype on time and on cost and it exceeded every aspect of the specification demanded by the US Navy! Prototype #1 of what had then been designated the F-14 made its first flight from the Grumman facility in Calverton, NY on December 21st, 1970. Grumman could not afford for the F-14 project to underperform or overrun.
The new aircraft used a weightsaving titanium box as the main spar and included an early microprocessor to automatically sweep the wings to the optimum angle for the aircraft’s current speed. The sophisticated AN/AWG-9 radar system allowed the back-seat Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) to track up to 24 separate targets at once and attack up to 6 simultaneously with AIM-54 missiles at a range of up to 100 miles.
VF-124, the Fleet Replacement Squadron, received its first F-14As in October 1972 just 51 months after the initial contract was signed, providing
a stark contrast to the protracted design and development of the aborted F-111B.
The new aircraft was given the official name Tomcat, allegedly because in the early stages of development it was known informally in the US Navy as “Tom’s Cat,” a reference to Vice Admiral Tom Connolly who had helped to kill the F-111B program and championed the new Grumman proposal.
The new F-14A proved to be an effective interceptor, but it did have a major flaw: its twin Pratt & Whitney TF30 afterburning turbofan engines. As a cost-saving measure, the Navy was forced to use this engine, originally designed and developed for use in the F-111B, in the F-14A.
It provided a respectable top speed of over Mach 2 and good endurance at lower speeds, but it was ill-suited to the rapid changes of thrust needed in an agile dogfighter, something that was never envisaged for the F-111B. If the pilot in the F-14A changed the throttle settings aggressively, especially at high angles of attack (AOA), this could cause a compressor stall in the engine.
Because the engines were widely spaced, a stall in one engine would cause the aircraft to yaw violently
At low speeds, this could cause the aircraft to enter a spin, a flat spin or even an inverted flat spin, from which recovery was especially difficult. This was a particular problem during the approach for a carrier landing. If an aircraft is “waved-off” during final approach, or if it misses the wires on the carrier deck, it is necessary to promptly advance the throttles to provide enough power to continue for another landing attempt.
An aircraft on final approach will always have a high AOA and with the TF30 engine, rapidly advancing the throttles in this situation carried the risk of causing a compressor stall and perhaps a spin at low altitude, something that is obviously very dangerous. When you add in engine fires and engine failures caused by interrupted airflow during manoeuvres, it can be argued with some justification that the TF30 was inherently unsuitable for carrier operations and perhaps even for use in an air superiority fighter
It is certainly true that flying the F-14A required very, very careful handling of the throttles. In an interview given to the Washington Post in 1984, Capt. Lee Tillotson, the US Navy’s F14 program coordinator, in response to a question about the TF30 engines admitted:
The AIM-54 Phoenix missile was extremely deadly and could hit targets at around 100 miles from the launch aircraft
Less politely, some US Navy personnel began to refer to the F-14A as “a niceaircraftpoweredbytwopieces ofjunk.” It has been estimated that up to 40 F-14As were lost due to accidents caused by compressor stalls in the TF30 engines. Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr. would later say that:
“TheTF30engineisjustaterrible engine and has accountedfor 28.2 percentofallF14crashes.”
Over 500 F-14As were delivered to the US Navy, but clearly, something had to be done to improve the engines in what otherwise had the potential to become an effective combat aircraft. The first attempt to improve the F-14A happened as early as September 1973 with the first flight of what was designated by Grumman as the F-14B. This was provided with a pair of Pratt & Whitney F401-P40 engines, but during flight testing these engines also proved troublesome and the prototype was placed in long-term storage.
However, continuing problems with the TF30 saw it brought back out in early 1981 and fitted with another set of engines, this time the General Electric F101DFE (Derivative Fighter Engine), a development of the engine fitted in the B1 Lancer bomber After extensive flight testing, the new engine was found to be more effective in all phases of flight than the TF30. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the US Navy cancelled the F-14B program and the
sole prototype was once again placed in storage.
It wasn’t until July 1984 that it was pulled back out and fitted with a third engine type, the General Electric F110-GE-400. This time, testing revealed very significant improvements that included a 60% increase in range and the ability to take off from a carrier without the need to use afterburner. The F110 also proved to be reliable, not prone to compressor stall and with this engine the F-14 could finally be flown without throttle restrictions.
The new aircraft was initially designated the F-14A (PLUS) and production began in March 1987. In May 1991, it was formally redesignated F-14B. In addition to new engines,
fire control. However, this was abandoned and instead, work continued on the creation of the last, and best, F-14 variant, the D model.
The F-14D Super Tomcat used the same GE F110 engines as the B model, but included an upgraded avionic suite, an all-new “glass” cockpit, new radar and Infrared search and track (IRST) capability. This model could also be equipped with a Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) navigation and targeting system allowing it to deliver smart and iron bombs at night and in adverse weather. When used in the strike role, the F-14 was informally known as the “Bombcat.”
the F-14B was also fitted with the then-new ALR-67 Radar Homing and Warning (RHAW) system that provided automatic warning of enemy radar activity.
A total of 38 new F-14Bs were manufactured and 43 existing F-14As were upgraded to B specification. But, as late as 1996, 60% of F-14s operated by the Navy still used the troublesome TF30 engines. During the F-14B program, studies were carried out on the creation of the F-14C which would have included upgraded avionics and improved radar and
The first F-14Ds were delivered in 1991, but a total of only 37 new aircraft were produced (and 18 F-14A’s were upgraded to D specification) before the US Navy cancelled allnew production and conversion. Instead, it was announced that the F-14 (and the A-6E) were to be replaced in US Navy service by the new McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 multi-role aircraft.
The F-14 entered service with the US Navy in 1974 and remained in frontline service until 2006. This aircraft was never used in the primary role for which it was designed, the interception of Soviet bombers and guided missiles, but it did see action in a number of campaigns in the Middle East and the Balkans.
The first F-14 kills in air-to-air combat happened in 1981 when two Libyan Su-22 Fitter aircraft fired on a pair of F-14s from VF-41 on a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) from the carrier USS Nimitz off the Libyan coast. Both Su-22s were shot down and both F-14s were undamaged. In a similar incident in the same area in 1989, two Libyan MiG-23 Floggers were shot down by F-14s of VF-32.
US Navy F-14s also took part in strike and interception missions during Operation Desert Storm (19901991), Operation Deliberate Force (1995), Operation Allied Force (1999) and in the initial stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003 – 2011).
However, the US Navy wasn’t the only operator of the F-14. In 1974, the Imperial Iranian Air Force placed an order for 80 F-14As Tomcats and over 600 AIM-54 missiles. Worth over $2 billion, this was the largest US arms sale to date and it helped to save Grumman which was on the verge of bankruptcy. Following the revolution in 1979, the Republic of Iran’s air force inherited these aircraft and missiles and used them during a series of wars with Iraq from 1980 – 1988.
Iranian F-14s scored air-to-air kills against Iraqi MiG-23 Floggers and Mirage F.1s, though many F-14s were lost both in combat and as a result of compressor stalls in their
TF30 engines. The main issue for the Iranian F-14s after the revolution was a lack of spares. America refused to trade with the Republic of Iran and the Iranian F-14 fleet was gradually whittled down due to maintenance issues. When the last F-14’s were retired by the US Navy, all were shredded to prevent any components from reaching Iran.
The F-14 Tomcat has been a legendary aircraft for the U.S. Navy for over 30 years period. However, despite its impressive features, the Tomcat was eventually retired and replaced with newer models.
One of the main reasons for this was the excessive maintenance costs associated with its complex sweep wing engineering.
While the Central Air Data Computer controlled the wing position automatically, it could also be manually controlled by the pilot. This highmaintenance system was heavy and complicated, and required up to 60 hours of maintenance for every hour in the air.
The F-14 was a superb interceptor
and dogfighter, but for much of its service life it was seriously hampered by “piecesofjunk” engines. The TF30 engines that powered the F-14A had issues that led to the loss of a number of aircraft and seriously limited exploiting the potential capability of the airframe. In a clean configuration with low fuel, the F-14 had a greater than 1:1 power to weight.
The F-14B and D were much better, but for most of the time it was used by the US Navy, the bulk of the F-14 fleet was still powered by the troublesome TF30 (it is believed that TF30-powered F-14s were still being used by the US Navy late as 2004).
Overall, the F-14 was a superb aircraft. The B and D models particularly were, arguably, amongst the best air superiority fighters ever created. But the F-14 was dogged by cost issues. The use of the TF30 engine in the original F-14A was a cost-saving measure. Improved F-14B and F-14Ds were produced only in limited numbers, again due to cost pressures.
The decision to replace the F-14 with the F/A-18 was partly taken due to the fact that the new aircraft was cheaper and because it lacked the complex wing-sweep mechanism and was simpler and cheaper to maintain. Nevertheless, the F-14 Tomcat remains one of the bestloved and most instantly recognizable combat aircraft of the late 20th century.
THE TRACKER PORTFOLIO
Official Handover Bethpage NY 1967
Official Handover Bethpage NY 1967. Grumman’s First Navy Fighter FF-1
Grumman FF-1 Smithsonian Museum
N12-152333Grumman Tracker 844 operated by HARS
Languishing at West Sale Victoria
Tracker operators Larry Mills and Peter Coulson joined by A-4 pilot Graham Winterflood in Cairns
Navy Pays $100K To Replace Each F/A-18
Tire, 3D Printed Repairs Cuts Cost To $300
Additive manufacturing and cold spray technology are revolutionizing how the Navy looks at sustainment, saving millions in the process.
At the recent Sea Air Space conference near Washington D.C., Theodore Gronda, program manager for Naval Air Systems Command’s (NAVAIR) Additive Manufacturing (AM) Team told an audience that replacement tires for the F/A18E/F Super Hornet are wildly expensive.
How much? According to Gronda, replacing them costs nearly six figures each. That’s partly because they are swapped out along with the wheels they’re mounted on. The Navy actually buys replacement Super Hornet tires as assemblies, receiving tires/wheel rims already mated to each other. Each tire/wheel assembly costs approximately $100,000.
There’s no doubt that wheels and tires on a carrier aircraftlike the Super Hornet lead hard, relatively short lives. Since 2019, the Navy’s E/F fleet has progressively undergone a multi-phase service life modification program which stretches the fighter’s service life from 6,000 to 10,000 hours.
Over that service life Super Hornets make literally thousands of landings and takeoffs, both arrested landings and catapult takeoffs from aircraft carriers and takeoffs and landings from fixed bases. In the process they consume many wheels and tires, using them up particularly quickly during carrier operations.
Gronda explained that F/A-18E/F pilots often land hard on carrier decks, causing the fighter’s main landing gear wheel rims to oblong and the tire mounted on the rim to shake. If the tire wobbles, he said, the wheel and tire assembly is taken off and discarded. That gets expensive very quickly. “We go through 166 of these tires a year and they cost six figures apiece,” Gronda affirmed to the Sea Air Space audience. According to Boeing, Goodyear and Michelin supply rubber for the Rhino.
Each company was asked for their tire price for the F/A-18/E/F. Both declined to share it. The main landing gearwheels are supplied by Honeywell Aerospace, Aircraft Landing Systems which likewise declined to provide price information. Assuming a nominal $100,000 per-assembly price, simple math shows that the Navy’s Super Hornet wheel assembly replacement bill for aircraft without-of-round rims amounts to somewhere around $16.6 million per year.
Navy Pays $100K To Replace Each F/A-18 Tire
If the rims could be fixed and the tires remounted, the Navy’s wheel/tire bill might go down significantly. Gronda explained that NAVAIR’s AM team recognized a possible opportunity to repair Super Hornet rims using solid-state cold spray 3D printing technology. “There wasn’t an effective way to repair [them]… We realized that eighty percent of those rims are repairable with cold spray technology.”
Cold spray is an additive manufacturing process that tweaks standard 3D printing. In simple terms, tiny metal particles are mixed with a carrier gas (typically nitrogen or helium) and accelerated to Mach 2-3 speeds through a nozzle. For cold spray repairs, the particles are sprayed directly onto a part, adding material to build it back up and strengthen it.
“Cold spray” is a bit of a misnomer. The additive particles used are heated but only to less than 80% of their melting point, rendering them fungible. The particles coalesce into a solid state, creating a high-strength, structurally sound bond. Once applied, the new material is modified to match the original shape or tolerances of the part being repaired In that way, solid-state cold spray is both an additive and subtractive process.
issues driven by the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Navy to accelerate its investment in, and use of, additive manufacturing beginning in 2020. Today, NAVAIR has furnished 96 additive manufacturing devices to 33 sites, including deployed aircraft carriers.
The Command uses a variety of 3D printers to make repairs to flight critical components. In 2021 NAVAIR awarded a fiveyear IDIQ contract worth up to $5 million to deliver fullydeployable 3D printing systems including Ultimaker S5 3D printers.
The Air Force has been using the cold spray process with additive manufacturing machines since 2020, repairing rather than replacing everything from aircraft hinges to structural supports, shafts, and landing gear components. The service used solid-state cold spray to repair an over-wing fairing slip joint for a B-1B in 2021. It’s possible that the process may be used to aid in regenerating a decommissioned Lancer recently pulled from storage.
NAVAIR began adopting additive manufacturing technology over a decade ago and employed it to build its first flight critical aircraft component a3D printed link and fitting assembly for a V-22 Osprey engine nacelle in2016. Supply chain
That investment looks set to pay off across different platforms and equipment types including Super Hornet tire/wheel assemblies. Gronda reaffirmed that the AM team’s “initial assessment is that over 80% of the 166 [wheelrims/tires] sent to [scrapping/recycling] each year are repairable with this cold spray technique.”
He added that the cold spray repairs to each take two hours and cost $300 per wheel. That works out to a total cost of about $40,000 to repair the rims and remount the tires annually. Set against a $16.6 million bill to simply replace the assemblies as customary, AM repair looks like a no-brainer. Its potential to be employed in the field and/or in forward operating locations, like an aircraft carrier, adds further value.
The supply chain pressures that the Pentagon is under, from munitions to parts to equipment, combined with budget pressures and inefficiencies (right down to paying $90,000 for a simple bag of washers) will hopefully drive more innovative approaches to fixing or locally manufacturing hardware instead of simply firing the parts cannon at problems. A $16plus million annual wheel/tire bill for a single fighter type, which could be reduced to less than $50,000, is the kind of opportunity that the services can’t afford to squander.
More Army Black Hawks Delivered
The Army has taken delivery of another batch of Sikorsky UH60M battlefield helicopters, bringing the total in service to six.
The most recent helicopters arrived at RAAF Richmond aboard US Air Force C-17A airlifters on 17 June and after reassembly were flown to the Army’s Holsworthy base, where they will enter service with the 6th Aviation Regiment (6 AVN).
“Six aircraft have been delivered as at June 2024, with a further six scheduled for delivery before the end of 2024,” a Defence spokesperson said. “All six UH-60M Black Hawks have commenced flying operations, with the aircraft and crew progressing introduction-into-service activities.” The previous Liberal government announced that it intended to seek acquisition of 40 UH-60Ms through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process in December 2021.
“The proposed sale will replace Australia’s current multi-role helicopter fleet with a more reliable and proven system that will allow Australia to maintain the appropriate level of readiness to conduct combined operations,” the DSCA statement read. “The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter will improve the Australian Army’s ability to deploy combat power to share Australia’s strategic environment, deter actions against its interests, and, when required, respond with credible force.
Australia will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”
The first two helicopters arrived at RAAF Richmond aboard a USAF C-17A in July last year and a third was delivered in August. With the three latest deliveries, the fleet now stands at six units.
“The UH-60M Black Hawk provides Army with the modern, credible and sustainable aviation capability it needs to meet the contemporary challenges of warfare,” the Defence spokesperson added. “The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters will operate from Holsworthy, New South Wales and Oakey, Queensland.”
THE FLEET AIR ARM ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA EXTENDS OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHIES TO THE FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ON THE RECENT PASSING OF THESE FORMER FAA MEMBERS. MORE COMPREHENSIVE DETAILS OF THEIR LIVES MAY BE FOUND ON THE FAA ASSOCIATION
Keith DONCON LEMAW
Perth WA
Ex RANHFV 4
Phillip ROBINSON LASE
Nowra NSW
WEBPAGE AT THE FOLLOWING LINK: https://www.faaaa.asn.au/heritage general/obituaries name/
InAnthony ECCLESTON CAPT(O)
Canberra ACT
ocean waters no poppies blow,
No crosses stand in ordered row, There young hearts sleep beneath the wave,
The spirited, the good, the brave, But stars a constant vigil keep For them who lie beneath the deep. 'Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer On certain spot and think. "He's there."
But you can to the ocean go... See whitecaps marching row on row; Know one for him will always ride, In and out with every tide. And when your span of life is passed, He'll meet you at the "Captain's Mast." And they who mourn on distant shore For sailors who'll come home no more, Can dry their tears and pray for these Who rest beneath the heaving seas... For stars that shine and winds that blow And whitecaps marching row on row. And they can never lonely be For when they lived... they chose the sea.
Greg DAWES, CPOATA
Nowra NSW
Ronald HERRON NAM(A)
Sydney NSW
Kevin FRENCH LSATA
Berry HSW Ex RANHFV 1
Admiral Sir Victor Alfred Trumper “VAT” Smith AC KBE CB DSC MiD RAN is a towering figure in Australian naval circles, his extraordinary career spanning almost 50 years.
As the first graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College to be promoted full admiral he was the founding father of the Australian Fleet Air Arm. Joining the Navy in 1927 aged thirteen, Smith specialised in aviation.
As the senior observer of a Royal Navy Swordfish squadron, he led the first mass torpedo strike against a major warship at sea, the daring attack on the battlecruiser Scharnhorst off Norway in 1940.
Then, at Churchill’s insistence, he embarked the very first catapult fighter for convoy protection. His subsequent service in two-seat Fairey Fulmar fighters saw him twice shot down in the Mediterranean and escape the torpedoed HMS Ark Royal in 1941.
Recalled to Australia to fly Walrus amphibians, Smith survived the August 1942 destruction of HMAS Canberra at the Battle of Savo Island. Returning to Europe he served in the escort carrier HMS Tracker in the Atlantic and Arctic before participating in the Normandy landings.
Postwar he was closely involved in the Australian decision to develop a carrier-based Fleet Air Arm and was executive officer of the carrier HMAS Sydney in the Korean War. Command of frigates, an
The author, Graeme Lunn, also a RANC graduate and aviator, began his naval career when Smith was still serving.
air station and the carrier HMAS Melbourne followed.
As Chief of Naval Staff, he dispatched forces to the war in Vietnam before serving as Chairman of the tri-service Chiefs of Staff in the 1970s.
The Skyhawk Years
The A-4 Skyhawk in Australian Service 1968 – 1984
Peter Greenfield and David Prest, hardback with dustjacket, full colour, 250 x 176mm, 216 pages, Avonmore Books 2023, 9780645700411 $49.95 NOW AVAILABLE
The magnificent Douglas A-4 Skyhawk served with the Royal Australian Navy from 1968 until 1984 with two squadrons: VF805 and VC724. VF805 was the frontline fighter unit that served aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, while VC724 was shore-based for training and support from Naval Air Station Nowra.
During that period the fixed wing aircraft on the Melbourne gave the RAN a unique capability that was central to Australian defence policy. The Skyhawk Years is a story of busy and varied deployments around Australia, Southeast Asia and regularly to the multinational Rimpac exercises in Hawaii. A particular highlight was a long cruise to the UK in 1977 and participation in the Spithead Naval Review, part of the celebrations for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.
With first-hand stories from pilots and maintainers, the challenges of operations from the world's smallest aircraft carrier are well explained. Also told are thrilling stories of air combat manoeuvres against fighters from other countries, with the A-4 often surprising more well-credentialled adversaries.
A string of mishaps ended the embarkation of Skyhawks on the Melbourne in 1980, with a sad period following which saw the ultimate scrapping of RAN fixed wing aviation four years later. However, among the former pilots and maintainers many fond memories of A-4 operations remain alive.
Final clearance on caps & ladies polos $5 ea. New cap stocks coming soon with King’s Crown on FAA logo. Beat the price rise.
