Queen of the Sky

Glyn pics, Queen of the skies.

Glyn, thanks for your photos,I think the kite with the beam isoperated by 1312 flt.but could it be a c2,because they operated WD487,of which Ihave a photo of but it is a copy right one.

Ref post #11
My Jane’s AWA 1958/59 quotes the rate of climb as 890 ft/min (without specifying which Mark)

Sorry for the delay in replying been away from the net for two weeks. As for Leornato’s suggestion about 242 OCU for the Hastings with beams. He could well be right but it is definitely not Thorney Island. I moved there from Dishforth with the OCU and I am sure they never fitted beams to their aircraft whilst I was with the OCU.(1960-1964)

Glyn

Great story John, nice to have the real story.
Note the the book that I quoted from was published, from memory, in 1969.
At least you all made it safely…by the grace of God and some dammed good work it seems

Interesting story John, I assume that no attempt was made at recovery ???

Not at 8000′ down Ian but there is another Hastings in the oggin nearby TG580 that pranged on the runway in July 59, was stripped of most of its gear then taken out into the lagoon and dumped. The RAF Sub Aqua Association have sent two expeditions in 2004 and 2005 to locate the TG580 wreck which is reputed to be less than 200′ down. A sub mariner was telling me the story that the Maldis fishermens nets snag said kite occasionally, that is just within diving reach.

Interesting story John, I assume that no attempt was made at recovery ???

How many Hastings are left, yesterday was looking at the fuselage of the Hermes at DX and wondering if any spare Hastings bits were available to restore it, then I was looking at the Hastings outside the American hangar and got depressed at it’s condition, not as bad as the Varsity though.

It would be great, if a set of wings could be found, but I think the Halifax boys probably got the last lot of usable Hastings parts.
I hope it is true that the Duxford Hastings is going under cover, when you consider that it has been kept outside since the sixties, it’s quite remarkable that it can still stand on it’s own wheels.
Well done Glyn for starting this thread. 🙂

Even at sea this remarkable aircraft was very forgiving. An RAF Hastings in a flight across the Mediterranean ended up in the ocean. A very senior officer on board stepped into the emergency dinghy without even wetting his feet and still wearing his service dress cap. ‘Very good for discipline’ he commented.
On another occasion an RAF Hastings ploughed into the sea off Gan in a rain-storm. Wheels down, full flap, approach power on, it smacked into the Indian Ocean and came to a solid halt. Believing their aircraft to be on a reef the occupants did not rush to evacuate and even re-entered the plane to put cameras and other valuables on the rack away from the water. However as the fuselage appeared to be slowly filling, they reluctantly climbed into their dinghies and backed away. As they did the aircraft sank in 200 feet of water.
So the Hastings Legend grew.”

TG613 that ditched in the Med, the full story on this is here http://splashdown2.tripod.com/id14.html

TG579 that hit the Indian Ocean off Gan, that story is laughable, and was put about to cushion the embarrassment to the RAF at the time, how do I know……………I was one of the 14 passengers on board at the time who survived to tell the real story…………….anyone interested in an in depth version then this can be read here http://splashdown2.tripod.com/index.html

GlynRamsden/AlbertRoss//lauriebe

I think your mystery Hastings could be from either 242 OCU or 1312 Flight, both Hasting operators who would have had the Transport Command logo on the fuselage. Location could be anyone of scores of RAF airfields but there are some it most certainly is NOT as they did not possess such hangars, therefore it is not Nicosia or Colerne. Abingdon did have one hangar of the type but there are no trees anywhere near it.
My guess would be Thorney Island or Dishforth, both 242 OCU Hasting bases and both possess such hangars.

Sorry for the delay – had a spot of leave..
Referring to the robust nature of the “Queen”, taken from RNZAF: A Short History by Geoffrey Bentley;
“~ NZ5804 was lost fairly early in its life in an accident at Darwin. Losing engine power on takeoff, Squadron Leader K B Smith was forced to put 04 back on the runway at 130 knots. She tore off the runway, down a ditch, up a hill, over the road, through a 12 inch waterpipe and onto a railway track. Keith Smith, the Darwinite said in their best bantering fashion, had caused more damage than the Japanese in the whole of World War II!
Yet this strong aeroplane, though it was a total loss, neither burned nor broke up. No one was hurt, which speaks volumes for the safety aspects of the rearward-facing seats. In the long years that the Hastings flew in the RNZAF there was not a single fatality. An enviable record.
Even at sea this remarkable aircraft was very forgiving. An RAF Hastings in a flight across the Mediterranean ended up in the ocean. A very senior officer on board stepped into the emergency dinghy without even wetting his feet and still wearing his service dress cap. ‘Very good for discipline’ he commented.
On another occasion an RAF Hastings ploughed into the sea off Gan in a rain-storm. Wheels down, full flap, approach power on, it smacked into the Indian Ocean and came to a solid halt. Believing their aircraft to be on a reef the occupants did not rush to evacuate and even re-entered the plane to put cameras and other valuables on the rack away from the water. However as the fuselage appeared to be slowly filling, they reluctantly climbed into their dinghies and backed away. As they did the aircraft sank in 200 feet of water.
So the Hastings Legend grew.”

Hasting Bomb beams

The Hasting bomb beams (yes there were two) acted as the load spreaders for the underslung heavydrop loads and or CLE containers. As far as I know the last time the Hastings did a heavy drop was Suez when Jeeps were airdropped. As the Medium stressed platform had entered service and replaced the crash pan technique used for the Hastings and Halifax before it.
Why no MSP at Suez? It was only cleared for use from the C119 and of course the yanks were not on our side for that one.
So for Suez the old technique was reserected and the ‘Museum’ at AATDC Old Sarum was robbed for the equipment.

NZ5804 following the crash.
Credit Ian Symonds.
Filched from
http://www.adf-serials.com/nz-serials/

Thanks team, and I have read your copyright and disclaimer notice.

Macfire,

Attached is a shot of NZ5804 obviously taken before its demise on 09/09/55 but I do not know where. I worked on all the other three RNZAF Hastings, first at Dishforth and then at Thorney Island, whilst with 242 OCU. They used to fly them over for servicing and I can recall spending hours polishing the bare metal skin.

Glyn

Thanks Glyn,
Great shot. I figured it was a line-up for the race with KLM’s DC-6A PH-TGA in the background.

From memory, a couple of points. I will check these out and confirm;

’04: The Aussies reckoned that she caused more damage to Darwin than the entire Japanese bombing effort. crashing through the airfield fence, across a road, railway line and gas main.
Due to the rearward-facing seats nobody received any major injuries and I can’t remember the quoted G force deceleration but it was substantial.
There was an article in an RNZAF flight safety mag showing the, reasonably intact, airframe.

The C.3 had more powerful engines (note no spinners) and the crews apparently used to win a few beers of their RAF counterparts with the extra capabilities of the aircraft. I will dig out the quote, I think I can still fine it and post.

Cheers for the pic.

In Albert’s pic, doesn’t the sheer size of the beast makes her look like a predator?

How many Hastings are left, yesterday was looking at the fuselage of the Hermes at DX and wondering if any spare Hastings bits were available to restore it, then I was looking at the Hastings outside the American hangar and got depressed at it’s condition, not as bad as the Varsity though.

Looks quite odd sitting among those new fangled tin trikes

Macfire,

Attached is a shot of NZ5804 obviously taken before its demise on 09/09/55 but I do not know where. I worked on all the other three RNZAF Hastings, first at Dishforth and then at Thorney Island, whilst with 242 OCU. They used to fly them over for servicing and I can recall spending hours polishing the bare metal skin.

Glyn

My guess is this was taken at Heathrow in 1953, as the ’22’ tail code is its London-New Zealand Air Race Code and you can see the KLM DC-6 coded ’21’ beside it. Here is a photo taken at the same time.

Sorry to say I do not know where any of the pics were taken as they are not mine. As to 6 being 70 sqdn I am not too sure as in my time at Nicosia 57-60 its aircraft did not carry Royal Air Force Transport Command markings and the picture is certainly not taken in Cyprus(not that that may be meaningful) but looks more like somewhere in the UK.

Glyn

Glyn, I think my list of locations is pretty accurate. Also this ‘mystery squadron aircraft I believe to be 114 Squadron, which operated Hastings from Colerne between 1959-61. However, I don’t recall any hangars with trees beside them at Colerne, so guess this is probably at Abingdon.

Macfire,

Attached is a shot of NZ5804 obviously taken before its demise on 09/09/55 but I do not know where. I worked on all the other three RNZAF Hastings, first at Dishforth and then at Thorney Island, whilst with 242 OCU. They used to fly them over for servicing and I can recall spending hours polishing the bare metal skin.

Glyn

Sorry to say I do not know where any of the pics were taken as they are not mine. As to 6 being 70 sqdn I am not too sure as in my time at Nicosia 57-60 its aircraft did not carry Royal Air Force Transport Command markings and the picture is certainly not taken in Cyprus(not that that may be meaningful) but looks more like somewhere in the UK.

Glyn

Were some of the aircraft used in that operation modified to carry underslung cargo? That might account for the beam along the bottom of the fuselage.

Have to admit, my knowledge of that period is pretty scant.

Yes the beam could be added to drop supplies like jeeps I was airborne in TG531 6th April 1955 over Watchfield when two jeeps were dropped by parachute from the beam.

The one with the beam I think is sporting the 70 Sqn logo LXX.