RAAF Museum's 'Strike Hangar' now open

hi james,

i am still looking for any new images of the Vengeance that turn up, so keep me in mind if you find any, tried Bull Creaks image storage department whilst over there, but no luck:(

,Yes there are celebrations at Point Cook, but I understand from sources on base that “We’re not allowed to advertise that”.

There are? I was just guessing.

,
Yes there are celebrations at Point Cook, but I understand from sources on base that “We’re not allowed to advertise that”.

Of course given the 90th anniversary alligns with the bi-annual dates for Avalon it makes sense, but the Air Force, having fought to take control of Point Cook once it was saved, (and played little if any role “to” save it) seems to focus its efforts every else BUT Point Cook.

Regards

Mark Pilkington

There will be appropriate celebrations at Point Cook, and the Pilgrimage, finishing there.

Obviously a large airshow in the area at about the time – which is what Avalon is – would ‘suck in’ any full scale alternate event.

Bring the party to Point Cook, not bits of Point Cook to the party!Regards

Mark Pilkington

Hi Mark.
The decision was made last year by RAAF to celebrate the 90th Anniversary at Avalon.
The RAAF is investing its resources into Avalon – hence there is no ADF Airshow (WLM 10, TVL 09, AMB 08, EDN 07, PCE 06, RIC 05, etc) this year.

I think you have left your run to mark it at PCK a little late !! :rolleyes:

Thanks for that JDK, I will be there on Thursday. It’s great to see RAAFM is allowing the SE5a replica do the trip – how about the 504K and Demon?

It is the 90th Anniversary so I would love to see the imagination run wild, and let these escape from the museum for a few days.

Actually – its the 90th Anniversary so why not celebrate it at Point Cook which was the only site the fledgeling airforce occupied 90 years ago, rather than at Avalon which was at best a sheep paddock in those days, or any of the other bases that seem to be the focus to host RAAF celebrations, including the RAAF Base and RAAF Museum at Temora.

Bring the party to Point Cook, not bits of Point Cook to the party!

Regards

Mark Pilkington

Peter,

The fin and tailplane are from an Australian built Lincoln A73-64 of 10 squadron that crashed on Mount Superbus on a mercy flight to rush a sick infant and the attending nurse to Brisbane from Townsville.

A73-64, although originally built as a mark 30 Heavy (Strike) Bomber, was stored by GAF and later converted to a long nose Maritime Patrol bomber before delivery to the RAAF, hence its service with 10 Sqn RAAF, the former WW2 Sunderland Sqn which served in Europe with Coastal Command.

The RAAF Museum recovered the turret? and tail section of the wreck some years ago, many other parts of the wreck have been souvenired by others over the years including a couple of the engines, the “shattered” mid fuselage survives relatively intact at the wreck site.

Avro Lincoln bomber, A73-64 of 10 Squadron RAAF based in Townsville crashed into Mount Superbus near Emu Vale in the early hours of Easter Saturday morning on 9 April 1955 during a medical evacuation of a sick baby from Townsville to Eagle Farm airfield in Brisbane. The crew of four RAAF personnel and the two passengers were all killed in this tragic accident.

10 Squadron RAAF had received a telephone call late on Good Friday night from the Townsville hospital seeking an emergency evacuation to Brisbane of a critically jaundiced 2 day old baby, Robyn Huxley.

As most of the Squadron’s air crew were on leave or stand-down over Easter, the Commanding Officer of 10 Squadron, Wing Commander John Costello decided to pilot the Squadron’s only serviceable aircraft, A73-64, for the evacuation flight.

The crew consisted of the new Commanding Officer Wing Commander Costello who had flown Sunderlands during the war against the German U Boats in the Atlantic, the Senior Navigation Officer, Squadron Leader Finlay, who was a wartime Pathfinder navigator, the squadron Chief Signaller, Flight Lieutenant Cater, and the squadron Senior Engineering Officer, Squadron Leader Mason.

The baby girl and nurse Mafalda Gray were positioned in the long-nosed section of the Lincoln bomber. The aircraft took off from Garbutt airfield at 00.30 am on Saturday 9 April 1955. The aircraft encountered some cloud and rain as it approached southern Queensland. The aircraft had to fly at a relatively low altitude to ensure the baby had a comfortable flight.

At 4.05 am the aircraft contacted Brisbane Air Traffic Control to advise that they were flying in cloud at 6,000 feet. They advised that they would arrive in Brisbane in about 10 minutes time and sought a clearance to reduce altitude to 5,000 feet. Brisbane Air Traffic Control advised that they were cleared to drop to 5,000 feet and if they wished they could drop to 4,000 feet for the approach to Eagle Farm airfield.

A short time later Brisbane Air Traffic Control contacted them with weather information and asked them to confirm when they had obtained a visual fix on the town of Caboolture. No further reports were heard from the Lincoln bomber. There were no low clouds in the Brisbane area at that time.

Some time later, reports came in that an aircraft, later confirmed as a Lincoln, was heard to circle over the town of Bell at about 3.30 am. Bell is located about 18 miles north east of Dalby. Clearly A73-64 was well off course. The weather south of Bell was overcast with scattered rain.

At 4.14 am some members of the Brisbane Bushwalking Club heard a large aircraft fly overhead followed by the noise of an impact and some large explosions. By their estimation it had slammed into a nearby mountain in the Main Range region of the Border Ranges near Emu Vale. This was later confirmed to be Mount Superbus, the highest mountain (1,375 metres) in southern Queensland.

A small group from the Bushwalking club was despatched immediately to Emu Vale to notify the relevant authorities. Five hours later a Canberra bomber from Amberley airbase was able to confirm the location of the still burning wreckage of Lincoln, A73-64 just below the summit of Mount Superbus.

Ground rescue crews were dispatched to the site. They quickly confirmed that there were no survivors.

Those killed in this tragic accident were:-

Wing Commander John Peter Costello MID (pilot)
Squadron Leader Charles Surtees Mason MBE (co-pilot)
Squadron Leader John Watson Finlay (navigator)
Flight Lieutenant William George Stanley Cater (signaller)
Baby Robyn Huxley
Sister Mafalda Gray

Sister Mafalda Gray, aged 26 years of Melton Hill, Townsville had resigned on the Friday to take up a nursing position in New South Wales. She volunteered to travel on the emergency flight when she heard the plight of the sick baby.

The accident investigation team were able to determine that the aircraft had been on a heading of 135ºT at the time of impact and that immediately before the impact it had tried to gain altitude (presumably to avoid the top of the mountain). The nose and cockpit of the aircraft were totally destroyed but accident investigators were able to determine that the 4 throttles were on maximum power, the propeller pitch controls were set in the cruise position and the fuel cocks were all open. It appeared that the rudder trim control and the trim tabs on the elevators were all in the neutral position.

One suggested, but not confirmed theory for the crash, was the fact that an oxygen bottle and trolley taken on the flight for the baby, may have affected the accuracy of the P-type compass on board the Lincoln bomber. The Lincoln bomber had two compasses installed. One was the G3 master compass in the navigator’s compartment and the other was the P-type compass which was located to the left of the pilot’s seat. It was considered that the unserviceability of the G3 compass may have contributed to the navigational error.

It is also possible that the crew did not check the Drift Meter located in the bomb aimer’s compartment due to the baby and nurse being located in the nose of the aircraft.

Another factor may have been that Brisbane radio station 4BC lost signal strength at around that time on Saturday morning. Sydney radio station 2UW was only 10KHz away from 4BC, so it was considered possible that the navigator may have accidentally locked on to 2UW thinking it was 4BC. This was another scenario that may explain the incorrect path taken by the Lincoln bomber.

photo and text from the oz at war website which is a wonderful resource created by Peter Dunn on Australian WW2 and Military aviation stories.

http://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/superbus.htm

Regards

Mark Pilkington

James. what’s the stopry on that Lincoln fin and tailplane?

Thanks Pagen. It’s a good new display.

Well spotted Batman. The SE will be in a display with an F-18, as an RAAF ‘now & then’. The 504 and Demon are staying at Point Cook (both are currently in the display hangars, so can be seen) but there’s an RAAFM Mirage on the Avalon ‘gate’ I understand, and the airworthy RAAFM aircraft (Tiger Moth, CT4, Sopwith Pup replica, Winjeel and Mustang) will be flying in the display, but overnighting at base – Point Cook, not Avalon. The RAAF Museum interactives on Tues, Thurs & Sun will be scheduled (weather, serviceability permitting) at 1pm as normal.

There will be an RAAF Museum presence at Avalon, including:

Thanks for that JDK, I will be there on Thursday. It’s great to see RAAFM is allowing the SE5a replica do the trip – how about the 504K and Demon?

It is the 90th Anniversary so I would love to see the imagination run wild, and let these escape from the museum for a few days.

Nice little report and pictures there James, looks like just my sought of collection. Thanks for sharing.