Kookaburra2011
RETROSPECTIVES: Ca. 1967. The story of a flight that went wrong - PO Ron Batchelor, RAN, courtesy of Kim Dunstan.
3299. Seen here is a high speed emergency landing and barrier engagement of a Fairey Gannet on HMAS MELBOURNE [II], with even more drama in play than is immediately apparent.
Kim Dunstan, who has acquired this photo from a former RAN crewmate, says it is one of the rare occasions when the crash barrier was used to stop a Fairey Gannet which had got into trouble. The Gannet was a trusty aircraft, Kim adds, but in any military situation where aircraft and pilots are tested to the limit there will be emergencies and mishaps. And, the flight deck could be a dangerous place for the unwary.
Gannet 860's problems began almost as soon as she was catapulted off the carrier, with the pilot almost immediately reporting an engine malfunction, and asking for an emergency landing - which was granted.
The next question was what to do about the 16 x 60 lb air-to-surface rockets loaded under the plane's wings. Permission was sought to fire them away prior to landing, which was again granted - and the rockets were fired off as a salvo.
Unfortunately this blew the aircraft's flaps off, as they were still locked in the takeoff position. The result was the aircraft had to land at high speed without flaps.
In this unusual case the crash barrier was used for a safe ‘assisted landing.’ Fortunately none of the crew suffered injury, but danger lurks in unexpected places. As can be seen in the photograph several strands of the crash barrier were shredded by the propellers - with one piece hitting a young fireman standing at the ready just out of view. This random piece of webbing struck him on the side of the face with such force that it knocked him out, leaving him with a black eye and swollen face for a week afterwards.
Photo: Petty Officer Ron Batchelor [see 'Comments' below] , it was obtained from David Tomkinson, ex-RAN, and appears here courtesy of contributor Kimberley Dunstan, RAN 1958-1967. The image also appears in Zbigniew [Ben] Patynowski’s book ‘Submarine Hunter; The Fairey Gannet ASW.1 in service with the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm.’
A COMPENDIUM of links to some 350 images of HMAS MELBOURNE [II] on this Photostream begins at Pic 5444 and extends over seven entries. It starts here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6707592179/in/photostream
RETROSPECTIVES: Ca. 1967. The story of a flight that went wrong - PO Ron Batchelor, RAN, courtesy of Kim Dunstan.
3299. Seen here is a high speed emergency landing and barrier engagement of a Fairey Gannet on HMAS MELBOURNE [II], with even more drama in play than is immediately apparent.
Kim Dunstan, who has acquired this photo from a former RAN crewmate, says it is one of the rare occasions when the crash barrier was used to stop a Fairey Gannet which had got into trouble. The Gannet was a trusty aircraft, Kim adds, but in any military situation where aircraft and pilots are tested to the limit there will be emergencies and mishaps. And, the flight deck could be a dangerous place for the unwary.
Gannet 860's problems began almost as soon as she was catapulted off the carrier, with the pilot almost immediately reporting an engine malfunction, and asking for an emergency landing - which was granted.
The next question was what to do about the 16 x 60 lb air-to-surface rockets loaded under the plane's wings. Permission was sought to fire them away prior to landing, which was again granted - and the rockets were fired off as a salvo.
Unfortunately this blew the aircraft's flaps off, as they were still locked in the takeoff position. The result was the aircraft had to land at high speed without flaps.
In this unusual case the crash barrier was used for a safe ‘assisted landing.’ Fortunately none of the crew suffered injury, but danger lurks in unexpected places. As can be seen in the photograph several strands of the crash barrier were shredded by the propellers - with one piece hitting a young fireman standing at the ready just out of view. This random piece of webbing struck him on the side of the face with such force that it knocked him out, leaving him with a black eye and swollen face for a week afterwards.
Photo: Petty Officer Ron Batchelor [see 'Comments' below] , it was obtained from David Tomkinson, ex-RAN, and appears here courtesy of contributor Kimberley Dunstan, RAN 1958-1967. The image also appears in Zbigniew [Ben] Patynowski’s book ‘Submarine Hunter; The Fairey Gannet ASW.1 in service with the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm.’
A COMPENDIUM of links to some 350 images of HMAS MELBOURNE [II] on this Photostream begins at Pic 5444 and extends over seven entries. It starts here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6707592179/in/photostream