THE BATMOBILE TAKES SHAPE€¦ · passenger stairs and a “Batmobile” – a 1960s era Falcon-engined self-propelled mobile stairs unit. They set off on the 1,600km trip early on

Props & mags JULY 2015

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN AVIATION MUSEUM

66 LIPSON STREET, PORT ADELAIDE P.O. BOX 150, PORT ADELAIDE, SA 5015. PHONE (08) 8240 1230

http://www.saam.org.au

THE BATMOBILE TAKES SHAPE It was way back in July 2013 that John Roberts and Chris Pritchard made the long trek to Yulara Airport near Uluru (Ayres Rock) in response to a unique donation offer by Peter Kennedy of Qantas. The offer was for two sets of obsolete wheeled passenger stairs and a “Batmobile” – a 1960s era Falcon-engined self-propelled mobile stairs unit. They set off on the 1,600km trip early on a Friday morning in a Prado and trailer with a tool kit that prepared them for anything. They got to Yulara on Saturday afternoon and did the business all day on Sunday before heading back with their spoils at lunchtime on Monday. Two very tired volunteers got back to SAAM on Wednesday afternoon.

At Yulara, with the very willing help of Qantas volunteers, they had dismantled the Batmobile and prepared it for trucking to Adelaide (at 4 tonnes it was a mite heavy for the trailer…) and loaded two sets of airstairs for the journey back. Both sets were quickly commissioned for the F-111 cockpit, which had arrived that March.

Jim Piscioneri started work on the Batmobile then passed it over to Marion Flak when he joined us in November 2013 and volunteered to take on the restoration project (plus his efforts on the Merlin crew of course).

Graham Oster has been helping and has been the main parts purchaser. They reached an important milestone on 4th July when the stairs-base was lifted into place on the newly restored and painted interior body of the vehicle. This was thanks to Matt and Eric of Tight Access Cranes, who donated the crane lift. These before (this page) and after (page 3) photos give an idea of just how much work has been involved. The next steps are to restore and fit the two extendable stair units and paint the exterior body – all of which Marion has promised by Christmas… Cont’d Page 3

S.A.A.M. COMMITTEE _____________

MUSEUM PATRON:

THE HON. ALEXANDER DOWNER AC

_______________

PRESIDENT: PIETER VAN DYK

VICE PRESIDENT

DAVID BYRNE

TREASURER: JOHN HILLIER

SECRETARY: MIKE MILLN

COLLECTION

MANAGER

PAUL DAW

COLLECTION MANAGER – AIRCRAFT

WAYNNE LEE

MEMBERSHIP ROD KOPP

PUBLIC RELATIONS JOHN ROBERTS

WORKSHOP MANAGER

GRAHAM BELL

Dates for your diary …….. GENERAL MEETING

18th JULY 2015 at 1.00pm

This will be preceded by a

BBQ LUNCH at 12 noon - Cost $5.00

HISTORY GROUP MEETING at 10.30am EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING 6th AUGUST 2015

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NOTICE – PHONE MESSAGES Whenever you’re on Door Duty, don’t forget to check for phone messages – unanswered messages are not a good look. It’s dead easy – dial 101 (no PIN required) and follow the prompts. When you have actioned a message, or if no action is required, make sure you delete it. If you don’t, the next person to access it will not know whether action is required or not. The Nanny (aka Mike Milln)

A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT The executive committee has been busy compiling information and projecting large amounts of data for submission to the National Stronger Regions Fund (Round 2) in relation to the grant we are seeking. If we are successful, and they grant us the sum of $205,000, then we will be in fine position to start to build the new display hangar extension. Work on the application is still in progress, but by the end of this week we will be in a position to press the "Submit" button and send it on it's way. Then it will be a matter of keeping our fingers crossed until the successful applicants are advised in December. Also on the go is the Port Festival, set to be held on the 10 - 11 October this year. Negotiations are being held with the Port Adelaide Enfield Council, sponsoring the event, for the amount of money they will grant us to allow free admission to the Museum for those two days. Whatever the outcome, it will be a beneficial week-end for us and I trust that you will keep those dates free. We will need all the help we can get! Pieter van Dyk PRESIDENT

JUST A REMINDER THAT YOUR 2015/16 MEMBERSHIP SUBS ARE NOW DUE THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY PAID

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And for those of you with a penchant for watching grass grow or paint dry, there is a riveting video you can watch of the crane lift on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Australian-Aviation-Museum/324614277651177. Have a look and give it a “Like”! Mike Milln

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DISASTER PREPAREDNESS TRAINING WORKSHOP We were able to secure a grant from History SA to fund a training workshop on disaster salvage for water damaged materials, which was held at SAAM on 15th June. Anne Dineen from Artlab gave nine of us a full day’s training on what to do when one of the most likely disasters – flooding either from natural sources or burst pipes – occurs. Artlab is a South Australian Government business enterprise established in 1985 to provide specialised preservation and restoration services for all works of art and historic items. It is responsible for the conservation programs of the State’s extensive collections in Adelaide and its clients include the corporate sector, galleries, museums (like us!), libraries, other cultural institutions and private clients with family treasures all over Australia and overseas. (For instance, Adelaide Airport Ltd is a client and contracts Artlab to provide inspections of the Vimy and advice on its conservation). It has a team of qualified conservators and its laboratories are amongst the largest and best equipped in Australia. And we reckon Anne Dineen must be the best conservator they’ve got! We had a morning theory session discussing the four elements of disaster preparedness – PPRR – Prevention, Preparation, Response and Recovery, and what elements comprise the essentials of a disaster plan. This was with reference to our own Disaster Plan (a copy of the “First Response” part of which is kept at the reception desk and we should all be familiar with). This gave us some really useful pointers for the next update of the plan but it was gratifying to learn that we have got the essentials right The fun part was the afternoon session when we repaired to the workshop where the soft drinks trough was full of a range of articles that had been soaking overnight as a simulated disaster. We learned how to salvage every conceivable type of artefact including books, d o c u m e n t s , p h o t o g r a p h s , textiles, vellum, DVDs, audio tapes, film – even one of Anne’s husband’s old shoes… A very worthwhile day. Mike Milln

The Disaster! Anne telling a dubious looking class how to salvage priceless artefacts

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

Left

New Friend of the Museum KRISTY BURGESS (No. 460) of Somerton Park

Above: ARAM KARIMI (No. 459) of Mile End.. Aram has undertaken Work Experience with SAAM over the last few weeks.

Above:

PETER HEDGER (No. 457) of Salisbury. Peter was an RAAF Airfame fitter and in 2000 was elected member of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Below: PETER HARRIS (No 458) of Kurralta Park. Peter has experience in the restoration of English Motor Cycles

Above:

PETER PAGE (No. 453) of Alberton. Peter is a ceiling fixer and is interested in model plane flying, engine building and spray painting.

Left

JOHN MUDGE (No. 455) of Para Hills West. John has experience as an Engine Fitter with the RAAF, WOFF Atech as well as a Data Analyst.

Above:

ROGER NEWELL (no. 456) of Prospect. Roger has an OH&S background as well as a Forklift Licence. He is interested in Historic Aircraft as well as motor sport and vintage cars.

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WING TIPS

IT’S NOT OVER YET The fabric season is not yet over and we are continuing work on the Sheppard wings with the aid of all the heat lamps and floodlights we can find. They also keep us a little warmer in a very cold and damp workshop environment. We only have to install some finishing tapes and some reinforcing patches and we are done. The wings will then be cocooned in clean sheeting while they and we await some warm spring weather. We have inspected the fuselage and found part of the aileron control cable system and this has enabled us to work out how half the system works. This in turn led us into the library where we obtained more pictures and then the internet which also provided us with more information. It appears that the wings did not fold as originally thought as the attachment fittings do not allow for this to happen. It also appears that as the wing struts were not of aerofoil section tubing that they might well have vibrated in the airflow. Later pictures show auxiliary struts placed aft of the main struts in what appears to be an attempt to either stop the struts vibrating or stop the aileron controls vibrating. Struts and cables will only vibrate so many times before breaking. The elevator and rudder control cables have been connected and adjusted. A new control lock has been fitted so that the elevators are in a “neutral” position as they would be when the aircraft is flying. An engine inspection revealed that the carburettor has suffered some damage but an internet search revealed that parts and manuals are still available in the USA. Over and Out Anson Crew {masquerading as “Sheppards”}

In this 1984 photo, taken at Parafield, you can see the auxillary wing struts aft of the main struts. Photo courtesy Daniel Tanner

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To all those celebrating their birthday this month, we wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY and hope you have a great day.

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SOUTH AUSTRALIAN AVIATION MUSEUM SIGNIFICANT AVIATOR PROFILES

This is the second episode of Jim Roger’s trilogy about the life of Sir George Hubert Wilkins. In the last episode you will recall we left him having witnessed the shooting-down of the Red Baron. This month Jim takes up the story with Wilkins’ entry in the 1919 UK-Australia air race that Ross and Keith Smith went on to win in the Vimy. Wilkins didn’t get far in his Blackburn Kangaroo and later went on to crash his way around the Arctic between some epic flights .... now read on.... Mike Milln

Sir George Hubert Wilkins – Episode 2 In March 1919 the Australian Government offered the sum of £10,000 for the first flight from England to Australia. The race rules required that no plane was to start before 8 September 1919, the winner must complete the distance (11,000 miles) within thirty days, the aircraft and their parts had to be of British manufacture and every man aboard had to be an Australian citizen. Wilkins saw this as a great opportunity to gain experience in long distance flying and to acquire both publicity and the prize money. He assembled a crew of himself as commander and navigator, Valdemar Rendle as pilot, Reginald Williams as second pilot and Garnsey Potts in reserve. The aircraft they chose was a Blackburn Kangaroo, a twin-engined WW1 bomber built by the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company with Rolls Royce Falcon engines. The start of the flight was delayed by engine problems. Wilkins noted that another team, which left at the same time as he had planned to, was making really good progress, and he thought it would be difficult to catch. This other competitor was Ross and Keith Smith’s team in a Vickers Vimy aircraft that of course went on to win. Wilkins’ attempt ended when the port engine crankcase broke and all the oil was lost. Being eighty miles from the nearest land (Crete) it was doubtful, even with one good engine, that they would be able to reach land. Somehow they managed to reach the island without having to ditch in the sea, but they had to turn on the faulty engine when manoeuvring the aircraft to terrain suitable for a landing. The engine exploded. Many hot fragments penetrated the fuselage, which required Rendle to struggle for control and land as fast as possible. They missed a village, but grazed the roof of the last house and crashed into a field. They ended up with a badly wrecked aircraft but without a scratch on any of them. A short time before the race, Wilkins met John Lachlan Cope, an Englishman with a strong desire to organise an Antarctic expedition. What really interested Wilkins was that Cope was planning to use aircraft in his expedition. As Cope wanted more time for the planning and Wilkins had wanted to participate in the air race, nothing was done till Wilkins returned from Crete. 7.

Fig. 1 The end of Wilkins attempt to win the England to Australia air race Crete 1919 ( Photo – Sir Hubert Wilkins – His world of adventure as told to Lowell Thomas 1962)

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This expedition or ‘misadventure’, as Wilkins called it (Wilkins 1962), began in the latter half of 1920. Because of Cope’s mishandling of the finances and his failure to acquire aircraft, Wilkins realised that the best the team (that included M.C. Lester and T.W. Bagshawe) could achieve was a topographical survey of Graham Land. This had to be done before the winter set in. Wilkins spent four months on the Antarctic Plateau, and with every trip they made inland from their base, they were faced with a vertical cliff formation that they were unable to climb. Wilkins was convinced, if they had had an aircraft available for reconnaissance purposes, that they could have found a way through. In May 1921 Wilkins was in New York when he received a cable from Sir Ernest Shackleton inviting him to be part of the Shackleton - Rowett expedition, scheduled to leave for the Antarctic in September 1921. Joining Shackleton in London and with time on his hands, Wilkins embarked on an air navigator’s course. Much of the flying in this course was conducted in airships R-32, R-33 and R-34. There were very few qualified air navigators then because it was a branch of navigational science only gradually being separated from maritime navigation. The expedition left England in the Quest, a sealing vessel built in Norway. Wilkins noted that Shackleton had not devoted as much effort to this expedition as he had in the past. Problems with the vessel’s engine caused many delays in reaching Rio de Janeiro when, with another member of the science team, George Douglas, Wilkins left the ship and made his way to South Georgia. Wilkins’ role in the expedition was to collect specimens of birds and fish and to be the official expedition photographer. They were there for six weeks before the Quest arrived to pick them up and continue the expedition, but on the night of the Quest’s arrival at South Georgia, Sir Ernest Shackleton unfortunately died of a heart attack. On returning to London, Wilkins received a cable from the British Museum asking him to organise an expedition on the Museum’s behalf to Northern Australia. His prestige as a naturalist carried a lot of weight with those directing the Museum’s activities - so much so that the Museum had approached the British Parliament for the funds necessary to fund what they called the ‘Wilkins Island and Australian Expedition’. The purpose of the expedition was to make a biological survey of both sides of the Great Dividing Range, and to cover the country from Sydney to Cape York including the Great Barrier Reef. Wilkins, being the leader of the expedition, also assumed the role of specimen collector and photographer. During his travels he took a great interest in a small Aboriginal tribe he discovered in the Katherine River region. He had found them while travelling alone and, true to form, quickly realised he had to be very careful in his dealings with them because they were not particularly friendly. It took him many weeks to gain their trust to allow him near their encampments, and he spent two months collecting specimens and studying their culture. He had discovered his interest in anthropology. At the end of the expedition he had been in the bush for nearly two and a half years (1923-1925). Wilkins and the scientists travelling with him, J .E. Young, Vladimir Kotoff and Oscar. G. Cornwell, between them had collected hundreds of specimens and many box loads of fossils and minerals. After their return to London with their collection it was later reported by the Museum specialists that at least nine mammal forms were new to science, and one of them was to be called Petrogale wilkinsi in Wilkins’ honour. His report on the expedition entitled Undiscovered Australia was also tabled, which the Museum published for him because he had not had time to do so himself. If there was one thing Wilkins was really good at, it was raising money for further exploration. His sojourn in Australia had not blunted his desire for further polar exploration, nor had it lessened his conviction that aircraft were needed for any possible future expeditions. Wilkins was able to secure finance by contacting Loring Pickering of the North American Newspaper Alliance, and also from the Detroit Aviation Society. The carrot was exclusive rights to both news reports and photographs of the expedition. His idea was to go back to the Arctic and try to establish the true shoreline north of the Alaskan coast. Wilkins’ dream of being able to fly the Arctic was about to be realised. 8.

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Two major factors now confronted Wilkins. One was to find a suitable aircraft able to withstand the difficulties of polar flight, and the other to find a pilot to accompany him. Two aircraft were purchased, a tri motored F.V11 from Anthony Fokker, a personal friend of Wilkins, that they christened the Detroiter; and a single Liberty-engined monoplane they called the Alaskan. His old mentor Vilhajmur Stefansson recommended an ex US army pilot called Carl Ben Eielson who had pioneered the first Alaskan airmail service in 1923. Known to the Eskimos as ‘Brother to the Eagle’, Eielson was to share many life threatening experiences with Wilkins both in the air and on the ground in sub-zero temperatures. This 1926 expedition was to prove both good and bad for Wilkins and his dreams of polar exploration and discovery. The bad part was that the aircraft left much to be desired with engine problems causing the crash of both within twenty-four hours of being unpacked. This meant no significant exploration could be accomplished in the air that year as the good weather window was too short. Fairbanks, their supply base, was excellent for communication and supply, but was subject to flooding and flying was impossible until it could be drained, as the strip was a sea of mud.

The good part was that, once repaired, the aircraft were able to transfer much valuable supplies to their forward base at Point Barrow. On 31 March 1926, during a trip to transfer 750 gallons of fuel, Wilkins and Eielson flying in the Alaskan established a number of remarkable achievements. Having embarked on the 700 mile trip they encountered a blizzard and, without any visual means of knowing where they were, had to fly blind. Eielson flew on instruments and Wilkins navigated more from experience than anything else. With a certain degree of luck and a great deal of judgement, they landed safely at Point Barrow. This flight was a first in many ways. They had flown further North than anyone else at that longitude. They had proved the value of aircraft both for reconnaissance and as a means of transportation. They had flown more than 600 miles beyond the limitation of the known maps of the area and even proved that one reported island did not exist. Having taken a wind-driven short wave radio transmitter with them, they transmitted the first wireless message from Point Barrow, a feat contrary to the accepted belief that Point Barrow was a wireless blind spot. By February 1927 they had acquired two new aircraft, both four-seat Stinson SB1 Detroiter biplanes; and a second pilot well experienced in flying Stinson built aircraft. His name was Alger Graham. Almost a year to the day (29 March 1927) since their flight in the Alaskan, Wilkins and Eielson set out again to explore well beyond where they had been before. They started out a in furious blizzard that they hoped would provide a tail wind to carry them well beyond Alaska. Having just passed Point Barrow, however, their engine started to fail and it became obvious they would have to land.

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fig 2 Carl Ben Eielson

[Photo – http//kids.britannica.com]

Fig 3 Carl Ben Eielson (left) and Hubert Wilkins illustrate the clothing

they wore on their polar flights. The instrument Wilkins is holding is a chronometer. Because of the close proximity of the North Pole, magnetic compasses were ineffective. Wilkins had to navigate with

a sextant and a chronometer to obtain a positional fix. [Photo – Aeroplane Magazine, May 2005]

.

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The terrain below was rough, jagged ice floating on the sea. Wilkins suggested they land when the terrain looked a little better, and Eielson took the advice and pulled off a smooth ski landing just before the engine died completely. This was the first aircraft landing ever made on the Arctic ice. With the temperature dropping to 20 degrees below zero, they managed to take off after engine repairs and attempted to continue their flight. However, while they were making repairs the wind changed direction and instead of being a tail wind, became a head wind. Running out of fuel they had to force-land on the sea ice again. According to Wilkins they were 70 miles from the coast with no hope of continuing the flight. It took them both thirteen days to walk to Beechey Point and rescue.

Jim Rogers History Group Member South Australian Aviation Museum

References Thomas, Lowell. 1962. Sir Hubert Wilkins. His world of adventure as told to Lowell Thomas. Readers Book Club. Companion Book Club. London. Illustrations Fig 1 Thomas, Lowell. 1962. Sir Hubert Wilkins. His world of adventure as told to Lowell Thomas. Readers Book Club. Companion Book Club. London Fig 2 http//kids.britannica.com Fig 3 Aeroplane Magazine. May 2005. Fig 4 www.south-pole/p0000106tm

Fig 4 Stinson SB1 Detroiter aircraft similar to the one they abandoned on the sea ice

[Photo – www.south-pole/p0000106htm

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Pro-Forma Invoice from

The South Australian Aviation Museum Inc.

To all Financial Members

Subscriptions for 2015- 2016 membership of the Museum are due on 1st July 2015.

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