onetrack

A Westland Wallace, also known as the Wapiti VII or PV-6. A two-seat general purpose biplane from the late 1920's, a further development of the early Westland Wapiti models, of which there were many, powered by a range of engines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Wapiti

A "fine day, fly-around-the-block" certificate is not feasible, when you understand that once you're airborne, you're sharing airspace with a lot of other people with high-powered, high-performance aircraft. and correspondingly higher skill levels, and their expectations that others flying around them are suitably qualified and competent, to be able to handle all the adverse conditions they might suddenly encounter.

It's like saying, "I just want to go for a drive on the freeway, in heavy mixed traffic, but I only need to know how to put it in gear, and steer and brake".

The casual remark from Tritton to White about Fairbairns body being found strapped in the pilots seat does not correspond with the official investigation, nor the evidence of witnesses - despite the high levels of conflicting evidence.

Remember the aircraft burnt to a shell, no fire tenders were immediately on the scene, and only one body was recognisable out of the ten victims. No harness or straps of any type would have survived the fire.

It was deemed that three people were found in the cockpit area, but even this evidence is open to conjecture.

The important thing is - no-one was found "strapped in the pilots seat" - or even "in the pilots seat". The fire consumed everything, and the bodies were spread around, two in front of the wreckage, three in the region of the cockpit, four more behind the cockpit area, and one near the tail.

The worst part, is identification of the remains of the bodies in the morgue was poor, possibly because the doctor considered the bodies to be in too poor a condition to be properly examined, or because he considered the job particularly distasteful.

Dissecting and examining burnt corpses is probably one of the worst jobs you could ever do as a medic, and one can understand the Doctors reluctance to be involved in detailed examination.

But there was a total failure on the part of all involved to mark the precise location of the bodies, and to determine as much as possible, the identification of each person.

Fairbairn was a very large man, of solid build and 5' 10" (178cm) in height. He was much larger than Hitchcock, and his bones would have showed visible, serious WW1 bullet damage.

The doctor failed to observe this outstanding arm bone damage, and the autopsies were essentially poorly done, leaving the inquiry results to be conjectured over, forever.

Fairbairn suffered from a severely damaged left arm with two fingers shot off it. His left arm was virtually useless. His right arm suffered from a permanent bend due to WW1 bullet (combat) damage, and was also weakened.

It is inconceivable that a man of Fairbairns status and level of responsibilities (for a very long time), would put his 9, largely VIP passengers at risk by taking over the pilots seat from Hitchcock, knowing full well his limited arm strength.

It is inconceivable that a man like Hitchcock, a "stolid" pilot and a person never known for risk-taking, would hand over the controls of a aircraft loaded with VIP's, even to a very senior Minister, and someone who towered over him.

It is likely that Fairbairns enthusiasm about the Hudson did lead him to enter the rear of the cockpit area and talk to the pilot and co-pilot as they prepared for landing, and made a go-around.

It is also a fact that Hitchcock was often noted for slow speeds in the descent, a fact attested to by others who flew other aircraft with him.

It is likely that Hitchcock was distracted by Fairbairns intense interest and questioning at a time when he should have been paying 100% attention to flying the Hudson, and knowing full well the Hudsons characteristic of suddenly flicking into a vicious stall, with virtually no warning, once slow airspeed was reached.

Hitchcock was not an inexperienced Hudson pilot, but the Hudson was very unforgiving of any slight relaxation in its pilots attention, particularly in the crucial landing approach phase.

http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p263591/pdf/ch241.pdf

Photos of the wreckage - Crash of a Lockheed L-414 Hudson I in Canberra: 10 killed | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

Newsreel - Canberra Air Disaster / Debris / Australia / 1940 | HD Stock Video 441-965-080 | Framepool Stock Footage

An alternator can produce enough AC current to turn it into a highly satisfactory welding power supply. If that high AC voltage got loose, I could sure imagine some serious fireworks.

Mike, I presume it was this glider fatal at Cunderdin that you speak of? The fatal one that I recall, involving fuel tap off on takeoff, was at Beverley (W.A.), either in the late 1970's or early 1980's.

I can't find the investigation report, and I'm not sure there is one, because I seem to recall the BASI didn't record recreational crashes in that era.

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1989/aair/aair198900247/

The story behind the Corvus Fusion crash is that the owner, Yevgeny (Eugene) Poletaev, was wanting to sell the aircraft, and was putting on a display for a potential purchaser.

Of course, the Corvus is sold as an LSA aircraft, and the design is closely aligned with other high performance Corvus aircraft, particularly the Corvus Racer 540 and the Corvus Racer 312.

The Corvus 540 was designed specifically for air racing - so you buy a Corvus, because it's the GT Falcon of the skies.

I'm wondering if the low-level aerobatic attempt was planned to let the potential buyer see the aircrafts performance close-up, rather than straining to see it at 3000'.

https://ok.ru/yevgeny.poletaev

I wondered where all the graduates from the Arthur "Bud" Holland School of Flying, ended up - Russia! This bloke wrote himself and a Yak-55 off, during an aerobatic display at Podstepki, Stavropol (near Tolyatti) in Aug., 2019.

"At the helm of the plane was 49-year-old Sergey Khimich, a real ace, senior aviation chief of the airfield located two kilometers from the village of Podstepki, Stavropol region, where the fatal accident occurred."

It looks like the Russians are pretty good at the old, "Hey guys, hold my beer and watch this!" Below is a link to similar fatal aerobatics in a Bristell, at an airshow in Tambov, Russia, in July 2017.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/196571

....the nearest downpipe and went on his merry way, playing his banjo, to ensure he fitted in with all the Taswegians, and couldn't immediately be identified and pointed out, as coming from the Mainland.

But he had to think long and hard about how he could lose some front teeth, to stop raising any level of suspicion. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration. If he.........

Bull in his Taswegian disguise outfit ........

There are about four main causes of battery problems creating a potential fire problem - overheating, a short circuit, incurring physical damage by being struck or penetrated by an object, and the battery coming loose in its cradle.

The last one is pretty easy to ensure it doesn't happen. Even in road vehicle situations, authorised inspection officers (police and others) check for battery security in its cradle. An aircraft is no different, you ensure battery hold-down security.

Being physically damaged by being struck or penetrated is largely eliminated by secure hold-down. But a battery in an aircraft could be struck or penetrated by a foreign object. The chances of that happening are probably too low to worry about.

Similarly, a short circuit is something that has a low likelihood of occurring if the installation is carried out with minimisation of short circuits in mind. A short circuit is nearly always as a result of unexpected battery movement, so revisit "battery security".

But overheating is a potential problem with any battery. Overheating comes from heavy battery loads or charging processes that are not correct for the battery. All LiFePO4 batteries are reliant on a reliable BMS to ensure correct charging and levels of current drawdown. As a result, the BMS is the most likely source of any LiFEPO4 battery failure, so this is the weak link in the chain.

Fortunately, LiFePO4 batteries have been proven to be difficult to ignite, and if overheated or damaged, they will merely smoulder heavily, and do not commence a frightening thermal runaway, with sheets of flame, as do other types of Li-Ion battery do. As a result, I have yet to see a fire or disastrous result from any LiFEPO4 battery "incident".

Note that the original Dreamliner Lithium battery fire problems were due to the use of LiCoO2 (Lithium Cobalt) batteries, which were the best available Lithium battery technology in 2007.

Since that time, LiFePO4 and LiMn2O4 (Lithium Manganate) have superseded earlier Lithium battery types, where battery fire safety is critical.

Pure Teflon insulation is no longer used in new aircraft builds, Tefzel is the preferred insulation, but there are insulation types still produced with a level of Teflon in them.

https://www.flight-mechanic.com/wiring-installation-wire-types/

The Deltran 330 is most certainly a LiFePO4 battery. The person who stated it wasn't, and that it's a lead calcium alloy battery, is simply wrong.

https://www.cycleworld.com/2013/07/08/deltran-lifepo4-lithium-batteries/

I'm sure we could provide an understandable weather report for the Kiwis without too much trouble.

""Choice, ay?" - Fine weather

"Oooh, that's a bugger" - A front rolling in with zero visibility

"Uff ya take off now, you'll kark it!" - Weather making it too dangerous to fly

"Outlook is a bit suss" - Weather deteriorating

"Piece a' pus" - Fine weather, not a cloud or weather problem in sight

"If ya wanna head to the wop wops, forgut it, the weather sucks out there today" - The weather is poor in that remote region you planned to visit today

Skippy, I didn't mention them specifically, because many of those designs are "heavy duty", involving bolts for fastening - and the accent is on "heavy". As a result, the weight penalty would be against them, to use on aircraft.

I've had hose clamps - even stainless hose clamps - that stripped out the threads in the band, or stripped the threads on the screw, when tightened to a satisfactory level.

Not all hose clamps are the same quality, many are obviously built to a price, not for a job.

....stand up and carry out "further intensive enquiries", when her thought processes were interrupted by a slurring, wobbling Cappy suddenly appearing from behind a nearby tree (where he'd been "answering the call of Nature" - whatever it was, she called out), stumbling forward a few paces whilst muttering something unintelligible - then falling flat on his face onto Sgt Doubtfires fishing tackle and lunch Esky.

Sgt Doubtfire became enraged - here was a well-known local who was not only over the limit (for walking even, let alone driving) - and he was also disobeying social distancing regulations! Sgt Doubtfire pulled out her.......

Remember, there are hose clamps, and hose clamps, too. Some hose clamp designs are pretty poor.

My preference is for the designs that have rolled edges (to eliminate cutting into the hose), the maximum number of teeth in the screw grip, and band perforations that don't weaken the ban, nor do they strip out under maximum torque.

If you want maximum strength in the design, you go for hose clamps that don't have band perforations.

https://www.normagroup.com/corp/en/aba-constant-torque-std/

I'm having trouble grasping what went wrong there? Did he stall it during an attempted somersault? The aircraft airspeed decay didn't appear to be that bad, that it would lead to a stall.

I wonder if there was a control failure, due to over-enthusiastic movements of the controls?

That'd make the CO foam at the mouth.

.... scarf trailing from the cockpit. But as he did so, the scarf tore free from the Thruster, leaving Cappy floating free as a.......

The mistakes regarding fuel supply have killed a lot of pilots. I've never forgotten the episode involving one of the senior members of the BAS in W.A., who decided to go ultralighting - and who forgot to turn the fuel on.

He got to about 150 feet before he went straight down - and he didn't survive. How ironic that a bloke who investigated many cases of pilots killing themselves with simple piloting mistakes, went out the exact same way.

....he remembered the old Army saying, "never volunteer" - so he pulled it down again (his hand, that is), and Onetrack cast around for another willing risk-taker who would.....

The greatest failure of Trump is that he has estranged the U.S. military command with his erratic behaviour and intransigent decision-making, instead of supporting them, as any good POTUS would.

These men he has alienated are trained leaders, educated and taught to lead millions of men, in a disciplined fashion. Trump couldn't lead a horse to water, he is undisciplined, narcissistic, intransigent and specialises in creating and fomenting chaos. In fact, he delights in it. It's only a matter of time before the conflict between the U.S. military command and Trump blows up.

Two very senior U.S. military men have warned Trump in an open letter to General Milley (Chairman of JCS), if Trump loses the election, and refuses to vacate the Office (claiming election fraud), the military will be obliged to remove him.

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/08/all-enemies-foreign-and-domestic-open-letter-gen-milley/167625/

A classic case of a slow-reactions pilot being "behind the aircraft". Possibly aided by the cockpit distraction of a senior Minister awing a relatively humble pilot, by asking all sorts of questions, as landing procedures were being carried out.

The Hudson was noted for its rapid stall characteristics, you got only minimal warning of stall, and it caught out a number of Hudson pilots. Then there's the possibility of the learner co-pilot being the PIC, and being the one responsible.

https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2020/02/one-fell-swoop-the-canberra-hudson-disaster/

"Not a machine for the careless or ham-fisted" .... http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p263591/pdf/ch161.pdf

The entire book on the tragedy is available to read online, here - Ten Journeys to Cameron's Farm

....as it turned out, he was carrying a copy of "Biggles Down Under", which he found was far more useful and instructional than any CASA-mandated courses, and whipping out the book, and referring to the right passages, he soon righted the Airtruk (note the correct spelling, dear NES readers), pulled out of the spiral dive, levelled the wings, aligned the instrument panel with the horizon, and settled back to enjoy the view as the IO-520 loped along at cruise RPM.

But there was trouble in sight as a Thruster being piloted in an erratic manner appeared out of the sun to his left. The rego looked familiar and Onetrack was shocked to see that it was......

A carpet snake would be a major risk around chooks and eggs, wouldn't it?? Chooks go ballistic at the sight of a snake, they will go off laying in shock. A big carpet snake would scoff down a chook, no worries.

https://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/carpet-snake-has-chicken-for-breakfast/1253703/