by Jim Eames
.
Air Safety Investigation Branch 1974, Boeing 707/333C, VH-EAE, Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport NSW, 24 October 1975, Department of Civil Aviation Australia,
Cuskelly, Ron 1974, Aviation in the Aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, Queensland Air Museum,
Hitchins, D.W., 2012, The Hitchins Papers: Miscellaneous Notes on Air Operations in the Aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, Queensland Air Museum,
Acknowledgements
Acknowledging all those who have contributed to a work covering such a wide range of aviation topics is not only a daunting task but one fraught with considerable risk. Indeed there have been so many that I feel it inevitable I shall overlook one or two of them and if that is the case then I sincerely apologise.
That said, there are those who deserve my special thanks and they can generally be broken into several categories—those who plumbed the depths of their memories during numerous personal interviews, phone calls and email correspondence, and others whose dedication has kept important aspects of the Australian aviation industry available for the benefit of those like myself. Still others have been critical in assisting me to trace people who have long left the industry but who had an important story to tell.
I should first make special mention of my old friend Dave Wiltshire, who not only guided me through what it was like to fly the dangerous skies of Papua New Guinea in the 1960s but who also opened the door to his colleagues in Trans-Australia Airlines/Australian Airlines and Qantas in his later years as a senior airline pilot and administrator. I acknowledge him and my colleague of Qantas years Norman Leek, who along with a prodigious memory for people, time and place, maintains the same pride in the flying kangaroo as he and others of us did during our working lives.
The quiet determination of another old colleague, John Tilton, whose integrity as an airline communications manager preceded the era of the now oft derided ‘spin doctor’, made my task easier. Sadly, John’s sudden passing would not allow him to see the finished book but I hope he would have approved.
Then there are those who deserve credit for the work they have done in past years: Barry Pattison and Geoff Goodall for their wonderfully detailed 1979 account of the incredible Qantas Double Sunrise achievement, supplemented by Rex Senior’s memoirs of his days flying the Double Sunrise service; Phil Dynes for his foresight in gathering his priceless compilation of the secret missions of the RAAF’s 200 Flight. Without it, despite its limited circulation among those who served with the unit, much of what they did would be lost to history.
In a similar category must be placed Ron Cuskelly’s comprehensive overview of the air evacuation of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy in those fateful days of Christmas/New Year 1974–75. Not only does he list the aircraft that took part but his diligence provided me with numerous leads to trace those who flew them.
My thanks to Laurie and Betty Crowley who relived the challenges and excitement of their years operating charter light aircraft in Papua New Guinea. Sadly, too, Laurie would leave us only months before the book would be published. For anyone who might consider some of Laurie’s experiences incredible, I’m sure the likes of Qantas’ Alan Terrell and Ken Davenport, who flew in those days, would readily confirm the environment in which Laurie operated.
Some memories, of course, are easier recalled than others and for that reason I am particularly grateful to Brian Cairns and Kelvin Hawthorn who vividly described the horrific moments when a suicidal pilot flew his aircraft into the Connellan Airways hangar complex in 1977, killing himself and four of their work colleagues and badly injuring others.
In a similar vein, former TAA captain Doug Spiers generously revisited those fraught seconds when, as co-pilot on a Boeing 727, his aircraft tore the top off the tail fin of a Canadian Pacific DC-8 during a night take-off at Sydney airport in January 1971 then circled Mascot for forty minutes not knowing how badly their aircraft was damaged.
Then there are those former industry people who continue to record the aviation events of the past for future Australians to enjoy. Without them much would be lost to the shredder or the recycling process, and we also owe a great deal to enthusiasts like Roger Meyer, Phil Vabre and those at Melbourne’s Civil Aviation Historical Society along with Ron Adams and his team at the TAA Museum across the highway from Essendon airport. So, too, has historian Fred Niven kept the Ansett flag flying beyond its regrettable demise. My sincere thanks to all of them.
Many of my former Qantas colleagues, some of whom are prominent in the text, deserve mention here not only for their own contributions, but for steering me towards others who could fill out the stories. They include both John F. Ward and John R.W. Ward, Alan Terrell, Jim Bradfield, Peter Brooks, Bill Swingler, David Massy-Greene, Ray Heiniger, Alan Bones, Les Fisk, Ian Burns-Woods, Peter Snelling, Greg Banfield, Louise Dyer, Max Haworth, Bill Easton, Bob Walker, Mick Ryan, John Rowe, John Fordham, Rex Banks, Bob Weeks, Dave Cohen, Mike Cottee, Dave Rowley and Keith Welsh.
Alongside them are Ted Porter, Ray Vuillermin, Rae Ball, Tarla Kramer, Macarthur Job, Norris Smith, Bruce Fraser, Ken Morris, John Myers, Dave Fredriksen, Graham Stephenson, Arthur Mosely, Tony Hartford, Peter Ralph, Kim Lockwood, Col O’Brien, Geoff Dell, Ray Baker, Wendy Shannon, Bill Gibbings, Bob Smith and Terry Claven.
My special thanks also to David Crotty, curator of the Qantas Heritage Collection, who repeatedly performed minor miracles to meet my requests for files and photographs from the Qantas archives, along with Francoise Barr of the Northern Territory Archives Service and Monica Walsh of the RAAF Museum, Point Cook.
Once again I have benefited from the encouragement and support of the Allen and Unwin team led by Editorial Director Rebecca Kaiser, whose passion for the business of book publishing ensures its future, and the patience of Senior Editor Belinda Lee and her colleague Alex Nahlous, both of whom offered sage advice while never complaining about my split infinitives.
Last but not least my thanks to my own family: daughter Suzanne, who accepted some of the onerous research and administrative tasks without complaint; second daughter Frances, whose internet skills unearthed valuable internet ‘finds’; my wife, Jose, who took copious notes, kept records and suffered the normal frustrations and mood swings of an often distracted author with her usual calmness and forbearance; and son Steven, who continued to provide suggestions, encouragement and support from the other side of the world.
