VICTORY! When RAN won air battle over Sydney

[kookaburra]

A truly bizarre story, of an incident when RAAF and RAN planes chased a pilotless plane over the center of Sydney.
And two Navy Sea Furies finally won the race to down it!


Extract from an article RAN Aviation and Air Combat - First and Last? published in the official Navy periodical Semaphore in January this year.

This incident began on the morning of 30 August 1955 at Bankstown airport, when an Auster light aircraft suffered an engine failure while on a practice circuit. Safely landing the aircraft in the middle of the airstrip, the pilot climbed out and attempted to restart the engine by swinging the propeller by hand. The engine sprang to life, but the brake failed to hold, and without its pilot the Auster began gathering speed. Already well-trimmed the aircraft took off and began climbing. A series of circuits followed with the Auster gradually gaining height and drifting in a north-easterly direction over Sydney’s suburbs. Fearing where it might crash, aviation authorities broadcast a general alarm to all aircraft as well as the Defence forces, police and emergency services.

One of those alerted was an RAN Auster on its way to Naval Air Station (NAS) Schofields. The naval aircraft made contact with its civilian sister at around 0900 and, having confirmed that it was unoccupied, remained in pursuit as it passed over the city centre. An hour later the runaway Auster was at 5000 feet and passing over Vaucluse, but no armed aircraft was yet available to bring it down. Finally, at 1020 a Wirraway trainer from RAAF Base Richmond made contact some two and a half miles offshore. But even then it was ordered not to open fire until the target had doubled this distance. Another 25 minutes passed, by which time the Auster had climbed to more than 10,000 feet. Using a hand-held Bren from the open rear cockpit the Wirraway made two firing passes without noticeable effect. A further attempt proved impossible as the -5°C air temperature meant that the gunner could not change the magazine as his hands were sticking to the gun.

The Wirraway and RAN Auster returned to their respective bases, but not before the arrival of a Meteor jet fighter from RAAF Base Williamtown. The Meteor managed just a few rounds, however, before both its cannons jammed. The RAAF called in two more Meteors, but these were beaten to the scene by a pair of Sea Furies from 805 Naval Air Squadron based at NAS Nowra. The first Sea Fury approached from astern and fired a short four-cannon burst, while the second made a beam-on attack. The Auster erupted into flame and 90 seconds later came down in the sea off Broken Bay. The incident may not have involved a determined enemy, but unsurprisingly it raised many questions about contemporary Defence readiness. Fifty-two years later, with memories of 11 September 2001 still fresh, the requirement to quickly intercept a rogue aircraft still resonates.


Below: The pilots of the two Sea Furies, Lieutenants J.R.T. Bluett and P.F. McNay replay their victory.

[kookaburra]

Magnificent wot!

On the other hand, on Oct 2, 1962, an aerobatic display by the Navy's Sea Venom jets over Sydney went somewhat wrong.

From the Naval Historical Society of Australia's 1960-1975 almanac:

Two RAN Sea Venom aircraft collided in the air over Sydney Harbour. One aircraft crashed into the harbour after the pilot ejected, and the other reached its base at Nowra, NSW, and landed safely.

[airlana]

And here's another version of the Auster story.

Surprising, most books only mention the event briefly and there's not a lot on the net. I'd image the RAAF and RAN/FAA records would make an interesting read.

http://www.henkimaa.nu/mow/things/auster.html#reference

Ash