Aeroplanes of Emu

Avro York

Three Avro York aircraft were provided by the RAF to help with the ferrying of loads from Woomera and Mallala just north of Adelaide. Yorks suplemented the Bristols; they could carry more weight of cargo and people and carry it faster than the Bristols.

The Yorks were urgently needed to ferry equipment, they were slow in arriving from U.K. because they had to be taken out of reserve, made ready, and flown out to Australia. Kitten equipment arrived by York from Woomera on 12 September after the Hastings from England was unservicable at Woomera. Yorks would have been more comfortable to travel in than the Bristol freighters. The Governer General used a York as his aircraft around 1945. Sir William Penney arrived by the normal courier service from Woomera on 29 Sept presumably by York. Cinema film shows Penney with his suit coat on and an over-coat folded over his arm looking as if he just arrived via York MW258. The air transport was commanded by Group Captain Burrage. Burrage was given a briefing by Penney on handling the VIP and press flights after the explosion.

Initially 3 Yorks came to help with the project but a 4th was dispatched later. RAF crews flew the Yorks.
The last York flight from Emu was on Sunday 1 November. After the tests the Yorks returned urgently needed equipment to Britain.
Go to Avro York

Bristol Freighters

Bristol Freighter A81-1 in retirement at RAAF Point Cook Museum December 2006

Bristol Freighter A81-1 RAAF Museum Point Cook 2006 (Point Cook is the oldest operational military airfield in the world)

Many people had their first glimpse of Emu from the window of a Bristol Freighter. The RAAF acquired four Bristol Freighters to support operations at Woomera in the late 1940's. All would have frequented Emu Claypan. They worked up to 18 hours a day, making 3 or sometimes 4 trips a day to Emu each. One was refered to as "Old Faithful". RAAF crews knew the importance and urgency of the work. Sometimes they would not even stop for a drink of water lest it delay the turn-around of the flight.

What became of the Bristol Freighters?

A81-1 was sold by the RAAF, operated commercially for some years, then was on display near Surfers' Paradise, Queensland near the Gold Coast and eventually ended up at RAAF Museum Point Cook.

A81-2 Dr Penny flew in this machine. The last of the British Group Staff left Emu on 12 November 1953. On 25 November A81-2 disintergrated in mid air 5 miles SW from Mallala during instrument flying practice, killing the crew who were the only people on board. A retired air safety investigator told me that a fatigue problem in Bristol Freighters caused the wing to break off just outboard of an engine. Bristols were no doubt strengthened afterward. A similar accident occured in New Zealand in 1957.
J.D. Entwistle DFC, Len A.W.Murphy (Len Beadell's school friend) and navigator R.J.Shillinglaw were killed.

A81-3 was sold, eventually operating freight runs from Melbourne's Essendon airport to Tasmania. The rainy morning at 2:20am, 10 May 1975 saw A81-3 now registered VH-SJQ leave Essendon only to suffer a traumatic engine failure over Bass Straight, the captain turned towards home desperately trying to arrest the machine's gradual descent. It vanished into the sea south of Cape Liptrap. (The webmaster remembers hearing the news of this loss on the radio news later that morning.)

A81-4 was sold by the RAAF, operated commercially for some years before being broken up for scrap.

Although along way from Emu, three New Zealand Royal Air Force Bristol aircraft based at Whenuapai on the North Island were also available to track the atomic cloud. They were not required. Click to see Bristol Freighter A81-1

Dream of "Flying the Bristol Freighter"

New Zealand Bristol Freighters"

Handley Page Hastings

Handley Page Hastings was post WW2 pressurised aeroplane somewhat similar in concept to a DC6 but about 18 feet (5.5 m) shorter with a tailwheel. Being pressurised it would be able to fly highter without the need for wearing oxygen masks. Flying higher would come with an associated increase in speed and more comfortable ride. Film footage shows an RAF Hastings with 333 on its tail fin arrriving at Emu Claypan and unloading. The radio-active components for the kittens and weapons were flown out from Britain. Unused radio-active components (if any) were flown back.

Hastings appears shorter than a DC6.

Hastings made 6 flights to Emu in 1953.

Flight A arrived on the morning of 26 September with the conventional explosive components for the first weapon.
That evening flight B came in on 3 engines with the radioactive components for the first weapon.
Both aircraft departed Emu on Sunday 27 Sept.
On 29^th a Hastings flight (C?)arrived with more explosive.
The radioacitve components for Totem 2 arrived on D flight, 3 Oct making a perfect landing in gusty cross wind conditions that kept the Bristols and Yorks away.
Sunday 4 October the 5th Hastings flight left Woomera with the HE components for Totem 2. It became overdue at Emu; it had returned to Woomera when the navigator became lost. Security regulations forbade the crew other than the navigator being given the location of Emu. It arrived at about 10:30.
5 November (Gyy Faulks? Day) A Hastings collected suprlus Radio Active material, samples and stores for return to England.

Advice of what happened to Hastings 333 or information on a second Hastings flown to Emu would be appreciated.

You can write to me using this link.
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Future Link: Hasten to Hastings

Percival Prince

A Percival Prince delivered Dr Penney to Dingo Claypan for the initial visit to Emu in September 1952. He was on his way to the Hurricane; Britain's first A-bomb test. The RAAF had 3 Percival Princes A90-1 to A90-3. They were used as general and VIP transport between 1952 to 1955.
During 1955 the second Prince was damaged beyond repair during landing at RAAF Edinburugh, Adelaide. The nose wheel assebly shimmied violently causing large cracks and buckles in the fuselage.

At the enquiry the shimmy was alleged to caused by lack of rear ballast for the short ferry flight and mechanical wear on the nose wheel mechanism. With 2 of the 3 damaged the RAAF grounded the remaining Prince and sold them off. One was operated by a civilian operator for some years.

From the webmaster's experience,

paved runway,
heavy breaking,
tyre condition and inflation and
allowing the nose wheel to contact the tarmac early

all may influence shimmy.

Percival Pembroke at RAF Museum Cosford, July 2007
Edgar Percival was born at Albury, Australia.
He came to Britain during WW1 and
subsequently founded an aircraft company.

This is a development of the Percival Prince i.e. Percival Pembroke.
It has longer wings and carried more load.
Go to Percival Prince

Dakotas

Photos and film show RAAF Dakota A65-122 from VIP flight at Emu Claypan on 3 September 1953. The aeroplane carried Duncan Sandys, British Minister of Supply and Howard Beale the Australian Ministry for Supply along with E.L Cook and others.

A65-122 was given Papua New Guinea Defense Force in 1981. It was used as a non-flying training aid at Igam Barracks, Lae. Google Earth shows a Dakota shape near Lae's former airport at 6 deg 43'21" S, 146 deg 59' W.

Operation Alpha 1 and 2

Dakotas were used for radiation fallout surveys. Two Dakotas arrived on the evening after Totem 1 took off from Emu Field at first light on the next morning. One of them did not proceed with the sortie due to engine trouble. Its equipment was transfered to another machine. They would have flown at lower altitudes to measure the radiation given off by fallout deposited on the ground down wind of the Totems. The radiation survey work was complete by Sunday 18 October; two Dakotas returned to Woomera that day.

One of those two Dakotas was A65-112 with co-pilot Sergant H.N.McDonald. Three and a half years later Flighing Officer H.N.McDonald was reunited with A65-112 now as commander. The took off at night on a search and rescue mission when a runaway (out of control) propellor and faulty feathering mechanism combined to cause the machine to stall and crash vertically into the ground at Duntroon, Canberra. This tragedy was all over within 45 seconds after take-off.
A65-109 is at Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown.
The loss of A65-112.

Lincolns

Operation Beta

'In retrospect, it appeared that the Lincoln constituted something of a dust-trap and was usnuitable for cloud tracking" Lord Penny, 1985

Apparently not all of the RAAF Avro Lincolns used for Operation Beta landed at Emu. A73-41 additionally carried out a safety patrol prior the first explosion to confirm that no body was in the danger from the explosion or fallout. Lincons tracked the atomic cloud for about two days for each of Totem 1 and 2. (Lincons were built by the Government Aircraft Factory in Australia) They were fitted with radiation detection apparatus for the tests. The Lincons were not pressurised and proved unsuitable for tracking radiation. The atomic dust readily contaminated the cabin, engines, air filters. So great was the contamination that some were parked at RAAF Richmond in an isolated concreted area for years. The rain water run-off was collected because it too was radioactive. Some navigation bags, flying suits and boots were so contaminated that they were buried.

As a safety precaution against inhaling radioactive dust the crews used oxygen masks and breathed what they thought was pure oxygen. It was later learnt to be a mixture of ambient air and oxygen at that altitude; they may well have still breathed in dust.

On the 50th anniversary of Totem 1 the author, on a lunch-time walk, saw a poster in a display case window on the outside of the Forum Theatre, (Russell St side) Melbourne. The poster by the daughter of a Lincoln pilot told that her father never said anything tracking the cloud. Apparently her father died of cancer at a relatively early age. He did not talk about his involvment. She only found out what her father did after reading her late father's log book.

Survivors

It is understood that the front part of a Lincoln that tracked the cloud survives at Camden NSW.

Melbourne's Moorabbin Aircraft Museum acquired an Avro built Lincoln in early 2007. At the time of writing it is yet to be assembled. Moorabbin Lincoln The webmaster understands that the Lincoln at Moorabbin, at the time of writing, belongs to workmate in electricity company that they both work for.

Learn about GAF built Avro Lincoln RAF Museum, Cosford has a Lincoln on display.

Weather Reasearch B-29

As part of Operation Beta also included 2 USAF WB 29 aeroplanes. These USAF aeroplanes did not visit Emu. The USA was keen to study the fallout from the Totem tests. The USAF personnel were able to give valuable advice regarding the degree of contamination and safety precautions to the RAAF personnel associated with the Lincolns.

Helicopter

The RAAF's only helicopter at the time was used at Emu for site layout survey work. [Beadell, 1967 Blast the Bush] One Bristol Sycamore helicopter was allocated for work associated with Woomera which included the Emu tests. RAAF Museum Calendar 2007, indicates that two Bristol Sycamore helicopters were used at Woomera in the 1950s and that the RAAF also had Sikorsky S-51 dragonfly machine(s).

The actual Bristol Sycamore used at Emu is now preserved in Melbourne at Moorabbin Aircraft Museum.Bristol Sycamore

Atomic Mustangs

Six RAAF mustangs were all less than one mile from Totem 1 to evaluate the "effects of Totem 1 explosion on aircraft of stressed skin construction". Those melancholy machines have become well known. There were also three RNZAF mustangs scheduled to track the cloud over New Zealand's South Island but they were not required because the dark atomic cloud did not go to "The Land of the Long White Cloud".

It is understood that A68-1, the first Australian assembled mustang, may be flying in USA.

Atomic Mustangs at Emu

Canberra Bomber WH 738

An RAF Canberra crew came, I assume, as passengers in another aeroplane to inspect Emu airfield for use by their Canberra that was specially equipped for sampling radioactive atmosphere. They decided that Emu airfield was unsuitable and should only be used in an emergency. Presumably the loose stones could be injested into the engine air intakes. On the morning of Totem 1, the Canberra flew from Woomera, over Emu's Totem weapons' area but did not land at Emu. It was the first manned aeroplane to penetrate a still billowing, dark, atomic bomb cloud. The Canberra, WH 738 was fitted with special filters to collect radioactive debris for analysis at Woomera. After returning to Woomera this aeroplane was parked in a romote location at Woomera, and washed down until it was no longer considered a radiation hazard. It did not fly through the second explosion's cloud because its crew had been exposed to a relatively large amount of radiation and were not to be further exposed so soon after.

Canberra Bomber WH 738 Disappears Without Trace

Just 18 weeks after its Totem flight the same Canberra, but with a different crew, was on a very secret mission into the Pacific. It vanished about the 22 or 23 of February after leaving from Manus Island for Kwajelein Island in the Marshall group. The USA exploded an experimental solid fuel H-bomb Castle Bravo on 1 March at Bikini Atol in the Marshall group. RAAF Lincoln aircraft searched from 200 miles south of Guam east towards New Island. The Canberra was not equipped with radar nor auto-pilot. A searching RAAF Lincoln pilot, Laming, J. reported that there were violent Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone storms in the search area.

Bibliography

Beadell,L 1967 Blast the Bush
P.F.Cooper,1954 Operation Totem, Operational Report, Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston
ADF-Serials web site [September] 2006 http://www.adf-serials.com/ re Mustang aeroplanes
ADF-Serials web site The-Loss-of-Dakota A65-112 [last accesed 15 October 2006]
Australian Aviation Museum web site http://www.aamb.com.au/[last accessed 15 October 2006]
H.J.Gale 1954 Operation Totem, Radio-Active Sampling and Analysis Report, Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston
Wild Pacific days, Laming J. AOPA Magazine, January-February 2006, Vol 59 No 1 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Australia

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The background colour of this page is the webmaster's recollection of the colour of the sky at Emu Claypan.

Last revised 17 June 2008