Dear Rob, I recently read the “Pregnant
Lanc” article in Vol.25. No.3, and was re-
minded of a similar scheme dreamed up by
the RAAF in the mid fifties to transport
spare R.R. Merlins in the bomb-bay of an
Avro Lincoln. It had been found that the
bomb-bay doors would not close fully with a
Merlin in a cradle hung from the bomb
hooks, so wooden stop blocks had been
made to fit the shafts of the door jacks to
limit the closing of the bomb doors. I be-
came involved during the testing of these at
No.1 A.D., Laverton. The No.3 engine was
started to power the hydraulic system, but
was soon stopped with a shout of “We’ve got
a fire!”. I scrambled up through the fuselageand out through the upper hatch and on to
the engine nacelle and removed a small
cowling panel, to find a smouldering birds’
nest built around and under the coolant
header tank. The fire was soon put out and
the nest removed! The aircraft had not been
flown for some time, so it and another
parked Lincoln nearby were inspected for
nests, and I heard later that enough material
had been removed to fill a 44 gallon drum! I
don’t know if the scheme was proceeded
with, as I left the Air Force in December,- I hope this is of interest, and perhaps
other readers may know if the scheme was
proceeded with or not. Yours Faithfully,
Peter Lang, Mordialloc Vic.
FLIGHTPATH | 23Mailbag
A68-35
Hello Rob, I was interested to read Neil Fol-
lett’s article on the Mustangs used for atomic
testing. One of the aircraft featured in the
article was A68-35. I have included a photo of
my late father Bob Miles about to taxi in “35”
for a sortie for City of Melbourne squadron in- His log book says he flew “35” a number
of times, the last time being on 21 September
1952, his log book entry reads “A/A 1/4 at-
tacks cine” (i.e. quarter attacks using gun
camera). Bob worked his way through gen-
eral aviation in the early 1940s at the Royal
Victorian Aero Club then progressed to a job
with Ansett Airways as a DC -3 First Officer
and then up through the Ansett fleet culmi-
nating in a 727 command. He joined 21 (City
of Melbourne) Squadron on 16 June 1951 as a
Flying Officer and also had a stint at the Gov-
ernment Aircraft Factory, Fishermans Bend
as a test flight engineer on Lincoln Bombers.
He passed away in Sept 1993.
I have followed my father’s footsteps and
have been flying since 1987, currently with
Jetstar on the A-320, but have also been
lucky enough to fly Mike Jarvies’ Stearman
on occasion which featured in the latter pag-
es of issue Vol.25 No.4. Love the magazine.
Regards, Robert Miles, Strathmore, Vic.
ABOVE: Bob Miles about to taxi CA -18 Mustang
A68-35 whilst with the 21 (City of Melbourne)
Squadron at Laverton in 1952.LE F T: Climbing aboard a 21 Squadron DH
Vampire, Bob Miles also had a stint at
Fishermans Bend GAF as a test flight
engineer on Lincoln Bombers.ABOVE RIGHT: Bob Miles training
in the CAC Wirraway A20-557.The crash site of this aircraft is stated in
Michael Claringbould’s article [Vol.26
No.1] as being twenty miles SouthEast of
Port Moresby, near the Rigo Village. On
the Pacific Wrecks website the location is
given as near Galley Reach North West of
Port Moresby! I remember a wreck in the
given position at Galley Reach which was
in the Moresby training area during thelate sixties, and was told it was a B-24. I’m
even more confused than usual! Please
help! Regards, Jim Pescott, via emailMichael Claringbould replies: My
mistake, I confused the data base! The
B-24 wreck is on Fairfax Cattle Sta-
tion, in the Galley Reach area, and
less than one mile from the coast.The B-24 Big Emma
Pregnant Lincoln
CALENDAR OF
AVIATION EVENTS
FEBRUARY 2015
24-March 1 Australian International
Airshow and Aerospace and
Defence Exposition
Avalon Victoria.
Visit http://www.airshow.com.au/
airshow2015/index.htmlMARCH
27-29 The Antique Aeroplane
Association of Australia National Fly-in,
Echuca Victoria.
See http://www.antique-aeroplane.com.au*The RAAF Museum at Point Cook VIC
conducts an Interactive Flying Program –
this takes place at the museum every
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 1.00 pm.
Visit: http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum*Temora Aviation Museum’s Aircraft
Showcase Days are conducted on the first
and third Saturdays of each month, visit:
http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au*Please confirm all airshows and events with
the organisers as details may have changed
after the production of this publication.