Forgotten pilots or flights...

[TheGreenGoblin]

UP, the pilot that time forgot?

A **** dinosaur! With long hair, though not much.

Old pilots don't die, they just become more hairy!

[Undried Plum]

I wisnae bold. That's why I'm old.

[TheGreenGoblin]

From "telegraph boy" to Mosquito pilot, the first Allied pilot with his navigator to come up against the formidable Me. 262, he went on to fly as a Captain for SAA and then as head of the airline when it was one of the best in the business.

A more detailed account of Capt. “Pi” Pienaar’s career can be found in the book by Carel Birkby called “Dancing the Skies”. A remarkable achievement from WW2 Pilot to Chief Executive Officer of an Airline – all taken in his stride.

And this is what is so heartbreaking – these magnificent men in their flying machines built up an Airline one can be proud of but sadly, today, the past history of achievements etc. seems to want to be forgotten. That is why these stories need to be told. SAA was a fine airline – technically the best and it did have the best Pilots!

Report on the indecent published on Aviation Safety Network - https://aviation-safety.net/

Mosquito NS520 - Damaged after attack by German aircraft Me 262 Dated 15.Aug 1944. over Southern France. They survived severe damage to their Mossie and flew back to base. Belly landed at San Severo "Struck off charge, 26 April 1945"


On August 15, 1944, took off for the Munich area. The crew expected this to be a routine job, although the opposition was usually hotter over this part of Southern Germany than Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland, Rumania or any other country in 60 Squadron's field of operations. Airfields, marshalling yards, factories were to be the targets—all pinpoints familiar from previous sorties. They would keep a sharp look-out for fighters, not let the flak upset them, and get away quickly as soon as the job was done. As they approached Gunzberg/Leipheim airfield near Munich at 30,000 feet and 360 m.p.h., Pienaar did a couple of turns to either side to ensure no fighters were creeping up his tail, then turned on to target with Lockhart-Ross over the bombsight. As Pienaar levelled out he had another quick look in his rear-view mirror. A twin-engined aircraft was closing in rapidly. Immediately he slammed both throttles wide open, dropped his wing tanks and began a turn to starboard. Simultaneously the enemy aircraft opened fire from 400 yards and Pienaar saw pieces fly off his aircraft as it flicked into a spin, out of control, with Lockhart-Ross pinned in the nose by gravitational force and the port engine jammed at full throttle. Had he turned to port—as he suspected the enemy would expect him to do—he would have been blown out of the sky.

For 11,000 feet Pienaar fought with his wounded aircraft before finally bringing it under control at 450 m.p.h.—to find the pilot of the phenomenal German aircraft poised for another attack and part of his own port wing and tail unit shot away. Pienaar also discovered he could turn only to port and that he would have to fly with the control column hard over to the right. It was a time for great skill and cool nerves. Pienaar had both.

With Lockhart-Ross out of the nose and reporting the enemy's position from the top blister hatch, Pienaar outflew the enemy pilot in 11 more attacks in the next 35 minutes, turning inside him off the stern attacks and, on the final head-on attack, trying to ram him. By then both pilot and navigator had identified their foe as a jet-propelled Me. 262, which they had read about in secret reports. It was painted silver with black crosses below the mainplanes, the usual cross on the fuselage and a swastika on the tail. And it had a long nose, clipped wings, underslung engines and a teardrop-type cockpit cover. Its speed was phenomenal.

Had the Mosquito been armed "at least twice during the attacks he made the enemy would have been a sitting target for me", said Pienaar. The action had taken the Mosquito some 90 miles to the south of Gunzberg when the engagement was broken off and Pienaar found refuge in a cloud for his juddering aircraft. But the dangers were not yet over for the two South Africans. With the radio and almost all the instruments unserviceable, both throttles jammed and, with 500 feet to spare over the Alps, they limped low over Northern Italy and down the coast to San Severo, where Pienaar put down a perfect belly-landing when the wheels would not go down. They had fuel for only another seven minutes' flying. The entire crew were given immediate awards of' DFC.

https://www.flightlineweekly.com/post/s ... of-calibre

[Boac]

Whoops!

the book by Carel Birkby called “Dancing the Skies”

Better not tell her a former mate of mine, Dave Roome, has launched his book called......................................"Dancing the Skies"

[TheGreenGoblin]

Whoops!

the book by Carel Birkby called “Dancing the Skies”

Better not tell her a former mate of mine, Dave Roome, has launched his book called......................................"Dancing the Skies"

I noticed that! Have your read his book? Should I purchase it?

[TheGreenGoblin]

Whoops!

the book by Carel Birkby called “Dancing the Skies”

Better not tell her a former mate of mine, Dave Roome, has launched his book called......................................"Dancing the Skies"

I noticed that! Have your read his book? Should I purchase it?

Perhaps we should feature your mate here... there's Roome enough for two...

[FD2]

UP: That would be the piano thing. I think it got a mention in the movie.

No, nothing about a piano, I think that was something in the film, but Hammer was claiming in a side conversation with a reporter, just next to the PM, that he was about to invest zillions in a new pipeline to Flotta or something. Maggie heard that and instantly jumped on it as the sort of good news that the country wanted - major investment. This was taking place in a scrum of reporters at the gates leading onto the airfield at Flotta.

Did BP get on cosy terms with Oxy over flight watch and logistics for mutual benefit? We never flew into Bristow territory around the Forties and they never flew into 'ours' around the Piper/Claymore complex. It was all so territorial back then and as for flight sharing - Alan Bristow would have a fit over co-operation with Brand X!!

Northbound to the ESB we just used Highland Radar and called platforms en route in case someone was climbing out in whisper mode.

[Boac]

Perhaps we should feature your mate here... there's Roome enough for two

Like it.

He is/was a very talented pilot. I really enjoyed the book because with almost every page I turned I 'remembered' the situation/person/location etc. Our careers spanned the same era.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Perhaps we should feature your mate here... there's Roome enough for two

Like it.

He is/was a very talented pilot. I really enjoyed the book because with almost every page I turned I 'remembered' the situation/person/location etc. Our careers spanned the same era.

Couldn't resist. I have purchased his book. Do you appear in it Boac? If so, I shall scan for misdemeanours etc.

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[Boac]

No, I think I got away with it Misdemeanours - moi? Never met the gal.

(He certainly knows of some............)

[Undried Plum]

I have some not very fond memories of a very gruff Highlander/Weegie pilot who spoke gruffly, mostly in vowels which I call growels, which were occasionally interrupted by glottle-stopped consonants. He was an ex Army Air Corpse Sergeant, or somesuch ruffian.

I really can't imitate his deep, very deep, voice and it is extremely difficult to transliterate his way of speaking, but he'd say such things as “Git tae fokk ya dammdaft bampot ye, ya fokkin bostart 'n shite 'n yae kunt, ye”. He used to say such things just before or just after pressing the PTT tit. It was most disconcerting because one never knew whether those words were being broadcast under one's own callsign.

[Undried Plum]

UP: That would be the piano thing. I think it got a mention in the movie.

No, nothing about a piano, I think that was something in the film, but Hammer was claiming in a side conversation with a reporter, just next to the PM, that he was about to invest zillions in a new pipeline to Flotta or something. Maggie heard that and instantly jumped on it as the sort of good news that the country wanted - major investment. This was taking place in a scrum of reporters at the gates leading onto the airfield at Flotta.

Did BP get on cosy terms with Oxy over flight watch and logistics for mutual benefit? We never flew into Bristow territory around the Forties and they never flew into 'ours' around the Piper/Claymore complex. It was all so territorial back then and as for flight sharing - Alan Bristow would have a fit over co-operation with Brand X!!

Northbound to the ESB we just used Highland Radar and called platforms en route in case someone was climbing out in whisper mode.

Tom P proposed that a Middle Earth be established betwixt Forties and Brent and that it be based on Piper/Claymore. It wasn't intended to be a DartPlayer v BrutishEarwig thing. It was meant to bring harmony to the chaos which then existed along the 054 and 057 radials of the ADN at the time.

I had a total of 14 helidecks under my nominal command.

Bringing Order to Chaos was not easy. For example: I ordered a change of name of the 400-manned accommodation barge which was moored alongside Claymore, confusingly called Viking Piper, to be changed to Oxy Viking. I did other stuff, every day.

You and I probably conversed routinely, FD, on 124.5 and with Wossisname too, him in the dark blue blazer at the back of the class. Yes, that's him.

[FD2]

My mother's second cousin, Squadron Leader Gordon Beall RCAF shot down over Belgium by a German night fighter (probably using 'Schräge Musik' tactics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%A4ge_Musik) returning from a night raid 28 May 1944. He was a flight commander on 420 'Snowy Owl' Squadron based at RAF Tholthorpe. 420 lost 29 Halifax 3s during their time there, the other three Canadian squadrons a similar number. As soon as possible after VE Day they flew back to Canada to prepare for the war in the Pacific.

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Second Lieutenant Harry Dent Crompton RFC a cousin once removed from my mother, also a Crompton. Royal Field Artillery attached Royal Flying Corps shot down into the lines in 1916. His observer survived and qualified as a pilot, only to die in 1919 in a flying accident.

Just a small number amongst the many thousands of lives lost in a more specialised part of two world wars.

[ian16th]

Can we stretch this thread to include forgotten a/c?
The Spitfire, Lancaster and Mosquito didn't win the war alone. There were jobs that they couldn't do.

If so I'd like to nominate the unsung and unfashionable Westland Lysander.

An odd beast with strange characteristics that enabled it to reach, and get out of places other a/c couldn't.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Can we stretch this thread to include forgotten a/c?
The Spitfire, Lancaster and Mosquito didn't win the war alone. There were jobs that they couldn't do.

If so I'd like to nominate the unsung and unfashionable Westland Lysander.
lysander.jpg

An odd beast with strange characteristics that enabled it to reach, and get out of places other a/c couldn't.

Most interesting Ian and let's stretch as you suggest.

[TheGreenGoblin]

From the Dutch Wiki entry...

Koene Dirk Parmentier ( Amsterdam , September 27, 1904 - Tarbolton ( Scotland ), October 21, 1948 ) was a pilot of the Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KLM).

Parmentier worked at Fokker from 1920 to 1924 . During his military service he obtained his pilot's license in 1927 , after which he joined KLM in 1929.

In 1934 Parmentier flew as captain of the Douglas DC-2 with registration number " PH-AJU ", the Uiver , in the London - Melbourne race from England to Australia . The Uiver was the first KLM aircraft to consist entirely of metal . With the only 'large' passenger aircraft to compete in the nearly 20,000 kilometer air race, Parmentier and his crew took an honorable second place.

After the outbreak of the Second World War , Parmentier left for England on 13 May 1940 with the DC-3 Egret ( PH-ARZ ). There he was in charge of the KLM crews who had emigrated to England with a number of DC-3s and one DC-2 and were deployed by BOAC on the Bristol - Lisbon service .

On April 19, 1943, the DC-3 Ibis ( PH-ALI ), with captain Parmentier, was shelled by six Luftwaffe fighters on its way from Lisbon to Bristol . Parmentier and his crew managed to escape and land the damaged plane with unharmed passengers in England.

For his services during the war, Parmentier received several military awards, including the appointment on March 18, 1943 as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his dedication and leadership of the 'KLM section' within BOAC under very difficult circumstances [4] and the Vliegerkruis (June 24, 1943) because of his actions during the attack on April 19, 1943.

After the war, he first became chief flight service at KLM and shortly later head flight company.

On the night of 20-21 October 1948, Parmentier was killed in an accident with the Lockheed Constellation Nijmegen ( PH-TEN ) near Prestwick airport in Scotland, when the aircraft hit a high voltage cable during bad weather and then crashed.

Parmentier is buried in the Rhijnhof cemetery in Leiden .

He is also mentioned in the television series Vliegende Hollanders (2020).

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_KL ... r_disaster

[TheGreenGoblin]

Memorable not only for having the name of a well known vodka, Smirnoff's remarkable life is hard to encapsulate outside a novel. From Russian soldier, to pilot, to fugitive Russian Officer, to the RFC, to the RAF, to flying Instructor, back to Russia as a pilot flying for the White Russians (there's that drink thing again), to refugee, to KLM pilot, to air racer and to route pioneer, to escapee from the Japanese during the Second World war... he was an extraordinary character.

http://aircrewremembered.com/smirnoff-ivan.html

Diamond Jack Palmer and the Pelikaan..

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Ivan Smirnov Aviator

[TheGreenGoblin]

A better article on the diamond Smirnov diamond pouch story...

https://australiarussia.com/smirnovENFIN.htm

[CharlieOneSix]

What a story! Fascinating - thanks TGG.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Glad you are enjoying the thread C16. I must admit I am.

Here is another name that not everybody might be familiar with although he definitely hasn't been forgotten as, Ozires Silva, received a Guggenheim medal for his services to aviation.

Embraer co-founder Ozires Silva was honored with the Daniel Guggenheim Medal, becoming the first Brazilian to receive the international recognition. Established in 1929 to honor innovators who have made notable achievements in the advancement of aeronautics, the medal is jointly sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, SAE International, and the Vertical Flight Society

“This distinguished recognition to Ozires Silva reflects his innovative and exceptional contributions to aviation. His passion, courage, and leadership paved the way for Embraer to expand in ways that few imagined, transforming regional aviation, and leading our company to be admired globally,” said Francisco Gomes Neto, president and CEO of Embraer.

He joins the ranks of William Boeing, Lawrence Bell, Leroy Grumman, Igor Sikorsky, Charles Lindbergh, and Marcel Dassault in receiving the recognition.

Born Jan. 8, 1931, in São Paulo, Brazil, Silva entered the Brazilian Air Force in 1948 and later received a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics. After graduating, he led the Research and Development Institute's Aircraft Department and in 1965 began working on a project that ultimately became the Bandeirante. As that program began to develop, Silva helped establish Embraer in 1969 to produce the aircraft.

The first of the regional twin turboprop was handed over in 1973 and production continued through 1990 with nearly 500 built. Silva served as the company's superintendent director until 1986, returning in 1992 for a brief stint as the company restructured.

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news ... heim-medal