FLEET AIR ARM EXERCISES

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24744, 8 December 1945, Page 8

FLEET AIR ARM EXERCISES

40 MACHINES FROM CARRIER

PILOT'S ESCAPE IN CRASH (P.A.) PICTON, Dec. 7. A _ full day's exercise was carried out in clear weather yesterday by the aircraft carrier, H.M.S. Indefatigable, and the destroyers, H.M.S. Wizard and H.M.S. Urchin. The ships left their anchorage in Pelorus Sound in the morning and spent most of the day in an area between Stephen's Island and Kapiti Island. They then entered Queen Charlotte Sound and anchored for the night in the Bay of Many Coves. To-day is a rest day. To-morrow will be spent exercising, and on Sunday visitors will be ferried out from Picton. A signal asking if 6000 people can see over the carrier was received yesterday. Nobody understands where they are all coming from, but it seems that they will be making their way to Picton from many parts of Marlborough and Nelson and even from North Canterbury.

More than 40 aircraft were flown off the Indefatigable yesterday. One crashed and was completely wrecked when landing-on. A Seaflre. it came in fast, "floated" instead of coming down, and catching on the arrester wire, swerved towards the ship's island or central tower, hit it by the signal bridge with one wing, and then hurtled to the deck, overturning. «i 5 . f , llse,a £ e was broken in two near the tail, and pieces of the wing and propeller and other parts cascaded across the flight deck. Aircraft handling crews raced up and poured fire extinguishing foam .on the engine, and began to try to lift the aircraft so that they could ( reach the pilot, an AustraJ' an - l h e crash had been so violent that nobody expected him to be alive but he emerged from under the SeaHre with nothing more than a cut nnger The wrecked aircraft was towed put of-the .way and later pushed over the side The landing-on of other aircraft still in the.sky continued The day's programme included a navigational exercise for the Avenger torpedo bombers and fighter interception practice for the Seafires and FireHies. The ship also defended itself against attack, firing Bofors and pompoms against drogue targets towed by u-Lf v £ nge f- The navigational exercise kept the Avengers in the air for the better part of three and a half hours, and took them to within sight of Mount Egmont. The fighter interceptern* W - as he l£ ed b y fo »r New Zealand Corsairs. They were intercepted at six miles distance from the carrier, and for some minutes thev and more than 20 Seafires were mixed "n a well-simulated "dogfight." The Corattaok ™ £ ade one low level strafln S attack on the carrier.