AWARD TO PILOT
(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) AT SEA, July 16. Lieutenant J. Leonard, the Navy pilot of the Wasp e.nti-submarine helicopter from the frigate Canterbury, has received a commendation for his “exceptional skill” in landing the Wasp after its engine failed at 1200 feet in December. Lieutenant Leonard was flying the Secretary of Defence (Mr J. F. Robertson) from Auckland Airport to the frigate at sea off Cape Colville when engine power was lost near Howick. The commendation, in the form of an Air Force green endorsement to his pilot’s log, says he “displayed exceptional skill in landing without injury to the occupants or further damage to the aircraft.” Lieutenant Leonard, aged 31, of Blenheim, said on board H.M.N.Z.S. Canterbury today that under normal emergency procedure he partly feathered the Wasp’s rotor after the engine failure. This was done to speed the rate of descent and the rotation of the blade. At 150 feet above the ground he applied full pitch to the blades, which pulled the Wasp up to near landing speed. Flight Sergeant C. Cashmore, aged 39, of Auckland, was also aboard the Wasp during the emergency.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33279, 17 July 1973, Page 2
Word Count
189AWARD TO PILOT Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33279, 17 July 1973, Page 2
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