Thread: So nothing to do with protecting VIP's homes then?

Originally Posted by PhilipA

I have seen a Pilatus Porter land on the football field at Watsonia Army Barracks , then take off, which I thought was pretty impressive.
They even had a Leopard doing Yumps off a ramp to show its gun stability.
Regards PhilipA

Well, the design was cribbed off the Fieseler Storch which could almost hover in a head wind and was said to be able to land on an office desk if there was wide door.

Originally Posted by PhilipA

I have seen a Pilatus Porter land on the football field at Watsonia Army Barracks , then take off, which I thought was pretty impressive.
They even had a Leopard doing Yumps off a ramp to show its gun stability.
Regards PhilipA

In the early 70s, my Rugby club was playing a 'Friendly' against the Enoggera Base XV. With about five minutes to go and us leading by three, a Porter approached over the top of us made a landing in the field beside the one we were playing on. We visitors all ducked for cover whilst the home team scored a try.

Any mention of a 'Set up' was vehemently denied by our opposition

Originally Posted by 4bee

Me, because it was reported earlier in the year in the crisis that this also happened on a well to do Sydney Harbour Suburb.

Which one would that be?

The only retardant drop in Sydney that I can recall was in South Turramurra, nowhere near the harbour, not full of "VIP" homes and there was a fire burning there at the time.

And yes it was from a Hercules, but pretty sure it wasn't the one that crashed as I saw it fly overhead.

Originally Posted by PhilipA

I have seen a Pilatus Porter land on the football field at Watsonia Army Barracks , then take off, which I thought was pretty impressive.
They even had a Leopard doing Yumps off a ramp to show its gun stability.
Regards PhilipA

Yep, I forgot about those. Would see the Army ones in & out of Morseby quite a bit & I think from memory, Goldie River saw a few..

Y' know. "Called in for lunch dear"

Originally Posted by jon3950

Which one would that be?

The only retardant drop in Sydney that I can recall was in South Turramurra, nowhere near the harbour, not full of "VIP" homes and there was a fire burning there at the time.

And yes it was from a Hercules, but pretty sure it wasn't the one that crashed as I saw it fly overhead.

Well to be honest, I don't know exactly know now. as it was sent to me in a link at the time.

If you live there & are not aware of this then I can only believe the link was arse up &/or it may not have happened. Similar scene to this latest one "Painting the Town Red' & being hosed off by Firies as it would be.

Bloody links keep changing or disappearing all the time.

But it did happen it seems.

Police investigate Sydney emergency blaze | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT

Originally Posted by PhilipA

I have seen a Pilatus Porter land on the football field at Watsonia Army Barracks , then take off, which I thought was pretty impressive.
They even had a Leopard doing Yumps off a ramp to show its gun stability.
Regards PhilipA

Took a ride on a Porter . from Darwin to Muckity? station , I think [ a long time ago] to check out Norforce members learning how to use pack horses and horses for long range patrols. Coming in to the station strip, it had attracted just about every indigenous person present, young and old. They'd seen it before. The pilot said he would put on a show, and he did. It landed in less than the aircrafts length, I'm sure. And took off the same way. Back at Darwin, the controller told the pilot to land on x runway and use y taxiway to make his way to the terminal. The pilot asked him if he had ever seen a Porter before, when answered no, he said, well watch this. Landed on a sixpence, turned left, stopped right at the terminal. Pilot was given a severe reprimand by powers that be, but somehow I don't think he took it to heart.

Many years ago I was a passenger in a Porter flying from Bosavi to Mendi in PNG. I was catching the RPT F28 that had already called taxiing. My pilot asked him to wait, which he agreed to do, and we came in over the ranges a couple of miles west of the threshold, and 2,000ft above it. Called that base leg , put the nose down and pulled the throttle back to flight idle, prop in beta range, and full flap. Descended about 1500 fpm at 70kts, turned onto final above the markers, touched down on the numbers, and pulled the prop into reverse. Stopped in about 30m from the threshold, and turned into the taxiway at that end of the runway. Much more impressive than my C180 (particularly at that altitude - Mendi is 5,000ft), which I thought was fairly good.

Originally Posted by 4bee

Well to be honest, I don't know exactly know now. as it was sent to me in a link at the time.

If you live there & are not aware of this then I can only believe the link was arse up &/or it may not have happened. Similar scene to this latest one "Painting the Town Red' & being hosed off by Firies as it would be.

Bloody links keep changing or disappearing all the time.

But it did happen it seems.

Police investigate Sydney emergency blaze | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT

That’s the Turramurra fire, but the photo isn’t of Turramurra.

Here’s a link to the real drop:
Fire retardant dropped on fires and residential houses - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Clearly a Herc not a 737 - and that’s the aircraft I saw fly over, which doesn’t look like the one that crashed.

Any retardant drop in the suburbs would have attracted a fair bit of attention, especially if it was a “Sydney Harbour Suburb” which the fires weren’t anywhere near. This is the first time I’ve heard any reference to it so I doubt anything like that happened.