Date: Wed, 30 December, 1998
Subject: Reunion, April 24-26, 1999
Back in the late 50's, early 60's a group of about 35 youngish Englishmen travelled to Australia to conduct flight trials (at Woomera) of the Blue Steel stand-off bomb which was later deployed by the RAF. Our group worked out of WRE Salisbury and all worked for Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd. We were concerned with the development and testing of the missile's Inertial navigation system (One of the first IN systems in the world). Actually - prior to launch it was a mixed inertial and Doppler system that gradually corrected the gyro drifts as we approached the launch point.
We spent an average of 2-3 years here on that project and although many stayed in Australia, at least half of us returned to U.K. and then (in my case - after working on the ill fated TSR-2 project), many of those eventually returned to Australia to settle permanently. I then worked here for NASA for >30 years - first on the Apollo Project and then on most of the Deep Space missions (the golden years!).
I was lucky enough to be part of the aircrew on many of the trials and flew several hundred hours on all 3 V-Bomber types, I launched 8-10 Blue steels and managed to "fall out of the sky (40,000 ft inverted supersonic spin)" in a Victor - but that's another story.
So that's a little background info - there is some more on the personal area of my home page (http://www.pcug.org.au/~jsaxon) if you happen to be interested.
Anyhow the point of this message is that I am currently organising a reunion of the Trials team members, here in Canberra over the long weekend of April 24-26 inclusive next year. We are gradually (with the help of the Internet) making contact with team members here in Australia and U.K. But I am very interested to find out if there is any surviving memorabilia of that period. Would you happen to know any contact information for museums, RAF records, defence department records, etc? I know (for example) that there were many miles of film taken by tracking and long range cameras of the trials on the range. Obviously I am trying to trace that through local sources, but I suspect it was either destroyed or sent to U.K. for further analysis by the "customer" the RAF. In this case it was RAF 4JSTU (Joint Services Trials Unit).
E-mail: John Saxon at jsaxon@pcug.org.au
Date: Fri, 1 May 1998
Subject: Successful Black Arrow Launch, October 1971
I'm making a short documentary for Radio 4 in Britain about the British space programme of the 50s and 60s, with special emphasis on Black Arrow. I wonder if you could put a request on your requests page for memories of the successful Black Arrow launch of October 1971, by anyone who was in Woomera at the time? Great site.
E-mail: francis.spufford@btinternet.com
(As well as sending recollections on Black Arrow to the above person, if readers wish to send copies to rigby@powerup.com.au, I will post them under Memories with a link from the Black Arrow page - M. Rigby)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998
Subject: Woomera Records
Hello Mark,
I am pleased to see your Woomera page on the net.
As an ex member of No 2 Air field Construction Squadron, (the mob that did the airfield construction at Woomera and Koolymilka) and now the secretary of the RAAF Association Airfield Construction Squadrons branch in WA, I am looking for more information re 2 ACS activities at Woomera between the years 1947/1951.
As I found last year when I made my first return visit since 1951, there is barely a mention in the museum of the work done by this unit, which on occasions included maintaining the road link with Port Augusta. I am currently trying to locate records in the Gov archives relating to this period but if anyone reading your pages should have any information that would help us record this period for posterity and the museum I would be delighted to hear from them. I was there for 15 months from 5 September 1948 and again from April 1950 to July 1951. I do have a few memories but they are fading fast, I had best record them ASAP. Anyone that can help can contact me at the above e-mail address.
Regards Ray Smith
E-mail: raynor@tik.com.au (previously, waratah@southwest.com.au)
Hiya,
I lived out in Woomera during 1988-1989..... In the USAF.... I have missed Woomera. Does a person named Danny still drive the bus out to the site? If you know anyone that has been there a while, let them know Scott Amerland wishes them well.....
Thanks!
Scott Amerland
E-mail: booze@bellsouth.net
Date: 23 Apr 1998
Hi, Bob and Cindy here -- we spent May 95 - May 97 in Woomera. Great place, great people. We miss it more every day. Although we're Americans, we'll celebrate ANZAC day this weekend with some other former Woomera residents here in Florida.
Tell everyone in Woomera hi for us.
Cheers,
Bob and Cindy D.
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Memories of Woomera |
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