Journey Into Nowhere!

[farri]

The discussion in the " Incident At Temora " thread was heading in the direction of cross country flying,the use of GPS and the possible result, should the GPS fail..I started this thread because though this journey occured in 1962 it could just as easily occur today!

 

"Journy Into Nowhere" is the story of how, Jim Knight, who had obtained his PPL, had several hundred flying hours loged, purchased an ex-RAAF Wackett CA.6 then on the 13th of January 1962, set off from Moorabbin airport to fly to Perth! He landed at Ceduna and his next leg was to Cook. He got lost, was running out of fuel so he was forced to land between sand ridges, 135 nm due north of Maralinga. He perished beside his aircraft and wasn`t found until 3 years later!

 

I gave "Journy Into Nowhere" to my students to read and I believe it is a valuable lesson to anyone doing cross country flying, especially over the inland of Australia. I don`t know if the publication is still available but if anyone wants it I`ll try and photocopy it then post.

 

 

Frank.

 

Ps, Sorry, I`ve had to edit. Typing error.

 

 

[Teckair]

Wow that looks like a successful wheels down landing in pretty inhospitable terrain. I would like to read that book and will try to track down a copy.

 

 

[naremman]

Frank, if my memory serves me correctly, I think I saw that recovered aircraft at an aviation museum in Alice Springs, circa 1984.

 

The piloted had detailed his experience on the rudder using a pencil, and most of it was still readble. Remarkably poignant.

 

We had just taken part in the Airtourer Association's Simpson Desert Safari when 18 Airtourers had safely flown from Birdsville to Alice Springs.

 

We were returning to the West with a Ayer's Rock direct to Forrest, 407 Nm distant with a map, compass and watch,and not without a small degree of trepidation. Some of our Airtourer mates were really helpful with some of their advice should we ended up at any place other than Forrest. Was most relived to see the hangar at Forrest appear right on the nose after four hours of flight. It certainly was a memorable flight, but certainly highlights the need for good preparation, plenty of survival gear and an awareness just how vast that outback countryside is.

 

 

[Yenn]

i thought the one on exhibition at the Alice was the one that was lost while looking for Kingsford Smith, way back in the twenties or thirties.

 

 

[farri]

Richard, The publication that I have is only 7 pages but it tells the whole story and covers what are believed to be the errors made!( Human Factors ). I noticed it in a book exchange shop, way back when and I thought it would be valueable, as a teaching aid!

 

This is the back page.

 

Frank.

 

 

[naremman]

i thought the one on exhibition at the Alice was the one that was lost while looking for Kingsford Smith, way back in the twenties or thirties.

Yenn, are you referring to the "Kookaburra", which was lost searching for the "Southern Cross" in the Coffee Royal saga?The aircraft I was referring to was located in an old hangar at the old Alice aerodrome which was adjacent to the townsite, and not at the current location. The memory is a bit dimmed, and I imagine the musuem and its contents have long since been dispersed, but it would be interesting to find the aircrafts current location.

 

Facthunter, where art thou?

 

 

[facthunter]

I am without, fair Prince. ( relating to knowledge of that event.) Nev

 

 

[RKW]

And here is the very same aeroplane!

[farri]

Frank, if my memory serves me correctly, the pilot had detailed his experience on the rudder using a pencil, and most of it was still readble. Remarkably poignant. quote]

Hi naremman, I`ve taken these two paragraphs from the publication and keep in mind,it was Saturday afternoon when he landed!

 

Wednsday came and went,another day of fierce heat with not a cloud in the sky and still no sign or sound of searching aircraft. On thursday his spirits rose a little again when he found a box of matches amongst his luggage and he lit a fire in the clumps of spinnifex on the edge of the clearing. " Hope someone sees it ", he scratched on the side of the fuselage. But still no one came. Now he was getting desperate, today he`d have to try and do something,even if it meant leaving the aircraft.

 

At dawn next morning he was back with his aircraft and resignedly wrote his final entry. " Decided to make a dash on foot to the north but was too weak in the legs. When taking the front compass out I found both front retaining bolts were missing and the rear one loose enough to let the whole thing swing about 15 degrees...I used the alchol out of the compass to rub over my face and body to make it cool for a while. D.C.A may not have been looking for me.

 

I put in flight details at Ceduna at 12 saying I was going to Cook then to Forrest. My Sartime at Forrest was 6 pm central time so they should have started an alert on Sunday night.Someone could have forgot..At noon today it will be one week since I had a meal.I`ll run out of water today.....The diary ended with a personal message to his wife.

 

Frank.

 

Ps, I made a mistake in my original post, I wrote that he didn`t make Ceduna instead of Cook.

[ianwells]

Hi Frank

 

I would love to have a read of the "journey into nowhere" as we are planing a big outback trip in the Savannaha later this year. Any chance to learn from other peoples mistakes should not be missed.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

 

 

[rgmwa]

Here's some more information I just found about the flight, and some fascinating photos. Not a good place to get lost! He did well to get the plane down in one piece.

 

http://www.adastra.adastron.com/people/wackett-1.htm

 

rgmwa

 

 

[farri]

Hi Frank,I would love to have a read of the "journey into nowhere" as we are planing a big outback trip in the Savannaha later this year. Any chance to learn from other peoples mistakes should not be missed.CheersIan

Hi Ian, Happy to do it! I`ll work on it tomorrow and try to find the best way to do it.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[farri]

I`ve photo copied the publication but the file is too large to post here! Anyone who wants it simply has to give me their Email address, either by private message or post it here and I`ll send it to you.

 

Frank.

 

 

[Louis Moore]

There is also a version of the story in the Astralian book "The Old and The Bold". It had about twelve or thirteen stories all written by pilots who had near misses, accidents etc... talking about that particular experience (or in the case of the few where there was no survivors it was reconstructed as best it could be).

 

I did a quick google search but can not find it any where on the net and my copy is still in a box in victoria so I can not get the ISBN for it yet wither. But if any one has a copy or knows where to get it I think it would be a fantastic learning aid for a lot of students, some really good tales in it.

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Yes please Frank [email protected]

 

 

[Teckair]

Hi Frank,

 

Can you email me a copy please [email protected]

 

 

[farri]

So far, I`ve sent out " Journey Into Nowhere " to 6 people! I hope the quality is good and it can be read easily so we can start a discusion on the contributing factors to this journey.

 

Last night,when I was writing the two paragraphs of Jim Knights` last message, I was deeply touched! I could only imagine the suffering he and his family must have endured.

 

Frank.

 

 

[ayavner]

Frank I'd like to read it as well - [email protected]

 

Thanks!

 

adam

 

 

[Bandit12]

I wouldn't say no if a copy landed in my inbox!

 

[email protected]

 

Cheers

 

Shane

 

 

[Teckair]

Frank I think you made a good call thinking the story was ideal for students. There are a number of factors of importance involved with that flight.

 

On at least two occasions I have set out to do a nav with a student to find the compass so far out we had to abort the exercise. These times were in planes new to me and on at least one occasion the previous owner had been using a GPS as a primary nav instrument so he didn't even know his compass was unserviceable. Luckily these times were over country with good land marks which made it easy to detect problems.

 

When flying you should try to double check everything you do including you are on a track where you should be. When flying over remote featureless terrain this can range from difficult to near impossible and you need everything you have control over on your side. When I was flying over remote areas out from Broken Hill I used to use position of the sun as a rough guide to check whether I was anywhere near on track or not. Things like eating proper meals, hydration, properly rested and all that human factors stuff which is common sense.

 

Luckily for us we have PLB's I hope everybody remembers to take their's.

 

Richard.

 

 

[ayavner]

Wow what a story, thank you for sharing Frank. I think also, as a student, that I am glad I read this. While it would be easy to read this and despair, "what chance have I got, if this happened to such an experienced pilot??", it is also comforting in its strange way to know that Knight in the end merely succumbed to the same factors that we all are subject to... the all-important Human Factors - and that is something we can practice every day whether we are flying or not.

 

None of us can say it couldn't happen to us, but I bet its a good percentage less likely now that I've read that story!

 

 

[farri]

Wow what a story, thank you for sharing Frank. None of us can say it couldn't happen to us, but I bet its a good percentage less likely now that I've read that story!

Good on you ayavner! My purpose for putting it out there!

 

Frank.

 

Ps, 10 people have requested and received the publication so far.

 

 

[biggles]

I'll have it also Frank . Something to read on the way up . You have my email address .

 

Bob

 

 

[farri]

I want to thank David10 for the assistance he gave me in creating a Journey Into Nowhere as a PDF document!... I`m no computer expert and didn`t realy know what a PDF document was and that it is a better way to send documents over the net.

 

I downloaded and installed the PDF Creator that David recomended and now I can send " Journey Into Nowhere " in PDF format!..This allows me to send

 

it much faster because it is a smaller file and all the pages are together so I`ve added the front and back covers which may be of interest..Adobe Reader is required to read the file.

 

I`ll continue to send the document to anyone who asks for it and if there`s anyone who want`s it but doesn`t have Adobe Reader, I`ll send it as a photo copy. Of course, I`ll need your Email address.

 

Frank.

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Thanks Frank, It is clear and can read it easily.