In July, Benalla local Helen Price spoke about her two and half years working as an air hostess for Airlines of South Australia based in Adelaide. Apart from flying within the state, charters came up sometimes outside the state. As it was the early 1960s and the time of British led atomic bomb tests in the state, Maralinga was a popular destination for the airline.
Because Helen’s husband Brian was a keen recreational pilot, Brian eventually persuaded Helen to become a private pilot or co pilot.
Her expertise proved most useful when she and Brian and a couple of aviation minded friends, were flying a Cessna 210 from Adelaide to Perth to see the summer time America’s Cup races. Needing extra fuel, they decided to land at Forrest on the Nullabor and top up the tanks. But the 210 has a retractable undercarriage and when they got to Forrest it refused to extend so they could land.
Much radio talk ensued as they sought to get the wheels down, including conversations with several senior pilots flying elsewhere.
Eventually Helen suggested they take the aeroplane up a couple of thousand feet to cooler air. This allowed the wheels to be extended and the 210 was landed safely and refuelled. But Helen said quite a few locals ditched their cameras when they realised the 210 was to land normally without scouring a groove beside the runway.
Her expertise proved most useful when she and Brian and a couple of aviation minded friends, were flying a Cessna 210 from Adelaide to Perth to see the summer time America’s Cup races. Needing extra fuel, they decided to land at Forrest on the Nullabor and top up the tanks. But the 210 has a retractable undercarriage and when they got to Forrest it refused to extend so they could land.
Much radio talk ensued as they sought to get the wheels down, including conversations with several senior pilots flying elsewhere.
Eventually Helen suggested they take the aeroplane up a couple of thousand feet to cooler air. This allowed the wheels to be extended and the 210 was landed safely and refuelled. But Helen said quite a few locals ditched their cameras when they realised the 210 was to land normally without scouring a groove beside the runway.
Benalla local Helen Price was our July speaker for Sky’s the Limit.
David Palmer
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