There was
an incident on the Catalina which readers may find amusing. We
were doing a mag. and em. survey in Tasmania in the late 1950'
s. We flew with three technicians up as the em. was new to us.
They consisted of Ted Roberts, Les Snape and myself. Ted was a
tech. but liked to have a nap, how anyone could doze with contour
flying in Tas. was a mystery to me. Ted was operating the em.
at the time and had dozed off; there was no great drama as I was
watching it at the time. Les was on the mag and decided to play
tricks. Les fed a plastic hose under the floor (which is a cat
walk) and I put it in the back of the em. recorder. Les then blew
cigarette smoke through the tube. I tapped Ted on the shoulder
and said you have a fire in the em. Ted woke up, and it was all
we could do to stop him throwing switches.
Maurie Miller
August 2004
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