I flew as
a pilot with Adastra for four years from 1960 until 1964. Even
though the total period I was involved in aviation was some 40
years, without a doubt the most enjoyable period was when I flew
with Adastra.
Reasonably early in my employment with Adastra, late July 1960,
our crew, based in Melbourne with Avro Anson aircraft VH-AGA,
was given the task of photographing the eastern foreshores of
Port Phillip Bay. The authority who requested the task was interested
in observing the movement of sandbanks, so they set certain criteria
– the photography had to be performed in the morning; (so that
there was no western sun reflecting off the water) at low tide;
(so the sand banks or sand bars would be visible) cloudless conditions;
(normal for aerial photography) and calm surface conditions. (As
I recall, we used an RC7 camera, Swiss manufactured and owned
by the authority, a plate camera which produced excellent results.)
Now anyone who has ever lived in Melbourne would know that cloudless
conditions rarely exist there, and to fly at a time when all the
other conditions existed as well seemed an extremely difficult
and perhaps impossible task. Add to that the fact that low tide
occurs around the Bay at varying times, the task seemed closer
to impossible than difficult. The fount of all knowledge, our
Operations Manager, Ted McKenzie, suggested I talk to the authority
to find out just how the tide functioned in the Bay. Truly good
advice, but I couldn’t locate anyone who could do anything other
than give me a tide timetable! But the tide timetable was useful,
in that we (Navigator Kevin Pavlich and I) were able to figure
out how the tidal flow moved concertina fashion between the high
tide outside the bay to the water movement inside the bay. We
figured that if we began photography at the southern end of the
bay at low tide, and just before the sea surged into the Bay,
hopefully we would fly our many photographic runs around the eastern
foreshores just ahead of the tidal flow entering the bay. And
surprise! surprise! Our planning paid off because on the morning
we had a suitable weather observation and forecast of clear conditions,
it just happened to be low tide when and where we wanted it and
the surface conditions were smooth. Bill Mitchell had VH-AGA excellently
maintained, John Collins produced his usual high quality photography
and the navigation of Kevin Pavlich was spot on. It proved to
be a most successful and personally satisfying operation. VH-AGA
is currently suspended from the ceiling of an aircraft museum
at Narellan, NSW.
Wal Bowles
11th February 2003
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