Memories of the Bureau, 1946 to 1962
Foreword
Terminology
Prologue
Preface
Chapter 1: The Warren Years, 1946 to 1950
Chapter 2: International Meteorology
Chapter 3: The Timcke Years, 1950 to 1955
Chapter 4: A Year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Chapter 5: The Dwyer Years, 1955 to 1962
Leonard Joseph Dwyer—A Complex Character
Reorganising the Bureau
Public Weather Services
Forecasts for the General Public
Importance of Radio Stations
The Advent of Television
Automatic Telephone Forecast Service
Beacons
Wording and Verification of Forecasts
Warnings
Services for Aviation
Atomic Weapons Tests
Atomic Weapons Tests—Mosaic G1 and G2
Atomic Weapons Tests—Buffalo 1, 2, 3 and 4
Atomic Weapons Tests—Operations Antler, 2 and 3
Atomic Weapons Tests—Minor Trials
Instruments and Observations
Radiosondes
Radar/Radio Winds and Radar Weather Watch
Automatic Weather Stations
Sferics
Meteorological Satellites
Telecommunications
Tropical Cyclones
Bureau Conference on Tropical Cyclones
International Symposium on Tropical Cyclones, Brisbane
Hydrometeorology
Design of Water Storages, Etc
Flood Forecasting
Cloud Seeding
Reduction of Evaporation
Rain Seminar
Cloud Physics
Fire Weather
Research and Special Investigations
International Activities
The International Geophysical Year
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean
International Symposium on Antarctic Meteorology
International Antarctic Analysis Centre
ADP, EDP and Computers
Training
Publications
Management Conference
Services Conference
CSIRO and the Universities
Achievements of the Dwyer Years
Chapter 6: A Springboard for the Future
Appendix 1: References
Appendix 2: Reports, Papers, Manuscripts
Appendix 3: Milestones
Appendix 4: Acknowledgements
Appendix 5: Summary by H. N. Warren of the Operation of the Meteorological Section of Allied Air Headquarters, Brisbane, 1942–45
Endnotes
Index
Search
Help
Contact us
Services for Aviation (continued)
In Australian domestic civil aviation services some older aircraft such as DC3s were still in service on feeder routes but during the Dwyer years domestic airlines were looking to a future in which most trunk route services would be flown by pure jet or turbo-prop aircraft. The late 1950s saw the introduction of Lockheed Electra turbo-prop aircraft into service with Ansett-ANA and TAA and the arrival of the high wing twin-engined turbo-prop Fokker Friendship, a smaller aircraft than the Viscount and the Electra, but one which could operate on shorter runways as the ideal replacement for the ageing DC3s. There was much discussion on which pure jets the domestic airlines should buy and the French Caravelle, a smaller shorter range aircraft, was fancied by some airline executives. However the advent of the pure jet as a domestic airliner was not to occur until after the Dwyer years.Bureau forecasters at RAAF bases, like their counterparts at Australian international airports, were gaining valuable experience in meeting the requirements of pilots flying highly sophisticated jet aircraft. Central Office staff in the aviation, telecommunications, research and central analysis areas had been working from the latter part of the Warren years to improve understanding of aviation requirements and the relevance and importance of meteorological conditions.
One outstanding example of cooperation between Central Office and field staff occurred after the loss of Viscount VH-TVC on 30 November 1961 near Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport. A major inquiry into this incident, where the aircraft broke up in mid-air with the loss of life of all on board, involved Bureau staff from Central Office and Mascot. These included Pat Ryan, OIC of the meteorological office at Mascot and Len Bowdler of that office, and Neil McRae, Superintending Meteorologist (Research) of the Central Office in Melbourne (see McRae 1962).
The investigation of this event by DCA is a fascinating example of how a painstaking examination of evidence can reveal the cause of an air accident. In this case the Viscount had taken off from Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport, and while still in the aerodrome air traffic control area flew into a very active thunderstorm. From an examination of the wreckage scattered along a path in Botany Bay the investigators, after considering the terminal velocity of the various pieces of the aircraft, were able to determine the altitude at which the aircraft broke apart. From this they were able to deduce that turbulence in the thunderstorm had flipped the aircraft into a nose-down alignment which caused the aircraft to build up airspeed to such a degree that structural failure occurred when the pilot attempted to pull the aircraft out of the dive. At this time American meteorologists had conducted a major observational project in the southern US to measure air motion and precipitation patterns in thunderstorms and the results of this experiment were of considerable value to Neil McRae when he gave evidence on the meteorological aspects of the accident.
People in Bright Sparcs - Dwyer, Leonard Joseph; McRae, John Neil; Ryan, Patrick (Pat); Warren, Herbert Norman
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© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
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