dinomartino1
Well-Known Member
I came across this extract of an RAAF pilots career from 1955-1970.
Mainly covers his early time in the RAAF and Caribous in Viet Nam.
He also flew support for Malcom Campbell and Bluebird at Lake Eyre.
A good read and a lot more good photos at the link.
https://rtfv-35sqn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/VIETNAM-Gary-Kimberley.pdf
"As a teenager his interest in aircraft led him to join the Air Training Corps as a cadet and in 1955, at the age of 19, he began flying lessons on Tiger Moths at Maylands in Perth. In 1956 he gained his private pilots licence as a result of being selected for aircrew training during National Service in the RAAF.
He joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a pilot in 1960, on No 40 Pilots Course, training
on Winjeels at Point Cook in Victoria and finally gaining his wings on Vampires at Pearce in
WA. He then went on to serve in a number of different RAAF units including the Air Trials Unit on the Woomera Rocket Range followed by a two year posting to No 10 Squadron at Townsville in North Queensland flying Neptune long range maritime patrol aircraft.
In 1965 he transferred to No 38 Squadron at Richmond NSW to fly Caribou tactical transports and completed a nine month tour of active service in Vietnam in 1965-66. During his time in the war zone Gareth flew 1,109 operational sorties totalling 742 flying hours with his aircraft often fired at and actually hit by enemy ground fire on several occasions. Fortunately the aircraft was not seriously damaged. He also flew extensively throughout Papua-New Guinea and the islands to the north and later served in a non-flying role as an Air Force Fighter Controller with an Australian radar defence unit, No 1 CRU at Brookvale in northern Sydney.
He joined Qantas in 1970 to become an international airline pilot flying Boeing 707s and 747s and subsequently enjoyed numerous overseas short term postings with that airline. In 1978 he designed and built his own ultralight aircraft, the Kimberley Sky-Rider and received an outstanding individual achievement award from the Experimental Aircraft Association of the United States. The Sky-Rider was featured in the 1988-89 edition of the aviation ‘Bible’ Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft.
The original Sky-Rider has been donated to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney as an historic aircraft and is now on public display in the Museum’s Discovery Centre at Castle Hill.
In 1996 Gareth finally retired from flying as a Qantas Boeing 747 First Officer after clocking up a total of 17,600 hours of flying on more than 30 different aircraft types ranging from Air Force fast jets ( Vampires, Meteors and Macchis ) to four engine Qantas Jumbos and completing a flying career spanning more than 40 years. He has contributed short stories and anecdotes to several books on the Vietnam War and had a book published in the United States on how to build and fly ultralight aircraft. He also served briefly as the ultralight aircraft correspondent for Australian Flying magazine and had numerous articles published in Australian and overseas aviation magazines."
Mainly covers his early time in the RAAF and Caribous in Viet Nam.
He also flew support for Malcom Campbell and Bluebird at Lake Eyre.
A good read and a lot more good photos at the link.
https://rtfv-35sqn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/VIETNAM-Gary-Kimberley.pdf
"As a teenager his interest in aircraft led him to join the Air Training Corps as a cadet and in 1955, at the age of 19, he began flying lessons on Tiger Moths at Maylands in Perth. In 1956 he gained his private pilots licence as a result of being selected for aircrew training during National Service in the RAAF.
He joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a pilot in 1960, on No 40 Pilots Course, training
on Winjeels at Point Cook in Victoria and finally gaining his wings on Vampires at Pearce in
WA. He then went on to serve in a number of different RAAF units including the Air Trials Unit on the Woomera Rocket Range followed by a two year posting to No 10 Squadron at Townsville in North Queensland flying Neptune long range maritime patrol aircraft.
In 1965 he transferred to No 38 Squadron at Richmond NSW to fly Caribou tactical transports and completed a nine month tour of active service in Vietnam in 1965-66. During his time in the war zone Gareth flew 1,109 operational sorties totalling 742 flying hours with his aircraft often fired at and actually hit by enemy ground fire on several occasions. Fortunately the aircraft was not seriously damaged. He also flew extensively throughout Papua-New Guinea and the islands to the north and later served in a non-flying role as an Air Force Fighter Controller with an Australian radar defence unit, No 1 CRU at Brookvale in northern Sydney.
He joined Qantas in 1970 to become an international airline pilot flying Boeing 707s and 747s and subsequently enjoyed numerous overseas short term postings with that airline. In 1978 he designed and built his own ultralight aircraft, the Kimberley Sky-Rider and received an outstanding individual achievement award from the Experimental Aircraft Association of the United States. The Sky-Rider was featured in the 1988-89 edition of the aviation ‘Bible’ Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft.
The original Sky-Rider has been donated to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney as an historic aircraft and is now on public display in the Museum’s Discovery Centre at Castle Hill.
In 1996 Gareth finally retired from flying as a Qantas Boeing 747 First Officer after clocking up a total of 17,600 hours of flying on more than 30 different aircraft types ranging from Air Force fast jets ( Vampires, Meteors and Macchis ) to four engine Qantas Jumbos and completing a flying career spanning more than 40 years. He has contributed short stories and anecdotes to several books on the Vietnam War and had a book published in the United States on how to build and fly ultralight aircraft. He also served briefly as the ultralight aircraft correspondent for Australian Flying magazine and had numerous articles published in Australian and overseas aviation magazines."
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