Beware The Silent Killer

 

By Bill Wilkinson

 

After completing my CMT training at Taieri in 1951 I heard that the RNZAF were going to run Wing's Training for University students. They wanted more tertiary educated personnel to form the backbone of the service. I put my name forward and crossed my fingers. Luck was with me and I joined a group of nine others to commence training at Wigram.

 

The training group comprised of two medical students, one dental (myself), one engineering, one lawyer, one agricultural, two accountants, and, surprisingly, also a drama student. We were to carry on with our normal university studies during term time. Our vacations would be spent in the Air Force doing theoretical and practical training to Wing's standard. It was a compressed course and we were worked very hard. We had all passed the University Entrance exams and did not find the theoretical side too much of a problem

 

The flying training was full on. We were very fortunate to be given instructors from the Central Flying School. These were the instructor's instructors. I was very lucky to get Rex Williams as mine. Not only was Rex a brilliant flyer, he was also very calm and patient. If there was anything I did not grasp he would repeat the exercise until I had mastered the problem; always in a cool matter-of-fact voice. He never swore or shouted.

 

There were the usual training accidents, some hilarious, some tragic.

 

On a cold and frosty morning we were taxiing out to take off. We had to pass under the aircraft which were about to touch down on the runway in use. Ahead of me Spud Rudd looked up to see a Harvard with its flaps and undercarriage down. It seemed as though it was going to squat on him. Spud stomped hard on the brakes and the aircraft stood on its nose. He released his harness and dropped down into the well underneath the instrument panel. In the meantime the crash wagon was speeding across the field. As it approached the up-ended aircraft, the driver braked, did a complete 360° turn on the icy grass before slamming into the crashed aircraft. Spud appeared peering over the side of the canopy and asked," Whadda are you trying to do, kill me?"

 

Another involved one of my school-chums, Dick Kettlewell. Dick was training to become part of the Regular Air Force. One day he dived vertically into the Waimak Forest, starting a forest fire. There was insufficient evidence left for the Court of Enquiry to work out exactly what happened. The enquiry was complicated by the fact that the firewatcher, who should have been manning the watchtower at the time of the accident, was AWOL, visiting his girl friend. He made up a cock and bull story that Dick was doing illegal low flying at the time. Some nearby farmers, who had witnessed the event, later contradicted this.

 

It was at about this time I started to get headaches after a days flying. I thought that I had suddenly developed migraine headaches, something I had never had previously. They were totally debilitating, forcing me to go to my bunk and lie very still for at least an hour before the pain dissipated.

 

I did not report my problem to the MO for fear of being scrubbed on medical grounds. I did not even discuss it with my medical student friends for the same reason. I loved my flying too much to risk losing it.

 

We eventually graduated with our wings and went off to our squadrons in different parts of NZ. At No.4 Squadron training continued with enthusiasm. We soon went solo on Mustangs. I noticed that I felt much better after a morning's flight in a Mustang than I did flying the Harvard. No headaches at all . The fact that we were on 100% oxygen from the ground up failed to register with me. I thought it was the shear exuberance of flying these powerful machines, which made me feel good.

 

On September the 16th, 1954 we were detailed to do night flying. This was in Harvards and was divided into two details. The first detail would return to the field and hand over to the second detail at the "Christmas Tree", a mast with an assortment of coloured lights at the end of the runway. The hand-over could be made without stopping the engine or refuelling the aircraft.

 

At the due time four pilots, including myself of the second detail, walked out, our parachutes draped over our shoulders and waited for our allotted aircraft to return.

 

The first three aircraft returned on time, landed, changed pilots, and then took off again. I stood by the "Christmas Tree" looking skywards for the navigation lights of mine.

 

It was a cold night and I felt a bit stupid just standing there waiting and after ten minutes decided to walk back to the hangar.

 

I arrived back in the hangar just in time to hear the agitated voice of our CO taking a call from a farmer who was alarmed that an aircraft had just crashed into his back paddock. The farm was located on Saddle Hill. We only had the one crash wagon at Taieri and it took a bit of time to get organised and to find the farm.

 

Ron Slade and his passenger, Aircraftsman Lester, were both killed in the crash. There was no fire, so the remains were intact. These were rushed to the Medical School in Dunedin for analysis. It was found that the blood of the victims had toxic levels of carboxy haemoglobin. They had been breathing carbon monoxide from a faulty heat exchanger in the exhaust system and the cabin heater was bringing the poisonous gas into the cockpit.

 

All of the remaining Harvards were tested and 50% of them were found to be contaminated. Corrosion had caused the exhaust gases to leak into the cabin heater.

 

There is 6% of carbon monoxide in exhaust gases. The haemoglobin in blood has an affinity 200 times to take up carbon monoxide than oxygen. It is released from blood only slowly. Carbon monoxide is tasteless, colourless and has no smell. The symptoms are headaches and nausea.

 

I have often wondered whether lives would have been saved had I reported my headaches.

 

Many years later my youngest son was almost killed by a faulty flue in a gas heater in London. Only the prompt arrival of a doctor saved his life. He was already unconscious. Carbon monoxide poisoning is surprisingly common.

 

The faulty Harvards had modifications done to correct the problem and continued to be the basic training aircraft until 1958 when they were replaced by the Airtourer.