ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 351502
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| Date: | Friday 24 April 1936 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60G Moth |
| Owner/operator: | 1 FTS, RAAF |
| Registration: | A7-45 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Werribee, 2 miles west of Point Cook, Victoria -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAAF Point Cook, Victoria (YMPC) |
| RAAF Point Cook, Victoria (YMPC) |
A contract [no.19506] was awarded by the Department of Defence for the RAAF in March 1929 for the licence-production of 32 Moths, at a unit cost of £448-10-0, excluding engines to be built by Larkin Aircraft Supply Co Ltd, Coode Island, Melbourne ["LASCO"]. They were initially intended to be DH.60X Cirrus II Moths and the contract specified delivery of the first twelve by 31.1.30. However, production slipped and it is believed that all were fitted with Gipsy Is. No c/nos. were issued: airframes were identified by their RAAF serials A7-23 to A7-54.
As A7-45 this aircraft was delivered to 1 FTS RAAF Point Cook, Victoria [by 3.36].
Written off (destroyed) when control lost and pilot abandoned aircraft. Crashed 24.4.36 at Werribee, 2 miles west of Point Cook, Victoria. A7-45 was one of two aircraft in formation at 4,000ft, when it departed from controlled flight. Pilot Cadet Leslie Redford Clisby abandoned the aircraft in a dive following control problems. The investigation found that the cause was result of this aircraft flying into the slipstream of the lead aircraft, resulting in the "temporary loss" of controlled flight and that he could have recovered.
Apparently, he was only the second man in Australia to escape an aircraft using an Irvine parachute which entitled him to became a member of the Irvine Parachute Caterpillar Club. As reported in a contemporary local newspaper (Northern Standard (Darwin, NT) Tuesday 28 April 1936 Page 6 - see link #1):
"JUMPED FROM FALLING PLANE - LANDS SAFELY
PLANE WRECKED
Melbourne, April 27.
Aircraftsman Leslie Clisby, 21, of the Flying Training School, Point Cook, jumped from an Air Force
moth at a height of 2000ft, with the aid of a parachute and landed safely. The machine crashed three quarters of a mile from the spot where Clisby landed. It was wrecked.
Clisby, whose home is at Walkerville, near Adelaide, climbed 3,000 feet to perform routine training. The machine flew perfectly until a height of 3000 feet was reached. He then turned into the wind. As it came out of a turn the right elevator control appeared to jam. The nose of the machine was down.
Clisby was unable to come out of a dive. For a few seconds he fought the controls in an effort to bring the machine out of the dive, but realising it was hopeless he decided to jump. He had already lost a thou*
sand feet altitude and was rapidly gaining speed. To remain in the cockpit would have meant a terrible
death when the plane crashed. Without waiting even to throttle back the engine Clisby released the safety
belt and jumped. He fell rapidly turning over and, over in the air.
When well clear of the Moth he pulled the ripcord of the parachute and the silk spread out. His descent
was immediately checked, and he dropped slowly to the ground: It is unlikely Clisby will fly again for
several months".
The pilot, Leslie Redford Clisby, an air force officer, was born on June 29, 1914, in McLaren Vale, South Australia. He enlisted as a mechanic in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1935 and was later accepted into the flying training course at Point Cook, Victoria. Standing at 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) tall, he was a slim-built sportsman with light-brown hair.
A subsequent court of inquiry attributed the mishap to his inexperience. Despite this setback, Clisby graduated in 1937 and was among twenty-five pilots immediately sent to England for further training. He joined 1 Squadron RAF on 28 August 1937, flying Hawker Hurricanes, and became a distinguished fighter "ace" with 16 victories to his credit (unofficially 19 victories, of which three were disputed/unconfirmed) during the battle of France in April/May 1940
To maintain his national identity, Flying Officer Clisby wore a R.A.A.F. uniform on operations and was Australia's first fighter ace of World War II. On 14 May 1940 he was killed in combat with Messerschmitt 110s in the vicinity of Reims. Clisby was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross while listed as missing. He was buried in Choloy war cemetery, near Nancy.
DH.60 Moth A7-45 was Struck off charge 12.5.36.
Sources:
1. Northern Standard (Darwin, NT) Tuesday 28 April 1936 Page 6 JUMPED FROM FALLING PLANE: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49431587
2. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
3. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/CMS/raaf2/2a7
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Clisby#Early_career
5. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clisby-leslie-redford-9767
6. https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/13447
7. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=63115
8. https://www.saam.org.au/history_group_docs/SAAM%20Biography%20-%20CLISBY%20Leslie%20Redford%20(Les).pdf
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werribee,_Victoria
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Feb-2024 10:18 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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