RAAF Radschool Association Magazine

Vol 72

Jan 2021

New Menu

We’ve made some changes to the menu system, now you can find a topic, click it and it will open the info for which you’re looking. Hopefully, this will make it a lot easier to read. After you’ve finished one topic and you want to return here, just click the "close tab" button (X) on the tab at the top of your page.

You can still read the whole Magazine the old way, see at the bottom of the page.

Contents.

Topic	Link

In Memory of:	Page 2.
Advertisers:	Jaycar. Kedron Wavell Services Club.
Aircraft:	CAC Kangaroo. Canberras firing up at Amberley. Caribou's last hurrah. Coming of the Canberra. Last Herc from Vietnam. Sweden saves the SR-71.
Arthur Fry:	3 AD Amberley.
Computer Information:	Ad shortcuts to the Start menu. Adobe Flash is dead. Cut and paste in Windows PC. Delete bulk Gmail messages. Empty the Clipboard. Enable Clipboard history. Google Photos to lose its unlimited free storage. Make phone calls from a Windows 10 PC. MS Outlook on line file view. QR Codes: A guide. Make your own. Scams. Types. Windows file recovery tool. Windows Process Explorer.
Courses:	WRAAF course 143. WRAAF Course 146.
DFRDB	October 2020 update.
DVA Issues:	Additional Corona Virus support payment. Community grants - apply now. Funeral benefit equality on hold. RAP (Rehabilitation Appliance Program) program. TPI rent assistance - WEF 1 July 2021. TPI Review response.
General:	Among the quick and the dead - East Timor 1975. Army at a glance. Australia's "obsolete" sub fleet. Christmas in Vietnam. "Cold blooded murder" - Minister Reynolds. Costco membership offer. Elec vehicle battery life. Fuses - how they work. Help a mate. Is our sense of humour gone? Luke Worsley - a tribute. Mandrake at Richmond. New Combis for the RAAF. Operation Tropic Snow. RAAF Vietnam Lunch Club. Release from a Japanese POW camp. The Butterworth bus. Toilet that sank U-1206. Why do we kiss? WRAAFs camping on the Murrumbidgee. WRAAFs on the beach. WRAAF hippy night, E Sale, 1970.
Health:	Aging - what to expect. Can a tea towel poison you? Electric tooth-brushes, are they any good? Exercise - why it's important. High blood pressure and age. Masturbation - is it good for you? Pancreatic cancer. Thermometres - know the difference. Why do we gain weight as we age?
John Laming:	It wouldn't happen these days. Joe Ziskovsky and his B-26. Mustang stories: A ferry flight. A short landing. My first flight in one. My friend George - the Stuka pilot.
My Story:	Ken Hay - 9 Sqn history in Vietnam.
Page 3 Girl:	Jeanette Partridge.
People:	9 Sqn Gunnies - Vung Tau.
People I meet:	Van Pham.
Reports:	Afghanistan - Allan Essery. Brereton report critique - John Clarkson. Disabled in our service - TPI Federation. Reflections from both sides of the fence - Andrew Hastie. What the bloody Halal is going on in he Army? - Charlie Lynn.
Reunions:	3 Sqn Association - Caloundra. 16 Appy 50th anniversary. All Appy reunion - Werribee. Magpie 91 anniversary memorial.
Scootaville:	Details of the event. Update.
Units, Squadrons and Bases:	9 Sqn farewell from Vung Tau. Amberley - from the start. Cleaning up at Point Cook. Fairbarin as she used to be. On Parade - E Sale 1968. Point Cook WRAAF quarters. WRAAFs at E Sale 1969. WRAAFs at E Sale 1970. WRAAFs at Point Cook - 1964. WRAAF's Christmas party - Richmond 1962.
Video:	Bullshit explained. Conversion to the Canberra. Eggs in the safe. Grandpop and Viagra. Heston Russell interview. Muslims on a plane. Regular bladder emptying is good for you. Sweden saves the SR-71. Why things have gone wrong. XXX
Where are they now:	Page 19

Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

Scootaville.

Scootaville is now only 5 months away, those who have nominated are looking forward to the trip of a life time. If you haven't nominated, you'd better hurry, there is only a couple of slots available. Click the icon at right to access the nomination form.

If you don't know what it's about, click HERE

Later this month we'll send all those involved a form to fill in, this will ask for your 'dimensions' so we can order your clothing and helmet. This will also be when you'll have to pay for your trip. We still don't have a final figure, still waiting on final insurance costs but it will be close to the suggested figures of $750 for riders and $175 for supporters and hanger ons. These costs will include, for the rider, riding jacket, helmet, gloves, insurance, t-shirt, peaked cap, entrance into several tourist events and some morning teas. For the supporter, t-shirt, peaked cap, insurance, entrance into some events and some morning teas. Kedron Wavell RSL Sub-branch have offered considerable support, they are sending along one of their buses, a ute and their their 'Chuck-wagon' which will be used to provide your breakfast every day as well as some lunches and 'snacks' along the way. John Lunn (right), ex Air Force framie and member of the Sub-branch, has 'volunteered' to man the Chuck-wagon and will be our bait layer for the trip. Evening meals will be at an individual person's costs as these will be provided by some community clubs, (Lions, Rotary, Citizens etc and in some Service Clubs.) We must thank Woolworths and IGA stores up the track for their generous support in providing food for our breakfasts and refreshment stops.

We must also thank the many Councils along the way, all of which have opened their showgrounds for us and will allow us to overnight in their pavilions free of charge. The only requirement is we leave the buildings in the same condition in which we find them, in other words, do a panic before we leave. It's wonderful that Woolies, IGA and local councils are sympathetic to and will go out of their way to help a bunch of old Vets.

We had a set back recently with the scooters. The firm that imports the Peugeot scooter and which back in September promised us access to the scooters with the offer to pay for them after the event sent us an email on New Year's Eve (great timing) reneging on that offer and advising we would have to pay for them first. We've tried to ring them a few times but they are now not answering the phone or leave us a message offering to ring back - which they never do. Seems they have no interest in helping a bunch of ADF vets - what does that tell you?

So that firm and Peugeot are no longer involved.

We've since had talks with another importer and should have some good news in the next few days.

I intend to drive the route again in February to finalise things, more on that later too.

We've also had talks with media firm "This Story". This Story (www.thisstory.com.au) specialises in capturing and preserving on video the significant moments of Australia’s history as told by those who experienced it first-hand. They preserve the personal stories of veterans who served during the following conflicts:

World war 2 )1939-1945)
Korean War (1950-1953)
Malayan Emergency (1950-1960)
Borneo Confrontation (1963-1966)
Vietnam War (1965-1973)

"This Story" has offered to capture the Scootaville event by producing a 44 minute documentary of the event which, it is hoped, will be shown on one of the TV channels. They have also advised they would like to interview one or more of our riders and preserve their story.

We must also thank Phillips Group, a PR firm based in Brisbane, which has offered to help with publicity and we'll get started on that shortly.

Start area.

Initially we did plan to head off on a Monday morning from the car park at the Kedron Wavell Service's Club but Qld Police advised that could be dangerous, having a bunch of old buggers on small scooters mixing it with Brisbane's early morning traffic is nothing but a sure recipe for disaster, so they suggested we move the departure forward a day, to Sunday (13 June) and leave from a point out west and instead of heading to Kilcoy via Old Gympie Rd and Caboolture, we instead go around the 'back' way, via Rosewood, the dams, through Esk onto Kilcoy. We've asked the RAAF for permission to leave from the car park at RAAF Amberley and although we haven't yet got the nod, we don't expect there will be a problem.

Breakfast will be served that morning but more on that soon.

Costco Offer.

Costco was founded in an old hangar in San Diego in the USA in 1976. It started life as the "Price Club" and offered items to small businesses at a reduced price. It soon found by including non-business customers, its clientele increased greatly which meant it could buy more and buying more meant buying for less which meant it could sell for less which made it more attractive to buyers who bought more which meant buying more etc etc.

Its operating philosophy has been simple. Keep costs down and pass the savings on to its members. Since becoming Costco in 1997, the company has grown worldwide with total sales in recent fiscal years exceeding $64 billion.

Its warehouses carry about 4,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) compared to the 30,000 found at most supermarkets. By carefully choosing products based on quality, price, brand and features, the company can offer the best value to members.

Costco opened its first Australian store in Melbourne in 2009 and now has 12 stores through all states of Australia, except for Tasmania and the NT.

Costco is very conscious of the hardship and dedication of the Australian service men and women and recently put a deal together for the benefit of members of the Radschool Association.

Go HERE for the deal.

Charity Classification.

Early in 2019 our Association was classified as a Charitable Organisation - see HERE. This doesn't mean that donations to the Association are Tax deductible, yet, but we've applied for that and will advise if and when it occurs.

We are registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) which is the national regulator of charities. Their web-site is HERE. Being a Charitable Organisation, we don't pay tax. We've also applied to become an incorporated body. Qld Justice Dept initially knocked us back as our name (RAAF Radschool Association) includes the initials RAAF which are prohibited under the Defence Act. We've requested permission for their use from the RAAF, have been told approval has been recommended and are now just waiting on receiving written approval. Once we get that Qld Justice will issue the incorporation.

We have to submit a report to the ACNC each year, ours is due 31 January 2021. It will be done today.

The Association's Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss are available here. If you want an explanation on any item, just email us via the "Contact Us" link above.

Funds.

When the fan was smeared on New year's Eve we were a bit lost about which way to go and without the generous support offered by an alternative we thought we'd have to raise funds to buy the scooters first. Hence - we've opened a "Go Fund Me" page which you'll find HERE. There's an old saying "A bird in the hand...." if you can help, please do, we don't anticipate any more problems but you never know. We have to pay for the scooters some time, the earlier the better.

If you'd rather just transfer funds to us, instead of using GoFundMe, you can use the facilities below.

100th Anniversary of the RAAF celebration.

Covid 19 has played havoc with the RAAF's anniversary plans. What a shame, it is a major milestone, being the second oldest Air Force on our planet and should have been celebrated high and low around the country.

Unfortunately, the RAAF has now had to wind down all their physical plans and instead revert to digital events. They have a web site (see here https://airforce2021.airforce.gov.au/) which will give you some history, will show you what is now planned and also includes a link to their 'shop' where you can buy some great merchandise.

The virus has forced us to cancel our planned visit to Canberra for ANZAC Day. The ACT Government has banned all mass get togethers until the end of the year so that kills our planned event too.

RAM thought for the day.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

Buying a new car?

If you’re a Radschool member and contemplating buying a new car, we could save you thousands. The Radschool Association has done a deal with Australia’s biggest car brokers whereby you can purchase a car (your choice of make, colour, specs etc) at fleet discount prices.

One of our blokes made use of this facility recently and bought a Toyota Rav4 and saved thousands. You can too!

To see further details, go to the Radschool Assoc home page (HERE) then click on “New Car Purchase”.

Discounts.

Current financial members can now receive a 12% discount on the base rate of the day when hiring a car from Thrifty. If you’re thinking of hiring a car or an SUV or a people mover, this could save you heaps. If you’re a member, send us an email HERE and we’ll send you the promo code.

Membership.

We’ve hope to sign off on paid membership by the 30 June 2021 so you can now join for free, Free membership is available. If you wish you can still make a donation when joining, though it is voluntary.

To join, fill in the form below.

BSB: 124-021 Account number: 1048 7401 Title: RAAF Radschool Association.

Bank: Bank of Queensland.

and include your name in the "Remarks" window on the deposit.

AND!! If you work for or know of a firm that would be kind and generous enough to sponsor the Radschool Association, please get in touch.

Errors

Our aim is to have this site error free – but that’s probably impossible. But with your help I reckon we can get pretty close. If you see any errors, be they punctuation, spelling, links that don’t work, facts wrong etc, (no matter how small) please let us know so we can fix them.

Thankfully, Ken Morris, who lives over in the West, proof reads our print before it goes public and points out our many errors, not a lot escapes him I can tell you!