{"id":1585363,"date":"2021-07-12T12:39:38","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T10:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/?p=1585363"},"modified":"2024-07-05T11:47:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T09:47:20","slug":"jack-storey-the-australian-ace-in-burma-70044","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/en\/blog\/2021\/07\/12\/jack-storey-the-australian-ace-in-burma-70044\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Storey \u2013 the Australian Ace in Burma"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 22 February 1941, William John \u201cJack\u201d Storey left Sydney port on a round-the-world journey that would last more than three years. It proved to be a long and dangerous odyssey, but one with a happy ending for our protagonist. \u201cJack\u201d went on to live to a ripe old age and readily recounted his wartime adventures, which we will try to summarise in the present article.<\/p>\n

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When he was embarking on his voyage, he had just completed basic flying training on Tiger Moths at No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF in Narromine after first volunteering for the Air Force in the spring of 1940. The destination of the first stage of his journey was Canada, where he passed training on Harvards at No. 2 Service Training Flying School in Uplands with excellent marks. A photograph taken on 23 May 1941 shows twenty-four fresh graduates of Course No. 23, all of them from the Royal Australian Air Force. Of this group, fourteen perished during the war. Storey is in the first row, second from right. In the second photograph we can see Clarence Decatur Howe, the Canadian Minister of Munitions and Supplying, pinning pilot\u2019s wings onto Storey\u2019s uniform. (Flying Badge).<\/p>\n

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Jack Storey at No. 2 Service Training Flying School in Uplands (Canada), see description in text above. Both photos from the blog: http:\/\/rcafuplands.blogspot.com\/<\/a>
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A few days after finishing the course, Storey was promoted to Pilot Officer and posted to England, crossing the ocean in a convoy under constant U-boat attack. Following his arrival, he busied himself with completing the final level of flying training.<\/p>\n

Since he had received excellent grades at the course in Uplands, he was allowed to choose the aircraft on which he would undergo operational training. At No. 59 Operational Training Unit, which was stationed at RAF Crosby-on-Eden, he immediately selected the Hurricane.<\/p>\n

A Devotee of the Hurricane<\/h2>\n

Storey\u2019s entire military career was associated with this aircraft, which in his opinion had proved decisive for the outcome of the Battle of Britain. As a pilot, he had a lasting fondness and admiration for the type, considering it superior to the Spitfire itself. In Storey\u2019s view, Supermarine\u2019s fighter lacked durability and reacted inadequately to elevator inputs. He further stated that the Spitfire\u2019s thin wings had a tendency to deform, while their angle of attack at high gravity load was insufficiently flexible, and these factors impaired the accuracy of its wing-mounted machine guns. He was right. The Hurricane on the other hand was a very sturdy aircraft, so much so that it has even been said that not one of the 15,000 built crashed due to structural failure. It was tolerant of even the most brutal manoeuvres. In fact, it was considerably more resilient than its operators, who would react variously to gravity loads. It was observed that pilots who were smaller in stature were least susceptible to these forces, starting to experience greyout only at higher gravity loads and still being able to react correctly in situations which caused their taller colleagues to black out. Storey himself, measuring no more than 162 cm (5\u2019 4\u2019\u2019) and weighing approximately 50 kg, was predisposed by nature to tolerate the physical loads experienced during aerial combat and could therefore fully harness the manoeuvrability of his Hurricane while knowing that his fighter would not let him down. The robust aircraft and its well-trained pilot combined to form a duo that proved to be extremely dangerous to the enemy.<\/p>\n

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Hurribomber BE489 w 402. Dywizjonie RCAF<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n