Vale Alan Patching

12/03/202222/03/2022

It is with great sadness that we advise of the passing of Alan Patching on Saturday 12 March. He was 97 years old (approaching 98) and he passed away peacefully at home.

Alan was a Patron of the AHSA, an honorary life member and served as AHSA Vice President for many years.

Born in Queenscliff in 1924, Alan was educated at Point Lonsdale State School, Geelong Junior Technical College and then Gordon Institute of Technology in Geelong. He joined Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in early 1943 and moved to Aeronautical Research Laboratories after the end of the war, where he worked on pioneering investigations into metal fatigue in aircraft structures. This work took him to Woomera and also to a secondment in Farnborough, UK.

Alan became involved with gliding in 1943 when he helped construct a primary glider while he was with CAC. Over a period of some 69 years he flew more than 140 types of gliders in 12 countries. He commenced flying powered aircraft in 1970 and flew over 35 types, mainly aero towing.

Alan was a member of the Victorian Motorless Gliding Club, later to become Melbourne Gliding Club. In 1994 Alan was awarded an Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to Australian gliding. In 2007 he was awarded the Lilienthal Medal, the highest FAI gliding award, for his services to the International gliding community over many decades, in particular for his substantial contribution to glider airworthiness and sailplane fatigue life.

Ever cheerful and smiling he will be missed from the ranks of the AHSA. Alan is survived by two daughters (Margaret and Rosemary) and daughter-in-law, Ruth (widow of Ian Patching) and her son Tighe Patching.

1932 The de Havilland D.H.50 aircraft VH-UEM, flown by H.F. Baker and carrying Norman Stuckley and Paddy Whelan of the Lasseter Reef Company, crashed during a flight from Forrest to the Livesey Ranges in Western Australia on 22 December 1932. They repaired the aircraft over the next five days and Baker and Stuckley successfully flew the damaged aircraft back to Forrest, Whelan being rescued several days later. Source: Parnell, N. and Boughton, T., Flypast, A record of aviation in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988.

1941 No. 453 Squadron RAAF suffered its heaviest losses in one day as the Squadron attacked Japanese troops and transports and provided air cover to Allied ground troops in Malaya on 22 December 1941. Five Brewster Buffalos were destroyed and another four damaged, with three pilots being killed. On 24 December, with only three working aircraft remaining, No. 453 Squadron withdrew to Singapore and merged with 21 Squadron. Source: Gillison, RAAF 1939-1942, p.280

2000 Just prior to Christmas, Ansett grounded seven of its Boeing 767 aircraft on 22 December 2000 after an employee discovered that required inspections had not occurred in March. The mandatory inspections were performed with CASA supervision. A Boeing Alert Service Bulletin was then rediscovered (but did not become public until April 2001). Hairline cracks were discovered in the horizontal tail surfaces of some aircraft. Cracks were then found in the engine pylon mounts of three aircraft along with a crack in the tail of one that remained grounded after Christmas. These were similar to those that doomed an El Al Cargo Boeing 747. CASA placed conditions on Ansett operations and maintenance procedures, although it emerged that CASA had granted Ansett an extension for inspections a year previously. CASA had adopted a new systems audit approach to apply management programs to airlines. The ATSB also investigated the groundings and compliance of CASA, Boeing and Ansett as a safety deficiency issue. Sourcs: Australian Financial Review, 17 April 2001; Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April 2001; Australia Aviation 6/01 (Ansett Chronology). via aph.gov.au website