Bob 'Pin' Richardson
'Pin' is Bob Richardson's nickname, as you can see, he was (and still is) built like a split pin, tall and thin. Well I think the pix below bears out the reason why his fellow pilots called him 'Pin'. 'There's more fat on a Jockey's whip' is the local expression that comes to mind in describing Bobs physique. Bob stands beside his Sabre showing off the refueling probe that came from the local USAF 'bone yard'. It was literally stuck on the Sabre for this pix. Seems that Bob and Dave Rogers upset some folks back in Australia because they were carrying out unauthorized mods on the aircraft!! |
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Bob appears on this website as my personal Op Crown Hero. Here in his own words is the reason why"Although I never visited Crown itself, I was well aware of its construction at the time, and I recall offering it a 'Focused Sonic Boom' at exactly midday on one occasion, at the behest of one of the young Army officers stationed at Crown, with whom I played golf at Ubon on the previous day. I remember that he later advised me of a very successful 'striking of the hour'! I'm afraid I don't have a record of his name." It's a pity we don't know the name of the young officer because he too is an Op Crown Hero why, I hear you ask? Well the reason he put Bob up to that little jape was because he knew it would drive our beloved Colonel 'Mad Mac' CRACKERS!!!!!! It did just that and gave those of down at bottom of the pile (and some higher up too) a great morale boosting 'belly laugh' at 'Mad Macs' expense. I was working on the Strip when that Sabre burst through the sound barrier and saw the aircraft high in the sky over the field. So Bob 'Pin' Richardson, I offer you a forty plus years old belated thanks from the 'squaddies' at Op Crown on that day. webmaster |
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Standing in the back of his Land Rover on the Opening Day Ceremony is Colonel Macintyre the CO of Operation Crown. He was a hard taskmaster but to be fair, he had a big job on his hands. It would appear 'Pin' Richardson started a tradition that USAF 'Phantom' pilots carried on. Here is an extract from John Docherty's blog on the Crown HQ page. "We staged overnight at U.S. bases and the Yanks really looked after us. We had fresh milk every day! I’ll digress here for a minute to say we were told by the Americans that they had offered fresh milk and veg to Mad Mac but he turned them down. He reckoned his troops were quite happy with their tinned milk and veg. Seems he wasn’t US friendly! Maybe that’s why the US Phantoms used to buzz the officer’s mess every Sunday morning. Anyone else remember that?" |
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Below are images of some of the aircraft Bob has flown. I promised an elevating uplifting story. The Commonwealth Sabre (right) was considered the ultimate of the many variants produced. It's specifications are shown in the text box below, the service ceiling of 55,000 feet is uplifting enough for me. |
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Specification of the Commonwealth Sabre Mk.32:
Engine: One CAC-built Rolls-Royce Avon 26 turbojet rated at 7500 lb.st.
Performance: Maximum speed: 700 mph at sea level, 672 mph at 10,000 feet, 607 mph at 38,000 feet. Initial climb rate: 12,000 feet/minute. Service ceiling: 55,000 feet. Tactical radius: 290 miles (clean), 400 miles (with 2 drop tanks and two Sidewinder AAMs). Maximum range with two 200-gallon drop tanks: 1150 miles.
Weights: 12,120 pounds empty, 15,990 pounds normal loaded (clean), and 18,650 pounds maximum.
Dimensions: Wingspan 37 feet 1 1/4 inch, length 37 feet 6 inches, height 14 feet 4 3/4 inches, wing area 302/26 square feet.
Armament: Two 30-mm Aden cannon and two AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-homing air-to-air missiles. Underwing loads could include two 500-lb bombs and two 100 Imp. Gall. drop tanks. |
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Wing Commander Bob Richardson was a Test and Evaluation pilot for the RAAF in the late 1970s early 1980s. He was tasked along with Wing Commanders Bruce Grayson and Ray Conroy to evaluate four aircraft. The pix above is an F-16 and below an F a-18 two of the aircraft which were contenders for the RAAF. |
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Bob is enjoying his retirement now. It's obvious what he's doing isn't it? He's flying the latest of acrobatic planes just like those Red Bull racing pilots? Wrong! Bob is a specialist Alpaca breeder on his property north of Canberra. He must have got his belly full of flying all those fast jets. Bob and Dave are still good mate's, well we all know what that's about don't we? Finally, thanks Bob, for giving us Sappers who were there, a memory that's still alive after all these years. PS What's a 'Focused Sonic Boom'? webmaster |
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