Peter Copland on Cyclone Tracy (continued)

We later found that the elevation system on the WF44 radar had actually been damaged by the wind but that its force had been great enough to actually jam the gear assembly carrier bolts into an operating position, where it worked ok.

During 1975 the Northern Territory AWS system was maintained by either Queensland or Western Australian 'tech' staff, whoever was closest, 'til the winter of 1976 if the memory is correct. By then the workshop was again operational after some building repairs. New AWS spares had to be obtained, along with handbooks and bulk spares like batteries. Then there was the problem of not too much AWS maintenance experience in the Northern Territory, but we usually muddled through in a fashion.

Another big loser from Tracy was the Darwin Aviation Museum, then in the old East Point Army Fort complex next to the harbour. I had been spending some spare time there for a couple of years. The most recent recovery to be moved to East Point was the original Darwin airport (Fannie Bay) control tower, a wooden structure over six metres high. The tower, a major section (over half) of a B24 fuselage and half a P40 were never seen again. At the airport RAAF base, a Mk 5 Spitfire being rebuilt was almost destroyed when its shed was blown away. Also completely wrecked at the airport was the old DC3 which took off without crew; this also had been targeted for the Museum. But even things not in Darwin were lost. I had been trying to get the old 277F radar from Alice Springs but by the time things were organised enough to go looking again it had been dumped.

The building of new houses was in full swing in 1976. We had the bedroom end of our house rebuilt and the whole lot strengthened. Things like hold-down bolts from the roof through to the ground and steel cladding on the outside. It was still a good house to live in which is more than could be said of a lot of the new concrete bomb shelters in the newer suburbs. I remember seeing one house with five air-conditioners down one wall; the power bill in summer must have been a beauty.

Bureau of Meteorology