Ellis Wackett
Encyclopedia
Air Vice Marshal Ellis Charles Wackett CB
, CBE
(13 April 1901 – 3 August 1984) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF). Its chief engineer
from 1935 to 1959, he served on the RAAF's controlling body, the Air Board, for a record 17 years, and has been credited with infusing operations with new standards of airworthiness
. Commencing his service career as a Royal Australian Navy
cadet during World War I
, Wackett transferred to the Air Force in 1923 while on an engineering course in Britain. He qualified as a pilot
before completing his studies and returning to Australia, where he inaugurated parachute
instruction within the RAAF and made the country's first freefall descent from a military aircraft in 1926. The following year, he led a three-month survey flight to Papua New Guinea
.
Wackett became the RAAF's senior engineer with his appointment as Director of Technical Services in 1935. A Wing Commander
at the outbreak of World War II
, he rose to Air Commodore
by 1942 and assumed the role of Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance. He established the Technical Branch as a separate department of the RAAF in 1948, and was promoted to Air Vice Marshal the same year. Wackett served as Air Member for Technical Services until leaving the military in 1959, having been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Companion of the Order of the Bath. From 1960 to 1968, he was a member of the Australian National Airlines Commission, parent of Trans Australia Airlines
. Generally known as "Wack", or "EC" (to distinguish him from his elder brother, aircraft designer Lawrence James Wackett
or "LJ"), his prominent chin and nose also earned him the nickname "Punch
". He died in 1984 at the age of 83.
, Ellis Wackett entered the Royal Australian Naval College
at Jervis Bay
, New South Wales
in 1914, at age 13. Graduating in 1918, he served as a Midshipman
aboard the Royal Navy
battleship
HMS Monarch
and battlecruiser
HMS Renown
, and later the RAN light cruiser
HMAS Brisbane
and battlecruiser HMAS Australia
. He was commissioned a Sub-Lieutenant
in January 1921, and posted to England for study in July. Wackett was at the Royal Naval Engineering College
, Keyham when he applied to join the RAAF
in 1922. Accepted by the Air Force the following year, he finished at Keyham in August and trained as a pilot
on Salisbury Plain
. He then took a one-year post-graduate
course in aeronautics
at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London
, before returning to Australia to take up his service as a Flying Officer
with the RAAF.
Wackett's first role was to establish parachute
instruction within the Air Force. His trip home from England had been postponed at the last minute to enable him to be trained; he began instructing volunteers in 1926 at RAAF Richmond
, New South Wales, and made Australia's first freefall descent from a military aircraft—an Airco DH.9
—on 26 May. The Chief of the Air Staff, Group Captain
Richard Williams, himself made a successful jump on 5 August, to set "a good example" prior to making the wearing of parachutes compulsory for all aircrew. On 21 August, Wackett piloted the DH.9 from which Flying Officer Frederick Scherger
made the first public display of parachuting in Australia, at Essendon
in Victoria
.
By August 1927, Wackett had been promoted Flight Lieutenant
and given command of the Papuan Survey Flight formed at RAAF Laverton, Victoria. Consisting of two Supermarine Seagull III
single-engined amphibious
biplane
s and six aircrew, the flight was to examine and photograph the Papuan and New Guinea
n coasts as far north as Aitape
and, if possible, Bougainville
. Stripped of all equipment considered non-essential—including radio
sets—to increase range, the aircraft departed on 27 September and journeyed some 17700 kilometres (10,998.3 mi), covering almost 130000 square kilometre of country and taking 350 photos. Wackett's machine (serial A9-5) returned to Melbourne
on 26 December and the other (A9–6) on 19 January 1928. Inclement weather prevented the expedition from reaching Bougainville, and thick jungle cover limited the usefulness of its photographic record. Nevertheless, the Air Force learned valuable lessons concerning the Seagull's capabilities in a potential wartime role, as it was found to be unsuited to operations in the tropics.
On 14 August 1928, Wackett married Doreen Dove; the couple would have two sons and a daughter. In 1933, Wackett was posted to England to attend RAF Staff College, Andover
. Returning to Australia, he was promoted Squadron Leader
and became Director of Technical Services, an organisation within the RAAF's Supply Branch, in May 1935; the appointment made Wackett the Air Force's senior engineer. The same year, he took charge of the Resources Committee for Electrical Equipment, Scientific and Optical Instruments, one of a number of subcommittees on the federal government's Defence Resources Board set up to investigate and report on the readiness of Australian industry to provide munitions for defence in the event of international conflict.
at the outbreak of World War II, Wackett immediately faced major supply challenges in his role as Director of Technical Services. Spare parts for the RAAF's mainly British-built equipment were now in short supply, a fact complicated by the infancy of the local aircraft industry and a US arms embargo. His Directorate made whatever use it could of civilian repair facilities, setting up central recovery depots to salvage spares from damaged aircraft and other equipment. He also drew on the advice and support of his brother Lawrence, who had established the RAAF's technical services organisation in the 1920s and now, having retired from the Air Force, headed the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
(CAC). By late 1940, Wackett had been promoted temporary Group Captain, and joined the Flying Personnel Research Committee. Its members, drawn from the flying, medical, scientific and technical disciplines, were to study and report upon such factors as aircrew safety, comfort, fatigue, survival, motion sickness
, decompression
and hypoxia
.
Wackett was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1941 New Years Honours. In June, he became the RAAF's representative on the federal Aircraft Advisory Committee, set up to assist the Director-General of Aircraft Production. As well as members from governmental and scientific bodies, the committee included delegates from aircraft manufacturers such as de Havilland Australia
and CAC, with Lawrence Wackett acting as Chief Technical Advisor. Later that year, the two brothers joined various academics on the newly formed Australian Council for Aeronautics, established by Prime Minister
John Curtin
to advise government, educational and scientific organisations on technical developments in the aircraft industry.
Raised to Air Commodore
, Wackett was appointed Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance (AME) on 4 June 1942. As AME, he sat on the Air Board, the RAAF's controlling body, which consisted of its most senior officers and was chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff. His new position had been created to replace that of the Director-General of Supply and Production, a civilian post. Wackett would serve on the Air Board for the next seventeen years, a record tenure for the RAAF, his experience and intellect making him, in the words of Air Force historian Alan Stephens, "singularly adept at bringing a committee around to his point of view". During the war, the Air Board oversaw expansion from a complement in 1939 of 246 obsolescent machines such as CAC Wirraway
s, Avro Anson
s and Lockheed Hudson
s, to a strength in 1945 of 5,620 sophisticated aircraft including Supermarine Spitfire
s, P-51 Mustang
s, de Havilland Mosquito
es and B-24 Liberator
s; to support this force, the RAAF had provided all-through training for 18,000 technical staff, and further education for 35,000 more schooled initially outside the service.
. A major facet of Plan D, adopted in June 1947, was its encouragement of local industry to design and build military trainers and produce more sophisticated combat aircraft under licence from overseas manufacturers. This policy would eventually lead to the Winjeel
basic trainer and Australian co-partnership in production of the CAC Sabre
jet fighter and GAF Canberra
jet bomber. Wackett also supported Air Vice Marshal Joe Hewitt
, the Air Member for Personnel, in fostering apprenticeships as part of the "education revolution" that took place in the RAAF during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Apprentice Training Scheme, designed to raise the standard of technical roles in the Air Force, opened early in 1948 at the Ground Training School in RAAF Station Wagga
, New South Wales to provide education and technical training for youths aged 15 to 17. By 1952, it had been renamed the RAAF School of Technical Training.
Wackett played a key role in establishing technical services as a distinct department within the RAAF, rather than forming part of the Supply Branch as in previous years. Mindful of the increasing responsibility that was being placed on scientific and technical resources in the modern Air Force, he had raised the question of a specialist engineering branch immediately after the war, and in March 1946 gained broad approval for its establishment. After eighteen months of work defining its scope and responsibilities, the Technical Branch was formed under Wackett's leadership on 23 September 1948, his goals being to "to support the operational power of the RAAF by providing the most efficient technical organisation possible" and "to increase the effectiveness of air power through technical development". This in turn led to a separate "list" of engineering personnel, as opposed to the earlier Technical List subgroup under the General Duties Branch.
For flexibility, and to ensure that the flying and engineering branches had a better appreciation of their respective operations, Wackett supported the practice of some general duties officers continuing to perform engineering work, and as many technical officers as possible receiving secondary training as aircrew. He was disappointed, however, by the limits imposed by the Air Board on career advancement for his personnel. While the General Duties Branch in the late 1940s was permitted to maintain thirty-seven officer positions of Group Captain and above, the Technical Branch was only allowed fourteen such slots, though both departments had an almost identical overall strength of just under 400 staff. This anomaly led Wackett to submit a dissenting report on the subject to the Air Board, one of the few occasions a board member exercised his right to such a protest. His new organisation caused some other tensions in the RAAF: new airworthiness
considerations frustrated pilots who found their flying time restricted by the introduction of more rigorous maintenance procedures; supply officers feared being "outshone" by the new status accorded to engineers; and so-called "black handers"—old-school technical officers who had risen through the ranks—regarded with disdain the prospect of an influx of "silly young blokes with degrees".
Wackett had been promoted temporary Air Vice Marshal on 1 January 1947; this rank was made substantive following the formation of the Technical Branch. On 31 October 1949, his title was changed from Air Member for Equipment and Maintenance to Air Member for Technical Services (AMTS), in which capacity he would serve until his retirement from the RAAF in 1959. Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1951 King's Birthday Honours, Wackett again worked closely with Air Vice Marshal Hewitt, now the Air Member for Supply and Equipment, to introduce the concept of acquiring spare parts based on "life-of-type", whereby the forecast number and type of spares necessary for an aircraft's projected service life would be ordered when it was first deployed, to reduce costs and delivery time.
In 1953, Wackett established advanced diploma training for twenty-five airmen annually at Melbourne Technical College
, the graduates receiving commissions as Pilot Officer
s. He also began recruiting university-qualified engineers to the Technical Branch, and put in place formal relationships with such bodies as CSIRO
, the Council of Aeronautics (of which he was a member), Aeronautical Research Laboratories, and local aircraft manufacturers de Havilland Australia, Government Aircraft Factories
, and CAC. He further initiated RAAF sponsorship of a chair of aeronautics at the University of Sydney
. Wackett was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1957 New Years Honours. Two years later, his wife Doreen was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her service as Vice President and, from 1948, President of the RAAF Women's Association.
(TAA). He rose to the Vice Chairmanship of ANAC before retiring in 1968. During his term on the Commission, Wackett witnessed the arrival of the Jet Age
to domestic air routes, with TAA taking delivery of its first Boeing 727
in 1964, and its first Douglas DC-9
in 1967. He was also elected a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society
. Like his brother Lawrence, who wrote two books on the subject, Ellis Wackett's chief hobby was angling
. He died in Warracknabeal
, Victoria on 3 August 1984; his wife predeceased him in 1975.
For his commitment to the concept of airworthiness, as an attitude to quality and professionalism that went beyond simply whether aircraft were fit to fly or not, Wackett has been described as one of the "outstanding officers of the post-war era". The establishment of a dedicated Technical Branch, which he founded in 1948, was a key factor in the Air Force developing the ability to successfully manage the maintenance and upgrade of such highly sophisticated aircraft as the General Dynamics F-111
. Wackett's 17-year tenure on the Air Board, which was dissolved in 1976, remained the longest of any officer in the RAAF. He was followed by a series of leaders of the Technical Branch (renamed Engineering Branch in 1966) who shared his vision, including Air Vice Marshals Ernie Hey (1960–1972) and James Rowland (1972–75). Wackett was among those considered as possible successors to Air Marshal
George Jones as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) when the latter was retired in 1952, however Prime Minister Robert Menzies
' federal government chose an RAF officer for the role, Air Marshal Sir Donald Hardman
. In any case, Air Force regulations at that time stipulated that appointees had to belong to the RAAF's General Duties (Aircrew) Branch. In 1975, Air Marshal Rowland was appointed as CAS, though he had to transfer from Engineering to General Duties before this could be formalised. The following year, the requirement for CAS to be a member of the General Duties Branch was removed.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(13 April 1901 – 3 August 1984) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF). Its chief engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
from 1935 to 1959, he served on the RAAF's controlling body, the Air Board, for a record 17 years, and has been credited with infusing operations with new standards of airworthiness
Airworthiness
Airworthiness is a term used to describe whether an aircraft has been certified as suitable for safe flight. Certification is initially conferred by a Certificate of Airworthiness from a National Airworthiness Authority, and is maintained by performing required maintenance actions by a licensed...
. Commencing his service career as a Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
cadet during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Wackett transferred to the Air Force in 1923 while on an engineering course in Britain. He qualified as a pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
before completing his studies and returning to Australia, where he inaugurated parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
instruction within the RAAF and made the country's first freefall descent from a military aircraft in 1926. The following year, he led a three-month survey flight to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
Wackett became the RAAF's senior engineer with his appointment as Director of Technical Services in 1935. A Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
at the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he rose to Air Commodore
Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
by 1942 and assumed the role of Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance. He established the Technical Branch as a separate department of the RAAF in 1948, and was promoted to Air Vice Marshal the same year. Wackett served as Air Member for Technical Services until leaving the military in 1959, having been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Companion of the Order of the Bath. From 1960 to 1968, he was a member of the Australian National Airlines Commission, parent of Trans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines or TAA, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in May 1996. During that period TAA played a major part in the development of the Australian air transport industry...
. Generally known as "Wack", or "EC" (to distinguish him from his elder brother, aircraft designer Lawrence James Wackett
Lawrence Wackett
Sir Lawrence James Wackett KBE, DFC, AFC is widely regarded as "father of the Australian aircraft industry". He has been described as "one of the towering figures in the history of Australian aviation covering, as he did, virtually all aspects of activities: pilot, designer of airframes and...
or "LJ"), his prominent chin and nose also earned him the nickname "Punch
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
". He died in 1984 at the age of 83.
Early career
Born in Townsville, QueenslandQueensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Ellis Wackett entered the Royal Australian Naval College
HMAS Creswell
HMAS Creswell is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy, a part of the Australian Defence Force, and consists of the Royal Australian Naval College , The RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range and an administrative support...
at Jervis Bay
Jervis Bay
Jervis Bay is a large bay bounded by the state of New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, and a detached enclave of the Australian Capital Territory. HMAS Creswell is located between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch in the Jervis Bay Territory.-History:...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in 1914, at age 13. Graduating in 1918, he served as a Midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
aboard the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
HMS Monarch
HMS Monarch (1911)
HMS Monarch was an Orion-class battleship of the Royal Navy. She served in the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet in World War I, and fought at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916, suffering no damage....
and battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
HMS Renown
HMS Renown (1916)
HMS Renown was the lead ship of her class of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the s. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner...
, and later the RAN light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
HMAS Brisbane
HMAS Brisbane (1915)
HMAS Brisbane was a Town class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy . Built in Sydney between 1913 and 1916 to the Chatham subtype design, Brisbane operated in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Australian coastal waters during World War I.Following the end of the war, the cruiser was...
and battlecruiser HMAS Australia
HMAS Australia (1911)
HMAS Australia was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy in 1913...
. He was commissioned a Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
in January 1921, and posted to England for study in July. Wackett was at the Royal Naval Engineering College
Royal Naval Engineering College
The Royal Naval Engineering College was a specialist establishment for the training of Royal Navy engineers. It was founded as Keyham College in 1880, new buildings were opened in Manadon in 1940 and the old college site at Keyham closed in 1958...
, Keyham when he applied to join the RAAF
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
in 1922. Accepted by the Air Force the following year, he finished at Keyham in August and trained as a pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
on Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...
. He then took a one-year post-graduate
Postgraduate education
Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education...
course in aeronautics
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
, before returning to Australia to take up his service as a Flying Officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...
with the RAAF.
Wackett's first role was to establish parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
instruction within the Air Force. His trip home from England had been postponed at the last minute to enable him to be trained; he began instructing volunteers in 1926 at RAAF Richmond
RAAF Base Richmond
RAAF Base Richmond is one of Australia's oldest and largest air force bases. It is located within the City of Hawkesbury in the north-western fringe of Sydney, New South Wales, between the towns of Windsor and Richmond. The base is home to the Royal Australian Air Force's transport headquarters,...
, New South Wales, and made Australia's first freefall descent from a military aircraft—an Airco DH.9
Airco DH.9
The Airco DH.9 - also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 - was a British bomber used in the First World War...
—on 26 May. The Chief of the Air Staff, Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
Richard Williams, himself made a successful jump on 5 August, to set "a good example" prior to making the wearing of parachutes compulsory for all aircrew. On 21 August, Wackett piloted the DH.9 from which Flying Officer Frederick Scherger
Frederick Scherger
Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Rudolph William Scherger KBE, CB, DSO, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force...
made the first public display of parachuting in Australia, at Essendon
Essendon, Victoria
Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...
in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
.
By August 1927, Wackett had been promoted Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
and given command of the Papuan Survey Flight formed at RAAF Laverton, Victoria. Consisting of two Supermarine Seagull III
Supermarine Seagull (1921)
|-Specifications :-See also:-Bibliography:* Andrews, C.F. and Morgan, E.B. Supermarine Aircraft Since 1914. London: Putnam Books Ltd., 2nd revised edition 2003. ISBN 0-851-77800-3....
single-engined amphibious
Amphibious aircraft
An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft that can take off and land on either land or water. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes that are equipped with retractable wheels, at the expense of extra weight and complexity, plus diminished range and fuel economy compared to planes...
biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
s and six aircrew, the flight was to examine and photograph the Papuan and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
n coasts as far north as Aitape
Aitape
Aitape is a small town of about 8,000 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun Province. It is a coastal settlement that is almost equidistant from the provincial capitals of Wewak and Vanimo, and marks the midpoint of the highway between these two capitals...
and, if possible, Bougainville
Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
. Stripped of all equipment considered non-essential—including radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
sets—to increase range, the aircraft departed on 27 September and journeyed some 17700 kilometres (10,998.3 mi), covering almost 130000 square kilometre of country and taking 350 photos. Wackett's machine (serial A9-5) returned to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on 26 December and the other (A9–6) on 19 January 1928. Inclement weather prevented the expedition from reaching Bougainville, and thick jungle cover limited the usefulness of its photographic record. Nevertheless, the Air Force learned valuable lessons concerning the Seagull's capabilities in a potential wartime role, as it was found to be unsuited to operations in the tropics.
On 14 August 1928, Wackett married Doreen Dove; the couple would have two sons and a daughter. In 1933, Wackett was posted to England to attend RAF Staff College, Andover
RAF Staff College, Andover
The RAF Staff College at RAF Andover was the first Royal Air Force staff college to be established. Its role was the training of officers in the administrative, staff and policy apects of air force matters.-Foundation:...
. Returning to Australia, he was promoted Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
and became Director of Technical Services, an organisation within the RAAF's Supply Branch, in May 1935; the appointment made Wackett the Air Force's senior engineer. The same year, he took charge of the Resources Committee for Electrical Equipment, Scientific and Optical Instruments, one of a number of subcommittees on the federal government's Defence Resources Board set up to investigate and report on the readiness of Australian industry to provide munitions for defence in the event of international conflict.
World War II
Ranked Wing CommanderWing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
at the outbreak of World War II, Wackett immediately faced major supply challenges in his role as Director of Technical Services. Spare parts for the RAAF's mainly British-built equipment were now in short supply, a fact complicated by the infancy of the local aircraft industry and a US arms embargo. His Directorate made whatever use it could of civilian repair facilities, setting up central recovery depots to salvage spares from damaged aircraft and other equipment. He also drew on the advice and support of his brother Lawrence, who had established the RAAF's technical services organisation in the 1920s and now, having retired from the Air Force, headed the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines.-History:...
(CAC). By late 1940, Wackett had been promoted temporary Group Captain, and joined the Flying Personnel Research Committee. Its members, drawn from the flying, medical, scientific and technical disciplines, were to study and report upon such factors as aircrew safety, comfort, fatigue, survival, motion sickness
Motion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
, decompression
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
and hypoxia
Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
.
Wackett was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1941 New Years Honours. In June, he became the RAAF's representative on the federal Aircraft Advisory Committee, set up to assist the Director-General of Aircraft Production. As well as members from governmental and scientific bodies, the committee included delegates from aircraft manufacturers such as de Havilland Australia
De Havilland Australia
De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd was part of de Havilland, then became a separate company. It was purchased by Boeing and is now Hawker de Havilland Aerospace Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Boeing Australia Ltd-Early Years and WWII:...
and CAC, with Lawrence Wackett acting as Chief Technical Advisor. Later that year, the two brothers joined various academics on the newly formed Australian Council for Aeronautics, established by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Curtin
John Curtin
John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...
to advise government, educational and scientific organisations on technical developments in the aircraft industry.
Raised to Air Commodore
Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
, Wackett was appointed Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance (AME) on 4 June 1942. As AME, he sat on the Air Board, the RAAF's controlling body, which consisted of its most senior officers and was chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff. His new position had been created to replace that of the Director-General of Supply and Production, a civilian post. Wackett would serve on the Air Board for the next seventeen years, a record tenure for the RAAF, his experience and intellect making him, in the words of Air Force historian Alan Stephens, "singularly adept at bringing a committee around to his point of view". During the war, the Air Board oversaw expansion from a complement in 1939 of 246 obsolescent machines such as CAC Wirraway
CAC Wirraway
The Wirraway was a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation between 1939 and 1946...
s, Avro Anson
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and numerous other air forces prior to, during, and after the Second World War. Named for British Admiral George Anson, it was originally designed for maritime reconnaissance, but was...
s and Lockheed Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
s, to a strength in 1945 of 5,620 sophisticated aircraft including Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
s, P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
s, de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
es and B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
s; to support this force, the RAAF had provided all-through training for 18,000 technical staff, and further education for 35,000 more schooled initially outside the service.
Post-war career
Following the end of the war, Wackett contributed to "Plan D", the blueprint for restructuring the RAAF sponsored by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George JonesGeorge Jones (RAAF officer)
Air Marshal Sir George Jones KBE, CB, DFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force . He rose from private soldier in World War I to Air Marshal in 1948, and served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1942 to 1952, the longest continuous tenure of any RAAF chief...
. A major facet of Plan D, adopted in June 1947, was its encouragement of local industry to design and build military trainers and produce more sophisticated combat aircraft under licence from overseas manufacturers. This policy would eventually lead to the Winjeel
CAC Winjeel
|-See also:-External links:* http://www.warbirdalley.com/winjeel.htm* http://www.dropbears.com/f/felix_noble/winjeel.htm* http://www.raafmuseum.com.au/raaf2/html/body_winjeel.htm...
basic trainer and Australian co-partnership in production of the CAC Sabre
CAC Sabre
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Allward, Maurice. F-86 Sabre. London: Ian Allen, 1978. ISBN 0-71100-860-4.* Curtis, Duncan. North American F-86 Sabre. Ramsbury, UK: Crowood, 2000. ISBN 1-86126-358-9....
jet fighter and GAF Canberra
English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...
jet bomber. Wackett also supported Air Vice Marshal Joe Hewitt
Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)
Air Vice Marshal Joseph Eric Hewitt, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force...
, the Air Member for Personnel, in fostering apprenticeships as part of the "education revolution" that took place in the RAAF during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Apprentice Training Scheme, designed to raise the standard of technical roles in the Air Force, opened early in 1948 at the Ground Training School in RAAF Station Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga
RAAF Base Wagga is located in the New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, in the suburb of Forest Hill.The RAAF no longer controls the airfield which, although still owned by the Commonwealth of Australia, is currently leased to the Wagga Wagga City Council...
, New South Wales to provide education and technical training for youths aged 15 to 17. By 1952, it had been renamed the RAAF School of Technical Training.
Wackett played a key role in establishing technical services as a distinct department within the RAAF, rather than forming part of the Supply Branch as in previous years. Mindful of the increasing responsibility that was being placed on scientific and technical resources in the modern Air Force, he had raised the question of a specialist engineering branch immediately after the war, and in March 1946 gained broad approval for its establishment. After eighteen months of work defining its scope and responsibilities, the Technical Branch was formed under Wackett's leadership on 23 September 1948, his goals being to "to support the operational power of the RAAF by providing the most efficient technical organisation possible" and "to increase the effectiveness of air power through technical development". This in turn led to a separate "list" of engineering personnel, as opposed to the earlier Technical List subgroup under the General Duties Branch.
For flexibility, and to ensure that the flying and engineering branches had a better appreciation of their respective operations, Wackett supported the practice of some general duties officers continuing to perform engineering work, and as many technical officers as possible receiving secondary training as aircrew. He was disappointed, however, by the limits imposed by the Air Board on career advancement for his personnel. While the General Duties Branch in the late 1940s was permitted to maintain thirty-seven officer positions of Group Captain and above, the Technical Branch was only allowed fourteen such slots, though both departments had an almost identical overall strength of just under 400 staff. This anomaly led Wackett to submit a dissenting report on the subject to the Air Board, one of the few occasions a board member exercised his right to such a protest. His new organisation caused some other tensions in the RAAF: new airworthiness
Airworthiness
Airworthiness is a term used to describe whether an aircraft has been certified as suitable for safe flight. Certification is initially conferred by a Certificate of Airworthiness from a National Airworthiness Authority, and is maintained by performing required maintenance actions by a licensed...
considerations frustrated pilots who found their flying time restricted by the introduction of more rigorous maintenance procedures; supply officers feared being "outshone" by the new status accorded to engineers; and so-called "black handers"—old-school technical officers who had risen through the ranks—regarded with disdain the prospect of an influx of "silly young blokes with degrees".
Wackett had been promoted temporary Air Vice Marshal on 1 January 1947; this rank was made substantive following the formation of the Technical Branch. On 31 October 1949, his title was changed from Air Member for Equipment and Maintenance to Air Member for Technical Services (AMTS), in which capacity he would serve until his retirement from the RAAF in 1959. Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1951 King's Birthday Honours, Wackett again worked closely with Air Vice Marshal Hewitt, now the Air Member for Supply and Equipment, to introduce the concept of acquiring spare parts based on "life-of-type", whereby the forecast number and type of spares necessary for an aircraft's projected service life would be ordered when it was first deployed, to reduce costs and delivery time.
In 1953, Wackett established advanced diploma training for twenty-five airmen annually at Melbourne Technical College
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
, the graduates receiving commissions as Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
s. He also began recruiting university-qualified engineers to the Technical Branch, and put in place formal relationships with such bodies as CSIRO
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is the national government body for scientific research in Australia...
, the Council of Aeronautics (of which he was a member), Aeronautical Research Laboratories, and local aircraft manufacturers de Havilland Australia, Government Aircraft Factories
Government Aircraft Factories
Government Aircraft Factories was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia based at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to World War II, during which it was known as the Department of Aircraft Production...
, and CAC. He further initiated RAAF sponsorship of a chair of aeronautics at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. Wackett was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1957 New Years Honours. Two years later, his wife Doreen was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her service as Vice President and, from 1948, President of the RAAF Women's Association.
Later life and legacy
When Wackett left the Air Force on 31 December 1959, he was its longest-serving officer. The next year he joined the Australian National Airlines Commission (ANAC), the controlling body of the federal government's domestic carrier, Trans Australia AirlinesTrans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines or TAA, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in May 1996. During that period TAA played a major part in the development of the Australian air transport industry...
(TAA). He rose to the Vice Chairmanship of ANAC before retiring in 1968. During his term on the Commission, Wackett witnessed the arrival of the Jet Age
Jet age
The Jet Age is a period of history defined by the social change brought about by the advent of large aircraft powered by turbine engines. These aircraft are able to fly much higher, faster, and farther than older piston-powered propliners, making transcontinental and inter-continental travel...
to domestic air routes, with TAA taking delivery of its first Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
in 1964, and its first Douglas DC-9
McDonnell Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engine, single-aisle jet airliner. It was first manufactured in 1965 with its maiden flight later that year. The DC-9 was designed for frequent, short flights. The final DC-9 was delivered in October 1982.The DC-9 was followed in subsequent modified forms by...
in 1967. He was also elected a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society
Royal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
. Like his brother Lawrence, who wrote two books on the subject, Ellis Wackett's chief hobby was angling
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
. He died in Warracknabeal
Warracknabeal, Victoria
Warracknabeal is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee districts, and hosts local government offices of the Shire...
, Victoria on 3 August 1984; his wife predeceased him in 1975.
For his commitment to the concept of airworthiness, as an attitude to quality and professionalism that went beyond simply whether aircraft were fit to fly or not, Wackett has been described as one of the "outstanding officers of the post-war era". The establishment of a dedicated Technical Branch, which he founded in 1948, was a key factor in the Air Force developing the ability to successfully manage the maintenance and upgrade of such highly sophisticated aircraft as the General Dynamics F-111
General Dynamics F-111
The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" was a medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft that also filled the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare in its various versions. Developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics, it first entered service in 1967 with the...
. Wackett's 17-year tenure on the Air Board, which was dissolved in 1976, remained the longest of any officer in the RAAF. He was followed by a series of leaders of the Technical Branch (renamed Engineering Branch in 1966) who shared his vision, including Air Vice Marshals Ernie Hey (1960–1972) and James Rowland (1972–75). Wackett was among those considered as possible successors to Air Marshal
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
George Jones as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) when the latter was retired in 1952, however Prime Minister Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
' federal government chose an RAF officer for the role, Air Marshal Sir Donald Hardman
Donald Hardman
Air Chief Marshal Sir James Donald Innes Hardman GBE, KCB, DFC was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He began his flying career as a fighter pilot in World War I, achieving nine victories to become an ace. During World War II, Hardman held staff and operational posts...
. In any case, Air Force regulations at that time stipulated that appointees had to belong to the RAAF's General Duties (Aircrew) Branch. In 1975, Air Marshal Rowland was appointed as CAS, though he had to transfer from Engineering to General Duties before this could be formalised. The following year, the requirement for CAS to be a member of the General Duties Branch was removed.