Wing Commander Don Pollock. Tales of Wallaby Airlines, Vietnam

Introducing Wing Commander Don Pollock.    Don joined 41 Pilots Course, RAAF in 1961.  Previously he had been an Industrial Arts Teacher in NSW.    After graduation Don was posted to Transport Aircraft and in 1964 joined the first Air Force contingent to Vietnam on Caribous.  He has some tales to tell about those early days in Vietnam.  A lot of “by the seat of your pants get the job done”, short or almost non existent runways, plenty bullets, long hours, lots of flying, often scary, and a very different social life.     From Vietnam then to New Guinea.  Similar flying to Vietnam except no bullets.   Don had a big change of pace in 1967 when he became a flying instructor on jets.   After that a few more adventures were in store on choppers at RAAF Fairbairn including how Don describes it as “one and a half crashes”.   Don then had a series of postings on choppers and finally Air Force Staff College.  From 1979 to 1982, he was Advisor to Chief of Air Force on Air Transport Operations.   Don resigned from the Air Force in 1982 with the rank of Wing Commander.   His time after leaving the Air Force reads like a whirlwind from School Teacher to Managing Snack Bars to Ag Pilot (more crashes) to Flight Instructor, managing many Air Displays and Flight Safety. Don’s other Interests are Bushwalking, Gold Prospecting, Aviation History, Aviation Stamps, Flying Displays, Collector of Aviation Memorabilia, Skiing (Cross Country), Reading History and Survival training.