Talk:David Evans (RAAF officer)

Page Naming and Redirecting
I have created this page as Selwyn Evans as numerous links from other pages directed to this page. David Evans was his preferred name so I have also redirected Selwyn David Evans to here, but not David Evans as there are so many of them. It may be worth starting a David Evans (RAAF Officer) page and redirecting it and/or moving this page entirely.

Any thoughts or advice from more experienced editors/admins are welcomed. --Oliver Nouther (talk) 01:28, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Airmen Aircrew
I don't know what Alan Stephens actually wrote in your reference 27 (and knowing Alan, I doubt that he would be wrong), but incorrect inferences can easily be drawn from what is stated here about airmen aircrew, both in transport and helicopter aircraft, and wrt flight engineers in maritime aircraft. Do you mean that Evans caused the introduction of airmen aircrew in the early 1960's, or at any later date? The implication in the article as it stands is that he did something like this in 1982, but I think you will find that all he did was add sensor operators to the established airmen aircrew scheme. In fact, flight engineers and crewmen in maritime, transport and helicopter operations were virtually all airmen aircrew throughout, whereas the implication in the article is that they were previously all commissioned.Lexysexy (talk) 01:09, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi mate. I have to admit that it sounded odd to me because I had always known flight engineers, etc, to be non-comms but then I was only working with the Air Force in the '90s so figured a change must've occurred earlier. I've checked the ref again and it's actually Evans himself speaking at the conference (the publication being edited by Stephens) and the former CAS seems pretty unequivocal. On page 45 he says "And indeed, there was the odd cell of resistance that I found intolerable. The first of these - and almost the last - concerned the decision to depart from the long-standing practice of having the whole crew of Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft (LRMPA) commissioned: that is, all sensor operators, flight engineers, etc. We were the only air force in the world to do so. [...] I favoured the change very strongly." To me the inference is clearly that at one stage all members of maritime crews were commissioned, and that after the introduction of this airmen aircrew scheme some (such as sensor operators and flight engineers) were not. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 04:40, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * G'day Ian. I think it likely that, in the heat of the moment when speaking, Evans overstepped the mark. For the whole of my service (and NCO pilots had just been abolished when I graduated), P3 and Neptune flight engineers were airmen aircrew (indeed a couple came to my squadron in a change of role), as well as the various others mentioned above. What he said was true about sensor operators, however. Until we find another contra reference, I think it would be worthwhile to rewrite what you have so that the transport and chopper crews at least are excluded from any implication therein.Lexysexy (talk) 07:03, 19 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me, tks for confirming. Obviously I can't do a lot to alter what the source says so I think I might just comment out the whole bit, as the article hardly stands or falls on it. I'm planning to see if I can get hold of his autobiography and use it to expand the article for FAC anyway (and at the same time check what he says there about the scheme)... ;-) Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 11:16, 19 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Ian, I note that the line: "the scheme was later extended to the crews of transport aircraft and helicopters" is still in. It is incorrect, and should be removed, see my earlier comments above.Lexysexy (talk) 23:08, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Tks mate. I'm guessing my last edit popped up on your watchlist... ;-) That was a bit of prep work as I've now got a copy of his autobiography and am going through it per my previous comment above... Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 23:44, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Roger that. CheersLexysexy (talk) 23:27, 17 April 2012 (UTC)
 * None the wiser on this anomaly after reading the autobiography but, in any case, I don't think it's of great interest to the general reader so have simply removed it. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 02:35, 9 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Good decision mate. I read the Autob as well, and it is unclear what he meant to include in his commentary.Lexysexy (talk) 11:05, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

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