Portrait of Flight Lieutenant Ali Torr

Portrait in graphite on heavy guage paper.

Portrait of Flight Lieutenant Ali Torr
Graphite on heavyweight paper accompanied by Giclee print

297mm x 420mm (portrait)

420mm x 600mm (print of portrait and bio/logbook/badges)

FLTLT Alice 'Ali' Torr joined the RAAF in 2002 and started pilots' course at Tamworth's Basic Flying Training School after which she began advanced flight training at No 2 Flying Training School at RAAF Base PEARCE in Perth, Western Australia.

After graduating and earning her wings, she was posted to Air Lift Group's No 38 Squadron operating the De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou transport aircraft.

Considered an old aircraft even when Ali was born, the Caribou was slow... but that's what made it a remarkable aircraft. It was this quality that saw it so useful in supporting ground troops. The slower you can fly, the shorter the airfield you need... and when the troops on the ground can't always find a convenient airfield - or even a farmer's field - a short, dirt track can become a runway for the Caribou.

Even pilots who did not want to fly Caribous, but who were posted to Caribou squadrons by the air force due to operational reasons, soon grew to respect and love the 'Bou - as it was affectionately called.

Ali was happy to be posted to Caribous and in her time with 38 Squadron amassed an amazing 1000 hrs on the aircraft type flying in Papua New Guinea, on Army support missions and civilian aid missions. She attained C Category Captaincy and was one of the more experienced pilots when the faithful Caribou was retired from operational service.

Ali was one of the last pilots to fly the classic warbird for Australia.

To see the framed pencil portrait, see below.

To see another image of the Caribou in its final livery, click here.

To see another portrait of another member Caribou aircrew, click here.

Pencil portrait reproduced and placed alongside RAAF wings, RAAF and No 38 Squadron crest with a brief bio on FLTLT Torr and a profile of the Caribou. Below all these is an extract from her Flight Record Log Book showing the page that included her 1000th flight hour. This sort of print makes a great present for proud mums and dads!

Detail from the print.

Independent Productions and Aviation Services is the website of Conway Bown, Australian Army Official War Artist and Aviation Consultant. Services include portrait painting and other portraiture, aviation services such as CRM - Crew Resource Management - and Helicopter Underwater Escape Training - HUET - which may include Emergency Breathing Systems - EBS - training using Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Devices - HABD - or Helicopter Emergency Egress Device - HEEDs.

During 2006, Conway Bown deployed to the Middle East as the Australian Army's Official War Artist, what the US Armed Forces call Combat Artist. This website features the artwork created during this project as part of the Australian Army's Official Art Scheme.

For more information on War Art, Combat Artists, Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), Emergency Breathing Systems (EBS) or Crew Resource Management (CRM), please visit the relevant webpages: