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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0024.PDF
Rash Job to Singapore after leaving London, and at 21.15Z Ferries gave the signal for "chocks away," which was an hour and a quarter behind schedule. We had picked up ten minutes. At Malta we dropped off another passenger, who stayed behind with a severe toothache, and made arrangements for him to be picked up by a later service. By the time we were on course for Damascus, I was already in my bed, and lulled by the quiet drone of our four Pratt and Whitney K.2000/7S, I was soon asleep. Actually the Skymaster is one of the quietest of transport aircraft. Normal conversation is possible in the cockpit between pilots and engineer, and in the passenger cabin, even a whisper will suffice. Into Syrian Territory CrSte and Cyprus went by in the darkness to the. accom- paniment of sundry snores and wheezes from my crew, and then, just before the sun rose the mountains of Lebanon showed themselves over our nose. Ferries was, by this time, scanning the approaching coastline for the small town of Sidon, which was our entry point in<o Syrian territory. Failure to observe our check points would, we had been warned, result in ourselves being the target of anti-aircraft guns, but privately we had heard it rumoured that machine guns were more likely to be Ihe weapon. Leaving Beirut to port, we were soon over the 9,000ft mountains, and then there was Damascus on the other side, nestling like a green bird amidst the sandstone hills and the desert, which stretched out to the east for hundreds of miles. We landed on the 2,000-yard runway at Mezze, and an Arab peasant ploughing his field stopped to watch us as our wing swept over his furrows on our way up the peri- meter track. This time we landed only 15 minutes behind schedule, owing to strong westerly winds; our aircraft was behaving perfectly. Fifty-five minutes later, after an English breakfast in the " French cafe " on the airport and a stringent war-like passport check, we were off again for Basra. The weather was CAVU, and the scene was most peaceful except for the presence of a Harvard on the apron. A bombing attack had apparently been made a few weeks before, but with the exception of a burnt-out haystack, no damage had been done. Not that the attack was witn- A full load, composed of members of the Palestine Police Force, about to embark in the Skymaster for Singapore. January 6th, 1949 The Skymaster carried two crews, each consisting of captain, radio operator and navigator, while a first officer, flight engineer and steward worked with both crews. The author is in the centre of the group. out some repercussions, however, for the farmer owner of the haystack was so incensed by the destruc- tion of a week's work that he leapt on his camel and was last seen vanishing in a cloud of dust on his way to the "front." After a four-hour flight over monotonous desert, relieved only occasionally at the eastern end by twisting, muddy rivers, we flew past the mammoth R.A.F. base at Shaibah, and landed without inci- dent at Margil Airport, on the banks of the Shatt- al-Arab. The temperature stood at 120 deg F in the shade, and we could feel every one of those degrees. It was hot! To describe in detail our brief stopover at Basra would be to give it a prominence which already, after our com- paratively brief flight from London, we did not attach to it. By then our flight had become a matter of routine in which the various stopovers for refuelling, etc., ware only a small detail. Our one idea was to get to Singapore and get back, and we had soon adjusted our daily life to our flying hotel, so that there was no strain involved. Thus, we spent only the minimum time on the ground, and as soon as the necessary servicing had been completed, and the passengers fed, we climbed on board as rapidly as possible, and those who were not working went to bed. From this point on, operating standards deteriorated as far as facilities available were concerned. We were briefed that the Radio Range was unserviceable at Karachi, the Radio Beacon was unreliable, the VHF was out of action, and no Homer existed. With all this, the weather forecast gave 10/10 at 1,000ft, occasional rain and visibility 1-2 miles. In view of the fact that our arrival was to be some time after dark, the overall situation was somewhat mar- ginal ; but, knowing that rather better facilities existed at the military airfield of Mauripur, to the west "of Karachi, we considered that our departure was warranted. On take-off, our nosewheel came up into its housing with what is commonly known as a " graunching " sound, which indicated some trouble with the fairings. This was con- firmed later at Karachi It was dark not long after we
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