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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2268.PDF
i6 November 1951 611 "Ma," one of the company's Dakotas, on the airfield at Skardu; a native carrier is taking the last load of flour from the freighter. Mt. Haramosh and neighbouring peaks form a dramatic backcloth to the scene. cemetery. To this the locals agreed. Unfortunately, the construction gangs were not sufficiently liberal with the dressing of earth they laid over the cemetery, and the result was that the dead of Skardu are sometimes more than dis- turbed—by the wheels of heavily-laden Dakotas breaking through into their graves ! Skardu airstrip lies at 7,000ft a.s.L, and was, originally, only 900yd long; now this mud-flat strip has been lengthened to 1,600yd. Putting down a Dakota on 900yd at 7,000ft a.s.l. on a hot, turbulent afternoon when there is no "going round again," and with a load of 6,5001b, is quite good practice, and few of the pilots on the Airlift now have to use the extension. Landing is invariably made to the south-east, regardless of the wind, and take-off in the opposite direction. From the pilot's point of view, Gilgit is simpler. The air- strip there comprises 2,000yd of grass and sand and, although it slopes to the north and is rough and bumpy, it is adequate. But the approaches are difficult, for high ground blocks both ends to within 500yd of the runway. Two-way Fuel • :: ~ * On neither of these strips is there airfield equipment : no hangars, no radio control, no maintenance or re-fuelling facilities. Our aircraft carry a good reserve of fuel, so that they can make the return trip in the event of emergency during the outward flight from Peshawar. When snow covers Skardu you must decide from the air whether it is safe to land, and if the decision is "no," then you promptly turn back to base. From the plains to Gilgit takes 14 days by mule caravan. By air the time is i| hours. From Skardu to Peshawar would take the better part of a month by caravan; by air it takes two hours, given good weather. Freight carried has included steel rope, cows, beds, tin trunks, rice, spices, and skins. The steel-rope cargo incidentally, was in three 2,000-lb drums which broke loose during extreme turbulence and threatened to roll through the side of the aircraft into the Indus, iSsOooft below. Passengers range from government officials to shepherds on the first leg of their pilgrimage to Mecca. In view of the terrain, and the complete lack of airfield facilities, it is perhaps creditable, if not remarkable, that the Airlift has completed 12 million passenger-miles without one mishap, apart from disturbing a few of Skardu's dead. Of course, the pilots have had their moments. We experienced three engine failures during periods of bad weather, when the Dakota needed every ounce of power available; we had a forced landing at Chila, because of bad weather. But such incidents, fortunately, provided nothing more than temporary excitement. The Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, General Sir Douglas Gracey, has referred to the Airlift as "Operation Guts." But my most vivid memories of over a thousand pRhts on the job are of the thousand arguments with airstrip labour—and of ten thousand mountains stretching away into tte dim recesses of Tibet, China, and the Soviet Union, many of them never before seen by Man. (Above) Part of the 20,000ft range overlooking the Kagan Valley, photographed by the author, from the north, at 18,000ft. (Below) The Skardu Valley as seen by Orient Airways' pilots approaching from the west.
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