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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1009.PDF
FLIGHT, 7 August 1953 163 LONG TREK TWO Three Thousand Miles Round Africa by Vampire: A Coronation Odyssey UP the mighty Nile to its source in Equatorial Africa, then east across the Dark Continent to the coral sands of the old Arab slave-coast of Zanzibar—that was the way No. 14 Squadron's pilots flew to Operation " Long Trek " into British East Africa. The 3,000-odd-mile journey was accomplished so that the Vampire fighters could provide aerial displays to coincide with local Coronation celebrations in the main towns of Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika. In addition, it gave the squadron valuable experience in long-range fighter navigation over varying terrain and proved to be a good test of unit mobility. For the purpose of the trip and the displays the squadron was split into three flights—one for each province—each consisting of five Vampires, with their air and ground crews. These latter, with the spares and baggage, were carried by Valettas, two of which accompanied each flight. The first party, bound for Nairobi, capital of Kenya Colony, was led by S/L. S. M. Hope, M.B.E., A.F.C., die squadron commander, and with him were F/O.s. H. G. Moss, M. F. McD. Palmer and E. R. Short. These four form one of the two forma tion aerobatic teams which die squadron flies in M.E.A.F. dis plays. In the fifth aircraft was Sgt. Pit. Alan Dyer, a young pilot who recently joined the squadron. These five left Nicosia on May 24th, and on the next day the second five headed off for the capital of Tanganyika Dependency—Dar-es-Salaam— the coastal port opposite the island of Zanzibar, some 400 miles to the south east of Nairobi. Commanding this party was F/O. D. E. Hume, the other aircraft being flown by F/O.s. J. L. N. Harris, J. N. Tanner and P. L. McFarland. These four do formation fly-pasts and individual aerobatics. The second formation aerobatic team was led by one of the flight commanders, F/L. T. R. Rabone (who was awarded the A.F.C. in the Coronation Honours list). His team consists of Sgt. Ph. Thompson, F/O. L. M. Gillard and F/O. Soden. The fifth aircraft was flown by another young newcomer to the squadron, P/O. Smith. This team was to perform around Entebbe in the protectorate of Uganda, and left for there on May 26th. In the R.A.F. Valettas accompanying each flight were the fitters and riggers of each Vampire in that party, together with a team of specialist tradesmen—wireless mechanics, eleccricians, instrument repairers, etc. Each ground party was in charge of a qualified senior N.C.O. responsible for servicing to the engineering warrant officer, W/O. C. R. Carter, who was in the Dar-es-Salaam party. Also in the party was S/L. M. F. Furlong, the R.N.Z.A.F. liaison officer in M.E.A.F. The flights were staggered one day apart to allow for the limited refuelling facilities at some points. The journey to the furthest base had been broken into seven legs with a refuelling stop at the end of each and an overnight stay at three of them. The longest of these legs was 740 statute miles and the shortest Below) A pause during maintenance work on one of the Vampires at R.A.F. Eastleigh, Nairobi. (Lower right) Maoris in the squadron ground crew with a gazelle-horn trophy. The markings of the aircraft include the name "Moo Loo" (a mythical cow—mascot of a N.Z. rugger team); the squadron crest; and the "Twiga" emblem of Tanganyika province presented to each "6'" Flight aircraft by the people of Dar-es-Salaam. (Right) Vampires getting airborne at Eastleigh churned up clouds of red dust causing difficulty during stacked take-offs and stream landings. THIS graphic account of a Coronation " flag-showing " and aerobatic demonstration tour by IS Vampires of No. 14 Sqn., R.N.Z.A.F., from Middle East Air Force was written by one of the pilots, F/O. M. F. McD. Palmer. It emphasizes, among other things, the reliability of these aircraft even when operating under unaccustomed conditions. 355, while the total distance to Dar-es-Salaam was 3,330. The longest day's flying was a total of 1,400 miles in three legs—each of which meant four hours in the air in the cramped cockpit of the Vampire. This particular flight was on the first day—from Nicosia to Khartoum, with refuelling at Abu Sueir in the Canal Zone and at Wadi Haifa. Wadi Haifa, incidentally, was originally laid down around 1930 as a staging-post for the old Imperial Airways flying-boats which used to put down on the Nile there on their way to Khartoum and the south. The Vampires in actual fact flew almost the same route pioneered over 25 years ago by the flying-boats. The trip to Khartoum took the jets over the hot, rainless deserts of Egypt and Northern Sudan, the great area of monotonous yellow-brown sand, and granite mountains twisted into fantastic shapes by the action of sun, wind and sand. The sun here shines relendessly in a cloudless sky, turning the dust and sand suspended in the air into a reddish mist reaching to over 30,000 ft, the height at which the Vampires flew. There are few landmarks except the narrow cultivated belt beside the Nile. The flight arrived there about 11.00 hr. local time, and stepped out of the refrigerated cockpits of their Vampires into the dry, searing heat of an oven: 115 deg F in the shade! The heat smote them beneath the nose with an intensity that made their eyes water. Everyone there was in a continuous sweat—even the Sudanese. There was no relief from the heat: indoors the fans merely circulated hot air and even in the shade metal objects were almost untouchable. The sheets on the bed were hot, the cold water was hot (there was, in fact, only one tap anyway). Of course, as one local inhabitant put it, " it's quite nice in the evening you know, the temperature drops 20 degrees—right down to 95. Yet here is the seat of government for Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and the town of Khartoum is quite a fine affair with broad avenues
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