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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0151.PDF
"LIGHT, 3 February 1961 151 swamp. Tker.e *s one a'rstrip between the two places, and thisi'V near Victoria Point, 100 miles north of Phuket. Airborne from Phuket at 0915, we flew steadily northwards,secause of low cloud at 700ft we found we could not pass the ", 000ft hills ahead and were soon forced out over the sea. Rainstarted and visibility dropped to half-a-mile, but always there was hat light patch ahead which makes one go on. Opposite Ko PraThong Island, 20 miles west of track, the weather improved, visi- bility rose to four miles and then to forty. With the cloud basewe rose to 2,000ft, and the rain stopped. Our spirits rose with the weather and we started to steam in a damp cockpit. We picked up the site of the old wartime Japanese airstrip atKam Phuam, the grass field at Victoria Point and a Dakota strip, and then we crossed into Burma. Past the British airstrip ofTurrets (under water) and out over the uninhabited swamplands towards Sir Robert Campbell Island. Strange, but we could notsee any more land beyond the island, just the grey sea. As we got over the island we realized diat the grey sea and the greywall of a huge thunderstorm had joined up. We could not skirt it and so into it we plunged. We were thrown about until ourteeth rattled. My thoughts went back to our QFI, Maj Howard Southall back in Kuala Lumpur, saying: "Only fly into whitestorms; watch the greys, they are dangerous." This one, I realized, was black! The shaking lasted for fully ten minutes and it was a tributeto the makers of the aircraft that it did not collapse. That glow of light ahead appeared just as the thought of turning back arose,and so on we continued. Finally it did get rather lighter, Malcolm Island went past and, still in fair rain, we got to within 20 milesof Mergui. This time the monsoon really struck us, or we struck it. Rain in solid sheets, cloudbase 300ft, forward visibility downto 50yd, and I could just see the surface of the sea when looking down through the side window. The rain got through every crackin the cabin, of course, and we were wet through. This was hopeless, for my map showed a hill 1,242ft betweenus and Mergui. I groped for my radio facilities manual and hastily looked up Mergui—VHF homer on 117.9! Excellent. I nickedthe channel selector and pressed the transmit button for an aerial BURMA MONSOON ...i BAIN ANDTUPBULLNCE Leg of the flight from Phuket, Thailand, to Mergui, Burma, along the Mergui Archipelago, showing intended track (solid line) and actual track (dotted). Refuelling facilities varied: in good company at Dum Dum Airport, Karachi (upper photograph) and more-basic service at Gaya reading, only to get a despairing shriek in the earphones and nota flick on die needle. Water, water in everything; the set, the jump leads, and even die mask. By this time things were getting out of hand, and I was havinggreat difficulty controlling the machine in the turbulence and with the water so close. I laid a DR course to Julian Island,opposite the 1,242ft feature, and drove at die island with my fingers crossed. We came on to what must have been the island,100ft higher than us as it suddenly loomed up ahead, and I hastily sheered off on a further DR course for Mergui field. Past SelloreIsland, though we didn't see it, and then die surface of the sea gave way to swamp and we were over die land. We counted theestuaries as they came into our "pool of view," one, two, three and a big one, a golden pagoda and then a bit of metal runway—but we had gone past it. A 180° turn and back again, and diere it was; a sharp turn,engine off, flaps down and so were we. We switched off on die runway but, with the noise of die rain drowning everything, onecouldn't tell die engine had stopped except by looking at the stationary propeller blade. We got out and went to look for dieairfield control tower; it was half-way down the strip, in an attap (thatch) hut. The occupants were certainly pleased to see us,for we were an hour overdue. We stayed at Mergui for two days and watched ten inches ofrain fall in 48hr, but it was so wonderful just to watch the rain come down and be standing firmly on the ground. During ourstay we sampled Burmese hospitality for the first time. Customs men fixed us up witii somewhere to live (die magistrates' circuithouses); and aerodrome managers provided free transport into town, by jeep or pony cart, and took us to their club in the eveningand to die temples and the golden pagodas. On the third day die monsoon cleared and we took off forTavoy, and widi clear weadier beyond we ran to Moulmein, Rangoon and on to Akyab, and then past die line of the Burma/Siam "deadi railway," the railway no longer there but its scar just visible through die jungle, winding its way up into the hills.After the huge cemetery at die old junction of the line to Sandaways we flew out of Burma into East Pakistan. Suddenlywe were flying over paddy fields, and soon we started a gentle descent into Chittagong. We were flying high by diis time andthe instrument panel was liberally daubed with pencil marks— one for each time die engine misfired. Water had entered theworks somewhere and there were now huge quantities of it in die fuel, presumably due to the rain. Daily drainage invariably pro-duced an eggcup-full of water (and once produced a petrol-pipe- sized beetle). The frequency of engine misfires rose to a peak often per hour. We became involved in a fair slanging-match on die RT wididie controller at Chittagong, widi one of the better Peter Sellers voices saying: "You have not got permission to land from myGovernment." Where he expected us to go I am not sure, but we certainly had no fuel to divert to anodier country. With a cheer-ful "We're coming in," we landed. That did it. We were besieged by angry customs men, immigration officials, controllers, in facteveryone seemed angry that day except die refuelling man, who said: "Don't worry, they're always like diat." It took an hourof argument, waving my clearance paper at diem, before we were clear. We did not leave immediately, although we were sorely temptedafter that treatment, for the nose cowl had developed a large crack. We were fortunate diat one of die oil companies had a Dovestationed on the field, togedier widi a ground engineer, and here we had a fine patch, strong enough for a battleship, riveted on dienose in about 40 minutes. (To be concluded)
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