FLIGHT SCHEDULE
JANUARY 14th 1966 - JANUARY 29th 1966
The Route
L.A.P - Basle - Idris - Leopoldville - Johannesburg - Luanda
(Angola) - Recife - Rio De Janeiro - Winhoek - Johannesburg -
Leopolville - Idris - Basle - L.A.P
The flights to Jo'burg were routine and uneventful.
Before departure Jo'burg we asked operations
about the situation in Luanda with regard to the Civil War in
that area, also what navigation aids were likely to be available
on the Rio - Winhoek flight. The only nav aid available on the
African side was a non directional beacon situated at Walvis Bay
to the North West of Winhoek. It appeared from NOTAMS that this
beacon was erratic, but efforts would be made to ensure its operation
for our return flight. The sector from Jo-burg - Luanda was uneventful,
but on landing we were escorted to a parking space which was controlled
by armed guards. Not unusual for African countries! Although the
correspondent writing in the Travel and Trade Magazine stated
that he had enjoyed the nightlife and striptease of Luanda in
his article, we, as a crew, were advised by the Hotel Manager
that the rebels of the Civil War were on the outskirts of Luanda
and advised us not to leave the hotel - unusual for adventurous
Eagle Crews!! (Flt. Time 5 hours).
The sector Luanda-Recife, some nine hours
forty five minutes, passed peacefully except for communication
problems on HF frequencies with Dakar and Luanda. Reg did some
excellent navigation. Contact with Recife brought the problem
of height clearances being given in metres instead of feet. This
required some rapid calculations in conversation (engage brain
- pronto). As the article states, plane spotters at Recife thought
we had come from Jo'burg, Germany, and were amazed when we said
we had come from West Africa.
(Flt. Time 9 hours 45 minutes)
Sector Recife - Rio de Janeiro. Uneventful
flight except for conversion of metres to feet and poor English
Air Traffic Control.
(Flt. Time 3 hours 45 minutes)
Rio de Janeiro - Stop Over - On arrival
the devastation caused by the violent storms of the three days
previous was obvious. To appreciate the situation, some five hundred
people had lost their lives in mud slides on hills surrounding
the city and the electricity was only available for short periods
during the day. This meant that there was no air conditioning
in the hotels with temperatures over 100 degrees F, with humidity
above 90%. All tourist sight seeing facilities were closed, particularly
as the cable car to Sugar Loaf was not operating. I believe some
people climbed the Corcovado Mountain topped by the figure of
Christ with arms outstretched. Varig, the State Airline, our handling
agent, having only one person who spoke and understood English
to any standard, all led to a very frustrating and trying time.
Reg Peake and I spent some considerable
time discussing the flight planning arrangements for the flight
to Windhoek. The first consideration was to have the aircraft
refuelled with full tanks. As the shut-off valves were at the
front top of the tanks, it was necessary to have the aircraft
either on level or a slight upslope. The fuelling people co-operated
and we taxied the aircraft to a re-fuelling point on a slight
upslope so the tanks were really full. I believe I am correct
in saying that there were small spirit levels set in the navigation
table on the flight deck for this purpose.
The Meterology Department were helpful, but said they could only
supply a forecast for the first thousand miles or so. To cut a
long story short, someone produced a Met Bible, a publication
by a man named Sutcliffe, in the 1930's who specialised in not
only meteorology but climatology. This book was used by the C.A.A.
in setting the examination papers for Pilot Licences in the U.K.
His theories on climatology were accepted, apparently without
question, even in the 1960's and although I personally disagreed
with him in certain aspects (personal experience) I chose to believe
him when he said that at that time of year winds over the South
Atlantic would average zero mph. We also spent some time with
the Communications Department getting advice on the likelihood
of finding useful radio frequencies. Reg and I had discussed the
best time for departure in order to make the best use of astronavigation
for the flight. We decided to fly the first thousand miles in
daylight in order to utilise astro in the middle section, followed
by a daylight sighting of the West African Coast, and an appropriate
time of departure was notified to all concerned.
On the day of departure I was completing
the necessary paperwork and briefings when the Varig rep said
that I was required immediately at the aircraft. To my horror
I was met by the flight engineer wielding one of the aircraft's
fire axes threatening to use it on the loaders. There was a large
box which they had succeeded in jamming, half in and half out
of one of the holds. It became apparent that some of the passengers
had bribed security guards at the airfield perimeter during the
previous night to accept freight for the flight, without it being
checked and weighed. In the circumstances I demanded that the
aircraft be offloaded, all freight and baggage weighed and manifested.
Unfortunately this delayed departure by some three hours which
meant that our flight plan was considerably altered, which did
not please Reg, as it cut down accurate plotting.
After we had been airborne several hours
I said to Reg, unusually for me, that I needed to have a sleep
for a while and please do not wake me up unless it was urgent.
Much to my surprise he did, to tell me that his latest astro fix
showed a headwind of twenty five knots and that within the next
fifteen minutes he would require a decision either to divert to
Ascension Island, some one thousand miles to the NNW or to proceed
as planned. I decided to go with Sutcliffe and after approximately
eleven hours and having climbed to 29,000 feet, several pairs
of tired eyes on the flight deck picked out the South West Coast
of Africa, on a beautiful sunny morning. Needless to say the NDB
at Walvis Bay was not working, but we passed over the coast some
twenty miles north of Windhoek with flight plan fuel remaining.
On arrival there was a welcoming committee
for the first ever flight direct from Rio and festivities laid
on. Unfortunately, we could not participate in these celebrations
as we had passengers for Jo'burg. (Flt. Time 12 hours) Just under
4000 miles.
Sector Windhoek - Johannesburg. Sector
uneventful except for some interesting thunderstorm activity in
the Jo'burg area.
(Flt. Time 2 hours 30 minutes).
In retrospect, this was an epic flight
and the South Africans certainly thought it was something special.
Shortly after returning home I received a tape recording of our
departure from Jo'burg to Luanda of our VHF messages from and
to Jan Smutts Airport until our transfer to HF frequencies. This
was made by one of the Air Traffic Control operators on duty at
the time. I also later received five copies of the Travel and
Trade Magazine, an excerpt of which I have already sent you.
Sectors - Jo'burg - Leopoldville - Idris
- Basle were carried out in the normal way with no unusual events
occurring other than storm avoidance. On arrival at Basle (airfield
in France although considered Switzerland!), there was a message
from Eagle operations that the aircraft was required back at base
A.S.A.P. We took the minimum legal rest period and arrived back
at L.A.P. at 04.50 hours on the 29th January 1966.
Total Flt Time 71.05 (27.05 day 44 night)
I would like to say that I would have flown
anywhere with Reg and I think the feeling was reciprocated. He
was a great Navigator and a great guy.
As explained in my previous letter, Reg
and I visited Head Office to discuss the flights, particularly
the Rio-Winhoek leg. No contact was made with us regarding any
changes to the route although it was rumoured that the return
from Rio was Recife and Luanda. After a few days rest we resumed
normal operations.
Unfortunately I did not record the names
of the rest of the crew, except Pam Leavey who was the No. 1 Stewardess.
I would, however, like to record that they all worked very hard,
sometimes under rather unpleasant conditions with everyone acting
as a professional team. This team spirit prevailed throughout
British Eagle personnel and is one of the reasons so many continue
to support the reunion even after 37 years!
When Eagle ceased trading I desperately
wanted to break away from flying as I knew I would not be as happy
with another airline, but the same financial restraints that had
caused Eagle to collapse applied to my attempt to purchase a business,
and I then flew as an "Executive" pilot for the next
10 years.
John S. Gerrish