“The Transvaal flight was an interesting flight in daylight across the Sahara. Clear skies and unlimited visibility all the way to the Mediterranean. It was the first time that I had observed a multicrew operation on a large aircraft for any length of time.”
Author’s Note. From a observers point of view, rarely would one get to see the Sahara in its splendor and vastness unless you happen to be in a cockpit. The CL44 cruised at about 25,000 feet which not being particularly high, a good view is possible and being over the desert, there was very little cloud to obscure the view.
“The crew gave me much encouragement on how and where to approach gaining employment in UK but were not particularly upbeat on my prospects of obtaining a job. I suspect they thought that this kid with limited experience, no multicrew time, no heavy aircraft time, no jet or turboprop time and not even a national, had about a snowballs chance in hell of getting a job.”
The Boomerang was out of Africa, but as James Bond once said, “Never say never again”.
And sometime later…….“Chock-tail Hour” in Turin.
In this concluding chapter, which is the longest in the book, many more adventures happened, having employment riding the Dinosaurs, all unplanned and unique, culminating just after the last name of the book title.
My email address is included below. Please feel free to contact me any time and your comments will be appreciated. If you wish, I can include some of your memories- both text & images (especially from old friends and colleagues) in a section pertinent to each chapter above. For those especially in UK, whose memory may be fading, perhaps you can remember me as “The Digger”.
Should anybody wish to visit me personally, I now spend much of my time at my Resort (website below) on an island near Phuket in Thailand and perhaps we can take a voyage on …….
Email – birdstobarra@gmail.com
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My story does not finish here of course. In my next book I continue in a similar vein, of many more interesting occasions with different peoples and places in the Pacific and Asia.
Dinosaurs to Dragons
Chapter 1 starts with………………
“It was fortuitous timing, as the last new moon had been 3 days before and the next full moon phase, 12 days later. To use a traditional astronomical terminology, the moon was in the “Waxing Crescent” phase with an illumination by the sun of only 13%. The moon had set in the western sky a few hours earlier, leaving a dark sky in front as we were heading eastwards. With all the cockpit lights turned off, we peered out into the void at 37,000 feet with great anticipation and hope. Looking out into the pitch darkness over the central Pacific, disappointment looked assured. Without a single island or light within 200 miles, we had the space to ourselves, no other aircraft, no pollution, no clouds, just a vast emptiness…………”