RadioSaigon
2nd Aug 2009, 00:51
For those of you in the know, Dougie Bruce flew his last mission yesterday in a BN-2 from NZMF-NZQN where he was greeted by 2 fire-trucks with a 'triumphal arch'! Well done Dougie! 21,000+ hours in a career spanning NAC, Mt Cook and Real Journeys amongst others.
Truly the stuff of legend.
My earliest memories of Dougie are back in the early 80's, when he regularly flew a 185 into Quintin Hut of the Milford Track doing, pax, supply, freight, medical and fuel-runs. Who could forget the Quintin Golf Classic days??? :} Or the 'end of season' shouts when it was obligatory that we consume the 'dregs' of those countless beer-runs out of NZQN! :ok: Were we ever 'forgiven' for 'souveniring' that Islander out of NZTZ Dougie??? :E The memories of those days are flooding back now -everything from brown-eye's atop McKinnon Pass to tying the 185 to one of the Quintin buildings, parties in Bills Hut, water-pipe mortars, the stealth 185 creeping up on me whilst boating down Lake Ada that day... I've never since had the opportunity of examining the wheel-hub of a 185 in flight quite so closely since!!! That Kea stew wasn't too bad either -but not quite to the standard of the Paradise Duck stew := Wasn't it you Dougie that found the tractor we borrowed from the MF Hotel and 'lost' on the way back to the Lodge that night??? Mind you it was dark and I know I'd blown a fairly big hole in my Jandal... thought you fell out of your slippers too?
Who could forget the personalities and characters of those days too -the Billy's, the Baron's, the Duck's, the Johnny's (I don't think I'll ever forget his last flight into Quintin!!! RIP Johnny) the Mark's (I, II and III -sometimes known as the Crumpled Blue Zephyr, when on manouvres as a unit!) the Rex's and so many others whose faces I still see but names temporarily elude me.
One thing I'm damn sure of -those days'll never return, things we got away with then, never again.
Although we always flew for competing companies, you never failed to have a smile of greeting and a cheerful word for me and all who crossed your path Dougie. You've been one of the mainstays of the industry and I don't reckon it'll feel the same not seeing you there anymore. Of course, that's just all the more reason to grab a decent wee whisky and pop up to say gidday -which I will surely be doing when next in the area.
All the best for your retirement Dougie! Long earned and well deserved.
Take care man, I'll be in touch.
I've kicked this thread off so perhaps others that flew with Dougie can share a memory, a yarn, or just cast a greeting at Dougie -particularly those of us no longer in the same geographic location, unable to be at Dougies' Mt Nicholas shout this coming Thursday. Hopefully someone attending will be able to point him to the thread sometime soon.
Truly the stuff of legend.
My earliest memories of Dougie are back in the early 80's, when he regularly flew a 185 into Quintin Hut of the Milford Track doing, pax, supply, freight, medical and fuel-runs. Who could forget the Quintin Golf Classic days??? :} Or the 'end of season' shouts when it was obligatory that we consume the 'dregs' of those countless beer-runs out of NZQN! :ok: Were we ever 'forgiven' for 'souveniring' that Islander out of NZTZ Dougie??? :E The memories of those days are flooding back now -everything from brown-eye's atop McKinnon Pass to tying the 185 to one of the Quintin buildings, parties in Bills Hut, water-pipe mortars, the stealth 185 creeping up on me whilst boating down Lake Ada that day... I've never since had the opportunity of examining the wheel-hub of a 185 in flight quite so closely since!!! That Kea stew wasn't too bad either -but not quite to the standard of the Paradise Duck stew := Wasn't it you Dougie that found the tractor we borrowed from the MF Hotel and 'lost' on the way back to the Lodge that night??? Mind you it was dark and I know I'd blown a fairly big hole in my Jandal... thought you fell out of your slippers too?
Who could forget the personalities and characters of those days too -the Billy's, the Baron's, the Duck's, the Johnny's (I don't think I'll ever forget his last flight into Quintin!!! RIP Johnny) the Mark's (I, II and III -sometimes known as the Crumpled Blue Zephyr, when on manouvres as a unit!) the Rex's and so many others whose faces I still see but names temporarily elude me.
One thing I'm damn sure of -those days'll never return, things we got away with then, never again.
Although we always flew for competing companies, you never failed to have a smile of greeting and a cheerful word for me and all who crossed your path Dougie. You've been one of the mainstays of the industry and I don't reckon it'll feel the same not seeing you there anymore. Of course, that's just all the more reason to grab a decent wee whisky and pop up to say gidday -which I will surely be doing when next in the area.
All the best for your retirement Dougie! Long earned and well deserved.
Take care man, I'll be in touch.
I've kicked this thread off so perhaps others that flew with Dougie can share a memory, a yarn, or just cast a greeting at Dougie -particularly those of us no longer in the same geographic location, unable to be at Dougies' Mt Nicholas shout this coming Thursday. Hopefully someone attending will be able to point him to the thread sometime soon.