Time to come clean...

[VH-XXX]

Drugs flown to Australia on private planes (http://www.theage.com.au/national/drugs-flown-to-australia-on-private-planes-20130211-2e895.html)

Planes used to fly cocaine to Australia are loaded with millions of dollars in
cash for the flight back to the US and pilots are paid a 10 per cent share of
the booty.


I'd almost go as far as to say that this is a little far fetched. Short of a G5 what would have the range to avoid being stopped at too many places on the way here, thus reducing the chances of detection?

[Ultralights]

finally, a use for the long range tanks in the savannah!:E

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Re "Time to come clean..."

Oi would, but then The Bombers would really be up that well known creek....

:p

[Fantome]

In the 1950s there was a scam going which involved an engineer working for Australian National Airways. Either that, or he knew the guilty parties. A false bulkhead was put in at the aft end enabling a number of Bally poker machines to be hidden. This enabled them to be smuggled in from the US.

The ginger beer's name was Thompson. Seems he was either directly implicated or became an informant. Later he worked for a time at Ansett Flying Boat Services at Rose Bay. Was never able to glean anything like the full story. One part of it had to do with a crew noting that the DC4 or DC6 they were flying had an unusually aft C of G.

Thommo would become most cagey if questioned, winking slyly, putting a finger alongside his Jimmy Durante hooter.

Knew a bloke who was a screw in an FNQ prison near Malanda. He was offered 'work' by a prisoner/pilot put away for bringing in gold in his light twin.

The turnkey was almost sympathetic to the prisoner's story and invitation.
He said he sometimes had a soft spot for the crims who could as easily dealt in drugs but were revolted by the very thought.

[LeadSled]

Fantome,
Sure you're not thinking of the BCPA DC-6B??
They ran for quite a while, after the non-scheduled Government charter trans-Pacific services by ANA in DC-4s.
The "secret" compartment was aft of the aft pressure bulkhead, as the story goes.
Tootle pip!!

[Fantome]

thanks leadie that seems more in line with the truth

[Ixixly]

That is awful, disgraceful, how on earth could anyone do this?!

Someone tell me the details for the guys offering these jobs and where I can find them so I can go and complain in person...

On a COMPLETELY unrelated note, anyone know a good place to get a G5 endorsement? And possibly somewhere to Private Hire one...you know, for those last minute holiday trips... :O

[Aerodynamisist]

There was a story many years ago of a stolen "N" reg aero commander showing up on a remote North Queensland airstrip, I suspect this was a similar operation.

[Wally Mk2]

Quite a few moons ago now when I was working in another life living in a major NSW town there was a high performance Aerostar that had long range tanks & more HP that a Saturn 5 rocket that used to disappear late at night Nth & not come back for a couple of days. Always wondered where it went, maybe doing a late night paper run:E


Wmk2

[Sunfish]

1. I don't think Bushie would have put up with much at Rose Bay.

2. Piper Cub, floats, PNG.

3. Cape Crawford is the weirdest pub in NT. Vietnamese, Aboriginals, Strange people. Couldn't leave quick enough the next morning.

[compressor stall]

Cape Crawford is a great place - a mate and I drank it dry of crownies one night. :ok:

Wally - Re that black Aerostar - I seem to remember it getting busted at MB? Or an aircraft very similar to it.

[Wally Mk2]

'compy' it (700P I think) wasn't black & am not sure if it ventured down Sth to MB as it resided in central NSW back in the 80's owned by an old Airline skipper if recall. But hey it could've covered half the damned globe I reckon:-)
There was always some mystery to it, something didn't seem right but it came to a sticky ending anyway.

Wmk2

[pull-up-terrain]

What i want to know is how do they make it to the USA without having the plane being checked over for drugs at some point on the way. Im assuming these planes go via New Zealand and Honolulu and surely there would be a customs officer in NZ and Honolulu checking the aircraft out.

[geeup]

Was Ronnie Biggs flown out of Australia in the '70 by a light twin?

[aroa]

Best smuggling op ..Oz Aztec flown non-stop into xxxxx in Malaita in the Solomons to pick up a load of parrots. All the birds collected in cages at the strip awaiting loading for night flight to xxxx? in Oz.
Alas..the cages wouldnt fit thru the Aztec doors, so a frantic night of rebuilding cages ensued. Pilot reluctant to depart from such a short strip with big rainforest trees at the not so far end in the dark.
All the kerfuffle attracted the interest of the local villagers who turned up with the Polisman...and his shotgun.
Saw the Aztec in Honiara with one prop removed. Having been told to park next to it, there were later minor complications for us, with Oz rego too, but that was sorted...after the aircraft was searched.
Heard that the cockroach sandwiches in the Honiara callaboose are not the best.
Only the parrots went free. :ok:
Whats that saying about "prior planning"? Ask the Keystone Smugglers!!

[Boeingdream]

Turns out you can make money in aviation.

[adsyj]

Turns out you can make money in aviation.

Until your Mexican Bosses call you for a quite chat to tell you they are terminating your contract.

[Ixixly]

Wow Adsyj, most pilots were worried about the "Tea and Bikkies Speech" before...whoever flies for these guy would be terrified!!!

[Deaf]

Oz Aztec flown non-stop into xxxxx in Malaita in the Solomons to pick up a load of parrots

Wouldn't parrots and cockatoos be better sent out of oz

Remember when a cockatoo (in the US) would buy about 20,000 rd of 12g (here) which would be used to shoot the pests

edited add 20,000 may have been reloads so 3,000 qty or 500 at your local store.

[LeadSled]

Folks,
The Aero Commander 560E at the Australian Aviation Museum, Bankstown, most recently ex-Padstow TAFE, had an illustrious career drug running, until it got caught.

Many years ago, when the first ATC radar went in, on the hill at back of Denpasar, Indonesia immediately started complaining about the low level slow moving un-notified traffic between their islands and Australia.

One enterprising chap used to back load fresh beef, literally warm and dripping from the paddock, and sell to hotels in Bali, who actually advertised "air flown fresh Australian beef" on their menus.

Tootle pip!!

[Wally Mk2]

Interesting story re the parrots & the Aztruck.
Now here's a thought (Myth bustered too I believe) to ponder over seeing as the Aztruck driver was concerned about not getting airborne due the short strip. Perhaps the birds could be let loose to fly around within the cabin of the Aztruck (with doors closed of course) in order to reduce the TOW of the Aztruck Pilot would need to wear bird sh1t deflector hat:-)

Oh it's a Myth alright would the plane be lighter if the birds where not actually touching any part of the aiframe at the time of lift off? Would the 'thrust' created by the flapping birds wings (you know lift = weight ) have an effect on the TOW of the Aztruck?
This will put the cat amongst the pigeons or is that Parrots?:)

.......oh to wonder why man ever thought he could emulate the birds back oh so many many years ago:-)

Wmk2

[601]

The Aztec story in the Solomons is correct. Aircraft was based at AF and owned by ex RAAF airframe driver.

Interesting, this was not the first or only aircraft that was hired from operators at AF and used for flights other than stated when the aircraft was hired.

[VH-XXX]

The article talks about flying drugs into the US but then they loosely mention flying them into Australia. The distances seem far too great to be practical. Maybe if they were from Asia somewhere it might be more believable.

Another thing, "multi-millions of dollars" and the pilot gets 10%! That's a lot of cash even with the risk of going to jail. On the Aussie Customs TV show they swallow 30 pods worth only $90k of which they would get bugger all.

[Fantome]

Sunny . . .. . . you mention Bushy . .. . . when I was there Ron Bush was
the chief engineer with Jack Woods under him and Noel Holly the maintenance keeper of the rolls. Ron was ex TOA . He had scarred hands from the night on the Brisbane River he bailed out of the Solent that hit the barge on take-off. Said he swung down from alongside an inboard enginee, not thinking how hot the exhaust he swung off would be.

Went over to the pub ten years ago to see if the school was still in session, or even remembered. Bloke in the saloon bar said come and join us. Lovely little party. A guest it turned out was not once allowed to buy a round . .. so from 6 to 10 and many pots later . . . .. . 'ah walk the line. . .. '

My newfound friend used to be a load driver at Tamworth for Basil Brown.
Ticked off all the names of the old hands from the base over the way who
used to have a Friday knockoff snort. To a man . . . all deceased.

And so it goes Kurt.

[Sunfish]

Fan tome, Bushy had a heart of gold and treated me And a couple of mates in Engineering as the "naughty boys" we would have done anything for him. That was when the place was run by Ron Jackson, Bushy, Bondy under John B after the departure of Mr. W. little did we know that "uncle Peter" was anything but benign. Thems was the days.

Bushy would reminisce about his time on the Committee of the Rose Bay RSL and there were always rumblings about Michael Somare who was his fellow Director of ANG.

[LeadSled]

for Basil Brown.

Folks,
Now, there's a name that brings back memories.
Tootle pip!!

[weighman]

This guy had some life in aviation???? Bit of little known Aussie history.
The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=lL5f5cZgq8MC&dat=19780124&printsec=frontpage&hl=en)

[Fantome]

Well found weighman. Here is an encapsulated piece on the same subject from an air force website -

The Sydney Morning Herald article is well worth reading tho' in its entirety


In January 1978 a light aircraft was spotted on radar entering the Northern Territory to the west of Darwin. Coincidentally, a C-130 Hercules (A97-168) from No 37 Squadron was returning from a trip to Butterworth and was about to come into Darwin at the same time. In the absence of any fighters to scramble, the captain of the RAAF transport was asked to follow the mystery aircraft as it travelled inland. Eventually the C-130 caught up with what turned out to be a twin-engine Aero Commander 680E. The pilot of the light aircraft made a crashlanding in a muddy paddock 14 kilometres north-west of Katherine, then set the aircraft on fire in an attempt to conceal that on board were 270 000 Thai ‘buddha sticks’ (high-grade cannabis) worth nearly $4 million. After hiding out in the bush for 40 hours, the pilot––later identified as drug runner, Donald Tait––was discovered by police and arrested. Tait was subsequently jailed for seven years.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

"Flight Service' had quite a few 'smiles' dealing with Mr Tait, once we found out what he was actually doing.....
Was all a 'good bloke' up till then.
But that's another story...

VH-PFD the aztruk wot carried the bag of 'stuff' over from BK, still sits in the Northern grass area (Pun..) at JT awaiting 'disposal', despite the case being 'settled' about a year or so ago..??
Pity, as it will only deteriorate further in this heat.....42.0C today at 12.30 in my suburb near JT...

Still rego'd to SANTOS @ Tempe I see as at todays date....

:eek:

[weighman]

Don wasn't the only one doing runs back then thru the NW. He also beat a death sentence in Thailand in 88.

There were a number of planes fitted with long range tanks back then. As one operator told me - "you could leave Oz and return without anyone knowing".

BTW, had 46 on my gauge today in the hills. :\

[FAR CU]

Speaking of the heat .. . .. . . . wonder where Mr Tait is today?

[RatsoreA]

As one operator told me - "you could leave Oz and return without anyone knowing".

I recall a twin that used to go to PNG at wavetop height being based out of Cairns at the start of 2000 or so that was rumoured to be a courier for the green stuff from PNG. I don't know how true it is, but at the time it sounded plausible!

[megle2]

Wasn't there a B58 private hired from Archerfield that was used for secret flights to Pacific Islands and NZ and was caught out

[VH-XXX]

I've never heard much of drug running but I've heard of a few flying around Black Gold. There must be a few stories out there on Black Gold.

[T28D]

VH-PFD has been confiscated by the W.A.police under the Proceeds of Crime legislation and presumably it will just rot away upon the grass.

By now it is worth Zip.

[navajoe]

Didn't that pretty hot aerostar based in TW mysteriously blow up one night.:confused:

[Wally Mk2]

...ahhh 'navajoe' you do indeed have a very good memory.



Wmk2

[hiwaytohell]

Collar bomb hoax on same day Peters's plane was bombed years earlier (http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/collar-bomb-hoax-on-same-day-peterss-plane-was-bombed-years-earlier-20110818-1j0a0.html)

[Wally Mk2]

..............sheeez that article brings back some awful memories.
I recall turning up 4 work that morning to see the 700 laying there with it's back broken sitting on it's 4 bladed props, one very unique plane which I had the pleasure of going for a ride around the circuit in once.
I thought that was but a distant memory, amazing how the mind gets rekindled after so many years!



Wmk2

[601]

Wasn't there a B58 private hired from Archerfield that was used for secret flights to Pacific Islands and NZ and was caught out

Yep. Apparently they went to the extent of fitting extra fuel tanks.

[HarleyD]

Customs has a much better eye on the northern approaches to Australia than they used to. A couple of years ago I was flying from port moresby to kawito in the southern lowlands of png. The terminal area radar was painting my txpdr throughout the climb but faded not far into the flight. About 10 min later my interrogation light on the txpdr started flashing again and I thought it was an overflying jet, but it kept on flashing for the entire trip, several hours all overwater. It was still painting me in the cct at Kawito down to 1000 agl over the jungle. Kawito is in the middle of nowhere just north of the Fly River a bit further inland than Balimo, so I always thought that it was a dash 8 watching this lonely spec crawling across the Gulf of Papua with some suspicion. I returned to aus through Dari and Horn the following day without further surveillance but the guys at Horn made me completely unpack the plane and inspected everything. They confiscated a couple of woven bowls my crewie had but seemed happy enough with finding nothing of real significance.

HD

[Sunfish]

Jindalee is apparently capable of picking up a periscope at a thousand miles provided its moving.

I have personally seen Marine radars mounted on the roof of Customs Toyotas at Burketown.

The Northenr border is a lot tighter than when Piper Cubs were crossing the Straits.

[Octane]

I was told Jindalee can detect aircraft departing Changi in Singapore...

[Luke SkyToddler]

Mate of mine flying in the Caribbean was approached to do a no-questions-asked very low level flight in a Citation from Venezuela to Florida, the deal was get the cargo there and you can keep the aircraft.

Having never flown anything bigger than an Aztec and being not convinced of his life expectancy if he got mixed up in that line of work he politely declined ...

[Fantome]

Hate to be the pedant again Sunny . .. . . . what you saw in Burketown, you simply saw. Personally, without being too personal, I think we should strive to be more impersonal . Anyway that is what I think, personally.

One person whose command of the language puts most of us in the shade was the late Alec Derwent Hope. A gushing woman at a book launch said to him -

"Oh, Professor Hope, how terribly pleasing to at last meet you in the flesh."

"Madam, that is precisely where you will always find me."

[kaz3g]

International pilot caught with $900,000 in proceeds of crime walks free - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-19/pilot-caught-with-proceeds-of-crime-walks-free/6558854)