The late, great Alan Bodger, General Manager of Gulf Aviation/Gulf Air in the 1960's-1970's, one of the DC-3 Hump pilots mentioned above, would often step in to fill a last minute crew vacancy on a DC3 or F27 service operating from Bahrain. So would the Chief Pilot Jimmy Madle. (Spelling??).
His practice was to light up his ciigar while taxying, so that it was going well by the time he needed both hands for take-off. He would then puff contentedly until it was well and truly finished. If the first stop was Doha, it would last through the turn-round and departure for Abu Dhabi or Dubai.
Last edited by old,not bold; 21st Sep 2019 at 11:28.
Reason: Long and boring!