I love the PPE of the Ground Crew. - Those were the days!
Some of them were wearing shoes and socks - as Null Orifice has said, flipflops were
de rigeur during the day, although a bit of caution needed when topping up Avpin.
Initially the detachment occupied two tents by the PSP readiness pan, and returning aircraft had to be lined up and backed onto the pan with the David Brown; later in '64 the South pan opposite the main airport one was extended and a couple of Basha huts put up for us. Fresh pineapples picked from the adjacent farmers field were welcome until a security fence was put up round the airfield. After XH874 suffered an Avpin explosion on startup and was written off at Kuching, its ventral tank and a drop tank were cannibalised to make an excellent outrigger canoe we sailed around Bau Lake on day trips up country. Trips down Kuching river to the beach were also popular - it wasn't all work. Happy days
