I went over to Nadzab in Aug '00 to meet GT in the hope of securing employment.
Flying over to Nadzab blew me away, the scenery was unbelievable and some of the stories told to me by the then CP of Tropic Air in Morseby where incredible. Nice bloke PM.
On arrival GT told it to me like it was, he didn't dress it up from what I can gather and he made all conditions transparent. Unfortunately some of the earlier posts highlighting the aircraft deficiencies in terms of VFR capable (barely) doing IFR in cloud at dot feet going into the Kawbum valley through 20 mile gap are true.
When I asked GT about a recent accident that (from memory) was partly pilot error, contributed to by the fact that he was not checked into the said strip (from the horses mouth) as is required by regs. He said that this was
water under the bridge
unfortunately said pilot (I saw his picture on the back of the crewroom door) is no longer with us to agree.
I initially reasoned with myself that if GT can survive this long then surely if I follow his lead and listen to everything he said, I would be all right and in no time have a log book full of great experience on BN2's and C402's.
People have a funny way of being able to talk themselves into anything given a certain need or desire. When I spoke to another young bloke up there who believe it or not was trying to sell the place to me, I was informed of the amount of accidents that GT had been involved in, there but for the grace of God go I (or words to that effect) came to mind.
I had made my decision not to stay in a very short period of time based on an informed opinion first hand and with all the facts available to me.
I indicated this to GT and thanked him for his time. To this end he understood my reasons and appreciated my honesty, he then took me down to the local Golf club and together we had lunch and talked about some of the other more interesting aspects of PNG. To some extent I felt like a bit of traitor as G was quite a nice bloke in many respects, I do not however, regret my decision.
What I would like to know is whether the guy who was going to fly me back to Moresby in the 402 in the wee hours of the morning is still up there. He was owner of one or both of the 402's and had been living there since Adam was a boy. He carried some ridiculously large firearm wherever he went and was as deaf as a post.
Our departure preparation consisted of closing the rear door checking the fuel and subsequently having a complete lighting failure post start-up. We taxied out anyway (why I stayed in that plane I do not know) After several failed attempts to establish radio contact with Nadzab tower, old mate gave the game away.
I have tried to give as balanced a post as I could from first hand evidence. Make up your own mind (I am sure you probably have by now) keep in mind however that you do not have to do a deal with the Devil to get a break into twin flying. Two and a half years later with over 800 multi and on good money thank you very much I am living proof.
Willie