Towards the end of the TAA days , DC3 SBI was donated to the Lae Tech school . The wings were removed and , early on a quiet Sunday morning the aircraft was towed down Huon Rd with a tinted gentleman protruding from the cockpit hatch with a stick to lift the overhead electricity wires up to allow the aircraft to pass underneath. A number of assorted PMV's and other orly driven vehicles ended up in barrets as they rounded corners to be suddenly confronted with the balus . Scared the sh***er out of them to the point they thought they were melting.
Hey Tiger Maynard , have you given up the gaspers ?. I thought they were leading you to an early demise.
I used to live next door to Greasy in Ninth St , ( with Mace Denheld of the "Wynyard approach" fame on the other side ).
It was not unusual , at 0700 on a quiet Sunday morning , to hear the knock on the bedroom louvres and his voice..."Care for a fourex Shags" ?.
Had a call the other nite from Carmel Smith , wife of AL Smith , Al has had two hip replacements but I informed her that Geoff Clem has now had 3 hips replacements.
One of Al's claims to fame was that during an airdrop of bags of rice from the single engined Otter at Kabwum he managed to demolish the airport toilet , luckily unoccupied at the time.
Keep the stories coming....luv 'em
From memory , talking of the Patair machines , not the people........
DC3 PNM ( Mt Murray ) ended up as the fire drill aircraft at Madang.
DC3 PNB ended up half submerged in Madang harbour after hydraulic problems. ( Cpt Geoff Bennet / F/O Chris Pennycuick ).
Much much earlier a Piaggio went missing in the Owen Stanleys ex POM, the aircraft was never located but the search aircraft found six WW11 wrecks.