In the very early 1980s I was in Belize, flying an RAF Puma. There was an Army lookout post right down in the southwest, on a tiny rocky outcrop overlooking the border. From the nearest army base near Punta Gorda it was 18 minutes by Puma, but according to the special forces folk we often flew, it would be 3 weeks on foot as it was all mangrove swamp. Not surprisingly, we used to resupply everything by air, food, drinks, fuel for the generator, etc. All the rubbish used to come out by air. A typical load included lots of plastic crates of soft drinks. This was done just once a week.
At that time, the Ghurkas were the regiment in theatre. Great soldiers, excellent in the jungle, but not so good at working with helicopters.....
The raised helipad was made from corrugated iron sheets vertically on edge fastened to wooden posts and backfilled with limestone. It was designed for a (skidded) Scout helicopter and was therefore only just big enough for a Puma to get its wheels on. The pilot was talked into position on the pad by his crewman lying on the aircraft floor. As the nosewheel was roughly in line with the rear of the pilots seat, it always felt like we were landing on thin air, overlooking an almost vertical drop off the rocky outcrop. We never shut engines down on the pad in case we couldn't start again - we didn't fancy a 3 week walk/swim across the jungle as there was no room on site for a second aircraft.
One day I arrived at Punta Gorda to be tasked with a resupply. As well as all the usual stuff the Ghurkas refrigerator had gone u/s so we were taking them a new one. The army stripped off all the protective outer wrapping and loaded it. The flight went well, we landed on the pad and the resupply began, with the crewman supervising. It was normal for stuff to be stacked adjacent to the helipad and for the soldiers to lie on it to hold it in place.
This was done and the new fridge was placed next to the helipad. As always, the Ghurkas were very pleased to see us, and the thought of their drinks now being cold would have filled them with delight - it was big smiles and thumbs up all around. The empties were all loaded and we were about to depart but the Ghurkas seeemd to forget the drill. As soon as I pulled pitch, they all ran back along the access track instead of securing the stuff.
As I lifted in my peripheral vision I saw the brand new fridge fly door open, the downwash get inside and lift it up and over the Ghurkas heads. It was last seen bouncing down the rocky cliff.....
