Entering the jet age
The long and arduous course eventually came to an end and I was relieved to face the three examiners for the oral examination that would determine my future. One of the most difficult questions and known favourite of the examiners was to explain the complicated formula for thrust that had covered the blackboard during the course and had given me nightmares. I was determined to master it and had learnt it off by heart and was overjoyed when it came up as one of my questions.
The Chairman of the Questioners, The Chief Pilot was an old veteran and pioneer of Sabena's first flights to the Belgian Congo. I could see that I was boring him to tears with my dissertation on the question and when he asked me "Why are the noise bafflers , commonly called Thrust Destroyers ?" and I started to refer him to the "Area" portion of the formula, he interrupted me, said" Well done, Thank you " and I was in.
My fellow trainee, Charles W. had also passed and on the 19th.March 1964 we started our flying training. There was no simulator available at that time and this was our first real view of the 707 cockpit. We were fortunate in having, as our Instructor, one of the finest and well liked pilots in Sabena. Bobby Laumans had escaped to England when Belgium was invaded,had been accepted straight away in the RAF , had married an English girl and had been shot down and spent the war in captivity. His English was perfect and he was a charming man and wonderful Instructor.
It is exactly 46 years to the day tomorrow when I first took off in a jet aeroplane after 14,497 piston engine hours and I was nearly 42 years old. We started our flying on March 19th. 1964 and by March 23rd. had completed a shared 27 hours of flying. I will quote direct from my logbook the details of the exercises we performed. Familiarisation, general flying, stalls etc. 3 & 2 engine flying, runaway stabiliser,circuits, ILS, Dutch roll, emergency descents,tuck under, engine failure before and after V1, 3 & 2 engine flying and landings and finally a little night flying.
The runaway stabiliser was a very important part and was very sadly remembered in Sabena as it was the cause of one of the first 707 crashes.
On Feb.15th. 1961, one of our new Boeings coming from N.Y. and on final approach at around 1,000 feet had suffered a runaway stabiliser and had crashed near a little village, Berg, killing the 11 crew, 62 passengers and a Farmer working in his fields. I was in a classroom doing a DC 7C course when it happened and we all ran out to see the plume of black smoke in the distance. We knew all the crew, of course and morale was very low for a long time afterwards.
The stabiliser problem was eventually solved before I came on to the 707 ,but remained a nightmare so the emergency procedure , which involved grasping the rapidly rotating massive trim wheel with the bare hands , was taught. Most people wore gloves for the duration of the flight. Another nasty habit was that of the aircraft suddenly adopting what was called the " Dutch Roll". This was because it developed a motion akin to the appearance of the Dutch Speed Ice Skaters when a wing would drop and the A/C would turn towards it, recover and turn in the opposite direction , descending and building up a horrible momentum which would eventually put the A/C into a spin. Sabena never had an accident but there were numerous "near misses ". The installation of a small fin underneath the fuselage under the rudder cured this and had been installed by the time that I came on to the aircraft.
On April 3rd. 1964 I stepped into the cockpit of Sabena OO-SJC and took off for New York with my Instructor and Chief pilot as my Check pilots and first officers. A veritable new era in Aviation had dawned and much more was in store for me. What a wondeful feeling that first jet flight was....almost as good as that day back in 1941 when I had first dicovered the new dimension in my life.