British Aviation in Belize
To get back to the thread:
It was in Jan 1972 that the Guats threatened to over-run British Honduras (now Belize). The British govt deployed troops to repel them and an airlift using Hercs and VC10s was set up. Belize City airport (more an airfield) could not take more than a Herc in those days so the troops were were flown in all types of AT ac to Nassau and then the Herc flew them into Belize. Nassau-Belize was 3 hours each way. A nice day's work with the T/R. The only let down aid was a NDB which, in a storm, became unrelible so it was mostly the Mk 1 eyeball to get us in.
The USA did not wish to offend the Guats so denied us all over-fly rights so the routing was Lyn-Santa Maria-Bermuda-Nassau. The last leg was avoiding Florida (not that it mattered) and the diversion was the Cayman Is - a long way for a div.
Rudi was a dispatcher in those days and he rose to be the Airport Manager IIRC. On departure fm Belize, we had to file an airborne flt plan with a radar site in the south of Mexico for the trip back to Nassau.
This skirmish was beneficial to British Honduras. Money poured in and the hinterland, which was a tropical forest, was opened up to the extent that a highway and a new capital city were built after a hurricane left a blot on the coastal landscape. BH became Belize in 1973.
In Jan 1973, a weekly Herc schedule was started to re-supply the Belize Garrison. Every Saturday, a Herc left LYE to route YQX-BZE-YQX-LYE. YQX-BZE-YQX was avoiding the USA (still not friendly). This was a very ambitious schedule and the first flight was running out of fuel so diverted to Nassau where it promptly went U/S with a bleed air leak and spent 3 days while a seal was flown out via the schedule BOAC LHR-Nassau- Mexico City schedule. The powers be realised that a flag stop at Nassau had to be built into the schedule. This schedule continued for many years and when the USA became 'friendly', a flag stop at' No Hope Pope' in NC was in the itin.
In addition to these re-supply flights, there were extras for the Rapier sqn rotation, replacement airframes for Harrier and Gazalle and sadly, bringing back the fallen.
Belize runway was extended but I was not on the fleet when this happened.
Later, on VC10s, I went to Belize on numerous occasins to see a thriving and busy airport. All the comms had been installed and the RAF even put in a radar. There was a schedule TACA flight from Miami and RAF AT lost the priority that it was used to in the past. Commercial pressures, you know!
One highlight was to fly in a Herc over the 'Black hole' and see it from the air.
Sorry, not many dates but you may be able use this story with other tales to compile a worth while write-up. Track down Rudi and he'll be a gold mine of information if not sugar bags and timber!! Good luck and Best wishes.