The Sydney Morning Herald operated a couple of Lockheed Hudsons and two DC3's from Camden when I was a 16 year old lad working in the hangar as a general hand. One of my tasks was to get up at 0300, lay a flare path of kerosene lamps on the Camden runway using a WW2 jeep, and then loading the newspapers on to the Hudson or DC3 depending on the load. That done, the pilots would arrive and I stood by with a big fire extinguisher for the engine starts and to put out the inevitable carby fires after loud back fires and flames shooting out from the carby intakes on the engines.
One day, one of the Hudsons was needed to re-position at Mascot and a Herald Flying Services pilot, Captain Dick Cruickshanks age 24, was to fly it single pilot Camden to Mascot. He invited me to come along for the ride and take the copilot seat for the flight. My proudest moment was when we were taxiing to the tarmac at Mascot after landing on 07. As we passed several airliners of the day, I opened the copilot's window and waved at the other aircraft, to be answered by waves from the airline pilots. For me, a 16 year old wannabe pilot, but in fact just a dogsbody teen-ager in dirty overalls, the waves from real pilots made my day at Mascot. A wonderful memory of the old days at Mascot in 1948
Last edited by Centaurus; 5th Mar 2013 at 11:52.