Morocco
Morocco...........getting there...
FERRY FLIGHT. HILLER 12E, G-AWME.
REDHILL - TAN TAN, MOROCCO.
10TH AUGUST 1968 -16TH AUGUST 1968.
10/8/68 REDHILL - GATWICK - LE TOUQUET.
My first job after being employed by BHL was to ferry a Hiller12E from Redhill to Tan Tan, in Morocco, to replace an earlier aircraft which had a gearbox problem and had to force land short of Agadir. Rumour has it that when the engineers came back the next day to assess the aircraft, very little of it was left and the parts had made their way into various Bedouin encampments!
I was given a ferry flight plan by a certain Peter Richards and told to get on with it. Being new to the Company, I took him at his word. I later found out that nobody followed Peter Richard's ferry plans - except me. I asked him where the engineer was to do the turn rounds etc and with a twinkle in his eyes he said, "You're on your own, Son".
After finally getting the aircraft away from Redhill (little has changed) and clearing Customs at Gatwick I set out to cross the Channel and night stop in Le Touquet. As the evening was settling in, I got the clearance from Le Touquet Tower "...to land and park between the Spitfire's and the Messerschmit's." Rubbing my eyes, there in front of me was a squadron of Spitfires, Messerschmits and a B25 Mitchell. These aircraft were at Le Touquet, en-route to the South of France to film "The Battle of Britain". I seem to remember that the crews of the Me109's (Spanish pilots, I believe) and the British Spitfire Pilots( RAF) didn't mix socially.
11/8/68 LE TOUQUET - CHARTRES - TOURS - POITIERS.
The next day's weather was dreadful with low cloud and heavy rain, but trying to keep to the ferry plan (I know different now), I launched off VFR, low level using this marvellous thing called an ADF in the Hiller. I didn't have them in the Royal Navy and learned about them when I did my licence. Here I had a needle that would point me to where I was going. The weather improved as I headed South and with a smile I followed this needle which was to take me to Chartres. I had that sinking feeling when the needle reversed direction and there was no airfield to be seen. The fuel gauge didn't fill me with confidence as I reversed direction and followed my ADF needle. Still no airfield but I did see a large antenna in a field so I found a nearby farm, landed, shutdown and asked the farmer in halting French "Ou est Chartres". The copy of the Michelin Guide was produced and I was directed a further 20 kms to Chartres Airfield. What did I learn? Firstly, NDB's are not always co-located with an airfield. This one was an Airways NDB. Secondly, always have a back up to your navigation; don't rely on a single instrument. Something I have kept with me for the rest of my career.
When I refuelled at Chartres, I didn't know the Hiller could take so much fuel! My logbook shows no mention of any stop between Le Touquet and Chartres. The rest of the day's flying to Poitiers was uneventful and a much wiser pilot had a good nights sleep.
12/8/68 POITIERS - BORDEAUX - TOULOUSE - PERPIGNAN - BARCELONA.
A splendid flight with beautiful weather, I followed the Garonne valley over one of the many wine-growing areas of France and then the Canal du Midi to Toulouse. The Pyrenees were crystal clear, still with a covering of snow, even though this was summer. I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and routed through Perpignan and around the Pyrenees (although the ferry plan called for a crossing). After clearing customs at Perpignan, I followed the Mediterranean coast southwards to Barcelona, my night stop.
13/8/68 BARCELONA- REUS - VALENCIA - ALICANTE - (ALICANTERELLA) -ALMERIA.
This was an easy part of the flight; just keep the coast to your right. Brilliant hot weather, low level flying along the shoreline. Appreciating the natural wildlife! I always knew the Alicante to Almeria leg was going to be tight. The Hiller was only cruising at 55kts, very tail low, something I thought was particular to the "civvie" Hillers. En route between Alicante and Almeria, I decided to divert to Alicanterella, a military airfield, but cleared for me. I pulled the nose of the Hiller gently up and as I came level with the hotel roofs I pushed the cyclic forward. Nothing happened, the aircraft nose kept rising. A swift boot full of rudder and rapid change of power setting and the aircraft reversed direction and I was able to regain level flight much to the appreciation of the people of the beach. They thought it was an air display. Far from it, I had just learnt about the perils of an incorrect Centre of Gravity. On landing at Alicanterella, I took a whole bundle of Maintenance Manuals and spare oil from the boot and put it inside the cockpit alongside me and all of a sudden the aircraft was cruising at 65 kts with a level attitude.
14/8/68 ALMERIA - MALAGA - TANGIERS - RABAT - CASABLANCA. Due to the political situation between UK and Spain, I was unable to refuel at Gibraltar, in fact I was given a very stern warning about going anywhere near Gib due to political retributions. Hence the long leg between Malaga and Tangiers. No floats on this aircraft. However, the Company did give me a lifejacket.
With my new-found cruising speed and the constant purr of the Lycoming 540 (It is amazing how your hearing is sharpened over a long sea sector, with one engine and no floats), the trip to Morocco was uneventful. Luckily my knowledge of French helped me through formalities in Tangiers. Morocco was formerly a French Colony and French was their second language. I never found Humphrey Bogart's bar though it wasn't for lack of looking.
15/8/68 CASABLANCA - SAFI -AGADIR.
Following the coast, I passed the Atlas Mountains in the distance. It was getting hotter and more arid. I arrived in Agadir, a city rebuilt after a disastrous earthquake some 20 years earlier to be met by my new Chief Pilot "Johnny" Johnson. One thing I remember about Johnny was that he had quite a bad stutter except when he was speaking a foreign language, when he was fluent - and his rendition of a certain dictator's speech, using a comb and his hair parted the wrong side, is legendary - especially after a few beers.
16/8/68 AGADIR - TAN TAN.
The final leg was probably the longest I did and the normal routine was to carry 2 jerry cans of Avgas on the side panniers of the aircraft. I was talking to our base at Tan Tan on the radio but was very concerned about my reducing fuel gauge. The maps of the Sahara were not too good so I descended and landed alongside a road and shut down to refuel. I put one jerry can in the fuel tank and lifted off to see out base no more than 500 metres away in front of me. The road was at the end of a graded strip for the crewchange DC3. The base was at the bottom of a small cliff so I didn't see the base until I had crossed the road. When we went back, 5 minutes later to collect the jerry can, it had gone!
So ended an eventful first ferry flight for the Company where I learnt many valuable lessons. The ferry flight had taken 7 days (6 on Peter Richard's plan) and I flew 29 hours and 15 minutes.
Welcome to Bristow Helicopters.
John Whale.