The Small Story
Small Story Regarding VH-BPL
By Robert McKinnon
Some background. I was a Pilot with Bush Pilots Airways / Air Queensland from about 1971 – 1980
when I joined Air Niugini, where I remained until I retired in 2000.
A large part of my time with Bushies was as a DC3 Captain and one of the youngest people of the era to
fly the old bird which was the first and only aircraft I have ever flown that was older than me!
Anyway the story regarding VH-BPL!
I was approached by an Air Niugini Engineer Mark Shanley to test fly the ex Air Niugini DC3’s that had been mothballed about 1977. He introduced me to a client from San Francisco who authorised me to fly the aircraft for them after inspecting my licences and log books.
We test flew three of them, one was flown to the USA and subsequently to South America, the other two remained in Port Moresby.
At one time I called Ron Entsch up on a turn around in Cairns one night regarding another matter, he told
me that he was purchasing the ex Air Niugini DC3’s at Port Moresby and would be breaking them up and shipping them to Cairns. I told him I had recently test flown two of them and I would be happy to fly them down rather than see them scrapped.
He later contacted me to establish that this could be done.
The whole deal was arranged and three Captains from Bushies arrived in Port Moresby to assist me
in flying these aircraft back to Cairns. Ken White, Jim McGowan and Ian Best.
Ian and I being the only pilots holding a US licence.
They stayed with me for several days and copious quantities of Brown SP were consumed while we waited
for the Engineer Mark Shanley to finish the preparations to both aircraft for the flight to Cairns.
The Day finally arrived and I went to the Control Tower at Jackson’s Airport Port Moresby and requested some special departure procedures, based on the fact that this was probably the last time the DC3’s would
ever fly from there and the last of Air Niugini. The local newspapers and TV Crews were invited as well.
The Post Courier arrived with no film and the TV crews had flat batteries in their Cameras!
Such was life in Port Moresby at the time.
I requested that both Aircraft take off simultaneously on the two separate runways form up on downwind
if there were no problems and fly a formation flypast up the southern taxiway at a low altitude prior to
setting course for Cairns. This was approved and we took off, no apparent problems occurring so we
formed up and flew up the Taxiway as planned in a tight formation.
We did some feathering checks and other engine and control checks over Daugo Island prior to
departing for Cairns. This put us a little behind for our tandem ferry to Cairns from the other
aircraft flown by Ian Best and Jim McGowan.
Satisfied that the aircraft was in flying condition, we set off for Cairns on a three and a half hour flight.
Ken White and I had taken a little more time checking our aircraft and the other had got ahead a little. We were extremely short on Navigation equipment, One ADF between the two of us and our radios were
portable with the aerials out the side windows so we needed to be in visual contact.
We were supposed to be the lead aircraft and were trying to catch up which at about 150 Kts took a while. About halfway to Cairns we encountered a slow roll to the right close to 90 degrees. Full opposite controls failed to make any effect but the aircraft slowly returned to normal attitude, we were probably about
one mile behind the other aircraft at this stage and decided we got our problem from the slipstream
of the preceding aircraft.
No further problems with the flight occurred.
About 80 miles out of Cairns the Air Niugini F28 was cruising on its way to Port Moresby, the Captain Dick Glassey, the original Chief Pilot for Air Niugini, excitedly called us up to say that he could see us below and that we looked great. I quickly asked him for his DME distance, he replied that it was 80 miles I think,
and at last we had a distance to run. These were days long before GPS.
As we approached the Cairns coastline we closed up in formation for our arrival in Cairns,
that had been arranged with Cairns Tower.
We flew along the runway at a low level clean and broke off into and initial
that separated us on downwind for landing.
Cairns Airport was lined with many people taking photos and observing but I have never seen any.
We parked the Aircraft. Customs arrived and the officer said “I thought there were three?” I told him the other one was in the back of the other two! He called to his mate and said “Fred, three of them came in two!” and slapped a quarantine sticker on the door.
Of those two aircraft one is on the Pole at Cairns as a memorial to Bushies and the other was VH-BPL.
I figured that would be the final time that I would ever fly a DC3 and so far that has proved to be the case.
Great to see it has its place in fame at Longreach.