Sharjah. OLD airport [Archive]

Cornish Jack

18th Aug 2007, 17:46

Presumably all that's left of the 'old' Sharjah is the International Aeradio tower. I note the CONCRETE in that 1970 photo - not what was used in the 50s!! Then, it was oil soaked sand, lovingly tended by a dedicated chap with a steam roller!! He was unamused by our arrivals and departures 'cos we broke up his nice smooth runways and parking areas.
A 208 Sqn member, IIRC, made an unofficial (and unfortunate) record at Sharjah at the time of Suez as making the lowest, attempted, flypast. The airfield boundary was a series of 50 gallon oil drums half buried in the sand - he hit one, with predictable results.:=
I was stuck there for 10 days once - the airfield was FLOODED!!!
During the French war in Indo-China, (reputedly) a Connie with a full load of 'ladies' destined for the official 'troop comfort' establishments lost an engine and had to divert into Sharjah. The passengers were accommodated in the Sgt's Mess and (it was rumoured) a good time was had by all:ok:
Memories?? Air conditioning (unheard of in Aden!), weevil bread and 'somebody's' Readymeal - a sort of thick tinned stew which was necessary for survival. Life was definitely different then:hmm:

Tim Mills

19th Aug 2007, 05:20

And a door marked 'TV Room' in the Officers Mess, which led to the desert!

shack

19th Aug 2007, 09:23

TM I seem to remember that was Masirah.

Landed at Sharjah many times and even spent time there at the Gulf War that never happened in 1961. Found the old fort from Imperial Airways fascinating seem to remember that International Air Radio were using it.

Was it Sharjah or Eastleigh where a big bell was rung to warn the local population who were wandering about that there was an aircraft movement? Old age DOES weary you!!

Fokkerwokker

19th Aug 2007, 10:32

TM I seem to remember that was Masirah

IIRC that is/was the case.

Memories of crayfish at MI!

FW

JW411

19th Aug 2007, 10:56

Don't remember a TV Room in Sharjah but I have seen many a visitor go through the door in Masirah!

Tim Mills

19th Aug 2007, 12:41

I could have sworn it was Sharjah, but probably you are right and it was Masirah. Memory going; anyway great days!

Sandy Hutton

19th Aug 2007, 14:09

Forget...The Anson G-AKVW is a Mk19 and I spent 17 years putting it together, working most Sundays in the village of Friockheim, near Arbroath. In addition to your very informative narrative, I'd like to point out that this is a twin stick machine. It also has the wire bracing tags on the finpost in anticipation of being fitted with a wooden tailplane per the original build contract. I have plenty of photographs of the build throughout the years and maybe some day I'll get round to forming:O a website to show them off. TX183 belonged to the late Michael Fraser, ex Swissair. He also owned WD413 which is now at Coventry.

forget

19th Aug 2007, 14:17

In addition to your very informative narrative.......,

Not mine. I can't take credit for that :) It's all from Laurence Garey's Site http://l.garey.googlepages.com/home

l.garey

20th Aug 2007, 07:37

I was very interested to read the piece by Sandy Hutton about the Anson at Al Mahatta Museum, Sharjah on which he worked. Although the Anson is not in its original markings, like the other 3 aircraft in the museum, it is great to see these planes preserved in such good condition.
http://l.garey.googlepages.com/rafsharjah,almahattamuseum (http://l.garey.googlepages.com/rafsharjah,almahattamuseum)

Another aspect of RAF Sharjah is its involvement in the Jebel Akhdar conflict in the late 1950s:
On 20 July 1957 four Venoms of 8 Squadron flew from Aden to RAF Sharjah to take part in the campaign against “rebels” in the Jebel Akhdar mountains of Oman. The day after their arrival, the Venom pilots were flying in Shackletons to see the area in which they would be operating. The next two days were spent flying the Venoms, accompanied by Shackletons, to drop leaflets to warn the population about impending attacks. Dropping leaflets from the Shackleton was not too difficult, but for the Venoms they had to be stored in the flaps from where they would fall out when the flaps were lowered. On 27 July 1957 the Venoms attacked enemy towns. The same day 6 Venoms of 249 Squadron arrived at Sharjah from Nairobi. 8 Squadron returned to Aden a month later, only to fly back to Sharjah from October to November 1957. The squadron was back again for various detachments throughout 1958, finally leaving Sharjah on 3 October 1958. The pilots found life difficult. The runway was hard sand, which blew up clouds of stinging dust as aircraft took off. The accommodation and other facilities were bad. It is still possible to see parts of RAF Sharjah to this day. Some of the buildings of the old fort are used as the Al Mahatta Museum, and the control tower still exists, though rebuilt. The runway is now covered by King Abdul Aziz Road in the centre of the town! For whatever reason the Venom squadrons suffered many accidents, and stories abound of the number of wrecked aircraft that could be seen around the airfield in the late 1950s. Altogether 8 Squadron Venoms flew 1315 sorties, and 249 Squadron flew 163 sorties. They fired 3718 rockets and 271,060 20mm shells.
On 30 August 1958 a Venom failed to return to its base at Sharjah. It was reported that the aircraft had crashed and that the pilot had died. In October 2003 I visited Jebel Akhdar to find the site. We searched the area around the main village of the plateau, Saiq. Villagers still tell stories of the bombing by the “Americans”. In one village we came across a basin shaped piece of heavy steel casing with a tight screw-thread at one end, which I interpreted as being a piece of a 1000 pounder. We found the Venom, by the roadside at GPS coordinates N23 04’33.4, E57 39’36.4 Only the engine, the central parts of the wings (with the main wheels still retracted in them), and part of the fuselage remain. Records mention that Venom FB4 WR552 of 8 Squadron went down on 30/8/1958, and Colin Richardson, author of the excellent book Masirah, Tales from a DesertIsland confirmed that this was the Venom in a letter to me in December 2003. He was a former Venom pilot on 8 Squadron himself, and a friend of Flight Lieutenant Owen Watkinson, the pilot, flying from Sharjah. It is said that he was strafing goats, and that he was not shot down, but misjudged the pull out from his attacking dive. Alongside the wreck is a small stone cairn, marking the grave of Owen Watkinson.
A fuller text and illustrations can be found on
http://l.garey2.googlepages.com/home
or by a link to The Jebel Akhdar War from
http://l.garey.googlepages.com/home (http://l.garey.googlepages.com/home)

l.garey

21st Aug 2007, 07:33

Further to my comment about Sandy's Anson, I wonder if he can solve the mystery of the id plates. I quote from my site http://l.garey.googlepages.com/rafsharjah,almahattamuseum (http://l.garey.googlepages.com/rafsharjah,almahattamuseum)

The Anson "G-AKVW" is ex TX183, built at Yeadon in 1946. With Bomber Command Communications Flight at Booker (from where I used to fly), then Abingdon (where I lived) Station Flight, before moving on to No.1 ANS at Hullavington. Later to Shawbury, and A&AEE Boscombe Down where its service career finished in 1968. It was then sold to the Shuttleworth Trust, who were planning on a restoration programme, but that never came to fruition. Registered as G-BSMF. The flaps are half lowered, so you can see id plates on both sides. It is quite clearly marked as "Type no 652A" and Mk XXI on one side and Mk 21 on the other! The flaps carry the dates 22/10/48 on one side and 9/1/51 on the other! To find that it is a Mk21 is a surprise as that serial batch is usually quoted as C19s. Maybe the flaps were taken from a Mk 21, and fitted to a C19 airframe.

I wonder if Sandy can confirm that the data I quote are correct, and can he explain the plates saying this is a Mk 21!?

forget

21st Aug 2007, 08:18

l.garey's corrected his bad link on the The Jebel Akhdar War, see his Aviation history and photos: http://l.garey.googlepages.com/home

............ just in case you missed the correction. :ok:

A cracking good read as they say. :D

Sandy Hutton

22nd Aug 2007, 09:24

Garey, The aircraft is a Mk19 and I can confirm this many times over. The answer to the flaps is that these parts are interchangeable so could easily have been swapped at some time over the years in service. believe me, I know this aeroplane inside out, having crawled through, in, out, over and under it for all those 17 years.(I wouldn't like to try getting into the nose bay through the cone now though) The Constructors plate is under the fabric on the starboard cockpit and although I don't have the number to hand, 4363 rings a bell with me. It had flown 5031 hours at the point of retiral and you will perhaps note some 50 skin repairs on the centre section top and bottom, none by me I hasten to add. I only set fire to the fabric on the tail...fresh dope, hot iron, whoosh!! Oh, and I have a copy of the F700T from Boscombe Down, dated 6/67. The final travelling log entry is 28/2/68.

Please feel free to PM me if you need any more. Nice to see it's looking so good though.
Sandy:O

brakedwell

22nd Aug 2007, 14:30

During a tour flying Twin Pioneers on 152 Sqn in Bahrain in 1959/61, I regularly flew into Saiq, which is 6000ft up on the Jebel Akdhar. I recall one trip in 1960 with an RAF Padre from HQRAFPG, Bahrain. The plan was to recover the remains of the Venom pilot, Flight Lieutenant Owen Watkinson, and fly him down to Muscat (Bait al Falaj) from where he would be interred in consecrated ground on a small island off the Oman coast. Local tribesmen guided us to a small cave which had been blocked off with stones/boulders for two years. It had been opened up that morning for the padre's visit and he was inside for about fifteen minutes. When he came out he said the body must remain were it had been laid to rest with obvious care and respect. To the locals, he was an honourable foe who had died bravely.

This photo of 8 Sqn Hunters was taken during the great Sharjah flood in February 1961 when the airfield was 100% sand surfaced and beer was cheap!

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/Huntersof8SqnatSharjah.jpg

l.garey

22nd Aug 2007, 15:31

Thanks Sandy. I am pleased to have you confirm that it is a C19. From the serial batch it just had to be anyway! Pity they call it a Mark 1 in the museum. I have taken them to task for that!
Did you work on any of the other planes in the museum? Do you know anything about the Auster tail, the Dragaon Rapide control column, and the Twin Pioneer fin that are there, purportedly from the collaboration the Sharjah people had with the Wales Museum?

l.garey

22nd Aug 2007, 15:41

Thanks "brakedwell" for this information. May Owen rest in peace in that beautiful place.
As you obviously flew Twinpins around that area, maybe you can help me with a search I have on for a mystery airfield. See:
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=288741
I wonder if you ever dropped into Sumaini or the old Al Ain (see the same Post).

fantom

22nd Aug 2007, 15:57

Just a minute, just a minute.

"8 Sqn"? That looks like the Sphinx of Mighty 208 to me not the curly dagger of 8.

brakedwell

22nd Aug 2007, 16:43

Fantom, the old brain ain't what it was. You are right they are 208 Hunters, taken at the start of what was going to be the biggest air/sea excercise ever in he Gulf. 8 sqn were meant to be involved, but I think they got stuck in Masirah due to the sand runway at SHJ was waterlogged. I had a twin pin with flaps and slats locked in. It wouldn't accelerate to 64 kts in the slushy sand so we were grounded for a few days too.
I.garey, I looked at your strip and don't recognise it. I will look through my log book and see if anything stirs the memory. As I said on that thread some oil company strips had numbers, others names and often they were only used for a month or so. The name Al Ain was unheard of in 59/61. We called the area Buraimi and there one was strip heading approx 30/12 about 1100 yds long and the rock behind it Moby Dick. There were no tarmacadam roads in what was called the Trucial States at that ime so outlying settlements were small, primitive and interesting.

Here is a photo of Buraimi Fort which was less than half a mile from the strip.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/Bureimifort.jpg

l.garey

23rd Aug 2007, 09:16

Thanks for the reply. Yes, Al Ain was just one part of the Buraimi oasis then. The strip you are referring to is the one near Buraimi Fort. It appears on various maps of the time.
The old Al Ain airport can be seen on Google Earth, further south and near the present Hilton Hotel.
I have seen a photo of a Twin Pioneer that landed there (or nearby - I am not sure) on a medical mission. It was shown to me by a very famous lady, Gertrude Dyck, named locally "Dr Latifa". I wonder if you ever came across her. She was one of Al Ain's first medics. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of it.

brakedwell

23rd Aug 2007, 10:43

I'm sure she wasn't there during my time, because I was called out one night to collect a snake bite victim at Buraimi Fort even though my Twin Pioneer was unserviceable awaiting a new magneto from Bahrain. (Snag found during a mag check after a flight that morning). The RAF Sharjah Doctor was convinced the casualty would die without a serum injection and as he was coming with us we agreed the low risk of the second magneto failing on a 50 minute flight was justified. The doc was carrying a mixed Russell's Viper, Rock Cobra and Sand Crite serum. The casualty turned out to be a Trucial Oman Scouts' Sergeant Major who had been bitten on a finger by a Rock Cobra while hanging up an oil lamp. It was a very dark night and I would have preferred to have waited until daylight before returning to Sharjah, but the mixed serum was not working, so a decision was made to fly the casualty back ASAP for treatment at the Americam Hospital in Dubai. We climbed to the standard 5000 feet, but as I reduced power number two engine started rough running and died. We were almost half way into the seventy mile flight and the only option was to start a slow descent towards Sharjah with the remaining engine running at max power without overheating. We only just made it, landing on the sand about 100 yds short of the runway threshold, collecting a length of barbed wire in the process. The casualty was rushed to Dubai and subsequently made a full recovery, but I still got a bollocking by the Station Commander (a navigator) for flying an unserviceable aeroplane! Happy times.

l.garey

24th Aug 2007, 06:59

That is a great story. Gertrude Dyck arrived in Al Ain in 1962, so perhaps just after your adventures. She was a Canadian nurse, who was one of the first white women in Al Ain. She worked at the local "Oasis" Hospital until 1988. As there were few doctors around, she often had to do more than nursing and was always called "Dr Latifa" by the local people. I last saw her in Al Ain in 2004, when she showed me the photo of the Twin Pioneer on a medical mission.
The nearest Twin Pioneer to me here is the one that has sat dismantled at Sion airfield for a number of years (at least until 2005 - I have not been there since). It has no engines or tail and is still marked "Mensuration Cadastrale Suisse" (Swiss Land Survey). Its wings are alongside and pencilled on the root of one is: SAL/TP/00469. Although no registration is visible it was HB-HOX.

brakedwell

24th Aug 2007, 07:29

I returned to the UK in August 1961, so I just missed her. The snake bite case happened on the 8th October 1960. This photo of a Twin Pioneer (in one piece) was taken at Buraimi. It was one of the flattest and longest strips we used.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/TwinPioneerBuraimi.jpg

Cornish Jack

24th Aug 2007, 17:31

A lot of nostalgia going on here!!
Buraimi Oasis in the mid 50s was believed to be in the process of being taken over by the Saudis. We were diverted off our weekly Riyan-Salalah-Sharjah-Bahrain from Sharjah to take a 'cash convoy' down to Buraimi. We also took instructions for the T O Scouts to take control of the situation - which they duly did. Next morning, at dawn we returned to pick up the prisoners - a bit bruised and not very happy!! I was deputed to oversee the guarding on the flight back to Sharjah with a pair of T O Scouts, with 'pig stickers' at the ready, either side of me. One of the prisoners made to step over the wing spar - BIG ERROR!! the two either side of me had their spikes an inch from his throat in a micro-second and turned to me for permission to proceed:eek: I had to disappoint them and the culprit quickly returned to his seat. Not at my best with blood at that time of day:ooh:

l.garey

25th Aug 2007, 06:35

Thanks Jack. Did you see the background I gave to the Buraimi crisis in:
http://l.garey2.googlepages.com/home (http://l.garey2.googlepages.com/home)
and the relationship to Sharjah?
You add a bit more to that.
What aircraft were you in at that time?

brakedwell

25th Aug 2007, 08:48

Lawrence
I was fascinated by your colour photo of Sureija. I took one from almost exactly the same position in 1959! BTW, the CO of Saiq was a NFR Major by the name of John Cooper, ex SAS and LRDG from the start with David Stirling in North Aftrica, he was on the SAS assault of Jebel Akdhar in 58 prior to leaving the British Army and was a great host during nightstops!

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/Slide11-custom.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/SureijaJebelAkhdar.jpg

l.garey

26th Aug 2007, 07:53

Amazing. Not changed much, has it?

brakedwell

26th Aug 2007, 09:02

Here is another photo almost identical to one of your's taken from Sureija. At the end of one long day, still in flying gear, I wandered from the Saiq strip to take some photos. I met an old chap outside Sureija who insisted I go home with him for coffee (and a very sweet sickly sort of vermicelli) because I was a respected Tiara Sahib. From what I could gather from my limited Arabic, he had been involved in the laying to rest of the Venom pilot. Did you know there was a well sunk from an ancient ruin on top of that pointed peak?

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/JebelA.jpg

l.garey

26th Aug 2007, 09:27

Another beautiful picture. We obviously have the same feeling for spots to take good photos.
In general the people of Oman are still very friendly and hospitable. We often used to go into the desert near Buraimi at weekends, and we were always welcome at the house of one old Omani (in fact he looked about 90, but when he died last year he was only about 60 it seems) and his sister who always had coffee to offer. You could not refuse, until you had had 3 cups. And of course dates galore.
I wonder if the Saiq strip you used is the one I mention in my article that is now an army camp and on which there is a wrecked Huey. It is about a km from the Venom.
http://l.garey2.googlepages.com/home (http://l.garey2.googlepages.com/home)

I did not know about the well. We have done quite a bit of walking along the top of the Jebel. There are still remote abandoned villages up there, but it needs a bit a head for heights.

Maybe I forgot to ask you: The photo you showed of a Twinpin at Buraimi: was it your photo? Also the famous one on its nose at Sir Abu Nair (XM939), and another I have seen taken at Ibri (XM959 "B") (the one at Buraimi is also "B", so maybe XM959 too): were they yours? I think they were on airliners.net also.

fantom

26th Aug 2007, 11:57

Did you ever see the Firq-Saiq tie?

Designed by a certain CCIB on 208, it reqd the wearer to visit (?) or drop something (?) four times at both.

The design was the arabic '4' (looks like a backwards three) in a palm tree and undearneath 'Firq-Saiq'.

...four Firq Saiq...

True.

Fokkerwokker

26th Aug 2007, 12:39

You beat me to it fantom!:ok:

RAF mate of mine (Andover nav) wore one and told me it was the 'ferks sake' tie. I was living in the UK at the time and never swallowed his story............until I ended up flying Skyvans for GF out of Seeb. Sure enough there was Firq and Saiq on the PDO maps we were issued with!

IIRC they were monochrome maps and we used to colour them in ourselves, with crayons, as the desert would look different at various times of the day. Talk about DIY maps. Mine was a work of art at the end but unfortunately it disappeared in one of my various housemoves.

Apols for thread drift!

FW

brakedwell

26th Aug 2007, 12:39

fantom - The S-F tie was after my time.
L - Yes those are mine. XM 959 features a lot as it was always the most serviceable! We had 4 TP's and 4 Pembrokes on 152 based in Bahrain. We only had 6 pilots for most of the time I was there and being the only batchelor for most of the tour I spent a lot of time at Sharjah with a TP, flying around the Trucial States and Oman as far south as Salalah. The SOAF had 3 or 4 Single Pioneers and these were soon written off in landing incidents, so the Twin Pin was much in demand.
These photos of the 600 yd Saiq strip might give you an idea of it's position. Due to the slope and rising ground virtually all landing were made over the steep gorge with Sureijah passing under the right wing. The turbulence could be very challenging by 11 AM.

The TP is visible in the first (looking NW) and third photo (looking S SW.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/Saiqstrip.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/Saiqstrip-1.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/SaiqTinPinLocals.jpg

l.garey

26th Aug 2007, 14:44

Wonderful stuff. I just looked you up on airliners.net too.
Was it you who bent the TP that you photographed on its nose?
Did you ever take a TP into Sumaini airfield, north of Buraimi?

brakedwell

26th Aug 2007, 15:50

Again, the name Sumaini doesn't ring a bell. The Sir Abu Nuair accident was a result of the Sharjah Stn Cdr insisting on seeing signals from Bahrain concerning the tasking of the detached 152 sqn Twin Pioneer/s before the pilots. That morning I flew down to Muscat (Bait al falaj) and when I got back he met the aircraft and told me the other TP had been involved in an accident and that I was to land on Sir Abu Nuair and pick up the the crew. The other pilot, who had not meant to be flying that day, had been fast asleep after a heavy night when the stn cdr knocked on his door and belatedly gave him the signal tasking one TP to take aerial photos of a RN/Army amphibious landing excercise on the island. The aircraft with two crew, stn photographer and half a dozen joy riders arrived overhead too late to photograph the landing. Everything was already ashore. As usual none of the comms worked so the pilot decided to land and check if there was anything further he could do. On the landing run a protruding rock severed a brake pipe, the brakes on that side seized and while trying to correct the ensuing swing the aircraft nosed over. It was recovered by the RN on a floating platform called a Hippo, which was towed back to Dubai by a frigate a few days later.

l.garey

26th Aug 2007, 16:11

Thanks for that info!
I mentioned Sumaini on another thread
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=288741

It is at 24 39 10N, 55 53 40E and is also visible on Google Earth, where you can even make out the white runway markers and the name “SUMAINI” in white. The striking thing is that it is absolutely clean, with no debris of any sort, not even marks from spilled oil or any sign of having been used. I have heard from a former Oman Air Force pilot (who was also ex 8 Sqd Venoms at Sharjah) that he landed a Beaver there in 1975.

Cornish Jack

26th Aug 2007, 22:01

Apologies for the tardy reply re. aircraft type at Buraimi - it was the Valetta, I don't have my logbooks with me at the moment so can't give you the ident. I've just been browsing through your fascinating website - remarkable research effort!. Your Beverley memories rang a few bells as did the skippers names - although I was with the 'opposition' at 53. We did, however, amalgamate occasionally, on exercise.
The PAF museum has a slight connection, having been detached to Mauripur from Khormaksar in the mid '50s for three weeks to fly with the Air Attache on his Anson. A fascinating period although the 'Annie' was never serviceable to fly. Karachi was a mind-boggling mix of sights and sounds (and smells) with the bus journey from Mauripur to Karachi taking you past 'Fish Corner' - a truly horrific result of the Partition.

forget

18th Sep 2007, 18:07

I was in Sharjah the week before last and found an interesting addition to the Aviation Museum - first production Comet 2 G-AMXA aka XK655, or at least the nose section, seen here with the Exhibits Curator.

So what would it take for a Transport Command paint job? Much more appropriate :ok:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/cumpas/comet1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/cumpas/comet2.jpg

JW411

18th Sep 2007, 20:02

I didn't get to Buraimi until the end of 1967 after we had pulled out of Aden. The strip we used to use was referred to as Daudi. It was indeed orientated 30/12 and was in pretty good shape apart from a few soft patches. It was quite long as I recall and it was situated about half a mile south of the TOS HQ.

A couple of years later, the Army built another strip about five miles to the east called Tawi Hammad as part of an exercise. I landed there a couple of times but it would be fair to say that "it didn't catch on"!

I gave up bashing the bundu at the end of 1971. By then, they were building a multi-story hotel on short finals to 12 at Daudi right on the centreline. I could not imagine a more stupid place to build an hotel short of putting it right on the threshold.

l.garey

19th Sep 2007, 06:46

Thanks, forget. Good to see the museum is still active. Is that Taj or Mahesh standing in front of the Comet?
This is one of the reconnaissance R2 versions operated by 51 Sqd at Wyton, and retired to Strathallan in 1974, where it landed on their grass runway and broke the undercarriage. It was finally broken up in 1984, and the nose went to the Gatwick viewing gallery, where it was until at least 2004.
I shall try to find out how the Sharjah museum got hold of it!

l.garey

19th Sep 2007, 11:59

As promised in post 45, I checked with David Mackenzie, the original boss of the Al Mahatta museum. He sent me the following:

This particular aircraft started life as a Mark 2a registered with BOAC as G-AMXA and first flown on 27th August 1953. It was shown at the Farnborough SBAC airshow the following month as the first production aircraft with Rolls/Royce Avon engines. It concluded its flight trials with a convincing demonstration of long range characteristics when John Cunningham covered the 3064 miles from London to Khartoum non stop in 6 ½ hours on the 22nd January 1954. It was the first Comet to go to the Royal Air Force, allocated serial number XK655. In 1955 it was modified at Marshalls of Cambridge to the secret 2R electronic intelligence gathering (ELINT) version, and during its time with 51 Squadron it was based in Cyprus. Known as a “spook” it patrolled low level the sensitive borders of Eastern Bloc countries with experimental surveillance and radar equipment, frequently calling at Sharjah for fuel. Back in England it was employed to do trials for Smiths Instruments and when retired from flying it was sold for £4,000 to the Strathallen collection in Scotland. Sadly, on landing at Strathallen, it caught the starboard undercarriage on a wall, ripping it off completely, but it was quickly repaired for static display. When the StrathallenMuseum closed in 1990 it was broken up and scrapped with only the cockpit section surviving. This changed hands a few times and deteriorated in the process until Tim More of Skysport Engineering Ltd in Bedfordshire rescued it, restored it, and put it on the roof at GatwickAirport in 1995. After spending many more years outside it was returned to Skysport for restoration again before shipping to Sharjah to take its place in the Al Mahatta Aviation Museum as the first Jet Airliner to land at Sharjah.

Thanks David.

forget

19th Sep 2007, 12:06

The Strathallen arrival.:hmm:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/cumpas/1039139.jpg

l.garey

19th Sep 2007, 12:10

Comet on grass. No way!
See what I just put on as post 46 after contacting David Mackenzie.
He also sent me a pdf file of 655's history. How can I put that on prune?

l.garey

11th Oct 2007, 08:57

Further to the postings above about Comet XK655 and its activity in Sharjah, there is a very interesting report from a former 51 Sqd electronics operator at
http://www.spyflight.co.uk/51sqn.htm

gulf_slf

16th Oct 2007, 08:33

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6714/jimmylloydbrickhillibrimp0.th.jpg (http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jimmylloydbrickhillibrimp0.jpg)
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7595/adpcdoveauh1965milnesje6.th.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adpcdoveauh1965milnesje6.jpg)
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6366/roddymilnedoveauh1965oj8.th.jpg (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=roddymilnedoveauh1965oj8.jpg)
Thank you for the great entries to the thread on Sharjah Old Airport and related issues on aviation in the lower Gulf. Great pix Jebal Akdhar and the story of the Firq-Saiq run which I am able to drop into dinner conversation to great amusement!.
It reminds me of various memories of growing up in Bahrain during the '60's when the 'old man' was flying for Gulf Aviation. (Gulf Aviation…..the original Gulf airline, all the others are up-starts!! I mean start ups…..!).
I was intrigued with the pix of the Pioneer aircraft which I remember along with the Beverley's at that time as well as a collection of the 'V' bombers that used to pass through on a regular basis! As I was at the RAF Muharraq school we were aware of the different flights & the ground crews who were brought in for different exercises and operations occurring in the area….
The Pioneers I remember well as I remember that I used to cycle up to the airport in the early '70's to clamber over the wrecks of old Pioneers that had been stripped of any useful items and dumped behind the Gulf Aviation hanger. Used to be fun climbing up around the cockpit and checking out if there was anything still interesting to take as a souvenir….until the old Baluchi night watchman would shoo us way with his night stick ! Ahhh …airport security was in a different league in those days ….
With regard to the services and aircraft in the Lower Gulf at that time I hope that some of you might have an interest in the photos that I have listed on the thread.
There is one of the old man with the DC3 on the ground in Ibri, Sultanate of Oman, pictured with Capt. Lloyd Brickhill, plus the essential airport staff ….!! ( Note; the firefighting equipment in front of the aircraft forward of the starboard engine ready for start up….)
The other two pix are of the leased Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company DH Dove reg:
(G-AMUZ), featuring myself with Bob Milne's sons, the GM of ADPC at the time.
During school holidays he would take his sons from Bahrain to AUH, in the Dove taking the best part of the day, going via Doha, Jebel Dhanna & Tariff. The pic is of Tariff or Abu Dhabi International Airport !!
I am sure that we were only asked to come along to chase the goats off the runway before take off!!
If there is a website that focuses on Gulf aviation from the past & flying in the Trucial Oman I would love to contribute and get others to do so as well! It would be nice to remind certain airlines and their management that they have a lot to thank the original pioneering aviators for opening up the routes & generating business in the Lower Gulf all those years ago. Humility is not a quality of the current airlines !

l.garey

17th Oct 2007, 07:35

Thanks, gulf, for these extra data. I am trying to piece together details for a history of aviation in the gulf. More about that later.
In the meantime, can you throw any light on the airfield I enquired about:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=288741

Did you ever visit that area, or know anything about it?

NRU74

17th Oct 2007, 20:40

I Garey
Thank you for the link
Even now, 40 years on, I'm still a tad surprised that a Spec Op has actually put into print what 51 Sqn did all those years ago.
Very interesting, of course, to those of us who served at Wyton in those days [and who flew over the Kola ? peninsular on several occasions.]

drflight

24th Oct 2007, 17:25

How wonderful to see something of this famous airport and how fabulous to know there is now a small aviation museum inside 'the fort.'

There is a wee bit about this in Alexander Frater's fantastic book 'Beyond the Blue Horizon' - this is defititely a 'must read' book for aviation fans and anyone with an interest in the old Imperial Airways routes fromm Croydon to the Far East and onwards.

Some years ago (more than ten I think) there was a television series about aviation and I am sure I remember seeing moving pictures of a Handley Page 42 landing at Sharjah, taxying up to 'the fort' and the pax getting off.

It must have been quite a romantic and exciting journey in those far off days. Mind you, I can still muster up a bit of excitement for LHR despite all the critics. After all, a flight is a flight is a flight!

brakedwell

21st Aug 2008, 11:22

My 8mm films taken in 1959-61 have been digitalised. This clip of Twin Pioneers flying in Muscat & Oman is now on You Tube.
YouTube - Firq - Saiq Twin Pioneers (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=J3cnU-6YcPs)

l.garey

21st Aug 2008, 13:08

Excellent films brakedwell.

In the one you label as flying past Buraimi, I can clearly recognise the rocky spine that extends from Jebel Haffit, just by the modern city of Al Ain, where I lived for 4 years and that I still visit regularly.

As you know, I shall be up at Saiq in a few days to commemorate 50 years since Owen Watkinson's Venom crashed up there (http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/332157-8-sqd-venom-crash-oman-50-years-ago.html). I shall try to locate the site of the old airstrip, which must be very close to the crash site.
I shall report back later!

Laurence

essgee

22nd Aug 2008, 12:04

last time i was in dubai,we went to sharjah,i was led to believe that the main road thru was the old main runway? correct me if im wrong please
essgee

l.garey

22nd Aug 2008, 13:31

The runway at the former RAF Sharjah is now King Abdul Aziz Street in the middle of town. See l.garey - RAF Sharjah, Al Mahatta Museum (http://l.garey.googlepages.com/rafsharjah,almahattamuseum)

Laurence

brakedwell

22nd Aug 2008, 14:27

It was still a sand runway when I returned to the UK in August 1961. In August 1963 I was posted to Aden on Argosies to find it had been given a hard tarmac type surface, even though it was only 100 ft wide.

Krakatoa

23rd Aug 2008, 10:33

I seem to remember that there was a camel trail that crossed the runway which required air traffic to ring a loud bell (church type) to warn camel drivers and goat herders of aircraft movements.
Yes the new narrow tarmac runway could be a trap as it looked soo long!

brakedwell

23rd Aug 2008, 11:07

Yes the new narrow tarmac runway could be a trap as it looked soo long!

It was a great leveller of young co-pilots who thought they knew it all!
Give then the landing at Masirah, which was 300 Ft wide, followed by the next one at Sharjah. Inevitably they would round out high at Masirah with the inevitable firm landing. The narrow runway at Sharjah fooled them into thinking they were high until they flew into the ground! :E:E:E

KeMac

23rd Aug 2008, 19:16

A superb thread. This whole area was my stamping ground in the 70s and early 80s. I doubt if I would recognise any of it now judging from the pictures I have seen.I hope someone can get a website going on the region though the years. I remember I was in a bookshop in Jeddah a few years back and they had a book on Aviation in The Trucial States with a number of excellent pictures and I could kick myself for not buying it now as I cannot remember the author or publisher

l.garey

31st Aug 2008, 11:30

In response to what brakedwell has said about Saiq airfield up on Jebel Akhdar in Oman, and especially his recent amazing films on YouTube, I was up exploring what is left of the Saiq strip last weekend, 29 August 2008. It is quite difficult to find, and the whole area is very rough indeed. We could not even find the sandy strips that brakedwell described and of which he sent me a photo privately. I think the surface has been eroded since then. But it was exciting to stand on the threshold and imagine the Twin Pin coming in, and even more so to stand in Sharaijah village perched high above the strip and imagine brakedwell's plane approaching that enormous cliff on finals. Rather him than me.
The fort seems to have disappeared, and the whole area is being encroached upon by an army camp and housing.
Laurence

brakedwell

31st Aug 2008, 12:55

Here is a photo of Saiq "International" taken in 1961. Looking towards the northwest with my Twin Pioneer parked at the far end.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/Saiqrunway.jpg

Union Jack

31st Aug 2008, 14:23

A fascinating thread, thank you gentlemen. Do any of you have any tales to tell about a Hudson, or possibly a Mitchell, I seem to recall lurking, along with other interesting aircraft, around the edges of the airfield at Sharjah in about 1969?

Jack

JW411

31st Aug 2008, 14:40

We have already covered this in a previous thread but I think you are talking about the fleet of the JW Mecom Oil Company which used to be based at Midway/Thumrait.

The aircraft were flown to Sharjah when the operation was closed down. The Lockheed Lodestar didn't make it beyond Sharjah and ended up in a scrapyard downtown.

The B-23 Dragon (N86E) and the C-82 Packet (N127E) didn't make it past Athens and ended up being scrapped there.

The only one that made it all the way back to the USA was the C-46 Commando (N9588Z).

hootnroar

25th Sep 2008, 18:05

So you are one of the guys that would wake us in the wee hours! ........along with the Sterling Caravelle. The old RAF Sharjah field, was near the town. In fact adjacent the old fort.............which used to be operated by International Air Radio, the fort that is! Did you by any chance take your 1-11's into the old Muscat base at Bait-al-falaj.............now that was a interesting approach!

hootnroar

25th Sep 2008, 18:15

True, they do exist. I have one. Arabic 4 with a palm tree. My example is green and very skinny. Not something that one can comfortably wear nowadays.

JW411

25th Sep 2008, 18:25

I have spent many a night in the fort at Sharjah (when it was occupied by IAL). I could always imagine the old days when the Imperial Airways HP42 landed and taxied up to the front gates and the passengers made a dash towards civilisation to have the doors clang shut behind them.

I particularly remember the concrete soldiers that manned the parapets and often wondered just who was intimidated or fooled by these apparitions.

Even after Sharjah got its tarmac runway (which was only 100 feet wide) the old airfield datum point was still there to the west of the new runway.

To the youngsters in our midst, this was a tarmac circle which sometimes had the airfield letter in the centre. Would you believe, the Sharjah one had an "S" in the centre.

I can also remember one at Riyan and another at the old landing field in Masirah (half way down the island on the left hand side).

brakedwell

26th Sep 2008, 07:15

Did you by any chance take your 1-11's into the old Muscat base at Bait-al-falaj.............now that was a interesting approach!

On 152 sqn we operated three Ration Runs a week to Bait (Mon, Wed, Fri) routing BAH-SHJ-IBRI-BAIT-SHJ-BAH. I landed at Bait many times with Twins Pioneers and Pembrokes. This is the only photograph I have of Bait showing the then new parking ramp with two 152 sqn aircraft and a rare SOAF (single) Pioneer. Airwork did all the maintenance

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/BaitalFalaj.jpg

JW411

26th Sep 2008, 14:34

The runway at Bait al Falaj was originally a gravel strip about 4200 ft long and quite narrow (60 ft?). The next stage came when they concreted about 500 ft at each end.

Then, when SOAF ordered Strikemasters to replace the Piston Provosts, they decided that the whole runway needed to concreted. They started from both ends moving towards the middle and then realised that they weren't going to meet!

Thus the nice new runway had a 2 or 3 degree heading change halfway down. It looked quite strange coming down finals but not so obvious after landing.

Gulf Aviation did indeed start a schedule into Bait with the BAC 1-11. It ran about once a week and it would be fair to say that they did not have a lot of room to spare.

brakedwell

26th Sep 2008, 15:11

I remember it being shorter than 4200 ft in 1959/61. In April 1961 I was on detachment at Ibri with the SAS. Our Twin Pioneer had inoperative Flaps and Slats, which were physically locked up after a chain and sprocket failure caused by sand contamination. Unbeknown to me and the squadron engineers at Bahrain, operating the flaps also bled the hydraulic brake system. The brakes became spongier and spongier until pumping them before landing became ineffective. I flew to Bait so that the Airwork engineers could take a look at the problem. A flapless landing in calm conditions followed by a total brake failure resulted in us running slowly off the end of the strip (downhill) and through a barbed wire fence before coming to a halt in Brigadier Smiley's "back yard". No damage to the aircraft and the welcoming G&T from Mrs Smiley was a good start to a very pleasant night stop! From then on we visited Bait on a weekly basis to have the brakes bled and eat something edible!

old,not bold

27th Sep 2008, 20:31

I was lucky enough to ride along on the proving flight with the GF BAC 1-11 to Bait-al-Falaj. It was a condition of the sale of the ex-Phillipines 400s (I think they were) that the CAA, who regulated Gulf at that time, would approve scheduled operations into Bait-al-Falaj. The aircraft was crewed by BAE pilots, but there were some GF ones there as well who had done the course.

It was an interesting day starting with the first approach and landing (down the valley going Northish, aim for the painted spot on the hillside, look right for the runway, turn just before hitting the hill and get it down quick on account of there's no option to go round, if I remember rightly. OK in a DC3, even F27, but challenging in the jet, they said).

Then a number of take-offs and landings with just the test crew on board, simulated engine failures at various stages, and then the same again with ballast up to MTOW (or some quite high number), and the aircraft passed with 'flying' colours.

The final departure, after a necessary change of the main wheels, had us all back on board, with some ballast and fuel for Bahrain, GF crew flying, and a failure at V1; Rex E was sitting beside me in the cabin and as we watched the crest getting closer he said conversationally "I've just done the course, I've been flying here for years, and what I know is we'll hit about 200ft below the top".

A few moments later, there was a shove in the back as the "failed" engine was recalled into service, and we lifted over the crest nicely.

The CAA gave their approval and the rest is history.

airmead

12th Mar 2011, 23:27

I know this is an ancient post.. but..

After being scrapped at Strathallen XK655's nose was badly trashed by the scrapman who pulled it across a field on it's roof. It came to Carlisle but suffered a fall from it's towing trailer on the M6 motorway - somewhat ironic given its poor landing at Strathallen. After a couple of years I bought it, and began the restoration process inside, including replacing instruments pinched by a previous. It's not strictly true that it deteriorated in private hands. It resided first in my back garden near Cockermouth, then onto Solway Aviation Museum after a repaint in 51Sqn scheme. Still, the skinning damage was quite bad in a couple of places. I sold it to Gatwick and Skysport finally repaired the outside - something requiring more tooling than I had available. Strange to see it now so far away - but looking really good!