Paul Wolff

[Night Beetle]

It was with regret to learn Paul passed away early Friday morning.
He was on the job but not in the seat. In Port Moresby PNG.

Condolences to his family,and sadness for his friends that knew him.

[CopterDoctor]

A very nice bloke -comes to us all i suppose

[redorangedog]

A True Gent
Worked with Paul in Doha a few years back. Condolences to his family at this time
May he RIP

[Mike C]

Wolfie and my self were flying out of Doha one day to a rig in the middle of the Persian/Arabian Gulf and were cruising at about 3000 feet when I saw a Tomahawk cruise missile was approaching from the right to pass in front of us about 200 metres away, i said to Wolfie "look at this" he looked up from the paperwork and said. " F#%#€^* Hell "
After a minute he said "we have to tell someone"
I said we'll mention it when we get back.
Wolfie said " no,no, we have to warn people"
So I said "you are on the radio, call someone then"
Wolfie called Gulf Heli Ops desk and said to Suileman, "tell any crews coming up to the North Field to look out for errrr ummm errrrr!!!! little white things"
"say again" said Suileman
" tell crews coming North to look out for little white things" said Wolfie.
"What do you mean little white things " said Suileman.
" just tell them, they will know" finished Wolfie brusquely.
As I was listening to this I started laughing about this "little white things" talk and then Wolfie started laughing too.

Ever since then if I ever hear the term "little white things" I think of Paul Wolff.


As previously said, a real Gentleman who I had the pleasure of working with in NZ and Qatar.

Terry and Paul in the same week, I feel very sad, and very mortal.

My Condolences to Paul's family.

Mick Chadfield.

[Adroight]

Flew with Paul in Gulf too and it was a privilege to fly with him. He will be missed by many. RIP Paul.

[gulliBell]

I only recall flying with him once in the seven years that I knew him: stories shared of that infamous mission of his in the Sols, firing stun grenades out the door of a 212 trying to knock over some rioting rascols who put a hole in his tail boom. The story got bigger and better every time I heard it! a larger than life character on the ground; always open to sharing an opinion on almost anything; flew with his trouser pants pulled up around his knees. I never understood why, it's not as if he wasn't used to hot weather! And I think he also enjoyed the occasional glass of red. Memories enjoyed.

[Night Beetle]

The strange thing about this passing,Wolfie had a medical on Wednesday felt unwell on Thursday morning,enough to say He did not want to fly.......
And was deceased by early friday morning. After a massive heart attack.
The value of these medical exams has to be questioned.
After standing down from flying the medicos were able to say we think something is/was wrong.
Just an open question. Are the right things being looked at?
Over 40 years old medical twice a year fine,maybe something else needs to be looked at.
Otherwise it looks like another revenue gathering exercise.The Kiwis are certainly leading the way there.

[helix47]

Excuse us Wolffie while we have a thread creep here.
But where do you stop with the checks?? I know of a less than 30 pilot dropping dead, and a 40 year old "not feeling well"and delaying the flight a while and during this delay had a heart attack.
The over 60 in OZ calls for stress test ECG and for a few coins more you can have this done with an echocardigram. Worth every cent.

[gulliBell]

The strange thing about this passing,Wolfie had a medical on Wednesday felt unwell on Thursday morning,enough to say He did not want to fly......

The PNG medical, for what it's worth. In days not so long past I'd collect mine at reception, already signed and ready to go. No need to actually see the Doctor, just needed to pee in the jar and read the eye chart and you were good for another 12 months. I also know of several instances of pilots working out bush with expired medicals, having forgotten to renew prior to starting the work hitch. No problem, just get the medical revalidated over the phone. That's just the PNG way, for a lot of things. In light of Kokoda they might treat it a little more seriously now, I don't know...it's been over a year since I ventured up that way.

However, if you wanted them to sign off on your Australian medical at the same time then things were different, you actually had to do a proper medical then.