Prince of Dzun
18th Jun 2003, 18:58
When the Malayan emergency was at its peak (1950s) the Royal Singapore Flying Club operating from Paya Lebar had a bank contract to deliver quantities of cash to rubber plantations in isolated regions of Johore. The cash was to pay rubber tapers and delivery by air was to avoid loss of the money in the event that the delivery vehicle was ambushed by bandits on the jungle roads. On days when I was not flying Malayan Airways DC-3s it was fun to fly these payroll drops and especially so if done in the club Tiger Moth. Here's how it went. A bank armoured car would deliver the bags of cash to the club and they were then loaded onto the knees of the "dropper" who was seated in the front cockpit. He was normally one of the engineers from the hangar. The bags were about the size of a small suitcase and made of tough canvas. Each contained up to $300,000 and was closed with a padlock and seal. It is not easy to locate an individual rubber plantation in the jungle and some precise navigation was required to ensure finding the right place. The drop zone was always a clearing near the plantation manager's residence, and it was essenital to establish that the plantation guards were waiting to receive the money. They could be observed standing on the edge of the drop zone with their rifles. If they were not there then the rule was to take the money back to Singapore.
To make the drop, the " dropper " lifted the bag off his knees and leaning out of the cockpit he would manoeuvre it onto the Tiger Moth's lower left wing. He was required to hold it tightly as there was always the possibility that the bag could be lost into the jungle due to the slipstream from the propeller. With the engine throttled back to idle the Tiger was put into a shallow dive so as to be over the drop zone at tree top height. At the correct moment as judged by the way things were working out the bag of money was simply pushed off the trailing edge of the wing. It was then full throttle and climb away in a left turn looking back to see where it had landed. Great way to spend a morning.
Prince of Dzun
To make the drop, the " dropper " lifted the bag off his knees and leaning out of the cockpit he would manoeuvre it onto the Tiger Moth's lower left wing. He was required to hold it tightly as there was always the possibility that the bag could be lost into the jungle due to the slipstream from the propeller. With the engine throttled back to idle the Tiger was put into a shallow dive so as to be over the drop zone at tree top height. At the correct moment as judged by the way things were working out the bag of money was simply pushed off the trailing edge of the wing. It was then full throttle and climb away in a left turn looking back to see where it had landed. Great way to spend a morning.
Prince of Dzun