Wikiposts
Search
Aviation History and Nostalgia Whether working in aviation, retired, wannabee or just plain fascinated this forum welcomes all with a love of flight.

PNG pilot

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 12th Mar 2010, 04:09
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Sydney
Age: 85
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
PNG pilot

I guess many of the old PNG pilots have stories to tell....like the time I was landing at Kiunga in a c150 from the left seat when the control column split pin came out, and so did the control column...landed it from the left seat with the right hand control...case of need a beer quick!!Also flying Stol C336 and had a complete electrical failure....Daru was just being built as a staging strip, and had to land there no flaps, no pitch control....in fact bugger all except good luck, because at that stage Daru was a short dirt strip.Many more similar stories...like to hear someone elses though.
papua new guinea pil is offline  
Old 12th Mar 2010, 06:40
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Gold Coast
Age: 58
Posts: 1,611
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I used to fly a Citation up there in the early 90's, though not for long.



The jet at Guasopa.




Going into Toukua (That right?), near Rabaul when the volcano was erputing.




Um .... don't ask!
18-Wheeler is offline  
Old 12th Mar 2010, 20:35
  #3 (permalink)  
Silly Old Git
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: saiba spes
Posts: 3,726
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
For interest many lies told here http://www.pprune.org/dg-p-general-a...g-tok-tok.html
tinpis is offline  
Old 14th Mar 2010, 19:44
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: On the wireless...
Posts: 1,901
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Many years ago I read an autobiography written by a lady missionary pilot, big Cessna single I seem to recall, and her adventures plying around PNG, Madang and Goroka in particular. I would like to read it again but have forgotten the title and author. Anybody hazard a guess for me please?
Talkdownman is offline  
Old 15th Mar 2010, 18:51
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Various locations...
Posts: 123
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Autobiography written by a lady pilot

STEENSON, Eileen.
FLIGHT PLAN PNG.
Rigby. Adelaide. 1974.

...is the one you are after I think...she flew C185s...remember meeting her in the early 70s up there.
skywagondriver is offline  
Old 15th Mar 2010, 20:28
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: On the wireless...
Posts: 1,901
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thank you sooo much, yes that's the one! Looks like it could be tricky to re-locate.....

Reading that book reinforced my affinity for the larger Cessna singles and such challenging flying. Struggled to get my hands on 180/5, had to make do with 206 and 182. Wonderful, robust, 'agricultural' dirt-strip machines. I look forward to settling down with Eileen's adventures again....!

Thanks again!
Talkdownman is offline  
Old 15th Mar 2010, 23:03
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Gold Coast
Age: 58
Posts: 1,611
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thank you sooo much, yes that's the one! Looks like it could be tricky to re-locate.....
Pretty easy if you know where to look ....

Eileen STEENSON - AbeBooks

US$21.00, not too bad.
18-Wheeler is offline  
Old 16th Mar 2010, 09:34
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Various locations...
Posts: 123
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yes...should have mentioned Abe Books - excellent source.

It is about the only book written about flying in 'more recent times' in PNG...
skywagondriver is offline  
Old 16th Mar 2010, 13:13
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Gold Coast
Age: 58
Posts: 1,611
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The Balus trilogy is excellent, though as you say is about older times.
(And my Dad's in it!)
18-Wheeler is offline  
Old 30th May 2010, 12:32
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Around
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Eileen Steenson

Last edited by Eljay; 31st May 2010 at 01:11.
Eljay is offline  
Old 31st May 2010, 01:05
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Around
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yes, it was Eileen who wrote the book Flight Plan PNG.
She was my flying instructor back in 1974 at Albury NSW.
Iam trying to track her down and I hope she is still around.
Eileen was single at the time, but married later in life to a fellow called Reynolds,(or similar) who has since passed away. I have heard that Eileen had later moved to QLD. I suspect that she would be quite elderly if still around. I thought she was elderly at the time of teaching me, but then I was 19 and anyone over 30 was past it then.
Does anyone know of her wherabouts?
Eljay is offline  
Old 31st May 2010, 01:43
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Kerikeri, New Zealand or Noosa Queensland. Depending on the time of year!
Age: 84
Posts: 273
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi PNG Pil,

From your age and your comments I think we may have been flying together for STOL around 1962 - 1963. If so drop me an email. Cheers Exaviator
Exaviator is offline  
Old 31st May 2010, 11:49
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,414
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I suggest contact the Australian Womens' Pilot Association and its a good bet they will have her details if she is still a member.
I am almost certain she was recently interviewed by a local newspaper.
A37575 is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 04:50
  #14 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: buderim
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Eileen Steenson

She is now 94 and lives in an Aged Care Home in Caloundra. She was recently at the Caloundra Open Cockpit display. Contact me [email protected] for more details.
Skydoc is offline  
Old 7th Aug 2010, 22:45
  #15 (permalink)  
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jan 1996
Location: Utopia
Posts: 7,433
Received 213 Likes on 116 Posts
Skydoc. Jim Sinclair, author of the "Balus" trilogy, "Sepik Pilot" and many other books on PNG, lives quite close to you. He is 83 and still writing PNG books.
tail wheel is offline  
Old 8th Aug 2010, 06:39
  #16 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Australia
Age: 58
Posts: 2,217
Received 71 Likes on 38 Posts
Flight Plan PNG, what a fantastic book and a great insight into the life of a commercial pilot flogging around the last frontier, in single-engine Cessna's.

Our newly opened school library somehow acquired a copy, and and as a kid I could sniff out an aviation book at fifty paces. I would have read it at least half a dozen times and always managed to borrow it for the school holidays.

I recently saw a copy for sale at well known bookshop in the Melbourne CBD, that specialises in second hand books. It cetainly bought back fond memories as I last read the book in 1977.

If she is 94 now, she would been up there flying in the late 1960's, which would make in her late 40's which again is a remarkable feat for a woman in those times. Did she fly commercially in Australia before going to PNG?
Stationair8 is offline  
Old 12th Sep 2010, 01:52
  #17 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: buderim
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Vae Eileen Steenson

Vale Eileen Steenson/ Ronalds
Sadly Eileen passed away 21 August 2010 at the age of 95. Her funeral was 30 August At Church of Christ at Dicky Beach Caloundra Qld.
An article has been written about her in the next issue of AIRNEWS, journal of Aust Women Pilots' Association
Skydoc is offline  
Old 12th Sep 2010, 01:55
  #18 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: buderim
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Angel Vale Eileen Steenson

Vale Eileen Steenson/ Ronalds
Sadly Eileen passed away 21 August 2010 at the age of 95. Her funeral was 30 August At Church of Christ at Dicky Beach Caloundra Qld.
An article has been written about her in the next issue of AIRNEWS, journal of Aust Women Pilots' Association
Skydoc is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.