The "Whistling wheelbarrow"
Back Up-Country
We were talking about Dhala some time back. Herewith a view of the airstrip and the local architecture after dropping 8x1-ton containers to the South Arabian Army garrison that had just taken over IS duties from 45 Cdo RM, one of the signs that our departure from Aden was on the horizon, I guess. This was on 13 June 1967, with officers D'shire and Watkins sharing captaincy, I see.
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Dhala
The white building on top of the hill middle distance if memory serves me correctly is the Dhala Hotel, stayed there on many occasions, travelling up by Aden Airways DC3 for the weekend & many weekday stops, highlight used to be going on tour by local landrover and crew to the fort on top of Jebel Jehaf, also being able to walk down into Dhala village without any problems, life was a lot easier back in 62 - 64 before the troubles up country. Paul H.
Here are a couple of shots taken while supply dropping up-country in Aden.
The next one was taken on a dawn drop at Mukeiras. The blue smoke from the smoke flare on the DZ can be seen just to the left of the strip. There wasn't much wind!
The next one was taken on a dawn drop at Mukeiras. The blue smoke from the smoke flare on the DZ can be seen just to the left of the strip. There wasn't much wind!
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When flying for Gulf Air we used to take the BAC1-11 to Salalah, (1976/7), over the top at 20,000', turn outbound over the sea, gear down, speed brakes out, descend to 10,000', turn inbound and hope to break cloud before minimums, on a left base for R/W 17. Became much more civilised later when the new airfield opened, after the rebels had been removed from the hills!
"Became much more civilised later when the new airfield opened, after the rebels had been removed from the hills".
Indeed so, removing the rebels from the hills was a bit of a problem. The buggers used to come down the hill at night and launch all sorts of nastiness at the airfield.
Our defensive positions were north of the airfield and locally known as porcupines. (A more universal word would be sangars).
I got involved one night with a reinforcement flight from Bahrain. The Salalah guys had been in the porcupines fighting the unclean for 48 hours and had taken casualties which needed casevacing and they needed help.
I arrived at 0300 (in the monsoon season) with the reinforcements and set about the usual ACR7 approach with the oil drums alight. I was told that the airfield was still under fire but they had sent a Ferret Scout Car out to protect us while we landed.
Well, we finally came out of the last cloud layer at around 75-100 feet on 35 with a tail wind and threw the old girl on the ground.
Very shortly afterwards, I picked up the Ferret Scout Car in the landing lights and it was parked right on the intersection of 35/17 and 22/04!!!!!!!!
It was the shortest landing that I ever did in an Argosy. I would not have been the slightest surprised if the booms had come over the top. The commander of the Scout Car came from the Indian Sub Continent and he had figured that he would have the maximum defensive effect if he parked in the middle of the airfield!
As best as I can recall, we had to change two wheels as a result and we had to do it ourselves since everyone else was "already occupied".
It might be of interest to some of you out there to know that the old Sultan of Muscat and Oman made his exit from his country by courtesy of an Ardet Argosy. One of my friends brought him out.
Said Ibn Taimur was a very old fashioned ruler and he could see little reason to get his domain out of the 14th Century. His son, Qabus (Qaboos), was sent to UK for an education which culminated in a course at Sandhurst.
The young man could see that his country needed to join the 20th century pretty quickly and, one day, he went down to Salalah to confront his father (no doubt with the encouragement of the PRPG (Political Representative Persian Gulf) - (who was second only in the Foreign Office hierarchy to our man in Washington).
My mate turned up at Salalah in full casevac role on 23 July 1970 and asked "where are the casualties"?
"They haven't happened yet", was the answer!
Finally, an ambulance appeared, the casualty was loaded and off they went to Bahrain. The casualty was Said Ibn Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman. His son had given him an ultimatum and the old man had responded by pulling a revolver and had then shot himself in the foot!
He was casevaced to Bahrain by Argosy, then medivac Britannia to Akrotiri and then transferred to a VC-10 to Lyneham for Wroughton Hospital.
The Foreign Office put him in a nice stately mansion in Surrey.
He died in 1972 and is buried in Woking.
Young Qubus took over and has so far done a great job of getting his country into the modern world.
Indeed so, removing the rebels from the hills was a bit of a problem. The buggers used to come down the hill at night and launch all sorts of nastiness at the airfield.
Our defensive positions were north of the airfield and locally known as porcupines. (A more universal word would be sangars).
I got involved one night with a reinforcement flight from Bahrain. The Salalah guys had been in the porcupines fighting the unclean for 48 hours and had taken casualties which needed casevacing and they needed help.
I arrived at 0300 (in the monsoon season) with the reinforcements and set about the usual ACR7 approach with the oil drums alight. I was told that the airfield was still under fire but they had sent a Ferret Scout Car out to protect us while we landed.
Well, we finally came out of the last cloud layer at around 75-100 feet on 35 with a tail wind and threw the old girl on the ground.
Very shortly afterwards, I picked up the Ferret Scout Car in the landing lights and it was parked right on the intersection of 35/17 and 22/04!!!!!!!!
It was the shortest landing that I ever did in an Argosy. I would not have been the slightest surprised if the booms had come over the top. The commander of the Scout Car came from the Indian Sub Continent and he had figured that he would have the maximum defensive effect if he parked in the middle of the airfield!
As best as I can recall, we had to change two wheels as a result and we had to do it ourselves since everyone else was "already occupied".
It might be of interest to some of you out there to know that the old Sultan of Muscat and Oman made his exit from his country by courtesy of an Ardet Argosy. One of my friends brought him out.
Said Ibn Taimur was a very old fashioned ruler and he could see little reason to get his domain out of the 14th Century. His son, Qabus (Qaboos), was sent to UK for an education which culminated in a course at Sandhurst.
The young man could see that his country needed to join the 20th century pretty quickly and, one day, he went down to Salalah to confront his father (no doubt with the encouragement of the PRPG (Political Representative Persian Gulf) - (who was second only in the Foreign Office hierarchy to our man in Washington).
My mate turned up at Salalah in full casevac role on 23 July 1970 and asked "where are the casualties"?
"They haven't happened yet", was the answer!
Finally, an ambulance appeared, the casualty was loaded and off they went to Bahrain. The casualty was Said Ibn Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman. His son had given him an ultimatum and the old man had responded by pulling a revolver and had then shot himself in the foot!
He was casevaced to Bahrain by Argosy, then medivac Britannia to Akrotiri and then transferred to a VC-10 to Lyneham for Wroughton Hospital.
The Foreign Office put him in a nice stately mansion in Surrey.
He died in 1972 and is buried in Woking.
Young Qubus took over and has so far done a great job of getting his country into the modern world.
Last edited by JW411; 18th Mar 2011 at 20:15.
I met the old Sultan Said Ibn Taimur when I flew 5 Muscat bigwigs to Salalah in a Pembroke.We landed shortly after SOAF's first pair of Beavers arrived from Aden. The Sultan was there to inspect his new toys and when he was invited to take a short flight in one of the brand spanking new Beavers he declined the offer as it only had one engine. He added, but if he ever went to Muscat he was prepared to travel in a Pembroke.
What he didn't know was that the biggest and wealthiest building contractor in the country (Indian Sub Continental) had spent most of the flight from Muscat locked in the toilet, courtesy of a stiff sliding door with a flimsy handle that came off in his hand!
What he didn't know was that the biggest and wealthiest building contractor in the country (Indian Sub Continental) had spent most of the flight from Muscat locked in the toilet, courtesy of a stiff sliding door with a flimsy handle that came off in his hand!
So, how many times were you taxiing out for take off when ATC came up and told you that they had just found "another passenger" and would you mind waiting on the taxiway while they sent said passenger out in a Land-Rover?
Happened to me on a noteable event at Salalah (TBN).
One of my colleagues was doing the RSM. Taxiing out from Masirah heading for Salalah came the call. "We have just found another passenger". So Tony stopped on the taxiway and got the ALM to open the front crew door and so it was that young Sultan Qabus got on board and was whisked (a slow whisk) to Salalah.
He had come down from Bait al Falaj in a SOAF Caribou and couldn't face continuing to Salalah in it.
This was probably the first and only time that a Ruler of a Country chose an Argosy as the fastest and most painless transport available!
Happened to me on a noteable event at Salalah (TBN).
One of my colleagues was doing the RSM. Taxiing out from Masirah heading for Salalah came the call. "We have just found another passenger". So Tony stopped on the taxiway and got the ALM to open the front crew door and so it was that young Sultan Qabus got on board and was whisked (a slow whisk) to Salalah.
He had come down from Bait al Falaj in a SOAF Caribou and couldn't face continuing to Salalah in it.
This was probably the first and only time that a Ruler of a Country chose an Argosy as the fastest and most painless transport available!
Last edited by JW411; 18th Mar 2011 at 19:17.
Off topic for the 'Wheelbarrow' but the Salalah tales can include one from the '50s. OC Salalah was a Flt Lt who was determined to make a name for himself - Pay Parades, full uniforms, block inspections etc. ... unheard of in these stations in the boonies. One of our Captains was posted in as 2 i/c on a punishment posting having dallied too closely with a Senior's lady!! He found the regime not to his liking and soon after his arrival, a farewell thrash was organised for a National Service chap. Said 2 i/c was closely involved in the planning and ensured his OC was present. Drink was taken - in considerable quantity and OC departed the scene in non-combatant mode.
Came the morn and CO with humungous hangover woke in the dark - strange 'cos it was well past dawn!! Investigation revealed that his windows and door had been filled in with mud bricks and cement. Took a while for recovery to commence and complete, during which time he was able (painfully) to contemplate his pride and joy - a VAST handlebar 'tache which had been reduced to one side only!
We arrived on the R S M some week or so later and, on first radio contact, the Tower strongly advised that we should not stare at the CO when he came out to meet us. Very strange, until we opened the door to be confronted by this odd looking chap with the normal near-black suntan set off nicely by a pristine, naked and stark white upper lip!! Our involuntary laughter did not sit well with him and he left without any of the usual pleasantries. His career thereafter took an even steeper nosedive on return to K'sar and the peaceful world of the 'route stations' returned to Salalah.
Came the morn and CO with humungous hangover woke in the dark - strange 'cos it was well past dawn!! Investigation revealed that his windows and door had been filled in with mud bricks and cement. Took a while for recovery to commence and complete, during which time he was able (painfully) to contemplate his pride and joy - a VAST handlebar 'tache which had been reduced to one side only!
We arrived on the R S M some week or so later and, on first radio contact, the Tower strongly advised that we should not stare at the CO when he came out to meet us. Very strange, until we opened the door to be confronted by this odd looking chap with the normal near-black suntan set off nicely by a pristine, naked and stark white upper lip!! Our involuntary laughter did not sit well with him and he left without any of the usual pleasantries. His career thereafter took an even steeper nosedive on return to K'sar and the peaceful world of the 'route stations' returned to Salalah.
Grasshoppering a little bit; in 1963 we had a pretty large mock war in Libya (which is great contryside in which to have a war - as Rommell and Monty discovered).
This "war" was called Exercise Triplex West and it went on for a couple of months and was mainly based in El Adem.
Now, I have a hundred stories about Triplex West but just for now, we are talking moustaches here.
There were about several thousand of us under canvas on the extreme west of El Adem airfield and we had about three showers between us. It would fair to say that morale was not great and would have been non-existent had it not been for the ready supply of Slops and Amstel.
And so it was that one wag on 267 Sqn suggested that we had a moustache-growing contest. There would prizes of usually, a gin and tonic, for the bushiest, the longest, the most aesthetically pleasing etc. The one thing was that we had to keep our moustaches intact until we got back to base at Benson.
Now, unbeknown to us, our CO had decided that since most of his squadron had gone off to North Africa for a couple of months and he was at home, then that would be the perfect time for him to grow a moustache!
Can you imagine his reaction when he met his six crews and aircraft back at Benson coming back from the "war" and every single man got off with a ridiculous moustache!!!!!
It really was an innocent happening but I don't think he ever got away from thinking that we were all taking the piss.
This "war" was called Exercise Triplex West and it went on for a couple of months and was mainly based in El Adem.
Now, I have a hundred stories about Triplex West but just for now, we are talking moustaches here.
There were about several thousand of us under canvas on the extreme west of El Adem airfield and we had about three showers between us. It would fair to say that morale was not great and would have been non-existent had it not been for the ready supply of Slops and Amstel.
And so it was that one wag on 267 Sqn suggested that we had a moustache-growing contest. There would prizes of usually, a gin and tonic, for the bushiest, the longest, the most aesthetically pleasing etc. The one thing was that we had to keep our moustaches intact until we got back to base at Benson.
Now, unbeknown to us, our CO had decided that since most of his squadron had gone off to North Africa for a couple of months and he was at home, then that would be the perfect time for him to grow a moustache!
Can you imagine his reaction when he met his six crews and aircraft back at Benson coming back from the "war" and every single man got off with a ridiculous moustache!!!!!
It really was an innocent happening but I don't think he ever got away from thinking that we were all taking the piss.
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XP413 105 flying boat Squadron
Khormaksar March 1964, XP413 sat down in the water on approach into K/Sar, I was sat on the taxi way waiting for it to get on board for a trip to Djibouti, strangely it never made it instead raising a slight splash on finals becoming water borne.
The official line as to why differs from the actual (a heavily ballasted Argosy doesn't fly well with 2 engines out on the same side) so perhaps we could have the real story behind the gentle descent into the bay explained on here, with full anonimity for the crew of course ( I could tell the tale but do slander & libel laws work on here ?) E**** W***** the Loadie was most upset at getting his new "bondou boots" destroyed having to paddle about the freight bay before climbing the ladder to exit onto the fuselage top to be rescued only to be dragged through the oggin by the Whirlwind rescue crew. There is a very good picture of 413 sat in the water on the Ardet site, I was involved in the recovery & subsequent dragging of 413 onto the Marine Craft Section slipway & preparation for shipping back to the UK as deck freight on the P & O Oriana, would add an awful lot of equipment was written off having been "lost at sea" during the recovery.
PH, zetec2.
The official line as to why differs from the actual (a heavily ballasted Argosy doesn't fly well with 2 engines out on the same side) so perhaps we could have the real story behind the gentle descent into the bay explained on here, with full anonimity for the crew of course ( I could tell the tale but do slander & libel laws work on here ?) E**** W***** the Loadie was most upset at getting his new "bondou boots" destroyed having to paddle about the freight bay before climbing the ladder to exit onto the fuselage top to be rescued only to be dragged through the oggin by the Whirlwind rescue crew. There is a very good picture of 413 sat in the water on the Ardet site, I was involved in the recovery & subsequent dragging of 413 onto the Marine Craft Section slipway & preparation for shipping back to the UK as deck freight on the P & O Oriana, would add an awful lot of equipment was written off having been "lost at sea" during the recovery.
PH, zetec2.
XP413
This unfortunate event was part of unit history by the time I got to 105, and the story in the Nav section was that, as evacuation started, the Nav on the day felt that he could save the cased Peri Sextant - we were always told it was a most expensive bit of kit, so clearly a good thought. He thrust it up through the escape hatch on top of the flight deck ..... the curvature of which then took over and gravity deposited it in the water below, presumably thus becoming the first item 'lost at sea.'
Last edited by ICM; 24th Mar 2011 at 10:09.
Dropping 'The Falcons'
I don't think this thread has touched on one of the incidental tasks that came the Benson Argosy force's way in the later 60s - namely, the use of the aircraft as the main platform for the RAF Parachute Display Team, 'The Falcons.' Both squadrons kept a small number of crews current in this and, as I was to join this band, I was one of those sent to learn the ropes during the team's pre-season training detachment at El Adem in late 1967. The standard display at the time envisaged 2 groups dropping some 30 seconds apart from 12,000 feet, tracking as they fell to 2,000 feet towards a predetermined opening point, where the Para Commander chutes were pulled for a controlled mass arrival on the DZ. However, and this may seem very old hat to today's sports parachutists, they were also developing freefall link-up techniques - I think they achieved the first British 6-man linkup during the 1966 training season - and this involved drops from 16,000 feet. These higher altitude drops required pre-oxygenation, achieved somewhat informally using a console in the freight bay:
As I recall, it was quite an enjoyable det - and the crew I was on also managed to get a few days off in Malta, as we had to take the aircraft to Luqa, with the undercarriage locked down, to get a snag fixed.
Once the 1968 display season started, the tasks I flew on were all badly affected by weather, with several managing nothing better than circa 3,000 feet, which meant a mass exit and an almost-immediate pull. Worse still, the team was scheduled to drop into the garden of Holyrood Palace during a Royal Review of HM Forces in Scotland, but I could see next to nothing on the approach and I doubt that we were even visible as we passed overhead. The best display I managed was at Bari, for an airshow following an air race. The weather on the day was not good, with low cloud rolling in off the Adriatic. We took off for an early slot but, by drop time, could not see enough and went into a long hold as the show went on beneath us. (The Arrows were there too, and I seem to recall they managed one loop through a gap in the base.) So as the afternoon was ending, with us at 11,500 feet under a higher base, a gap appeared below, the airfield could be seen, and clearance to drop was obtained. The team went out in the two groups, trailing smoke, visible from the ground. We later heard that they then vanished for a bit, to re-emerge through a cloud layer and make it onto the DZ, cheered to the echo by the Italian crowd. Honour saved, and 'bella figura' displayed.
As I recall, it was quite an enjoyable det - and the crew I was on also managed to get a few days off in Malta, as we had to take the aircraft to Luqa, with the undercarriage locked down, to get a snag fixed.
Once the 1968 display season started, the tasks I flew on were all badly affected by weather, with several managing nothing better than circa 3,000 feet, which meant a mass exit and an almost-immediate pull. Worse still, the team was scheduled to drop into the garden of Holyrood Palace during a Royal Review of HM Forces in Scotland, but I could see next to nothing on the approach and I doubt that we were even visible as we passed overhead. The best display I managed was at Bari, for an airshow following an air race. The weather on the day was not good, with low cloud rolling in off the Adriatic. We took off for an early slot but, by drop time, could not see enough and went into a long hold as the show went on beneath us. (The Arrows were there too, and I seem to recall they managed one loop through a gap in the base.) So as the afternoon was ending, with us at 11,500 feet under a higher base, a gap appeared below, the airfield could be seen, and clearance to drop was obtained. The team went out in the two groups, trailing smoke, visible from the ground. We later heard that they then vanished for a bit, to re-emerge through a cloud layer and make it onto the DZ, cheered to the echo by the Italian crowd. Honour saved, and 'bella figura' displayed.
Khormaksar March 1964, XP413 sat down in the water on approach into K/Sar
We were om the approach and we saw these booms and fins sticking out of the water. Just as we approached it we hit a GODALMIGHTY downdraft. I was NH and without waiting to be told I thumped in a handful of Avons because the speed was dropping as fast as the R of D was increasing. We needed it all and we did not take it off for quite a long time.
They are known today as downbursts; quite common in the far east but maybe not thought of at that time.
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Argosy N1430Z
I was travelling through the desert regions of California yesterday and in my sweaty little hand I had a scrap of paper indicating that the museum in Lancaster had an Argosy on show. I knew that it was going to be civvi one as I did not think any ex RAF machines retired in the US, so I was obviously not going to see one of the aircraft I remember so well from my younger days. When I arrived and saw the colour scheme of the Argosy registered N1430Z it was very RAF like. A quick look at the rear doors confirmed it to be an ex RAF aircraft. A little research now I am back shows it to be ex XP447.
The museum caretaker cum receptionist cum tour guide cum part time restorer informed me that it arrived some time back in the early 90s and that shortly afterwards the engines and propellers were removed as they still had considerable value. The museum managed to find 4 Darts lounging in a local scrapyard and fitted them to XP447 but they have so far not been able to track down some suitable propellers.
After making a sizeable donation to the museum funds I was able to get some interior shots of her. At first sight she seems in a bad way, the freight deck needs some tidying up, however the flight deck looked remarkably good, some instruments missing and lost of dust over everything.
I thought you might like to see some pics of her as I am sure some on this forum may have flown her in the distant past.
That last picture says it all really.
QP
The museum caretaker cum receptionist cum tour guide cum part time restorer informed me that it arrived some time back in the early 90s and that shortly afterwards the engines and propellers were removed as they still had considerable value. The museum managed to find 4 Darts lounging in a local scrapyard and fitted them to XP447 but they have so far not been able to track down some suitable propellers.
After making a sizeable donation to the museum funds I was able to get some interior shots of her. At first sight she seems in a bad way, the freight deck needs some tidying up, however the flight deck looked remarkably good, some instruments missing and lost of dust over everything.
I thought you might like to see some pics of her as I am sure some on this forum may have flown her in the distant past.
That last picture says it all really.
QP
Indeed, XP447, last operated by Duncan Aviation of Lincoln, Nebraska on contract work in (I think) Alaska.
Oddly, one of the few Whistling Tits to be converted to the T2 version...albeit briefly.
When I was passing through Lincoln during a VC10K trail, Duncan Aviation were our handling agent - and very efficient they were too! They told us about their Argosies, which were getting rather short of spares by then. In particular, windscreens were in very short supply.
It's a small world; on a later VC10K detachment, a U2 pilot involved in a similar activity noticed my Duncan Aviation flight jacket (a freebie) and told me that he'd done his early flight training at Duncan!
Oddly, one of the few Whistling Tits to be converted to the T2 version...albeit briefly.
When I was passing through Lincoln during a VC10K trail, Duncan Aviation were our handling agent - and very efficient they were too! They told us about their Argosies, which were getting rather short of spares by then. In particular, windscreens were in very short supply.
It's a small world; on a later VC10K detachment, a U2 pilot involved in a similar activity noticed my Duncan Aviation flight jacket (a freebie) and told me that he'd done his early flight training at Duncan!
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There were two Argosys used on Forestry or BLM contracts in Alaska. One was the one at Lancaster which was ex-RAF with the beavertail ramp door and the other was a civilian version. My memory has failed me but they were both donated to museums at the same time when spares became a problem.
The one at Lancaster was flown by a Bill ???? (his name is painted on the left side below the cockpit window. I trained him to fly the C23A after the Argosy was parked and some time later he sent me a very nice brass belt buckle that showed the beavertail version of the Argosy. He had commisioned Anacortes Brass Works in Washington state to make them for him in 1996. I still wear it every day and it causes many comments here in Montana.
Speedbird48
The one at Lancaster was flown by a Bill ???? (his name is painted on the left side below the cockpit window. I trained him to fly the C23A after the Argosy was parked and some time later he sent me a very nice brass belt buckle that showed the beavertail version of the Argosy. He had commisioned Anacortes Brass Works in Washington state to make them for him in 1996. I still wear it every day and it causes many comments here in Montana.
Speedbird48
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I think the other one you are looking for is N896U ex G-AOZZ now with the Yankee Air Museum at Detroit Willow Run
Photos: Armstrong Whitworth AW-650 Argosy 101 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net
Hope it helps
Be lucky
David
Photos: Armstrong Whitworth AW-650 Argosy 101 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net
Hope it helps
Be lucky
David
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Hi David,
Thats the one. Looks like they look after it a bit better than the Lancaster folks!! Or, maybe their vandals are better controlled!! The last time I saw the Lancaster one it had just been delivered so was in good shape, and complete.
Speedbird 48.
Thats the one. Looks like they look after it a bit better than the Lancaster folks!! Or, maybe their vandals are better controlled!! The last time I saw the Lancaster one it had just been delivered so was in good shape, and complete.
Speedbird 48.