SAA Freighter
 

To those ex colleagues of mine who used to fly the old "Classic" freighter ZS-SAR, I found this little ode to our many hours spent aloft. Bring back memories?


We sign on late to fly the freight
Our day has just begun
Delayed again? We must be insane
They told us this would be fun

Away we go, on our way at last
Flying freight is such a blast
Max weight again, to us no pain
Just like in the past

We roam the skies from dusk to dawn
And even midnight too
The freight we deliver, whether we cook or shiver
Just like we always do

Rarely early, often late
Poor Adri, in such a state
“We need more crew” the call goes out – the roster’s changed again
Day to day, month to month – it always seems the same

Is it Frankfurt again, with gluhwein in the square
Or Vitoria where the poio we share
Harare or Lagos, where we’re received with such pathos
Even Garden City, we dare to share

Asseblief Kaptein, ons moet nou ry
Vergeet die sneeu, ons sal nie gly
Maar kyk die ys op ons vlerk gepak
As ek nou ry is ons almal in die kak

We fax the boss from up on high
Must be great to get a message from the sky
We each take turns to do the deed
Ah!!!! Feels good – just what we need

We work so HARD, it’s time to rest
Tongue in cheek, just said in jest?
To the bunk we go to get some sleep
The farts resound from the stomach deep

Our mate’s in the loo
To make a poo
Hey!!! Quickly! – let’s rush
Pull the breaker so the toilet won’t flush

It’s time to eat, the galley starts
Sounds like an engine, just minus some parts
Is it lamb or duck? What is this muck
Oh don’t worry, just the usual kak




Where are my cookies you may have heard asked
Have a good one chaps, just like we’ve been tasked
Let me brief you how the flight log is used
The plight of the Vice – Captain the oh so abused

She’s back from her fix – they’re back to their tricks
The aircraft’s f….d again
They give away our Q, it’s nothing new
It’s becoming quite a pain

Our time off done, we’re back to work
Our job with all it’s quirks
Another month of flying freight
Is what makes this job so great

The dawn is nigh, in the Eastern sky
Africa awakes once more
The orange glow, at first so slow
Our eyes will soon be sore

We’re nearly home, two hours to run
This gorgeous African ‘morn
My time is up, my job here done
Why do I feel forlorn

It’s been fun these last three months
Flying freight from dusk till dawn
It’s back to pax – with all their gripes
Their problems and their scorn

I will surely miss ‘ol SAR
Flying her has no par
And Piet and Willie – sometimes serious, sometimes silly
Hey guys! Guess we drove you dilly

Jumbo,

Prior to being ZS-SAR the freighter she served as 3B-NAS the combi for GARUDA. I spent a good many hour on that lovely bird. We used her like a freighter. Even came close to the all time Combi payload, missed it by 200kgs.
She always did find some way to make the evening hectic with the PDU's inop, the Maindeck Cargo door not wanting to close, or open on a few cases
or missing locks to hold the pallets in place. Somewhere I have the metal plate from her last flight before she returned to SAA when the 3B-reggo was
cancelled. May she rest in peace but she was a thing of beauty to see grazing the ramps of DPS/BIK et al. A piece of me went with that plane!;)

Freight Dog,

She was a beauty to fly too. Many many happy hours spent pulling cb's on toilet flush motors et al....
Hapy landings mate!
Jumbo

:cool: