RAF KHORMAKSAR
Another favourite occupation for me was to go gliding at the Aden Services Gliding Club which was based on the old WW II airfield at Sheik Othman (about 4 nms north west of Khormaksar). We had a fleet of 5 gliders which we kept in an old hangar on the south side of the airfield. Our security consisted of a pack of pi-dogs which lived in the hangar. We fed and watered them on a daily basis and they would not let the locals get anywhere near.
To get there was a bit convoluted. We would drive to the Sheik Othman roundabout, park up and then get into the back of a Bedford 4-tonner with sandbags on the floor (in case of mines). (Driving through Sheik Othman town was considered to be bloody dangerous). We would set off down the road towards Little Aden and at some point when south of the airfield, turn north across the bundu avoiding previous tyre tracks where possible. We normally had one Sterling LMG with us but it was never used. One small explosive device had gone off at the western launch point before my arrival in Aden but it didn't cause any damage.
Once out there, we were left in peace to get on with our gliding. When we used the southerly runway the kids would come out from the local village and watch. Sometimes we would take one or two them for a flight which they seemed to enjoy.
The only other use for the airfield was as a practice DZ and I can remember going over there on a couple of occasions and throwing 1-ton containers out of an Argosy.
Here is a shot of one of our Slingsby T.21 2-seat gliders. If you look closely you will see that the two camel wagons are being closely escorted by some of our pi-dogs who would make sure that the occupants departed peacefully.
Talking of camels, there was local herd of milking camels which used to cross the main east/west runway twice a day (north in the morning then south in the evening). We launched the gliders using a couple of thousand feet of Kenya fencing wire towed by Nissan Patrol 4x4s. The camels had worked out that the wire could cause them a nasty injury so each camel would stop at the edge of the runway, look both ways and then cross only if it was clear!
Here are four of our five gliders. From the left: Slingsby T.21 (403), the one and only Eon Olympia 401x (401), Slingsby Swallow (400) and in the background just about to touch down, the other T.21 (404).
The missing glider is Slingsby T.31 (402) which spent a lot of its time in the hangar (probably the best place for it)!
Last edited by JW411; 13th Nov 2015 at 16:10.
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Aden gliding
When I was there we had 2 T31's and my Chevrolet Fleetmaster as tow & winch car, I had my Silver C (5 Hours on the ridge at Dunstable in an AV36 !, rest around Bicester in Grunau & Oly 2B) so although only 18 years old seemed to be most qualified and licensed there and only an SAC as well, didn't go down well with the "Rodneys" who apparently knew it all, did have a couple of good soaring flights in the local area but got peed off with the them & us attitude so left, shame really as thought it was for every ones benefit, still such was the way the system ran, got even sillier after I left as was invited back "and bring your mates and your car" only because they wanted airmen who would tow and spend the day doing the mundane with very little chance of actually flying, seem to remember "CFI" was a Chris C**ter from down the sharp end on Hunters. not sour grapes just a wasted opportunity, Paul H.
Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't get there until 1966 and it was then just like the RAFGSA, Christian name terms only applied on the airfield.
I spent 17 years involved in running an RAFGSA club and Nigels and Rodneys were not welcome. I can remember one famous day when I had an Air Commodore driving the tractor and a Wing Commander driving the winch.
Both of them were happy to be there.
I spent 17 years involved in running an RAFGSA club and Nigels and Rodneys were not welcome. I can remember one famous day when I had an Air Commodore driving the tractor and a Wing Commander driving the winch.
Both of them were happy to be there.
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JW411, thanks for the reply, my time was 62-64, I had come from earlier as a Brat gliding at Bicester being treated like a human (Ron Newall, Ted Simpson, Jamie Jamieson etc) then it all went to pooh at Sheik Othman, anyway fleet looks good, as before we had 2 T31's real exotica but quite soarable,, easy after I had started life airborne on Primary's at Bicester, the Khormaksar thread is superb and how many of us "erks" can say - we swam at Tarshyne and were welcomed ? I can, was much better than the Lido, we just behaved ourselves but often went as guests of the 105 crews whose children we babysat , suppose being mobile helped. still had a good time out there. PH.
Jaw411, nice shots of the Sedburgh and Swallow, both of which I was lucky enough to fly in the early 80's on my way to Silver C. What was the thermal situation in the area, did anyone stay aloft for a decent time ? Obviously, my experience of RAFGSA doesn't reflect that of Zetec2. I did most of my gliding with Four Counties at Syerston, where even an erk like me was welcomed. I had a great mate who I enjoyed flying the two sweaters with, his name was Andy, and I only found out that he was a Phantom pilot in those days, when I met him later as a Hercules Captain when I was a GE. Times did change it seems.
Smudge
Smudge
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K/Sar
Hi Smuj !, seem to remember "soaring" the T31 usually about half an hour in the local area was usual as there were loud voices from the ground as to "there are others who want to fly" fair enough as the fleet of 2 trainers was all we had at the time, seems we were a backwater out there as even places like St Athan for the BE's to glide they had T21, T31 Prefect and a Swallow, unable to give exact times as I lost my log books etc , they were in my deep sea boxes and the freighter carrying them home (Alacrity I think) floundered in a storm off Alexandria and went down, when the cargo was recovered many years later after it was raised (what else was on board ?) majority was destroyed through salt water so never did get anything back. such is/was life, PH
Smujsmith asks what the soaring conditions were like in Aden. The summers were not wonderful. Apart from the heat and the humidity (which made life a bit trying) there was usually a marked inversion at about 2,000 feet so that was about how high the thermals went. There was a rubbish dump to the south west of the airfield and we used to watch the ****ehawks charging about in the weak lift over the dump. When they started to thin out and head off towards their own thermals then it was time to get going.
I can remember one day when it was decided that Stu Hoy should have a go at a 5-hour duration flight to complete his Silver C. He got in the Olympia 401 with lots and lots of water bottles etc and off he went. The rest of us spent the day marking thermals so that he would have somewhere to go if he ran out of ideas. He landed after about 5 hours and 15 minutes exhausted. I think the highest he got was about 2,100 feet but he made it. I don't think anyone else ever managed a 5-hour duration flight in Aden?
Conditions in the winter were much better and cloud base around the airfield was usually around 3,500 feet and the thermals were plentiful. Cross country flying would definitely have been fun if the security situation had been different. As it was, landing out was not an option and it was certainly possible that the retrieve crew (if you could ever find one to volunteer) would probably have found you with your testicles neatly stitched up in your mouth by the time they got there.
The only cross country flights that I can remember were when we flew the Swallow and one of the T.21s (404) back from Khormaksar to Sheik Othman after annual CofA inspection. It was considered too dangerous to take them back by road so we launched them from one of the old sand runways at Khormaksar one afternoon. It did not go entirely smoothly and I can remember one broken cable ending up in the bomb dump. In the end, Stu Hoy and AN Other got back to Sheik Othman first in the T.21. They then had to stay airborne local soaring until somebody got there by road with a gun to protect them when they landed.
The above photograph shows Sheik Othman town from the top of a thermal at around 3,000 feet.
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Never had the opportunity to try gliding but I seem to remember one site where a religious group used to lay their dead on raised platforms and the vultures would congregate there using the thermals. My memory is shaky these days but I feel it wasn't a million miles from Khormaksar. Can anyone confirm this?
You are talking about what I believe is called a tower of silence, as used by Zoroastrians and Parsis. I never actually saw the one you are referring to (it would have been out of bounds on the ground anyway) but it was marked on the topo map we had in our ops room - somewhere near Crater as I recall.
a tower of silence, as used by Zoroastrians and Parsis
Apparently there was a grid on the top and as the vultures progressed the bones would fall through to be collected at the bottom.
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Karachi
FarEastDriver, when tanking the Javelins through we had 2 Valiants at Karachi and we stayed in "Min" Wallers hotel, wasn't it the Air India Hotel ? big entrance hall with double winding staircase up to first floor, think aircrew went off to the BOAC Speedbird hotel, didn't want to mix it with us erks !, went back later when tanking the Lightnings through to Far East and stayed in a fleapit in Karachi, just dreadful !, one Valiant went into Rawalpindi (I think it was, place with big pink fort ?)with a dead engine courtesy of a ****e hawk, went up there to do an engine change, travelled up by decrepit DC3, replacement engine bought in by Beverley with all the change kit, those B** great bomb winches we had to lug up on the wing, at least it was cooler on the top than below tucked up in the bay disconnecting and connecting, Oh what fun I had as an 18 year old fitter, kids today just wouldn't believe the war stories. PH
Zetec and JW411,
Thanks both for the reflections on soaring conditions in the area. As my only gliding experiences were in England, the thought that winter might offer the better conditions is strange to say the least. Landing out, I'm sure, would have been of serious concern given the final resting place of ones gonads, but, did you not consider a "gooley" chit as an inducement to a more welcoming retrieval
Smudge
Thanks both for the reflections on soaring conditions in the area. As my only gliding experiences were in England, the thought that winter might offer the better conditions is strange to say the least. Landing out, I'm sure, would have been of serious concern given the final resting place of ones gonads, but, did you not consider a "gooley" chit as an inducement to a more welcoming retrieval
Smudge
Last edited by smujsmith; 15th Nov 2015 at 21:18.