27th Jan 2019, 13:21 - Wikipost
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A thread where ex PNG geriatrics lapuns and long longs can live in the dim distant past.
Where tall stories are accepted as fact. War stories are applauded. Grab a Brownie, pull up a story and join in a trip down memory lane!!! 
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PNG Ples Bilong Tok Tok
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Sixtiesrelic nice to see you here.
Em nau..
Madang way back then
was it really 30 odd years ...kerist!
Thank you for taking all those pictures those people literally jumped out of time for me.
I was a lout flying for TAL in Madang at the time.
Last saw you in the crew room in BNE in 89.
Em nau..
Madang way back then
was it really 30 odd years ...kerist!
Thank you for taking all those pictures those people literally jumped out of time for me.
I was a lout flying for TAL in Madang at the time.
Last saw you in the crew room in BNE in 89.
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Geeze - 17 pages of bull sh!t, 240 posts, 12,126 views.........
We'll keep the thread going here and see what more cr@p and war stories gets dragged out of the woodwork, found under the Dero bar or the bottom of Sharpie's old flight bag........
OzExpat, interesting post by Chuck but not sure we should be going there in PPRuNe until the accident report is in the public domain.
I assume Bernie is the investigator, does PNG CAA publish it's accident reports, and where?
Woomera
We'll keep the thread going here and see what more cr@p and war stories gets dragged out of the woodwork, found under the Dero bar or the bottom of Sharpie's old flight bag........
OzExpat, interesting post by Chuck but not sure we should be going there in PPRuNe until the accident report is in the public domain.
I assume Bernie is the investigator, does PNG CAA publish it's accident reports, and where?
Woomera
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W... PNG CAA has no authority to publish those reports. That's the domain of ASIB, which is attached to the Dept of Transport. I daresay that there was never a formal investigation of the incident, hence no official report.
I'm aware of a somewhat informal investigation that was conducted at "the temple" on that same afternoon tho!
It's the PNG way! 
However, it is well and truly in the public domain, having been reported in the Pos-Guria et al, all those years ago. Besides, as Chuck was the captain, I believe we're safe to discuss it. Indeed, taildragger was the other occupant and he has already the incident, some time ago - on a previous PNG thread.
The URL I posted contains a photo of the front page report in the P-C.
OzExpat ... I was referring to Chuck's comments re P2-IDL - not his attempt to join the Moresby Gliding Club.........!
Woomera
I'm aware of a somewhat informal investigation that was conducted at "the temple" on that same afternoon tho!
It's the PNG way! However, it is well and truly in the public domain, having been reported in the Pos-Guria et al, all those years ago. Besides, as Chuck was the captain, I believe we're safe to discuss it. Indeed, taildragger was the other occupant and he has already the incident, some time ago - on a previous PNG thread.
The URL I posted contains a photo of the front page report in the P-C.
OzExpat ... I was referring to Chuck's comments re P2-IDL - not his attempt to join the Moresby Gliding Club.........!
Woomera
Last edited by Woomera; 3rd Mar 2005 at 23:40.
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Blue plane on Goroka airstrip
This is actually a slide taken by my husband, Bob Clarke, who was in PNG with the Commonwealth Bank from mid '64 to April 1967. Don't know how it found its way onto this site; I've posted it to PNG Forum's photo gallery and to my own web site along with lots more PNG photos. The plane is indeed Bobby Gibbs' and could well be a Saab Saffir as he remembers it as being Swedish - and no, he doesn't know the name of the little girl who wandered across in front of him just as he took the photo. It was 1964, however, at show time, not 1959.
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Hey Sixtiesrelic
The " ex-hostie" isn't that madwoman Jenny Thompson , is she.
She was a great mate during Lorna's Gunston days.
Amazing how far a Rok-Rok could go with a good seven iron.
Talking of Sharpie's nav bag...didn't it once contain a "Playboy" mag , which together with the donated aircraft bar stocks got him out of a threatened impounding at Djayapura when the DC3 arrived ex Vanimo without the correct documentation.
The " ex-hostie" isn't that madwoman Jenny Thompson , is she.
She was a great mate during Lorna's Gunston days.
Amazing how far a Rok-Rok could go with a good seven iron.
Talking of Sharpie's nav bag...didn't it once contain a "Playboy" mag , which together with the donated aircraft bar stocks got him out of a threatened impounding at Djayapura when the DC3 arrived ex Vanimo without the correct documentation.
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So it was Sharpie that started that off?
Had a visit on the tarmac at Sentani by the Bupati police chief telling me I was naughty boy for not having a clearance from Jakarta.
(could anyone understand Sentani tower?)
This was repatriating political border crossers.
He suggested that I would have no problems in future if i bring Playboy and Penthouse next time.
Had a visit on the tarmac at Sentani by the Bupati police chief telling me I was naughty boy for not having a clearance from Jakarta.
(could anyone understand Sentani tower?)
This was repatriating political border crossers.
He suggested that I would have no problems in future if i bring Playboy and Penthouse next time.
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It cost me US$ at Merauke!! Mind you that was a long time after Hollandia.
Remember the Merpati DC3 that landed at Gusap much to the chagrin of Customs (the "Boy B*****d - Rod Kelly I believe - no not the one who used to be with Ansett). Couldn't make Lae on the non-stop Hollandia (or was it Sukarnopura then?) Lae flight.
Remember the Merpati DC3 that landed at Gusap much to the chagrin of Customs (the "Boy B*****d - Rod Kelly I believe - no not the one who used to be with Ansett). Couldn't make Lae on the non-stop Hollandia (or was it Sukarnopura then?) Lae flight.
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Geeze mate, Ya must be OLD.
Woomera,
re your comment, 64 years young!!!!!
I think I can say, on behalf of SHARPIE and I,
LAPUN MASTA's BILONG DRAIVIM BALUS.
What say you SHARPIE.
Apinun,
robroy
ok:
re your comment, 64 years young!!!!!
I think I can say, on behalf of SHARPIE and I,
LAPUN MASTA's BILONG DRAIVIM BALUS.
What say you SHARPIE.
Apinun,
robroy
ok:
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Hanoi
No she married Gordon Bartells didn't she. Mine came from the other mob ... ex Sydney.
Now! was I one of the four who sat on your right hand trying to get those rotten progressive load summaries to finish up at zero while you located red runways in 1968 before you decided to change from Fourex to Greenies and Brownies???
Sixties
Now! was I one of the four who sat on your right hand trying to get those rotten progressive load summaries to finish up at zero while you located red runways in 1968 before you decided to change from Fourex to Greenies and Brownies???
Sixties
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operations across the border
Many interesting flights were undertaken in 71?? to cart bitumen up to Wamena from Djaiapura.
My first time was with "Corney Russle". We arrived at the run down Sentani airport and got out of the empty aircraft (Part of the numerous requirements in being allowed into the fabulous Republic.
Some little guy with a learners moustache and wearing a faded Khaki uniform with maroon trimmings arrived in a sort of apologetic way on a Vespa motor scooter and informed us that "The Chief of Police" wished to see us in his office in the terminal... NOW
We thought, "****!". Corney carried the swag of paperwork as he reckoned it might be a Captain's duty here ... I tagged along wondering what would happen next.
Our uniformed mate followed us on his smoke belching, transport to see we didn't break any laws.
Mate we didn't know what laws we might have already broken and couldn't understand the Indonesian signs we saw, so we walked straight ahead with our eyes cast downwards.
We found the Chief of Police / Airport Manager in an office which had a six foot wide sign on the door. His title had about a hundred letters in it many being the repeated combination of ... ingangan from memory.
He was a fat uniformed Indonesian wearing a bloody great Colt 45 on his hip as he sat behind a huge paper covered desk which had a glass of weak black tea with a lid on it (to keep the flies out???) beside a very full ashtray that had a combination of cigar and cigarette buts overflowing onto some of the papers.
We were very curtly COMMANDED to, "Sit down please!" We reckoned we were really in for it. Thoughts of torture and prison floating round in my mind
It soon became clear to us that we were in for a friendly chat and learned that Djaiapura was the place they'd bung the pipe if the Republic required an enema and that the poor Chief of Police couldn't procure his much loved cigars here, but Vanimo.....????
We got the message and had our paper work stamped with gusto a couple of hundred times and were sent off with the good wishes of our new "best friend".
We had a bit of a loiter round the terminal and took in the smells of the clovey fags every one smoked, the delicious aromas of the cooking from the various food vendors, the ripe dunneys... before our agent came.
He was also a fat Indonesian of definite Chinese origin named Sugito.
His younger brother shadowed him everywhere learning the ropes. He still had his Chinese name as he'd been a kid in Oz at boarding school when Sukharno had purged the Chinese of their names and made them take on Indonesian ones if they wanted to remain in the country.
I have since realized that fat Indonesians are RICH Indonesians.
Senior Policemen there have plenty of beef on them...poor things have to receive SO many presents from adoring fans.
We were carted off back to the 3 in a marvellous old warrior of a VW beetle and introduced to our loaders and load.
Indonesian army personnel and severely bashed in drums of bitumen.
The Latnan (Lieutenant) at Sentani was a bit of a cloths horse and didn't touch the load. The privates got dirty and sweaty doing that along with Corney and me as we ensured we got the drums tied down properly.
Army personnel above privates all got to wear a beaut Colt 45s and this bloke who got known as" That mean little bastard of a Latnan at Sentani" looked like he was itching to jam HIS against us and pull the trigger.
We soon got up a great repartee with all the other personnel at Sentani and Wamena over the next couple of months and had a ball with them.
Corney and I got along with them famously and would try anything they had to offer. Many other crews did the same. There were a couple of stand offish blokes who remained aloof but interestingly Karma got them.
Many of us went to the officers mess at Wamena (Now that was a real outpost) to join Latnan Ginting and his mates for lunch. They made molten steel appear quite innocuous.... looked like vegies and sauce, but the first mouthful was followed by a silence, eyes popping, face going crimson and a almighty gasp.
The host enquired, "Do you need a drink?
Victim was unable to speak as the vocal cords had been seared and just nodded while the tears coursed down his cheeks.
The understanding local then poured a glass of extremely watered down, warm condensed milk to soothe the hurt.
Bloody hell, we were game buggers coming back for more, but it seemed to be better than the packed lunch we brought with us in paper bags from the pub in Vanimo.
The publican, a rustic sort of cove, got up at four and prepared our lunches for us.
There was nothing genteel about those sangers. Four, three quarter inch slices of bread, quarter inch of roast meat, lubricated with a pint of mustard pickles and a banana for desert.
We used to fly out of Vanimo at six AM, do a couple of seventy five minute deliveries of bitumen from Sentani to Wamena and find our way back to Vanimo in the mid arvo for our overnights.
We'd stay for a number of days shuttling back and forth before returning home.
MORE TO COME .........later
My first time was with "Corney Russle". We arrived at the run down Sentani airport and got out of the empty aircraft (Part of the numerous requirements in being allowed into the fabulous Republic.
Some little guy with a learners moustache and wearing a faded Khaki uniform with maroon trimmings arrived in a sort of apologetic way on a Vespa motor scooter and informed us that "The Chief of Police" wished to see us in his office in the terminal... NOW
We thought, "****!". Corney carried the swag of paperwork as he reckoned it might be a Captain's duty here ... I tagged along wondering what would happen next.
Our uniformed mate followed us on his smoke belching, transport to see we didn't break any laws.
Mate we didn't know what laws we might have already broken and couldn't understand the Indonesian signs we saw, so we walked straight ahead with our eyes cast downwards.
We found the Chief of Police / Airport Manager in an office which had a six foot wide sign on the door. His title had about a hundred letters in it many being the repeated combination of ... ingangan from memory.
He was a fat uniformed Indonesian wearing a bloody great Colt 45 on his hip as he sat behind a huge paper covered desk which had a glass of weak black tea with a lid on it (to keep the flies out???) beside a very full ashtray that had a combination of cigar and cigarette buts overflowing onto some of the papers.
We were very curtly COMMANDED to, "Sit down please!" We reckoned we were really in for it. Thoughts of torture and prison floating round in my mind
It soon became clear to us that we were in for a friendly chat and learned that Djaiapura was the place they'd bung the pipe if the Republic required an enema and that the poor Chief of Police couldn't procure his much loved cigars here, but Vanimo.....????
We got the message and had our paper work stamped with gusto a couple of hundred times and were sent off with the good wishes of our new "best friend".
We had a bit of a loiter round the terminal and took in the smells of the clovey fags every one smoked, the delicious aromas of the cooking from the various food vendors, the ripe dunneys... before our agent came.
He was also a fat Indonesian of definite Chinese origin named Sugito.
His younger brother shadowed him everywhere learning the ropes. He still had his Chinese name as he'd been a kid in Oz at boarding school when Sukharno had purged the Chinese of their names and made them take on Indonesian ones if they wanted to remain in the country.
I have since realized that fat Indonesians are RICH Indonesians.
Senior Policemen there have plenty of beef on them...poor things have to receive SO many presents from adoring fans.
We were carted off back to the 3 in a marvellous old warrior of a VW beetle and introduced to our loaders and load.
Indonesian army personnel and severely bashed in drums of bitumen.
The Latnan (Lieutenant) at Sentani was a bit of a cloths horse and didn't touch the load. The privates got dirty and sweaty doing that along with Corney and me as we ensured we got the drums tied down properly.
Army personnel above privates all got to wear a beaut Colt 45s and this bloke who got known as" That mean little bastard of a Latnan at Sentani" looked like he was itching to jam HIS against us and pull the trigger.
We soon got up a great repartee with all the other personnel at Sentani and Wamena over the next couple of months and had a ball with them.
Corney and I got along with them famously and would try anything they had to offer. Many other crews did the same. There were a couple of stand offish blokes who remained aloof but interestingly Karma got them.
Many of us went to the officers mess at Wamena (Now that was a real outpost) to join Latnan Ginting and his mates for lunch. They made molten steel appear quite innocuous.... looked like vegies and sauce, but the first mouthful was followed by a silence, eyes popping, face going crimson and a almighty gasp.
The host enquired, "Do you need a drink?
Victim was unable to speak as the vocal cords had been seared and just nodded while the tears coursed down his cheeks.
The understanding local then poured a glass of extremely watered down, warm condensed milk to soothe the hurt.
Bloody hell, we were game buggers coming back for more, but it seemed to be better than the packed lunch we brought with us in paper bags from the pub in Vanimo.
The publican, a rustic sort of cove, got up at four and prepared our lunches for us.
There was nothing genteel about those sangers. Four, three quarter inch slices of bread, quarter inch of roast meat, lubricated with a pint of mustard pickles and a banana for desert.
We used to fly out of Vanimo at six AM, do a couple of seventy five minute deliveries of bitumen from Sentani to Wamena and find our way back to Vanimo in the mid arvo for our overnights.
We'd stay for a number of days shuttling back and forth before returning home.
MORE TO COME .........later
Last edited by sixtiesrelic; 3rd Mar 2005 at 04:35.
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Sixtiesrelic you never had the joy of overnighting in Jayapura?
Sampled the throbbing nightlife in the one and only bar that had a refrigerator?
Admittedly it was also a pretty good Chinese tucker outlet and the room seemed to fill with LBFM's as the night wore on
Having to share the dunny with a pig was a highlight.
Did a few runs up there with sex crazed Bank Johnies.
Point is, was the pig offended at having to share the dunny with tinpis? The pig wasn't named Paula by any chance?
Woomera
Sampled the throbbing nightlife in the one and only bar that had a refrigerator?
Admittedly it was also a pretty good Chinese tucker outlet and the room seemed to fill with LBFM's as the night wore on
Having to share the dunny with a pig was a highlight.
Did a few runs up there with sex crazed Bank Johnies.
Point is, was the pig offended at having to share the dunny with tinpis? The pig wasn't named Paula by any chance?
Woomera
Last edited by Woomera; 4th Mar 2005 at 21:42.
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Ha Jayapura. Sentani.
Yes Hanoi, I did escape along with the F/O and Hostie after donating all those 'feelthy' mags to a higher authority and I'll relate the sordid details later. I was operating QF25/26 at the time.
I also was on the btumen runs to Wamena and after returning to POM after a sortie, joined a few of the lads in the Jet bar to relate the latest fun and games.
A sneaky reporter asked too many questions, so a few us fed him some real horror stories keeping very secretive of what we were actually carrying on the aircraft.
WOW! Not long after, a story hit the stands that Chansett crew were ferrying - in dismantled ICBM's to Wamena as someone(?) was setting up a ring of these missiles around the Asia-Pacific Region.
Result of which was the worthy leader of the AFAP NG Branch had to publish a statement in the PIM saying it was not so.
Yep. The same Lui wanted my raybands and with the aid of a horrible looking sub-machine gun, convinced me to give them to him for the princely sum of US$25.00. I made a profit! Also sold him a few rools f printed linen for his wives or girlfriends. A profitable business.
Also did a few trips in the Skyvan, but Grouper and the boys did very well out of those trips carrying in frozen chooks plus other goodies for the Lui at very inflated prices.
Yes Hanoi, I did escape along with the F/O and Hostie after donating all those 'feelthy' mags to a higher authority and I'll relate the sordid details later. I was operating QF25/26 at the time.
I also was on the btumen runs to Wamena and after returning to POM after a sortie, joined a few of the lads in the Jet bar to relate the latest fun and games.
A sneaky reporter asked too many questions, so a few us fed him some real horror stories keeping very secretive of what we were actually carrying on the aircraft.
WOW! Not long after, a story hit the stands that Chansett crew were ferrying - in dismantled ICBM's to Wamena as someone(?) was setting up a ring of these missiles around the Asia-Pacific Region.
Result of which was the worthy leader of the AFAP NG Branch had to publish a statement in the PIM saying it was not so.
Yep. The same Lui wanted my raybands and with the aid of a horrible looking sub-machine gun, convinced me to give them to him for the princely sum of US$25.00. I made a profit! Also sold him a few rools f printed linen for his wives or girlfriends. A profitable business.
Also did a few trips in the Skyvan, but Grouper and the boys did very well out of those trips carrying in frozen chooks plus other goodies for the Lui at very inflated prices.
Two days ago, driving from Longreach to Barcaldine, I had to get out of the way of a DC3 cruising at 70 kts:
No rego. Nose colours (white with blue stripes) looked like Bushies/Air Queensland. My guess it was en route to the Qantas Founders Museum at Longreach.
Anyone know which DC3 and where it came from?
No rego. Nose colours (white with blue stripes) looked like Bushies/Air Queensland. My guess it was en route to the Qantas Founders Museum at Longreach.
Anyone know which DC3 and where it came from?
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Yup Tinpis...did many nightstops in Jayapura. Even visited the largest Brothel in the world (For a beer you understand) at Sentani on the lake shore. Amazing amount of wee wimmin.!!
Indos could NOT under any circumstances chill a beer to save their lives. That Indo Pish was always warm.
Yes Tinpis, I had forgotten that these Pics were still on the net. How do you remember these things.??
As for the Moitaka Gliding Club, well only the washing machine and I know how bloody scared I was that day, but surprisingly only AFTER we were down and in the Dero club bar, with accident investigators on the terrace conducting the investigation. (Trutok) The owner of the 185 was hacked off, but being still alive, I couldn't have given a rat's arse, honestly. Chuck and I had a few beers to celebrate still being around.
I remember Chuck and I discussing how the right lift strut was creased at the back end. I told him that I was abolutely certain that we had not backed into anything. I also never knew that the stall speed of a 185 was so low. Needle was on zero as I recall, but at that stage it was too late to care. Piece of advice after what I learned that day, is that cables are absofeckinglutely invisible. They make a lot of noise when you hit them and if you don't have a soft hook, you are dead, die pinis.
Oh, and as far as I remember, Chuck, it was a Ute who swereved of the road. I absolutely remember the whites of his eyes at least 6 inches in diameter as he hurtled off into the bush, but then I had other concernns at the time.
I remember the accident report (In the Public Domain) criticising the fact that I calmly reported on the wireless that we were going down on the road. Apparently I should have screamed Mayday etc etc. If that's all we got off lightly. Chuck, who was theoretically in command took all the flak, and I blamed everything on him, as you do.!! The fact is, Chuck and I are still here, still drink beer together.!!
As far as the Great dero club raid mate, it was a mixture of emotions and happenings. The Picture says it all, and as I have said to many Doctors over the years who have queried the scar, that it's just a Port Moresby Love Bite.!! I have this picture on my study wall to remind me.!! I wouldn't have missed it for the world.!!
Indos could NOT under any circumstances chill a beer to save their lives. That Indo Pish was always warm.
Yes Tinpis, I had forgotten that these Pics were still on the net. How do you remember these things.??
As for the Moitaka Gliding Club, well only the washing machine and I know how bloody scared I was that day, but surprisingly only AFTER we were down and in the Dero club bar, with accident investigators on the terrace conducting the investigation. (Trutok) The owner of the 185 was hacked off, but being still alive, I couldn't have given a rat's arse, honestly. Chuck and I had a few beers to celebrate still being around.
I remember Chuck and I discussing how the right lift strut was creased at the back end. I told him that I was abolutely certain that we had not backed into anything. I also never knew that the stall speed of a 185 was so low. Needle was on zero as I recall, but at that stage it was too late to care. Piece of advice after what I learned that day, is that cables are absofeckinglutely invisible. They make a lot of noise when you hit them and if you don't have a soft hook, you are dead, die pinis.
Oh, and as far as I remember, Chuck, it was a Ute who swereved of the road. I absolutely remember the whites of his eyes at least 6 inches in diameter as he hurtled off into the bush, but then I had other concernns at the time.
I remember the accident report (In the Public Domain) criticising the fact that I calmly reported on the wireless that we were going down on the road. Apparently I should have screamed Mayday etc etc. If that's all we got off lightly. Chuck, who was theoretically in command took all the flak, and I blamed everything on him, as you do.!! The fact is, Chuck and I are still here, still drink beer together.!!
As far as the Great dero club raid mate, it was a mixture of emotions and happenings. The Picture says it all, and as I have said to many Doctors over the years who have queried the scar, that it's just a Port Moresby Love Bite.!! I have this picture on my study wall to remind me.!! I wouldn't have missed it for the world.!!
Last edited by Taildragger; 5th Mar 2005 at 23:30.
Relics from the Sixties
Have seen a few posts from 60's territorians recently - Animalclub, tinpis and sixtiesrelic ...so thought I'd check in too.
Spent 1961-1970 up there, with a few gaps in Brisbane. Originally was a didiman based at Korn Farm Research Stn, (just toward Minj from what's now Kagamuga/Mt Hagen airport.
When I located to Hagen in March 1961, the strip was thru the middle of town- and it was pretty treacherous. After a '3 landed, a tractor with trailer load of river rocks and gravel would trundle up the strip and fill in all the ruts and gouges.
Anyway, the decision was made by the DC,Tom Ellis to get the strip out of town, and the big decision was - where. Ogelbeng was never going to be any good, so they looked down valley.
In Sept '61, I was one of the workgang supervisors when the whole of Kagamuga was cut to the ground. There were thousands of auli on the job - the noise was earsplitting as each line tried to outdo the other in both song and work.....mostly song - what's changed?
Then in late September or early October, they couldn't help themselves - and up she went in smoke. Well, being at a lovely cool and drier time of year, there was a fair sort of inversion in the Waghi, so the whole valley filled up with smoke...right down to Minj and Nondugl. I heard from the local agents that Hagen was closed on and off for several days due low vis. What price a GPS/NPA?
It was in about September '61 that we had a really cold spell of weather in the Western Highlands, and there was snow on Giluwe and Hagen for several days. Flew up and around there with Peter Hurst in a TAL 180 - fantastic photoshoot but unfortunately all long rotted away with mould.
Probably the most memorable trip I did in those early days was in a TAA Otter with veteran Capt Bill Sherwood. Milk run from Hagen to Baiyer to Wapenamunda to Wabag, to Laiagam, to Tambul and back to Hagen. Absolutely spectacular scenery. I was based as the didiman at Wabag for a few months and spent a week or two also at Wapenamunda - which I reckon just had to be the most spec location in all of PNG. That, and a few trips with Hursty and Col Hey in TAL 180's and 185's and I was hooked on flying forever.
So - off to Brisbane and back with a licence at the end of 1963.
It's a small world. In 1996, the Beverley Soaring Society asked me to do several BFR's for their tuggies using my c170. One of the starters was....surprise, surprise - Colin Hey. Having flown a 170, 180, and 185's for TAL from 1960 - he flew the 170 as though it was only 30 days - not years - ago. I just folded my arms and enjoyed the ride. Believe me, that's not a common reaction to checks in a taildragger.
Even tho' it was 35 years ago that I left, the flying images of PNG are as vivid now as ever.
I'm 65 this year, and still love my little bit of instructing. Nothing too onerous - just a bit of tailwheel, low level and formation in RV's...as befits an active retiree!
Happy days,
Have seen a few posts from 60's territorians recently - Animalclub, tinpis and sixtiesrelic ...so thought I'd check in too.
Spent 1961-1970 up there, with a few gaps in Brisbane. Originally was a didiman based at Korn Farm Research Stn, (just toward Minj from what's now Kagamuga/Mt Hagen airport.
When I located to Hagen in March 1961, the strip was thru the middle of town- and it was pretty treacherous. After a '3 landed, a tractor with trailer load of river rocks and gravel would trundle up the strip and fill in all the ruts and gouges.
Anyway, the decision was made by the DC,Tom Ellis to get the strip out of town, and the big decision was - where. Ogelbeng was never going to be any good, so they looked down valley.
In Sept '61, I was one of the workgang supervisors when the whole of Kagamuga was cut to the ground. There were thousands of auli on the job - the noise was earsplitting as each line tried to outdo the other in both song and work.....mostly song - what's changed?
Then in late September or early October, they couldn't help themselves - and up she went in smoke. Well, being at a lovely cool and drier time of year, there was a fair sort of inversion in the Waghi, so the whole valley filled up with smoke...right down to Minj and Nondugl. I heard from the local agents that Hagen was closed on and off for several days due low vis. What price a GPS/NPA?
It was in about September '61 that we had a really cold spell of weather in the Western Highlands, and there was snow on Giluwe and Hagen for several days. Flew up and around there with Peter Hurst in a TAL 180 - fantastic photoshoot but unfortunately all long rotted away with mould.
Probably the most memorable trip I did in those early days was in a TAA Otter with veteran Capt Bill Sherwood. Milk run from Hagen to Baiyer to Wapenamunda to Wabag, to Laiagam, to Tambul and back to Hagen. Absolutely spectacular scenery. I was based as the didiman at Wabag for a few months and spent a week or two also at Wapenamunda - which I reckon just had to be the most spec location in all of PNG. That, and a few trips with Hursty and Col Hey in TAL 180's and 185's and I was hooked on flying forever.
So - off to Brisbane and back with a licence at the end of 1963.
It's a small world. In 1996, the Beverley Soaring Society asked me to do several BFR's for their tuggies using my c170. One of the starters was....surprise, surprise - Colin Hey. Having flown a 170, 180, and 185's for TAL from 1960 - he flew the 170 as though it was only 30 days - not years - ago. I just folded my arms and enjoyed the ride. Believe me, that's not a common reaction to checks in a taildragger.
Even tho' it was 35 years ago that I left, the flying images of PNG are as vivid now as ever.
I'm 65 this year, and still love my little bit of instructing. Nothing too onerous - just a bit of tailwheel, low level and formation in RV's...as befits an active retiree!
Happy days,