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PNG Ples Bilong Tok Tok
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Which DC3?
Many Lapuns on this forum have probably heard the story of an ex WW2 DC3 bought post hostilities in USA by an ex hump pilot and becoming the founding Cathay Pacific aircraft (VR-HDB aka Betsy); sold to WR Carpenter (Mandated Airlines?) in 1955 and flying for twenty years in PNG and then for BPA in Queensland before being repurchased in 1983 by Cathay for the Hongkong Museum of Science and Technologies, where afaik it resides to this day.
my question is does anyone know the callsign under which it flew in PNG?
my question is does anyone know the callsign under which it flew in PNG?
AussieO2,
There was a 680 Commander in a crate about 11 years ago in a yard at Erima, there is a hardware place on the site now. I think it's called JDJ Hardware or something. For those who know what I'm talking about the site was on the left just before the roundabout behind the old burnt out Big Roster building. I did ask someone at the aero club back then about it and I seem to recall that they said that Yorkie Mandozza (Spelling may be wrong, sorry Yorkie RIP) owned it at the time. Yorkie also passed away about 10 years ago so who knows. I was actually just wondering the other day where that airframe ended up.
I'm assuming it's the old P2-MBB airframe. Maybe Notty got hold of it before he was killed ??
There was a 680 Commander in a crate about 11 years ago in a yard at Erima, there is a hardware place on the site now. I think it's called JDJ Hardware or something. For those who know what I'm talking about the site was on the left just before the roundabout behind the old burnt out Big Roster building. I did ask someone at the aero club back then about it and I seem to recall that they said that Yorkie Mandozza (Spelling may be wrong, sorry Yorkie RIP) owned it at the time. Yorkie also passed away about 10 years ago so who knows. I was actually just wondering the other day where that airframe ended up.
I'm assuming it's the old P2-MBB airframe. Maybe Notty got hold of it before he was killed ??
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Shinbone
Douglas C-47-DL C/N 4423 VH-MAL.
I remember it well. One of the few DC3s to retain the same registration throughout it's life in PNG and Australia.
Douglas C-47-DL C/N 4423 VH-MAL.
I remember it well. One of the few DC3s to retain the same registration throughout it's life in PNG and Australia.
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Which DC3?
Thanks Tail Wheel, and especially for the pic - I have just come across Gavin Young's history of Cathay Pacific (Beyond Lion Rock) which is a great read, as the author has interviewed many of the old pilot's and hosties, including the original hump pilot who bought this DC3 from the US government and who was still alive in Texas (circa 1988), and has managed to thread the history into this personal framework which makes it lively and interesing.
There was apparently a cadre of Cathay pilots flying Ansons and DC3's in Burma for about five years post WW2, and many of their stories reflect the sort of 'adventures' we encountered in PNG in later years - a book well worth reading.
There was apparently a cadre of Cathay pilots flying Ansons and DC3's in Burma for about five years post WW2, and many of their stories reflect the sort of 'adventures' we encountered in PNG in later years - a book well worth reading.
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High 6.
I wondered the same thing - whether it was tumbuna to the A380 - or an attempted aerodynamic conversion of a house brick.
The only thing I could pick that looked familiar was the vertical stabiliser which looks remarkably like it came from a DC4/C54.
I suspect you would have seen DC3 VH-MAL in Bushies colours when it operated charters to the Goroka Show.
Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" radial engines, 3,800 hp (2,834 kW) each.
I wonder how long they could keep all four of those things going.
Obviously Cessna were the sub contractors for supply of the wing tip tanks!
I wondered the same thing - whether it was tumbuna to the A380 - or an attempted aerodynamic conversion of a house brick.
The only thing I could pick that looked familiar was the vertical stabiliser which looks remarkably like it came from a DC4/C54.
I suspect you would have seen DC3 VH-MAL in Bushies colours when it operated charters to the Goroka Show.
Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" radial engines, 3,800 hp (2,834 kW) each.
I wonder how long they could keep all four of those things going.
Obviously Cessna were the sub contractors for supply of the wing tip tanks!
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From the layout of the windows it appears they went for a triple decker, adds a whole new dimension to travelling "cattle class". Those lowest seats would no doubt be blocked off for dead heading crew and those utilising staff travel privileges .
I wonder how long they could keep all four of those things going.
When I was a QF apprentice in the early '60s they used to come in for a few days at a time, and were usually inspected by groups of not unattractive young ladies while they were there.
At that time, there were two older apprentices, twin brothers. About 10 years later, I ran into them flying a DC3 for Air NiuGini when they piloted a HHH charter from Bougainville to Honiara. Can't remember their names, I'm sure someone here will.
Did anything become of the Cessna 337 and the CASA 212 that were 'lurking' at Jacksons since 1997 ?
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Sandline
The O-2's at Honiara are not connected with Sandline.
They arrived at Honiara late DEC 1997, with a Hughes OH-6A, and, as you say, one was constructed out of the two. The chopper is still there, but don't have an update on it. They all sat in the containers for years and came directly from USA.
The Sandline is a Cessna 337, not an O-2 version. Just painted to look like military. (I have the rego's somewhere in a box) There was talk the PNG Govt was to get the 212 a/worthy for Fishing Surveillance in 2004 ?
They arrived at Honiara late DEC 1997, with a Hughes OH-6A, and, as you say, one was constructed out of the two. The chopper is still there, but don't have an update on it. They all sat in the containers for years and came directly from USA.
The Sandline is a Cessna 337, not an O-2 version. Just painted to look like military. (I have the rego's somewhere in a box) There was talk the PNG Govt was to get the 212 a/worthy for Fishing Surveillance in 2004 ?
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Sir Brian Bell
Doesn't really need any further comment , does it ???.
From Post-Guria Monday 9 August........
Shameful Grave robbers dig up Sir Brian’s coffin
By TODAGIA KELOLA
WHO could have done such a terrible thing?
That is the question shocked residents in the nation’s capital were asking when news broke over the weekend that some people had dug up the grave of the late Sir Brian Bell and taken his body out of the coffin.Nobody knows what the culprits were looking for at the Nine Mile grave or on the body of Sir Brian but the incident has shocked the late businessman’s family members and close friends even more so that some were reported to have been traumatised.
Those including members of the public interviewed by the Post-Courier said those that carried out that inhuman act were animals; some even described them as witch doctors or “sanguma’’, who were after the body of Sir Brian. The reaction comes after grave robbers dug up the burial plot of Sir Brian, only a day or two after the legendary businessman was laid to rest there at the public cemetery on the outskirts of Port Moresby. Close friends of the late knight confirmed the incident yesterday, saying the grave was dug up and the casket containing the body was opened and thoroughly searched.
A close friend of the late knight said he was not in a position to divulge what was removed, but added that the criminals might have imagined that the businessman was buried with valuables.
Another close family member, horrified at what happened said: “He was a very rich man but lived a simple life. He didn’t lavish himself when he was around. For those who did this thing, they obviously have a wrong perception of him.’’
Another upset friend described the actions as “the work of animals who don’t deserve to be in our society. They should be locked up and the keys thrown away because how can they do this to this simple man who didn’t act like any other very rich person but dressed and worked like any of his employees and at times supported others who badly needed assistance.
“This is just unthinkable and unbecoming of our PNG culture where we respect the dead,” he said.
Police were tight lipped over the incident but the Post-Courier understands that forensic investigators were at the scene and fingerprints have been taken for further investigations.
Sir Brian was born in Chinchilla, a small town in Queensland in 1928 to a father who was a farmer and a mother who was a school teacher. He had a brother, Harold, who passed away recently. Sir Brian graduated as a pharmacist in 1949 from the University of Queenslands and came to PNG in 1954. He worked initially with the Department of Works under the Australian administration. He worked alongside his long term friend the late Sir George Constantinou. He quit after four months and worked for the administration as a pharmacist with the Department of Health. He left and started a gun and barber shop in Boroko where he repaired guns as well as cut hair, then moved to Port Moresby at Ela Beach and expanded.
From Post-Guria Monday 9 August........
Shameful Grave robbers dig up Sir Brian’s coffin
By TODAGIA KELOLA
WHO could have done such a terrible thing?
That is the question shocked residents in the nation’s capital were asking when news broke over the weekend that some people had dug up the grave of the late Sir Brian Bell and taken his body out of the coffin.Nobody knows what the culprits were looking for at the Nine Mile grave or on the body of Sir Brian but the incident has shocked the late businessman’s family members and close friends even more so that some were reported to have been traumatised.
Those including members of the public interviewed by the Post-Courier said those that carried out that inhuman act were animals; some even described them as witch doctors or “sanguma’’, who were after the body of Sir Brian. The reaction comes after grave robbers dug up the burial plot of Sir Brian, only a day or two after the legendary businessman was laid to rest there at the public cemetery on the outskirts of Port Moresby. Close friends of the late knight confirmed the incident yesterday, saying the grave was dug up and the casket containing the body was opened and thoroughly searched.
A close friend of the late knight said he was not in a position to divulge what was removed, but added that the criminals might have imagined that the businessman was buried with valuables.
Another close family member, horrified at what happened said: “He was a very rich man but lived a simple life. He didn’t lavish himself when he was around. For those who did this thing, they obviously have a wrong perception of him.’’
Another upset friend described the actions as “the work of animals who don’t deserve to be in our society. They should be locked up and the keys thrown away because how can they do this to this simple man who didn’t act like any other very rich person but dressed and worked like any of his employees and at times supported others who badly needed assistance.
“This is just unthinkable and unbecoming of our PNG culture where we respect the dead,” he said.
Police were tight lipped over the incident but the Post-Courier understands that forensic investigators were at the scene and fingerprints have been taken for further investigations.
Sir Brian was born in Chinchilla, a small town in Queensland in 1928 to a father who was a farmer and a mother who was a school teacher. He had a brother, Harold, who passed away recently. Sir Brian graduated as a pharmacist in 1949 from the University of Queenslands and came to PNG in 1954. He worked initially with the Department of Works under the Australian administration. He worked alongside his long term friend the late Sir George Constantinou. He quit after four months and worked for the administration as a pharmacist with the Department of Health. He left and started a gun and barber shop in Boroko where he repaired guns as well as cut hair, then moved to Port Moresby at Ela Beach and expanded.
Silly Old Git
Wiz re your comments earlier about wanting to toss a lure in the Island waters
Well let me tell you mate been there, done that, got the T-shirt
Tossed in everything but the kitchen sink, day and night poppers, chromies, rubber things, jigs, flys you bloody name it and got NADA!
Tried live bait....NADA!
Finally snagged a Trevally on something dead while on Arovo Island
My opinion is the fishing sucks
You give it a try by all means
If you want fishing try Gove
Well let me tell you mate been there, done that, got the T-shirt
Tossed in everything but the kitchen sink, day and night poppers, chromies, rubber things, jigs, flys you bloody name it and got NADA!
Tried live bait....NADA!
Finally snagged a Trevally on something dead while on Arovo Island
My opinion is the fishing sucks
You give it a try by all means
If you want fishing try Gove
Bugsmasherdriverandjediknite
Join Date: Jul 2000
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Must have been having a few bad days Tinny. I saw some awesome fishing whilst there.
Gove has pretty good fishing for sure, but the scenery isnt anywhere as nice.
Gove has pretty good fishing for sure, but the scenery isnt anywhere as nice.