All those that flew for Discover (f)lying on the Penguin runs
 

Is Sir M still around? What happened to the the operation?

oh 'M' would still be around alright, he's one tough operator. He may not be in the flying game but he'll be in sumfin' that's for sure !:bored:
His Jap express penguin runs folded some years ago now, (poor old Doves)he went onto just training at a country strip nth of ML for a while & might have given it away entirely now, not too sure tho.

Fun days just the same, YPID, you could count on one hand the amount of rwy lights actually working !:)


CW

Always aspired to fly for 'Penguin Express', never made it though...:{

Never flew the dove to YPID for Big M but took nearly everything else down there for him. Good old DTZ and BAJ would be my favourites. Dont miss the cold nights waiting in the hanger and spilling your dinner enroute if it was bumpy. You could also count the amount of bunnys you would "nearly" hit on T/O and LND. I was always amazed that anyone could even see the runway lights they were that dim.

Nig not nog

With nig on that one, C310, AC50,PA31,PA44 all logged on the 'duck' run, never had the joy of the 104 thou,bugga:ok: Hi to Di and Moz if ya lookin:D

ahhh you guys missed one hell of an airframe the old DH104 (Dove) It was perhaps the worst ergonomically designed plane airborne, typical pomms but boy did they know how to build a plane that still flew after years of neglect!:bored: 800 HP to convey 4 tons, stalled at 65 kts GW & once full flap was out (40deg's) you where going only one direction ...DOWN regardless of how much HP you had !:) 13 POB, was that an unlucky No or what?:bored:

I remember old DTZ (c310) & BAJ (AC50), the latter I have a funny story about if you guys ever want to hear it.
I still remember old Sandy (PID owner way back then, nice guy) chasing planes down the rwy in his old XD ford wanting his ldg fee, was the funniest thing to watch!:)
God where's the tissues !:{

"HH" you missed some fun times, but that's about all mate!


CW

Loved the Doves until NBM tried to kill me and my pax. Still remember changing aircraft from the Dove down to Chieftain, C310 and stopped at an Apache of all things when pax numbers dropped off one night. Interesting place, anybody know what happened to "The Rat"?

.. never did the Penguin Run .. but did a few night trips in the Navajo over Melbourne when that was in vogue .. an interesting chap ...

Capt Wally

every time I enter a toilet and find water downed soap I think of Sandy. Also has been a while since at Wallan, but is NBM still there rotting away or has it been moved. Use to love flying out of Wallan, hope urban sprawl doesnt kill it.

I think you will find that NBM & ABM are no longer:{ The rats ate 'em !
I gather you saw NBM at Wallan, a real shame to see a once grand old lady derelict. I thnk if I recall that particular airframe (or it might have been ABM) was built around 1950!, might have been earlier!
'Nig' I had to laugh at the watered down soap story, yr lucky you got soap period!:bored:

CW

Sandy would never part with a dollar so the runway lights would be wired up by him, utilising tape, nails, clothes pegs-you name it. What a top guy!
He would water down ANYTHING to save money, but i guess he has a bit now.
Chasing guys in the falcon? never saw it but you put a very funny image in my head

Mr Milk you should have been there when he did that, talk about angry:bored:
And he used up turned juice bottles (the ones he ratted out of the bin after we bought them & threw them away) to put over the top of the 12v tiny globes representing rwy/taxi lights!!

I recall one night in an old Seneca 2 it was so damp with a fogged up windscreen when we taxied out that all I could do was hold the torch out the storm vent window (PA34 lights where useless) to see where I was going, his taxiway lights where as bright as a burnt out candle ! I ended up doing a full circuit of the taxiway in front of the main hanger right back to where I started from 'cause all I could see was the edge of the dirt ! At least the japs thought it was normal, then again it was really !:)


CW

Sandy wouldnt rat things out of the bin surely:E
Is he still around? last i heard pid was gettin knocked down for mansions:{

Some people just think of the money all the time.

What a cowboy operation those penguin runs were and DCA just looked the other way. Monsieur Le Morrice rang me urgently to fly a Navajo from EN. Pax were aboard when the battery was found to be dead flat. Raced down the tarmac and met M racing up the tarmac abusing me for not starting up and get going. Told him to get nicked and find himself another idiot to fly his bomb. Think we got a battery cart from somewhere in the end and got donks running. Big Yank bloke occupied RH seat. Shortly after airborne door warning light came on and big draught. I think we may have lost a radio en route and to cap it all off the left prop feathered itself on the landing run. The Yank ordered me to get another aircraft as no way he and other pax would return on that Navajo. A C310 arrived and got bogged. Yank really spitting chips but finally got away in the 310. Then I got abused for writing the snags in the MR. Yeah - some fine operation in those days.

obviously 'centaurus' you had one of the better days, you got off lightly mate!:bored:;) Great story tnxs, loved it!
I can still remember M standing in front of the Dove/s seconds after the cabin door was closed waving his arms about suggesting why are the engines not running, get going !!:bored: When taxing out in a Dove you had about 2 or 3 brake applications on the way to the holding point b4 the air supply was too low to bring the U/C after T/off. One got quite good at assy pwr applications & rarely touched the brake lever!
I also remember after T/off one very still evening from PID once I set course for the city I never touched the steering wheel (that's what they looked like) 'till not long before touchdown, used only the rudder pedals & the elev trim wheel for control, such was the ability of the pommy flying wreck to stay aloft with little in the way of primary control manipulation:)

ahhhh the memories


CW

When were you ther Wally? I was putting up with Sir M Oct 88 to April 89

'FS' i'll go back thru a few log books & give you an exact date as to when I last flew for Sir M, shall PM you
Am lucky to know what date it is today never lone when I was last abused by 'M' !:bored:

CW

I know what you mean. Final straw was copping abuse because I brought the pax back after having assymetric flap on t/o with NBM. The rat had to restrain me from thumping him.

BTW 'FS' those dates I sent you where the last time/s I flew the Doves, I would most likely have flown other types before I got smart!
Still to his credit I did get good experience from that op & learnt a lot more than flying any RPT run !

CW

Too true, and the important thing is we survived Sir Ms "school". I can honestly say that if it wasn't for that organisation I wouldn't be so interested in safety!

"flying-spike' would have be interesting watching you squeeze your delicate little frame into a Dove cockpit.

Old Sandy at PID, used to do a few charters into there for car racing, always wanted the landing fee and fuel paid in cash and no receipt okay.

Mate did some work on the penguin express, new Navajo endorsement no ICUS and sent off to PID on ****ty south westerly night, likewise another night something went u/s and got sent of in a Seneca or Aztec that he hadn't flown for some time.

CW,
That old (XD?) Falcoon was a life saver, great for an interesting ride to the fish and chippery across the bridge, and for jump starting Shrikes! :ouch:

Stationair 8
 

As Wally said, the Dove was an ergonomic disaster. Fortunately for the fit, so was/is my body!

'yowie' am pretty sure it was an old ford XD (White) & yes Sandy did lend it to us to get F&C's when there was little else to feed our faces with!:)

I remember the F/F's in the Dove at T/off, they went off the scale ! 2X IO720's drinking juice as if it was free ! One rarely got the chance to read them close anyway as one was tap dancing on the rudder pedals trying to keep NBM in line until airlfow helped, ABM at least had the original fin/rudder & that being more effective.
'FS' remember draining the oil out of the pneumatics after a flight? That system was meant to be air only but mostly oil poored out with the rush of what air was left in the tank!:bored:
Still at the time I guess we where all 'learning', made real men out of boys those adventures did !:)


CW

I remember the rat giving me a lecture about not leaving the u/c lock in prior to my first trip to Phillip Island in ABM only to overtake him in NBM with a bit of dayglo hanging out of his still-extended u/c!.
Also several a/c departing the island with no lights, using only the reflector tape on the old tyres around the u/s lights.
Who could forget the Phillip Island ILS.: Track to Churchill Island, turn right and follow the bridge and keep the street light on the left hand wingtip!

God 'FS' am almost crying here with the memories:{ Stop it, my current work sounds so boring !:bored: If you where lucky enough to get the U/C after T/off then you where an excellent pilot with not having to use the little air that those poor worn out compressors where delivering during taxi.
Was fun before they put the pwr lines under ground at the nth end of the main strip. A great delight of mine was to come over the Rd somewhat 'lowish' so the drivers could see the oil dripping off the cowls by the gallon !:E
Late at night upon arrival back at EN how wonderful it was to put those U/C locks in place when it was raining without looking like part of the B&W minstral show afterwards!:bored:

How many plovers & rabbits did you knock over 'FS' on a single T/off roll? at least 3 to 4 on average!
I've been back in there (PID)a couple of times in the B200 & i can almost feel the years slip back to 'the good 'ole days' !:)

CW

Plover eating Doves
 

Only ever got one that I know of and I hate plovers. Bloody thing took a dislike to ABM's left engine after start. Blood and feathers everywhere. Used to love doing the 26ILS in ABM, station passage over the PLE locator was indicated by the needle on the ADF swinging through 180 degrees forward of the aircraft to 180 degrees aft of the aircraft!

Try a twin loc app for rwy 26 !!!!! it doen't exist, never has but I've heard a few over the years coming back from the Island asking for that exact appr!:bored: The only instruments you had in a dove was a clock (wind up version) a compass that pointed Nth only when the engines where off & a 'stick-on' ADF cut out from some flight Mag that M glued to the panel !, was the lattest type mind you:E:E

ILS in a Dove??? ILS = I'll Land Sometime

CW:)

When did the penguin runs stop early 90's.

They were certainly in force when did my IFR rating in the late 80's.

Captain Wally did the Dove have a glass cockpit?

stationair8 I'm not too sure when the duck runs stopped, I left about 10 yrs ago now but I did hear it slowly faded out some time after that.

............Captain Wally did the Dove have a glass cockpit? oh yes mate glass everywhere, even on the front of the steam driven guages !:ok:

Of all the planes I've had a drive of the DH104 was probably the most challenging from start up to parking the big beast after a flight, was fun now that I can go back in my mind to days when pilots probably learnt the most:)


CW

I'll second that. No toe brakes, just differential pedal and the brake lever on the column. Even the different "Riley" configurations presented hassles with switches in different spotsand being a pommy plane modded by the yanks half the switches were up for on and the others were down for on. That is a problem when some of them you have to feel for (landing light, taxi light?). But loved flying them anyway. They made you earn M's measly bucks.

By the sounds of it he employed the finest pilots money could by, treated you like his own children, let you fly his aeroplanes and then you shoot through at the first opportunity. No loyalty or respect from pilots.

.........................."They made you earn M's measly bucks"

'FS'............ that says it all !:ok:


CW

So what you are saying is that the boss Sir M wouldn't eat raspberry jam, because he would be too tight pass the pips?

I just came across this, it is so sad! :{

While I never got to fly the old girl, she was always part of life at Essendon when I was training and for many years after...:ok:

Oh boy 'HH' I am almost crying here to see the old girl up for sale at a price that would be around 10000000000000 times more than she's worth!:bored:
If the price had have been more realistic I might have thought about buying my old steed & making a cubby house out of it but then again small children wouldn't be safe in it even with the wings off !:bored:
Many fond memories in ABM, RIP both ABM & NBM.
Now they where real planes!
Tnxs 'HH' for bring a tear to me eye:{

CW

Sad, looks like the third Dove that was bought in at the same time as ABM and NBM were landed in oz. Where is NBM? And what ever happened to DTZ?:}

It is actually ABM, which was the first I think!

Perhaps we should all chip in, buy it, put it back together then stick it on a pole at the entrance to EN!:ok:

geeez 'HH' putting ABM up on a pole would mean certain danger, I was lucky to keep it & NBM airborne with both engines running never lone stand under it engines stopped up on a pole mate!:}

'Yowie' last I saw of NBM was up at Wallan (now closed) I took some pix of it in a very sad state. Out of the two NBM was the worst (if that was possible) The modified tail was awful. DTZ? well not too sure what happened to that old C310 either. The owner of DTZ whom I shall not mention here is a great guy, he got 'used' like a lot of others did. Of all the planes I've ever flown the DH104's where the sweetest handling, shame the Eg's I actually flew where the worst known to mankind maint wise:bored:


CW

i think one of the doves is at YMMB . saw it there a few years ago...don't know now though..

ahh the duck runs, rekon i killed half the world pop of rabbitts at ypid