KWK Transport...Derby WA
 

Any one out there know of this company that operated out of Derby in the 60's.
I was their first pilot when the Company was set up by Lou Kent in June of 61 operating a C182 VH-KWK. I was sent up from Schutt Aircraft at MRB (who sold the a/c to them) to teach Lou and his son Kevin to fly and to do charter work.
Returned to MRB in early Oct. Have often wondered what happened to the outfit as they no longer exist. Did hear somewhere they eventually acquired a twin of some sort.

In those days the 182 plus another 182 and Horrie Millers Wackett were the only singles between Port Hedland and Darwin...how things have changed!!

Emeritus :):)

Never heard of above operation - but I used to work at Schutts for years, and actually family owned a V-tail bonanza rego VH-KWK for years (and still is I believe) in the early 1970's, bought off Fred Blake aircraft sales at Moorabbin. ..... So the C182 musn't of had that rego for that long, reason unknown tho?

Cheers, KP

The B35 VH-KWK was operated by KWK Transport out of DB in the late '60's.
They had a Baron as well, but don't recall the rego. but was KW?. Kevin Kent was the front figure in that operation.

I recall the company was sold to TransWest Air Charter (TWAC) around that time also - TransWest and Aerial Enterprises were the only charter operators in DB in 1970.

Great days - they even had Flight Service ! :ok:

And loooong socks. ;)

I was based at Derby Airport for about 2 months in 1974. I don't recall that company being in existence then. as cogwheel says only Transwest and Dick Robbie's outfit, Aerial Enterprises.

And HAIR...................

Derbs '82 - end of '85.

From memory the 'home' operators were;
Trans West- Twotter mostly, KLI / CTI contract,
Aerial Ent - C206 and BN2,
H C Sleigh - Coast watch contract AC50,
Pearls Broome - DHC 2 Beaver amphib.,
O'Driscoll's Baron,
RTE, C182 privately owned,
RFDS,
PN68 - FTZ / HLC RPT taken over by Jan Beers Baron,
Plus numerous others from BME,(Outback Air Chtr) and 'all over' in those days.
And, 2 x F28 services per day!!
A couple of 'good guys' from FTZ,

Was not the level of tourist ops then.....

Sorry if I've left someone out...its me memory chip...its fading...:ok:

Har har..Derby on the Mud circa '81 Spinny hotel owner rings cops....

Halp! TWA pilots are wrecking my bar

Well ring the Chief pilot

I cant..its him ...he's here !

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y15...thlaughter.gif

Boab Ball's and The Sisters Quarters.

1970 - 1974

Memories.

KWK Transport
 

Hello Emeritus,
not sure if previous reply got thru'
Flew for Lou '66 to '69. In '66 it was a DH Beaver, KWK, and a couple of Cessna 205's, FXK & KYK. The latter finished up gutted at Kunmunya -
long story.. ref 'quarterly funnies' of '67. Ferried Beaver to DH Sydney and
replaced with C55 Baron, KXK. Later a C35 (?) Debonair which was mostly
for 'Lou's use', KZK! ...Also a V-tail Bonanza which inherited the 'historic'
c/s KWK.
I am now retired from an airline career in the UK, but the Derby years
and characters will never leave me. .. Coming back home for a visit next
week and can't wait!

ps. Kevin employed the majority of his time running (successfully) the
local betting shop. Dick Roberton ( a decent bloke although I'm ashamed to say I hardly spoke to him), was a sworn enemy of Lou's.

VH-KXK, the Baron, was flying for Transwest out of Port Hedland (normally on the mining camp runs down to Mt Newman ie Yandee, Sandhill, Redmont etc) when I was working in Hedland between '74 to '76.

It was always amazing for me to see how Mike Charlesworth managed to squeeze his massive frame into that Baron.

Ex FSO G
 

Yeah - O'Driscolls Baron B55 - FEO
Anita Flamingo in FS
The late Bill Symons
RTE owned by Ian Macfarlan a local sparkie - his son Richard now the man
The flying bishop - if he was in the circuit everybodyelse buggered off til he had landed
3 or 4 146's a day
Trivial Pursuit and card nights at the King Sound Motel
BOAB balls
Yeah - Dick Robbie didn't talk to me for the first five years,then couldn't shut him up
12 mile dam weekends
Boat race boab weekend
Sunday sessions at the spinny, after a swim at CLQ first
the baron in and out of Koolan and Cockatoo
The Red Baron from FTZ (of the "jeez I'm f=== bored....Station making last call, say again call sign....I''m not that f==== bored!!!! fame)
Bloody good days
Biggles:ok::ok::8

KXK
 

I was pretty young, 5-10 years from memory and my Dad bought KXK from a bloke going bankrupt. 84ish till 88ish. Took it for a lap at Jandakot (having never flown one before) and put a deposit on it right then and there. Never told my mum until it was let slip at the bar one night by one of the old boys mates. She went crazy. Anyway he sold it a little while later (pressured by mum) for the deposit on a house. Made quite a profit so she calmed down. While we had it a bloke hired for a flight up to Geraldton. Memories a bit vague but i think he was called to go look for a missing boat near Dongra. Anyway ran out of juice and landed in a field just inside the dunes along the Dongra/ Geraldton Road. Spent a lot of time sitting on the old boys nav bag in that aeroplane. Good memories. Now I believe it is in a hangar at YPJT. Sorry for the slight thread drift.

Derby GA & KWK
 

I lived on Louisa Downs in the Kimberleys from 1965 to 1970. Lou Kent was in full swing at that time. He also had a cattle trucking business. We regularly saw the Baron (K?K) at Louisa when the Cattle buyers from the meatworks used to visit, and the PMG (Telstra) installed a new overhead telephone route following the then dirt “highway” from Port Hedland north with a repeater station just by the homestead that continually failed.

His C205 (K?K) was also a frequent visitor and it used to suffer real badly from vapourisation problems in the fuel injection system on takeoff on hot days. There was no taxiways and the strip was short with lots of rocks and the engine couldn’t be run up to clear it. One of the reasons we bought a C182 (VH-DGG) in 1967. I started flying it as a 16 year old on a restricted license in late 1968 and savoured every moment.

Dick Robbie’s C182 (VH-AEH) was favoured by Govt depts that visited, and on one occasion we went for a joy flight around the station we got hopelessly lost, a lesson I never forgot in my later flying career where I always had a WAC chart on my lap, even when flying IFR. Dick Robbie purchased a C337, which a real novelty when it arrived. I could never figure out where the wheels went when retracted.

Apart from Tim Emmanual (who had a C182 on Gogo) and occasional Fletcher geophysical aircraft and the odd Bell 47 there weren’t to many aircraft around then.

100 hourly’s were always a problem, with only MMA having engineers in Derby, and only if Cyril Kleinig agreed via RFDS telegram would they service our 182, otherwise it was a trip to Darwin.

The DC-3’s used to do the station runs, I travelled in them regularly in the cockpit with the pilots, and I was on the inaugural Twin Otter flight (VH-MMY). Little did I realise some 9 years later I would be flying a Twotter (VH-TNM or TNS) for Transwest on the same routes.

There was the Scottish Twin Pioneer which operated out of the Australia Iron & Steel Hanger, which later became Aerial Enterprises (Dick Robbie). There is a wreck on Koolan Island, I think that is where it ended up. I took a fully loaded C421 in there on a proving flight some years later (Have photo to prove it!). The Twin Pioneer wreck off to the side of the runway was always a sober reminder.

The RFDS operated a straight tail Queen Air (VH-FDV), and Robin Miller and Dr Dicks used to fly around in a Mooney Super 21 or a French Rallye. The cockpit of the Rallye is in the Airforce Bullcreek Museum in Perth. When they visited the station my father was so impressed he nearly bought one on the spot!

I started commercial flying out of Port Hedland in 1976 for Transwest, and moved as base manager/check pilot to Derby in 1979 when MMA pulled out. Flew all the aircraft mentioned above, and it was bloody hot hard work.

We operated out of the Lou Kent’s old hanger. It was an exciting time, and a great place to work with all the MMA & FS guys, although there was always superficial banter with the FS guys who thought they were ATC. They weren’t supposed to look out the window, but often did to remind us not to cancel our sarwatch until we were clear of the runway. They were great during the height of the wet when we would often ask them what the “real weather” was like.

:O

Kevin Kent
 

I am the Kevin Kent of KWK Transport

KWK Transport
 

When were you flyuing for us
Kevin

tinpis
 

WHAT!!!!!!! :confused:

Pilots on the piss in Derby!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Well I Never,,,,,,,,,,,,

:E

DD

One is not a true north-west bush pilot unless one has caught one's scrotum on the top strand of barbed wire :{ that encircled alcatraz (aka Nurses quarters, Derby :) ) on the way in or the way out. I was never quite sure if the said barbed wire fence was to keep the nurses in ... or the pilots out!

After the bleak cold of a Pommy winter I'd like to thank Transwest for having the good sense to hire me and send me on a fabulous holiday to Kunners in '81 :ok: :cool:
Unfortunately only lasted a few months.
I doubt you would find a flying job anywhere these days with free accom. free food, and free piss. :p

tinpis:
And here's me thinking all the time that you were shouting us beers out of your own pocket and because you were a good bloke (just shows how wrong one can be sometimes)!

Hoping you can help
 

Kevin Kent, g'day:
I am researching material related to the Woodie Woodie manganese mine and have a picture of KXK at the minesite ... I think.

Can you help, and let me know if your company did fly to the mine ... and if so, were you ferrying in workers, management, owners, etc?

Cheers,
Brian Rogers