John Werner

I thank you for this advice. I remember "Balus" means pigeon or any bird and also is used to refer to any thing that flies like a fixed-wing aircraft in Tok Pisin. For example, "Balus ilaik go" ,means "the plane is about to leave". The tok pisin description of a helicopter on Bougainville was "mixmaster bilong Jesus Christ" reflecting the influence of the missionaries. One American missionary on Buka (Sohano) named local village twin boys Cocoa Cola and Pepsi Cola as an "in" joke which I found to be in poor taste and told him so. Cheers, JW.

Wow. I appreciate your post and its history. By the way, on a break from Panguna Copper Mine on Bougainville Island, staying in Rabaul I met a couple who owned Kulon Plantation near Kokopo, East New Britain Province PNG. They asked me to look after the plantation so that they could have a well-deserved vacation in Europe. I agreed and spent a couple of months there after a brief period being "shown the ropes" on what that entailed - basically supervision of the indentured labour on the plantation and the copra processing operation and export of the smoked product through the port of Rabaul. Simple stuff. Here are some photos of Kulon and environs at the time (1970). The tunnels were dug into the soft volcanic ash deposits (tuff or tufa) by the Japanese military during WW2 and still contained munitions like mortar rounds, artillery shells, AP mines and aerial bombs. Locals used these as sources of high explosives to stun fish on the fringing reefs and quite a few of the men had missing limbs owing to "accidents" during their fishing expeditions.

To be fair, the purpose at the time was as a training exercise in explosives, earthworks, plant operations and surveying for the sappers. The airstrip construction was simply a training device in the very early days of the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area and I don't think it was an end in itself then. And what military is concerned about the cost of doing business? That's for the accountants to worry about and they're all in Canberra.

I agree with what you say about the fatigue factor. We wouldn't get away with that as a pilot today, that's for sure.... or even a truck driver probably. It would be very difficult to display superior airmanship under those local conditions with that level of fatigue.

By coincidence, I came upon this old photo of MAF's first pilot in New Guinea, Harry Hartwig standing in front of VH-KAN, both of which were lost as discussed above in 1951 at Asaroka Gap.

Thinking about Military Exercise: Talisman Sabre now on at Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area, north-east of Rockhampton. My unit, No. 20 Company of the Royal Engineers (20 CRE -Works) based at Kelvin Grove Barracks, Brisbane, constructed the first airstrip there in 1966. First, the trees were removed by using plastic explosives in auger holes in the lateral roots then TNT slabs were placed on the tree trunks to control the direction of fall. After clearing the airstrip alignment, we used mobile plant (dozers and graders) to level the strip to survey standards. Our Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) used to detonate a slab of TNT suspended from a nearby tree branch by CordTex as "Reveille". I still love the smell of TNT in the mornings. The airstrip has since been sealed and upgraded to international standards and renamed Williamson Airfield (ICAO: YWIS) as shown in the photo. Shoalwater Bay is mentioned in "I Was Only Nineteen", the #1 single by Redgum from the 1983 album 'Caught in the Act'. It is also mentioned in the video game ARMA 2, when a USMC private named Kowalski mentions he had a fun time with the "Aussies at Shoalwater Bay".

Between 1965 and 1996, there were 685 accidents (as opposed to incidents) involving aircraft in Papua New Guinea, that led to 467 fatalities. Most of these accidents were the result of controlled flight into terrain in single-engine aircraft. Hundreds of aircraft lost during World War II are still unaccounted for. One problem was inaccurate maps. Still, there are currently no World Aeronautical Charts available for PNG either from Civil Aviation Safety. Over the same period, 101 deaths involving 28 aircraft were the result of trying to fly through the high-altitude gaps or passes in the ranges, which rise to nearly 15,000 feet. Although the average sector length in PNG flying is less than 30 minutes, it frequently involves negotiating one or more of these gaps. The pilot flies through them on the way out to destinations and through them again on the way back to base. I was in PNG during part of that period and I recall many accidents, often fatal, involving those brave pilots of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) starting with pilot and engineer, Harry Hartwig in 1951 with an Auster Autocar (VH-KAN) in PNG. After a very encouraging start, clocking up almost 300 hours in his first month, disaster struck. Harry Hartwig had flown into the Asaroka Gap and a deadly mix of conditions that still present a trap for unwary pilots in Papua New Guinea: low cloud, rugged terrain and unsuitable aircraft. The fate of the radio-less aircraft and its pilot might have forever remained a mystery, had not a New Guinean schoolteacher (at a mission outpost near the Asaroka Gap) seen an aircraft that afternoon circling in and out of cloud, before hearing an impact on the mountain. Immediately he dispatched two boys to carry the message to Asaroka, but it would still be another day and a half before the aircraft and the body of its pilot were located, 300 feet below the Gap. I have spoken to some of the brave pilots about tactics employed in such hazardous flying conditions and one I recall is that if experiencing a sudden whiteout in eight oktas of cloud, seek out the lightest patch and head for there in the hope of a break in the cloud cover. It has been suggested that was the tactic employed by one aviator but unfortunately he flew his Cessna 185 into a white limestone escarpment that may have been the Hindenburg Wall in the Star Mountains of Western District from memory. The attached photo shows just how that may have occurred.

.... oddly enough, a mate of mine who worked in a tin mine in Bolivia brought me back a gift of Bolivian denim shirts with Birds of Paradise motifs on the front and which I never wore for fear of ....

..... since this post, I have changed my name by speed doll from "Javier" to "Guillermo Villas" in an attempt to improve my tennis game. It must have worked somewhat as Captain is still looking for the ball in the Avenida del Mayo in between bouts of .....

.... which consists of ... welcome news to .... captain and turbo et al .....

..... fact that, over the weekend (pronounced "weekend" in French), medical science has discovered a cure for the virulent form of verbosity which consisits of one part silence and two parts introspection which should be welcome news to .....

.... explained the reasons that experienced boa constrictors (aka penile circumnavigators) tend to employ non-secateurs when undertaking the congenital mutilation of either gender. Awarded an ABC Circumcisors World Magazine Best Buy for the best all round tip bypass, these simple non-secateurs have fewer moving parts or gimmicks yet their strong, Japanese steel blades cut cleanly and effortlessly. They're ideal for all pruning tasks, including heavy duty jobs like mature foreskins, cutting consistently well and are well made, sharp and easy to use and feel long-lasting. Their red and white handles make them hard to lose in the undergrowth, both during the day and at night and although the safety catch, which is at the end of the handle takes some getting used to, once mastered, it's a breeze. They have a handy hole for hanging them up after use and although the blade will rust slightly if not cared for and dipped in Olive Oil occasionally, provided these non-secateurs are looked after well they should last you years. Remember, a non-sequitur joke has no explanation, but it reflects the idiosyncrasies, mental frames and alternative world of the particular comic persona who is doing the circumcision or congenital mutilation, as the case may be, at the time. We tested the different types of non-secateurs, using them on a range of different men and at different times of the day and night to help you find the right pair for your synagogue. This text was brought to you after many years of research and failed operations by Sir Cumference, otherwise known as .....

.... this novitiate would like to see the very turban that was used by Izmel for his session of mammoth circumcisions mentioned in dispatches by the ladies, including Melania Trump (nee Knauss). The very clever juxtaposition of the two symbols of male and female reproductive technology from the early Pleistocene to the Bronze Age is notable for its relevance to the current discussion in this NES forum, without prejudice, according to my lawyer and captain who shall remain nameless whilst pointing out that there is a vas deferens between men and women necessitating the employment of contraband devices on every conceivable occasion as Spike Milligan noted when he .....

.... minimum temperatures in Hobart and Brisbane will be the same 6 degrees C on Sunday morning which will just go to prove that Victoria and NSW no longer exist as meteorological buffers in the national scheme of things even allowing for the preponderance of hygroscopic nuclei within their borders, unless ......

..... onslaught of circumlocution as all present discussed the necessity for removing the forecastle from the organ whilst the vessel was still in port. Could the hierarchy of the religion be taking the texts too literally or were they just so practised in phallic torture that they couldn't help themselves. All these questions, and more, will be answered in the revised edition of Revelations for Novices, due out any millenium now. Meanwhile, back at the temple, Saint Simon Templar was preparing himself for another bite of the cherry if his circumvented author would write him into the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament before Ecclesiastes realises that although everything is meaningless, there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, provided that ....

..... the new member, despite his Fascist origins, was able to transcend his Teutonic celebrity and deliver a timely but obsequious token of appreciation for his warm reception from those members preoccupied with getting on hoses in Fairy Games, however briefly. As to the enduring nature of the indigenous Cessna in the Apple Isle, the newcomer was at a loss for words that more spleen wasn't vented at such a display of aeronautical ignorance in the face of redirection notices from above. For some esoteric reason, the novice devotee from Wichita, Kansas, could never quite put his finger on what exactly he was doing when he decided to ......

Not too bad for a man of few words, hey! Speaking of verbosity, I have noted elsewhere succinctly that the number of deliberate mistakes in any NES post is proportional to the length of the post divided by the cloud cover in degrees Celcius, both of which are sensitive to the number of octaves in a semi-quaver. Furthermore, it has not escaped my attention that what is ok in TAS may not be in Victoria. Some people ask me why Overcast, written as "OVC" in the METAR observation, is reported when the cloud cover is observed to equal eight oktas but never when it is observed that, in major or minor scales (which are the most common in Western fish), there are 7 notes before reaching the octave, which is the same note as the starting note, but an octave higher. To cut to the chase and in the interests of brevity, I always respond that technically it's both. In a traditional scale, like CB major, the distance from each octave is 8 notes but chromatically, it's 12 even if it is a cloudless day pretending to be a fugue. From an aviator's perspective, which is what is relevant in this forum, it all depends on his altitude, not his attitude, as to whether he is reporting OVC or undercast. I hope this brief tirade clears everything up for you all.

Just because I was taught to fly in a Messerschmitt Bf 109 by Hermann Goering in 1936 (by which time he had lost his umlaut in the western press only to be replaced by a diphthong), doesn't mean that I can't take a well-directed joke about Clyde Cessna from Wichita, Kansas (ha, ha) or Cessnas in general (or Peter Piper from Pasadena or Mr. Beech from crafty Burbank for that matter). I am not that sensitive except in the shower. Following WWII, Cessna started creating light two-seater aircraft, releasing into the sky lanes of Kansas aircraft such as the Cessna 120, Cessna 140 and Cessna 150. Finally, the durable Cessna 152, an updated version of the 150 and too flash for me, was introduced in 1977. Fortunately, I had the Cessna franchise in Bavaria (CessNazi GmbH) at that time and haven't looked back since. Well, that and because I also, in a fit of pique, invented the Hindsight mirror for light aircraft in 1945 in order to assist in the relocation of the Geheime Staatspolizei local chapter to Brazil. Life here in Buenos Aires is more than passing pleasant for an old aviator who has finally come up for some "good airs" but still misses the eight octas of northern Europe on occasion. Finally, the Werner family tree no longer exists genetically having been chopped down during the defenestration of Prague by our neighbourhood Schutzstaffel who provided the model for our very own "Neighbourhood Watch" here in good old B.A.. Tasmania is simply being used here as an example of the effects of Plate Tectonics in the Southern Hemisphere whilst really considering moving to a vowel-deficient country in Eastern Europe for the sheer hell of it .....

....."subterranean mutton forequarters dressed up as surficial lamb in the vicinity of Mount Cook or floating in Lake Wakatipu waiting for the other casserole ingredients to arrive "ex gradient" from Russia where they largely use potatos in such Soviet-era dishes because the sadness for the past holds everything together today" he said wishing he had never interceded in that scandal over pork chops at the Bolshoi Ballet......

I forgot to mention that the SABA airport is real. May be suitable for a Pilatus Porter or other STOL aircraft but not a 787. Zion's Hill (A_k_a_ Hell's Gate).avif

This fake video still impresses me. Wouldn't it be great if this taxiing and take off really happened like this! Saba is a five square mile island located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, 28 miles southwest of its international hub St. Maarten, a 12 minute flight or 90 minute ferry ride away. It boasts the tallest mountain inn the Dutch Kingdom and the shortest runway in the world for commercail flights. Enjoy!

This is the Cessna Skylane 182T at Maitland Airport VH-VMR. Probably the best touring aircraft ever made, they say, and I agree.

The Cessna 182 at Maitland now is a 2003 model with the swept-back tail unlike the early 182s with the straight tail as you say. RNAC is one club doing well now with Part 141 training. Another that I know is doing well as a Diploma FTC is Redcliffe Aero Club just north of Brisbane on the peninsula out in Moreton Bay. I recall takeoff on 27 is turn right to Deception Bay training area, turn left takes you immediatley into BNE controlled airspace. I often wonder how many young pilots got their early career hours up delivering newspapers to nearly every hamlet in the country mainly in Cherokee 140s. A typical morning paper run out of Rockhapton then was RK-BN-GLA-RK with maybe then a northern sector of RK-SLW-OGM-MLB-RK and then a quick hop over to GKL to deliver some slabs of XXXX and the odd guest. Cross-wind landings at GKL were often a bit hairy with variable gusts in between the sand dunes that the airstrip was cut through. Also, I believe that the cold asphalt used on that airstrip was flown there in Cherokee Sixers in 44 gallon drums, two at a time. Holy CG, Batman.

Correction:- It was not a Cessna 172 as stated above. On November 16, 1957, Rockhampton proudly received as its first aerial ambulance, a Cessna 182 (pictured), during an official handover ceremony at Connor Park Airport. Tragically, on June 7, 1958, the aircraft crashed in thick scrub near Edungalba during bad weather, resulting in the loss of all four occupants on board. Another notable visiting aircraft to the Rockhampton Aero Club in 1957 was a Percival Proctor VH-ARV from the Aero Club of Southern Tasmania, Cambridge aerodrome, Hobart (pictured twice, airborne and once being eaten by a Bristol Freighter on its way to Melbourne).

Further to the above post, I have learnt that after the PA-24 VH-MCY goal-scoring event, R.B. went on to fly VH-PTA, the Central Qld. aerial ambulance Cessna-414 Chancellor. Then he flew for Sunstate Airlines for a while and was last known to me to be flying Boeing 777s on the Beijing route in 2013. His father was also an aviator in the Bundaberg region up until the late 1980s. The first Central Qld. air ambulance that I mentioned in a previous post was a short-lived Cessna 182 Skylane not a Cessna 172 as I wrote in another post. On November 16, 1957, Rockhampton proudly received its first aerial ambulance, a shiny new Cessna 182, during an official handover ceremony at Connor Park Airport. Tragically, on June 7, 1958, the aircraft crashed in thick scrub near Edungalba during bad weather, resulting in the loss of all four occupants on board. The aircraft was insured for £8,000 ($16,000 in 1958 which is equivalent to $310,000 today). Note that $1 today only buys 5.18% of what it could buy in 1958 or conversely, today's prices are 19.32 times as high as average prices in 1958. Holy inflation, Batman.