John Werner

First Officer Barrie "Beer Keg" Douglas-Smith is shown here strictly following the mandatory rest period rules in a flight simulator at his home in the Cayman Islands after lunch.

Thanks for that info. The Bristol Freighter, unlike the Douglas DC-3, was a purpose-built heavy freight aircraft with rectangular shaped fuselage with an obstruction-free interior with parallel sides and upper and lower decks, with clam shell doors at the forward end to facilitate ease of loading large items of cargo so I can see that it was an ideal aircraft for the air transport of cattle. The first civilian Bristol Freighter in Australia was a Mark 1A "Demonstrator", demonstrated to QANTAS in New Guinea in 1947 and written off when the aircraft rolled backward down the 10% sloping Wau airstrip. A second aircraft, a Mark 21 "Demonstrator" was leased to and later purchased by Australian National Airways (ANA) in 1948, registered VH-INV and in 1949 became the first aircraft to land suffering mechanical problems, at the still under construction Moorabbin airport. This aircraft plus two others operated domestic services mainly between Melbourne and the Tasmanian Islands, and were also involved in the development of the Air Beef Scheme in the Kimberly district of Western Australia. Bristol Freighters played a major role in the development of air freight in Australia generally, and in addition to ANA were operated by Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), International Parcel Express Company (IPEC) and Air Express. I recall flying in the one operated by IPEC with its then chairman, Gordon Barton, in Tasmania where Federal Hotels, which Gordon also owned, had the Wrest Point Casino in Hobart and the Country Club Casino in Launceston as well as the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne and the Broadbeach Hotel on the Gold Coast. Under a twelve month charter contract to IPEC commencing in June 1966 this aircraft VH-ADL operated south bound flights with goods from Melbourne. From March 1967, VH-ADL went on to operate charter contracts for freight forwarders in Queensland, some itinerant operations between Brisbane and New Guinea carrying motor vehicles and sometimes cattle, Queensland flood relief as and when required, and general charter freight operations until May 1975, when the company moved its operations to Melbourne. Services to the Tasmanian Islands were commenced, and continued until VH-ADL conducted the last Bristol Freighter flight in Australia from King Island to Essendon on August 17 1979. After many changes of ownership and activities it finished up at Air World, Wangaratta Victoria. Sorry to be so long winded but I just wanted to set this down because it is relevant to your post and I do love aviation history, particularly if it involves PNG. John W. P.S. A late mate of mine, a distinguished mining engineer and mining consultant from Sydney, was involved in the construction of a gold recovery plant on the Wau-Bulolo goldfield in New Guinea in about 1936. The sections of this gravity plant were flown into Wau airfield in a Stinson SR-7B Reliant aircraft and assembled there by my old mate, CWM.

Sorry, I forgot about the practice called transhumance in alpine areas. We know that cows would rather stand facing uphill than downhill because in that position the weight of the digestive system pushes towards the tail, away from the lungs, and makes breathing easier. I was just concerned about when the cattle were disembarking from the aircraft as depicted in the photos, not when they were boarding with their boarding passes in their mouths.

I can see using cargo Lockheed Constellations or the Convair Metropolitan 440 with tricycle undercarriage for cattle transport as you say because the cattle would have a horizontal surface to walk on inside the fuselage. With a tail-dragger like the DC-3 (and I have many times walked up the aisle of this type of aircraft) it is a rather steep incline for cattle to negotiate surely. I recall one Ansett DC-3 pilot on the Rabaul - Aropa (Kieta, Bougainville Island) leg used to come on board with dark glasses on and a walking stick in hand while rolling ball bearings down the steep incline of the aisle, presumably to provide some sense of comfort to the PAX.

Ansett DC-3 ferrying bulmakaus from Madang to Aiome to provide protein for the diet of the "dwarf tribe" people of Aiome. I was used to locals carrying chickens on board aircraft but this is a bit much especially with pek-pek bilong bulmakau in the aisle.

First pic is of two explorationists with cattle dog and pilot taking off in Bell 47G-3B1 in Star Mountains of PNG (late 1960s). Second is of Airlink Cessna 402 at Rabaul airport PNG awaiting further instructions on September 19, 1994.

Here is some remarkable history on the aviation career of Captain William "Billy" Johns. Trained at Archerfield for PPL in 1950. Flew Tiger Moth, DHC-1 Chipmunk, Auster Autocar, Percival Proctor, Wackett and Miles, Grumman, Beagle 206 Basset and Thorp T-18. Moved to Goroka, PNG in 1955 with TAL flying DH-84 Dragon, Beehcraft Baron and Beech 95 Travelair. In 1956, he moved to Mandated Air lines (MAL) then to its successors Ansett-MAL, Ansett Airlines of PNG then to Air Niugini which launched on November 1 1973. Aircarft flown in his initial airlines roles until 1985 were:- Piaggio P-166, DC3 Dakota, DHC-4 Caribou, then with Air Niugini, Fokker F-27, Fokker F-28, Boeing 707. Johns moved to Tonga with Friendly Islands Airways in 1985 until 1988 when he moved to Queensland with Flight West for seven years. Then he returned to PNG in 1995, working with Milne Bay Airlines for three years flying the DHC Dash-8 Turboprop. Over his 47 year aviation career, Captain Johns amassed a total of 31,055 flying hours and spent a total of 33 years flying in Papua-New Guinea. (Credit to Garry Honour of Armidale NSW for much info on Captain W. Johns who passed away in Brisbane, aged 84 years).

These grainy photos are of the Piper Aztec that Helitrans of Lae used to service their helicopter fleet in the field and pics of TAA aircraft perhaps flown by Captain Charles "Chas" Keith in the late 1960s.

Expanded PNG coverage to include devastation of Rabaul, East New Britain by volcanic eruptions in September-October 1994. Airlink was an airline based in Madang with scheduled and charter operations through hubs at Wewak, Mount Hagen, Kavieng and Rabaul from about 1990. Airlink lost four aircraft in the 1994 Rabaul volcanic eruptions which covered the town and surroundings with ash and pumice up to seven metres in depth. The company ceased operations in August 2007 after suffering the additional losses of two aircraft - firstly an Embraer EMB-110-P1 Bandeirante (Pioneer) in March in West New Britain with the loss of both pilots then in April Airlink lost a Cessna 404 Titan at Goroka airport without loss of life. Prior to this, in 1999, Airlink had lost a Britten Norman Islander also in West New Britain, killing all on board and another Embraer Bandeirante near Goroka. However, Airlink could have been proud of their legacy with regards to the Rabaul eruptions as their personnel responded magnificently to the situation by the transport of supplies and equipment to the Rabaul refugees from Tokua airfield with the assistance of Heli Niugini helicopter support. Airlink pilots involved were Bill Kerr, Brad Marsh, Michael Knight and Chief Pilot Rod Marsland. Attached are photos from the time recording the events. I would love to go back to Rabaul now as I knew it in the 1970s well before it got smashed when I worked on the Panguna copper-gold mine on Bougainville and took R & R in Rabaul, staying at the Travelodge and Hotel Allen in Mango Avenue there. Who said nostalgia isn't what it used to be?

I was a friend and client of "Snow" Richards of Toowoomba, owner of Orchid Beach Resort and UnionAir and IslandAir air charter services in the 1970s and mid-1980s. I used to fly into Orchid Beach airstrip then with Snow or his aviator son, Steve Richards, or Arthur Morris, their senior pilot and had many enjoyable times there. The old resort was demolished in the early 2000s after beach erosion made it unsafe. As a client, I employed Snow's charter aircraft for weekly return crew changes on the Oaky Creek and Clermont coal mine projects in Central Queensland out of Eagle Farm airport, Brisbane. Aircraft types used were Piper Navajo Chieftain, Beech Queenair, Britten Norman Islander and Trislander, refuelling at either Thangool or Emerald. Steve mainly was the pilot but Arthur Morris also piloted many flights. As for Snow Richards, I recall an incident at Archerfield airport in the early 1980s with Snow doing a perfect "wheels up" landing on the grass strip in a Beech Baron with the two-blade props perfectly levelled in line with the wings using the starter motors so as to avoid damaging them upon touchdown. Funny thing was, Snow's son Steve asked his father that night how his day had been and Snow replied "Oh, the usual". Steve replied "You lying old bugger, I was flying the Channel Nine News helicopter over Archerfield and we got the whole incident on video tape". I have attached some photos of the Orchid Beach airstrip.

Thank you so much for this crash report, onetrack. It has cleared up a few miosconceptions that have developed over the years since, like the type of helicopter and the crash location. Captain Chas was a dear friend whom I flew with many times in PNG over the period 1970 - 1971. Apart from the many flights we had around the Musa River and Sisiworo River basins out of Safia, Chas also flew the Bell 47G-3B-2 to the top of the nearby Gorupu Mountains at an altitude of 3,078 m AMSL to drop me off for a few days' reconnaissance. Just before I exited the Bell, Captain Chas remarked that, if the engine stalled at that altitude, they would have to fly in an air compressor to restart it. Fond memories indeed of a remarkable aviator and man.

I used to fly in a Beech Baron from POM to Safia airstrip near the Musa River and Wanigela on the coast, sometimes to Tufi to refuel. The flight path took us through the Pakia Gap in the Owen Stanley Range, not the Kokoda Gap as in this post. This was in the period 1970 - 1972 in support of crew changes for Geophoto Resources Consultants exploration fly-camps with a base camp at Safia airstrip. The stream sediment sampling was carried out with the helicopter support by Helitrans of Lae with a Bell 47G-3B-2 chopper flown by Captain "Chas" Keith, a former Senior Captain with TAA in PNG mainly on Fokker Friendship F27 aircraft on the Moresby-Goroka-Mount Hagen route. Prior to that, Captain Chas was a crop duster pilot in a Pawnee in the Riverina of NSW. Unfortunately, Chas vanished on Mount Bellenden Ker in FNQ in about 1973 whilst undertaking a high-altitude test of a Bell Jet Ranger of Helitrans out of their new Cairns base as part of a Telecom transmission tower installation on the mountain. No trace was ever found of the crash site owing to the dense rainforest on the range. I have attached a photo of the Helitrans Bell 47G-3B-2 (call sign VH-PDX) that Chas Keith flew and I was a passenger in many times in PNG pictured on the ground at a helipad at Mount Hagen airport in 1971.