Singapore to Darwin
Excerpt from " A Prentice Logbook"
By Bill Wilkinson
When Pete and I arrived in Singapore we knew that the 50 Hour check of the plane was due. It seemed a good idea to have this done while we explored the city. We spoke with the Chinese engineer at the Singapore Aero Club and I told him of the jittery oil pressure gauge. He gave the impression that he knew what the problem was and said that by raising the pressure slightly the flickering needle should stabilise. This would involve putting in a washer in the oil pump.
Pete and I adjourned to the Aero Club bar. We were enjoying our beers when the flight crews of 205 Search and Rescue Squadron arrived. They joined us at the bar and enquired as to what we were doing. With interest they listened to our progress so far and suggested that we should accompany them to the market for dinner as their guests.
That night the hospitality was overwhelming. Our RAF friends insisted in keeping our glasses filled. One of them, David Castle, had never flown a Prentice before. He was keen to be checked out. I was happy to do so and we arranged to meet the following day when we had sobered up.
The following morning, feeling a little bit delicate we went for a familiarisation trip with David. He was used to flying four engined Shackletons. We spent twenty minutes flying around South of Singapore. I think he enjoyed the uncomplicated flying with only one fan up front. He told us that he had a radio in his bedroom and would be listening to our progress the next day. We hoped that we would not have to call on his services of search and rescue.
At the weather briefing in the morning we were warned that the Intertropic Front would be lying between Singapore and Jakarta. This is where the weather of the Northern Hemisphere meets the weather of the Southern Hemisphere. It is characterised by a mass of Cumulo- nimbus clouds. We hoped that we could find a space to fly through them or under them.
Within 45 minutes of leaving Singapore we encountered this line of unstable weather. There was a great wall of Cu-nim stretching as far as the eye could see. The clouds went from sea level up to over 30,000 feet. There were white sea horses at the base along with a solid wall of rain. Lightning danced down to the sea and was audible on our radio as bursts of static. I turned in a Northerly direction and climbed up to 5,000 feet looking for a break in the cloud wall. There was none to be had. I turned to Pete and said," This goes all the way to Tokyo."
We decided to turn back to Singapore and I called up the Area Control and told them of our intentions. They gave us the chilling news that the ITC (Inter tropic Convergence) had moved onto Singapore already. They promised to give us radar assistance.
I descended to 1,500 feet. We were flying through a solid wall of rain and violent turbulence. Right above Changi Airport a vigorous updraft took over. The radar announced that they could not see us due to the electrical activity. I said, "Don't worry I can see you." I throttled back and put the nose down. The VSI was hard on the stop. We were going tail first vertically up. I said to Pete, "Look at the VSI, Pete. You will never ever see a Prentice with this rate of climb again!"
The turbulence was so violent that I became worried our temporary long-range fuel tank (the 44 gallon drum) would break loose.
Eventually, we came out of the updraft; I called for landing clearance, made a quick turn onto finals and got onto the ground faster than the lightning around us.
We immediately returned to the now familiar Aero Club bar, thanking our lucky stars for a strong aeroplane.
The following day the front had moved on and we had a very pleasant four and a half hour flight to Jakarta. As soon as we could get to a phone I rang the Air Attaché at the British Embassy as per the instructions from the Royal Aero Club. He came out to meet us. Neil Williams proved to be a fund of information as well as kindness. He invited us to stay the night in the embassy villa. Neil and I had a lot in common; we both had Scandinavian wives and were both mad about flying. He was a Sword of Honour graduate from Cranwell and flew around Indonesia in a RAF Devon.
He gave us a lot of tips about navigating through the islands as well as some useful short cuts. Neil and his wife had to go to an Embassy reception that evening and left us to explore the city on our own. President Sukarno was in power at the time and had erected enormous golden statues of himself around the city. We quickly came to the conclusion that he was an egomaniac.
Another feature that did not endear us to Jakarta was the fact that all of the drain covers in the streets had been stolen. We had to be very careful walking the streets at night. Neil had armed us with torches to avoid any accidents. I could not imagine anything more unsavoury than swimming in a sewer in Jakarta.
The next morning Neil briefed us for the rest of the flight through Indonesia. He knew the height of the grass on the landing strips and how friendly or otherwise the officials were at the various airfields. He and Aasa, his wife, showed us their collection of carvings from the places they had visited. The Wayangs and Garudas were truly magnificent.
Neil put on his Number One uniform to accompany us through the departure formalities. We had no problems.
In perfect weather we flew along the Northern coast of Java. We did a lot of sightseeing looking down into peoples' backyards, taking the occasional photo.
Eventually we came to a bay at the Eastern end of the island. Neil had advised us to fly up the valley leading into the bay until we were about to disappear into the cloud. By taking a 90° left turn we were able to see Bali. This shortcut would save us an extra half an hour of flying time than if we followed the coast. Six hours after leaving Jakarta we were touching down at Den Pasar Airfield in Bali.
The people of Bali were very friendly and we were able to get a room in the Bali Beach Hotel. This was before the tourists had discovered this beautiful island.
We had noticed that during the flight the oil pressure gauge needle was still flickering and that this problem had not been rectified in Singapore
The following morning after a careful pre-flight inspection we took off for Kupang in West Timor. Again the weather was perfect and we settled down to a 100 knot cruise at five thousand feet. To pass the time I scanned the airwaves on the ADF. I was able to get the commentary of a cricket match being held in Christchurch, New Zealand. At one stage I picked up Tom Jones singing' Delilah'. It came through loud and clear like a local station. We were flying out to sea south of Sumbawa at the time. After almost six hours in the air we were touching down on the grass field at Kupang.
Aviation fuel was something of a rarity in these remote parts of Indonesia. It had to be flown in by a Dakota from more central parts. Payment was to be in US dollars at the time of fuelling. This was the most expensive fuel of the whole trip.
As the drums were being rolled out of the long grass I said to Pete, "We must have photos of this!"
No sooner had I said this than an army officer on horseback galloped up pulling his sword out of the scabbard and waving it at me, shouting," No photographs!"
I meekly nodded to him saying," OK. No Problem." I thought of the loaded pistol that was wedged in the flight console and then imagined that he probably had a hundred troops hiding behind the hedge.
The idea of starting a brand new war was quickly dismissed from my mind.
We finished refuelling then took off down hill over the township of Kupang before setting course for Darwin, Australia.
Apart from a few isolated thunderstorms it was a straightforward night flight. The thunderstorms were the remnants of the Intertropic Front. We doglegged around these and were exhausted by the time we had reached Darwin. To add insult to injury we had to endure twenty minutes of sitting in the aircraft while the plane was fumigated.
……………………………….To be continued