GOONEY BIRD Safari

Air Classics, Feb 2005 by Koppen, Jan

JAN KOPPEN DESCRIBES THE CURRENT PISTON-POWERED VINTAGE AIRLINER SCENE IN SOUTH AFRICA AND HOW A DWINDLING NUMBER OF DC-3 OPERATORS ARE STRUGGLING TO KEEP THESE CLASSICS ALIVE

When working for KLM Cargo, one is always surrounded by modern jets. Once in a while, the need for some aviation nostalgia must be fulfilled! Nowadays the choice is limited. Fortunately South Africa is a land still with a good number of operational second-generation jets and a reasonable number of propliners. At Johannesburg's Jan Smuts International Airport, the sky is not overly populated by whispering Airbuses and new generation Boeing 737s. Here, screaming P&W JT8Ds of venerable Douglas DC-9s, Boeing 727s and 737-200s still dominate the sky!

Phoebus Apollo, Rovos Air, Dodson International, Nelair, Naturelink and Springbok Flying Safaris operate DC-3 passenger and cargo services from the Johannesburg area. Phoebus Apollo operates a twice-weekly cargo service on behalf of Air Botswana from Johannesburg to Gabarone, Botswana. Dodson is flying for the International Red Cross providing relief goods. Rovos Air, Nelair, Naturelink and Springbok Safaris fly tourists from their bases at Lanseria, Nelspruit, Pretoria-Wonderboom and Jo'burg-Rand to the Victoria waterfalls near Livingstone, Zambia, and the many wildlife parks within South Africa and I was determined to jumpseat on at least one them!

Jan Smuts Airport is located some ten kilometers east of Johannesburg city and is easily reached by a 30-minute taxi ride from the city center. To avoid the bad crime situation in the city center, I stayed at a low-key airport hotel. After a night's sleep, I scrambled via taxi to the airport to catch Phoebus Apollo's eleven o'clock DC-3 freight service to , Gabarone. In the operations room I met the crew for flight PHB9280. In command of the flight was Capt. Johan Scholtz. After working 15 years as a mechanic on C-13Os, Johan started his flying career. His experience on propeller-driven aircraft is impressive, having flown Cessna Caravans, DC-3s, DC4s and the Carvair all over the African continent for various South African airlines. He has accumulated thousands of hours on the round-engined classics. With such a record, he was well-qualified for the task ahead. The much younger Laurie Mey, who had a wealth of experience as a flight instructor, was his co-pilot.

On the ramp was the pristine Douglas DC-3 ZS-DIW, glistening in the morning sun. The wings, to which two dependable Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92s were attached, were not fitted with deicer boots. "India Whiskey" was completed in 1943 as a C-47D and delivered to No. 28 Squadron of the South African Air Force with the serial 6871. In 1953, she was sold to Aircraft Operating Corp. who sub-contracted the Gooney Bird to Suidwes Lugdiens and the Anglo American Corp. for many years. In December 1978, she went on to serve for Namibair. In an auction at Cape Town in February 1989, Regional Air bought the plane. Finally, she was purchased by Phoebus Apollo in April 1996.

I was introduced to the aircraft by Laurie Mey. The first chore of the day involved the pre-flight inspection of the DC-3: Removing gust locks, checking engine oil and fuel levels, and checking the overall airworthiness of the aircraft. Once these checks were completed, we entered through the small door mid-way between tail and wing. Our DC-3 was already being loaded with 4000-lbs (South Africans use pounds instead of kilos) of general cargo, winched slowly forward up the sloping cabin floor and properly strapped. The fuel tanks were replenished with 400 US gallons (2400-lbs). Fuel bum would be a hefty 50 gallons per hour. A dry operating weight of 18,720-lbs and three souls onboard made a takeoff weight of 25,084-lbs - well under her max takeoff weight of 26,908-lbs.

The door closed at 1330 local time and I made my way forward into the cockpit and took my place on the leather-covered, tube-framed jump seat behind the pilots. The instrument panel had been updated, for the most part, with advanced radios, instruments and a GPS. The overhead switches, flap controls and landing gear actuator handles were 1940s' vintage. The once-brilliant red paint on the emergency panels and the control pedestal had faded into dull splotched blotches. Under the watchful eye of ground staff armed with a fire extinguisher, Johan prepared for engine start-up. This involved turning the master, ignition and booster switches on, setting the mixture controls to idle cut-off and cracking open the throttles. The rocker switch was positioned to the left engine and the starter switch was engaged. After counting nine blades the mixture control was set to auto-rich and the Pratt &. Whitney radial sprang into life after a few coughs, a wheeze, and a puff of exhaust smoke. With the Hamilton Standard propellers now flashing past at 1000 revolutions a minute, Johan carefully monitored the oil pressure. The procedure was then repeated with the left-hand engine. Needless to say, number one engine start-up also resulted in much white smoke and loud engine sound.