Taking off from the old dirt strip at Lokichoggio, Kenya, enroute to the Sudan for an airdrop. We fed literally hundreds of thousands in refugee camps all over southern Sudan during the war in the south. Now, there's Darfur. The misery and slaughter in Sudan continues.

I'm not very good at this.

Had to do two posts because I'm not very good at this.




Above is a formation shot with a turbine powered DC-3, somewhere over the Sudan. We often flew formation with Buffalos and "3's" when we came upon them, out of pure boredom. We're slowed down to about 130 knots with the rear ramp and door open. You'll notice the DC-3 pilots have removed the top escape hatch to provide a bit more ventilation. On more than one occasion, the DC-3 pilots were known to have almost rested the nose of the airplane on our ramp.

Our loadmasters also used to engage in "ramp surfing", wearing safety harness attached to the inside by a couple of cargo straps and were towed behind the airplane. They loved it.

Most of those guys have gone west. Those were some great times.


Engine change facility, bush African style...Our fantastic Brits could fix almost anything under the most dire circumstances. I have never worked with a better, more skilled group of guys. They earned every dime they made and we loved them all.



A former Southern Air Herc comes to its demise in Africa, alongside many others. This one ran off the end of the runway somewhere in Tanzania, I think, but more Hercs were downed due to hostile fire in Angola than in Viet Nam, or anywhere else, most likely.



Another angle of the same incident.



Although sent to me labeled as a sunrise takeoff at Loki, it's a sunset launch. The mountain is southwest of the runway. Since I was there, they've paved the strip and put in a control tower. Took all the fun out of the place. The effing UN probably has a pool with a lifeguard by now. The place is similiar to Arizona with cobras and mambas. Turkana country. Really beautiful sunrises.

I have several more shots of African flying, but I don't have a scanner and can't post them. Enjoy.

Please find/buy a scanner. They are pretty cheap and eay to operate. I am sure they are simpler to operate than any of the aircraft you have flown.

Keith

Operational complexity is definitely not the problem. Living on SS makes a scanner low priority right now. Christmas was expensive, but I'll try to pick one up in the next couple of months. Besides, I'd rather buy reloading components before the upcoming price increase.

I was lucky enough to run into the fellow that took a good series of pictures of us operating out of an LZ in the HOA last year...

Great shot! Slinging dirt clods and howling down the runway. Nothing much like it.