The "Vomit Comet"

[Sandy Wood]

Who remembers the plane rides to school and home from Cape Town in the old converted Dakotas - not called the "vomit comet" for nothing. On one occassion, coming in to land at Alexander Bay, the pilot was forced to fly out to sea because of heavy mist. The intention was to fly in below the mist, which ended up being too low - one minute the plane was horizontal and the next vertical - screams and caos followed. We were diverted, can't recall where to, until the mist lifted. The famous night time landing (late 1970's) is my most memorable moment. I don't know about now, but then there was no such thing as night flights because the runway didn't have lights. Our flight had been delayed and a very brave pilot offered to fly us home in the dark, so that we wouldn't have to forfeit our long weekend at home. Our anxious parents had to park their vehicles along the length of the runway so that the headlights from their cars could light up the runway. Quite some landing!!   

[Delia]

Sandy, can't remember if it was the Dakota or the Hercules - but one of them had the most vile smelling bright orange leather seats.  I'll remember that smell as long as I live. What made it worse was that they were all enclosed, hardly any windows - made one feel like a canned sardine! 

[Debby Opperman (Biccard)]

Oh Yes...Those school flights. Crumbs we would all have run up thousands of Flying Miles with all the flying we did. Does anyone remember the old Captain? What was his name? He always looked so dodgy sitting in the cockpit, like he had a couple behind the belt.  :o
And no air hostess or any supervision. Remember the "in flight meals". Cold sandwiches, cokes and oranges. A couple of us would just grab a box each and start throwing them out to the kids. Jeez, how we survived those flights I do not know.

[Sandy Wood]

Debbie, Don't think you'd get a single one of us on that plane today. I think the only way the Captain could fly the thing was with a few behind the belt. Oh, the "in flight meals" - interesting to say the least. That we all live to tell the tale is surely a miracle. :)

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Debbie I can see that Captain quite clearly, something like Lofty rings a bell. You should have hands on info RICHARD should KNOW else his slipping I'm afraid. ;D

[Debby Opperman (Biccard)]

Yes, I think it could be Lofty...seems to make sense does'nt it. My "fountain of knowledge" is not in right now.

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Well his not" fountain of knowledgeing "here.  ;)

[Nicky Hodge]

Hey Delia, that description you gave can only be the Hercules. The memories are too vivid for it to be anything else.LOL.

[Michael Alexander]

I always enjoyed the school flights back home, you felt a bit above the rest of your classmates at boarding school, because you got to leave on holidays earlier, and you were getting to fly on a plane nogal. I never feared those old planes, convair , Macdonnel Douglas..... The only thing now is, that eversince the National Geographic channel shows those AirCraft investigations, I am petrified to fly, although for some strange reason, I reckon I would fly safer in a schoolflight plane.....  :-\

[Barbara Eia (Brownless)]

The journey to and from boarding school was great I remember when we used to wait for the letters telling us what flight we would be on. Coming home from school we all wanted to be on the first flight, and going back we wanted the last flight. We would all phone each other to find out which one we were on. If we were on the last flight we used to sit at the exit at the x-ray department and say good bye to the friends who had to go early. It was always a bummer when we left first knowing that some had an extra day at home.

Barbara

[Richard Opperman]

"Fountain of Knowledge" is back, yes it was Lofty, some people have to work for a living!  ;D

Does any one remember the charter flight in the late 70s?

A Skymaster (Dakota with 4 props) had to go to Johannesburg for a service, someone organised the charter which cost next to nothing, only condition you had to bring your own refreshments.

True to Oranjemunders every second person had a case of Windhoek beer and it was party time all the way to Johannesburg.

Some where over Upington, Lofty came into the cabin and asked us if anybody knew how to fix a radio as they had lost radio coms with Johurg, followed Orange river for a while, until coms were made again.

Cannot remember how long the flight was, but it was dark and we must have looked quite comical , this small plane creeping down the runway in the dark between all the big Boeings and we all rolled off the plane.

Memories.
Richard  8)

[barb (Fry)]

My first plane journey was after first term std 6 on the infamous dakota, was anyone else on that flight.  The plane had 4 engines and one stopped working after take off, no worries I had read the safety sheet laminated in the pocket of the seat in front and was assured that we could fly with 3 engines.  While gazing out the window I watched a pipe extract itself from the wing and spew oil into the sky, and felt the plane make a sharp turn as we turned back to CT - there were people praying in the aisles, what a pantomine.
We ended up sitting at the airport all day were met by the second flight and eventually in the dark were led into a couple of railway busses and transported thro the night to arrive home at sunlight.  I love flying despite this introduction to aviation.

The only food I remember getting all day was when we stopped in some lucky town garage and the owners who had been warned had organised 60 paperbags of doorsropper sandwiches for the hungry kids from the mines.  Bitterfontein or somewhere like that.