The Viking Story
The decision of the Corporation to purchase Vikings (a
development of the Wellington Bomber) after the war when the
communications Squadron S.R.A.F. (Southern Rhodesian Air Force)
began a new life as Central African Airways, has always been
considered a wise one. It certainly played a very full part in the
development of aviation in Southern Africa.
C.A.A.'s first Viking, VP YEW arrived at Belvedere Airport on the 15th September 1946. Its arrival caused something of a furore, and the Commercial and Engineering personnel were hard put to contend with the thousands of small boys, their parents, uncles and aunts who wished to claim first
hand technical knowledge and information.
In the years following, Vikings carried the flag of C. A. A. north to Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, westward to Elilabethvil1e and southward to Johannesburg and Durban. High frequency services were built up within what is now the Federation between Salisbury/Bulawayo, Salisbury/Lusaka/Ndola and Salisbury/Blantyre.
With the development of these services, the numbers of the Vikings increased until by February 1952, C.A.A .owned nine Vikings and here it should be recalled that in 1953 we were able to advertise that we flew at 7 O'clock every morning out of Salisbury for Johannesburg!
Much publicity was given in 1953 to the advent of the Zambesi service to London, necessitating the purchase of a 10th Viking in 1954, but this was not an entirely new venture by C.A.A. as we had flown on the London route quite regularly between 1946 and 1949 the fare then being £157. single. The reasons for these flights were technical, as the aircraft, during this period, had to be flown into Vickers for power plant changes. Due to the energy and drive of the C.A.A. Engineering Division it became possible to undertake, by 1949, overhauls of the power plants at Salisbury. When this standard of efficiency had been reached, the Viking flights to London automatically ceased.
Eventually, however, the Viking became uneconomical because it was not able to cope with loads offering with the development of the Federation and it became necessary for C.A.A. to look around for a successor. There is no doubt that everyone in C.A.A. was very glad to continue the family tradition by buying Viscounts, so today, after 12 years service we bid farewell to the last of the Viking fleet, VP YKK and VP YNF. We hope that their new owners will reap the benefit of many hours of fruitful flying.
End
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT VICOUNTS (ORAFs believes this should read Vikings)
CAPTAIN ORBELL, speaking from a pilot's point of view - We had a lot of time and respect for the performance of the Vikings. It was extremely reliable and its single engine performance was exceptionally good, but it was a tricky aircraft to fly, and every landing was an 'adventure' .
Stories about the Vikings? Well, there was the time we were flying at about 10,000 feet, and the Hostess, came up to me and said "There's someone trying to get in! They're knocking at the door." It seems a strap of some sort had been caught between the door and the fuselage, and it was the end of the strap which was flapping against the outer side of the door.
There was also the time when we were flying between Lusaka and Ndola and the F/E (Flight Engineer) decided to pull the Hostess's leg. As you probably know, you can get down into Hold 4 through a hatch in the cock-pit floor, and the outer doors of the Hold can be released from the inside, so the F/E climbed down into the hold, the Captain rang for the Hostess and asked her where the F/E was. Hostess, somewhat surprised, said she hadn't seen him. Captain: " Well, go and see if he is at the rear of the aircraft. Hostess, after searching unsuccessfully, and in some alarm, " Sorry, Sir, he isn't on board; we must have left him behind at Lusaka." Meanwhile, as soon as the aircraft comes to a standstill at Ndola, the F/E lets himself out of Hold 4, runs round and is standing panting by the aircraft steps as the door was opened and the hostess looked out.
We asked the Engineers how they felt about seeing the Vikings go, but they apparently, don't feel at all sentimental about the Vikings' departure!
End
From Senior Station Officer, B.O.A.C., Salisbury: BA 115/708 - 29.11.58.
"I am very pleased to be able to inform you of the following extract from the Captain's voyage report for the above service:- This Service was 17½ hours behind Schedule, certain passengers were endeavouring to catch connections. The aircraft transitted Salisbury in 29 minutes. There was no intimation of 'panic rush', but quiet efficiency on the part of all concerned. Sincere congratulations are merited by all who made it possible, the engineering staff, our station representative and the C.A.A.C. traffic staff."
May I add my congratulations
End
From Senior Station Officer, B.O.A. C., Salisbury: BA 115/708 - 29.11.58.
"I am very pleased to be able to inform you of the following extract from the Captain's voyage report for the above service:-
This Service was 17½ hours behind Schedule, certain passengers were endeavouring to catch connections. The aircraft transitted Salisbury in 29 minutes. There was no intimation of 'panic
rush', but quiet efficiency on the part of all concerned. Sincere congratulations are merited by all who made it possible, the engineering staff, our station representative and the C.A.A.C. traffic staff .
May I add my congratulations
End
Extracted and recompiled by Eddy Norris, from the C.A.A. magazine "The SCAANER" dated January 1959, which was made available by Dave Thank you Dave.
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Ref, Rhodesian Aviation
C.A.A.'s first Viking, VP YEW arrived at Belvedere Airport on the 15th September 1946. Its arrival caused something of a furore, and the Commercial and Engineering personnel were hard put to contend with the thousands of small boys, their parents, uncles and aunts who wished to claim first
hand technical knowledge and information.
In the years following, Vikings carried the flag of C. A. A. north to Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, westward to Elilabethvil1e and southward to Johannesburg and Durban. High frequency services were built up within what is now the Federation between Salisbury/Bulawayo, Salisbury/Lusaka/Ndola and Salisbury/Blantyre.
With the development of these services, the numbers of the Vikings increased until by February 1952, C.A.A .owned nine Vikings and here it should be recalled that in 1953 we were able to advertise that we flew at 7 O'clock every morning out of Salisbury for Johannesburg!
Much publicity was given in 1953 to the advent of the Zambesi service to London, necessitating the purchase of a 10th Viking in 1954, but this was not an entirely new venture by C.A.A. as we had flown on the London route quite regularly between 1946 and 1949 the fare then being £157. single. The reasons for these flights were technical, as the aircraft, during this period, had to be flown into Vickers for power plant changes. Due to the energy and drive of the C.A.A. Engineering Division it became possible to undertake, by 1949, overhauls of the power plants at Salisbury. When this standard of efficiency had been reached, the Viking flights to London automatically ceased.
Eventually, however, the Viking became uneconomical because it was not able to cope with loads offering with the development of the Federation and it became necessary for C.A.A. to look around for a successor. There is no doubt that everyone in C.A.A. was very glad to continue the family tradition by buying Viscounts, so today, after 12 years service we bid farewell to the last of the Viking fleet, VP YKK and VP YNF. We hope that their new owners will reap the benefit of many hours of fruitful flying.
End
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT VICOUNTS (ORAFs believes this should read Vikings)
CAPTAIN ORBELL, speaking from a pilot's point of view - We had a lot of time and respect for the performance of the Vikings. It was extremely reliable and its single engine performance was exceptionally good, but it was a tricky aircraft to fly, and every landing was an 'adventure' .
Stories about the Vikings? Well, there was the time we were flying at about 10,000 feet, and the Hostess, came up to me and said "There's someone trying to get in! They're knocking at the door." It seems a strap of some sort had been caught between the door and the fuselage, and it was the end of the strap which was flapping against the outer side of the door.
There was also the time when we were flying between Lusaka and Ndola and the F/E (Flight Engineer) decided to pull the Hostess's leg. As you probably know, you can get down into Hold 4 through a hatch in the cock-pit floor, and the outer doors of the Hold can be released from the inside, so the F/E climbed down into the hold, the Captain rang for the Hostess and asked her where the F/E was. Hostess, somewhat surprised, said she hadn't seen him. Captain: " Well, go and see if he is at the rear of the aircraft. Hostess, after searching unsuccessfully, and in some alarm, " Sorry, Sir, he isn't on board; we must have left him behind at Lusaka." Meanwhile, as soon as the aircraft comes to a standstill at Ndola, the F/E lets himself out of Hold 4, runs round and is standing panting by the aircraft steps as the door was opened and the hostess looked out.
We asked the Engineers how they felt about seeing the Vikings go, but they apparently, don't feel at all sentimental about the Vikings' departure!
End
From Senior Station Officer, B.O.A.C., Salisbury: BA 115/708 - 29.11.58.
"I am very pleased to be able to inform you of the following extract from the Captain's voyage report for the above service:- This Service was 17½ hours behind Schedule, certain passengers were endeavouring to catch connections. The aircraft transitted Salisbury in 29 minutes. There was no intimation of 'panic rush', but quiet efficiency on the part of all concerned. Sincere congratulations are merited by all who made it possible, the engineering staff, our station representative and the C.A.A.C. traffic staff."
May I add my congratulations
End
From Senior Station Officer, B.O.A. C., Salisbury: BA 115/708 - 29.11.58.
"I am very pleased to be able to inform you of the following extract from the Captain's voyage report for the above service:-
This Service was 17½ hours behind Schedule, certain passengers were endeavouring to catch connections. The aircraft transitted Salisbury in 29 minutes. There was no intimation of 'panic
rush', but quiet efficiency on the part of all concerned. Sincere congratulations are merited by all who made it possible, the engineering staff, our station representative and the C.A.A.C. traffic staff .
May I add my congratulations
End
Extracted and recompiled by Eddy Norris, from the C.A.A. magazine "The SCAANER" dated January 1959, which was made available by Dave Thank you Dave.
Comments are welcome, please enter them below or mail them to ORAFs and they will be uploaded to this article
To view the Blog Home Page - Please Click Here.
(Please visit our previous posts and archives)
Ref, Rhodesian Aviation
posted by Rhodesia Remembered @ 13:57
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Frans Meyer (RhAF) Writes:-
On arrival at Salisbury Airport the de-icing fluid would be drainedfrom the Vikings.
The technicians will know the reason.
Being alcohol based the Africans working in the workshops would have a "free" drink.
Unbeknown to the African staff the type of de-icing fluid usedin the last aircraft to be delivered was changed and they became very ill. One or two of the workers died.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Miles Orbell (RhAF) Writes:-
Thanks for this Eddie, it’s nice to see my Dad in print there, I don’t know if he was Chief Pilot then, probably not, and I remember these old aircraft flying to London, and I think the Viscounts, but they had to have lots of stops, even overnight.
As a kid, I was in the UK when my Dad was at the factory watching the BAC 11s being made, and I even scratched my name on the bare instrument panel! He did the conversion in the UK, but we never got those jets, he was Chief Pilot then. Somewhere there is an old BAC 11 with my name on the panel, if the covering is removed!
I also know, they had a bit of fun with the Hostesses, one captain came tapping up the aisle with a white blindness walking stick, got into the cockpit, and shocked the passengers! It was a tail dragger, probably a DC3!
Miles Orbell (RhAF) sent in further information:-
I don’t know the folks on these CAA photos, but my father ended up as chief pilot there, after flying all sorts of stuff in the Second World War, he even learnt Arabic in Aden I think, he flew Blenheim’s for a while. Flew mostly Viscounts for CAA, and the very old twin engine Airline small aircraft, and had his OBE and MBE, also a fellow of the Royal Aeronautic Society in London. He was flying the Queen Mother around Rhodesia when I was born, over Lake Kariba, just when it was finished in 1957, she gave me a silver spoon and egg cup and a bottle French Champagne, I opened it on my 21st birthday, but it was not drinkable then! He is no longer with us, ended up in Australia many years ago, he had an interesting history, flew C130s for Zambian Air Gargo, and a few Anglo American aircraft there, Kingairs etc. but was in senior management level there, also was Project Manager for Lanseria when it was being built, I put up lots of the ceiling boards in the original terminal building when I was still at school! Lanseria is very different now, and has a much longer runway, suitable for 737s etc, definitely could not take those in the early days.
A few names I remember from CAA days, my dad, Rob Orbell, called Ting Orbell in those days, Arthur Downes, Eddie Morrist, and Sport Van Heerden, can’t help with the rest or the photos from Jerry. Sport was the boss of Anglo American Aircraft Section in Joburg, when I joined there after leaving the RhAF.
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