SA_F_2015_04_

26 SA Flyer

Jim Davis - Pay Rise

A PILE OF LOGBOOKS

KOMATIPOORT

to STEGI and

The Pay Rise

It’s not nice to say that

someone was a terrible

pilot. And perhaps it

was not even true of Old

Piet, because he died in

his bed. But he flew, or

rather drove, aeroplanes

without feeling, or

finesse, and his checks

and procedures simply

didn’t exist.

T

HIS story, which my

logbook tells me

happened in a brief

30-minute flight, is

an indication of his

competence in the

cockpit. The date was

1 November 1963, and

we were flying Piet’s new Twin Comanche

ZS-DPI.

We had landed at Komatipoort to clear

customs for a short flight to Stegi (now Siteki)

in Swaziland. When we took-off, Old Piet just

rammed the throttles forward and clenched the

stick with both hands. He was much given to

this get-in-and-go attitude. I was yet to learn

that pre-take-off formalities in the cockpit were

to be my department – in the interests of self-

preservation. At that stage, however, I was far

too lowly a pilot to interfere in the operation of

twin-engine aeroplanes.

Due to the fact that we were still trailing

full flap, a legacy from the landing, our

acceleration was somewhat below par. Even

in those days, Komati had miles of dirt runway,

so I kept my peace on the assumption that

we would surely eventually fly. I was partially

correct. By the time we hit 85 mph, the tail was

flying, the main wheels were off the ground,

and the nose wheel was grinding itself into the

dirt.

Piet decided this was the right time to

get the rest of the aircraft flying, so he issued

his usual command, “Come to Papa,” as he

hauled on the pole. The main wheels slammed

into the ground, but apart from that not much

seemed to happen.

By now we had used up a lot of runway,

so I ventured my solution to the problem: “Mr

Piet, we still have full flaps.”

He issued his usual command,

“COME TO PAPA,” as

he hauled on the pole.