64 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 22
On July 10 a bloodless coup in Mauritania
almost grounded the flight in Nouadhibou on the
nation’s coast, although the flight was ultimately
granted permission to leave. Then, after stops at
Dakar, Bamako (Mali) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast),
a new problem arose when Grosjean announced
an engine problem 20min after take-off from
Lomé in Togo. The flight turned back towards
Lomé, but Skyraider “38”/TR-KFR continued
to lose altitude and Grosjean made a skilful
belly-landing in the Togolese savanna, from
which he walked away with no injuries, before
being recovered by a Puma helicopter. Gabonese
mechanics recovered salvageable parts of the
airframe and left the rest to the villagers. Grosjean
completed the Lomé—Libreville stage in the
Gabonese C-130 and was subsequently recruited
by the GPG.
With the arrival of the three Magisters during
1975–76 came the idea of the establishment of a
formation aerobatic display team. Later, special
smoke canisters with the colours of the Gabonese
flag (green, yellow and blue) were mounted
on the Magisters for displays on national
holidays, including Renovation Day on March 12
(celebrating the establishment of the Gabonese
Democratic Party in 1968) and Independence Day
(August 17, 1960). The GPG’s aircraft regularly
flew in some interesting formations — Skyraiders,
Magisters, Sepecat Jaguars and Boeing C-135Fs
— with the AdA.
In January 1980 the pilots of the GPG were
tasked with training three future FAG fighter
pilots, the course lasting three months. The
objective was to train the pilots to a level at which
they would be confident flying the Magisters,
including training in aerobatics, combat,
navigation and instrument and night flying.LEFT The pilots of the
GPG and Escadrille
Nationale Tchadienne
(ENT) Skyraiders used
against rebel FROLINAT
forces in Chad in July 1977
pose beside an AD-4N at
Faya-Largeau. From left
to right: Pierre Grosjean
(ENT); René Gras (GPG);
Michel Fayolle (ENT) and
Jacques Borne (GPG).
Grosjean joined the GPG
permanently in 1978.BOTTOM Skyraider
“38”, registered TR-KFR,
suffered engine failure
while on its delivery flight
to Gabon from Châteaudun
in northern France, and had
to be put down by its pilot,
Pierre Grosjean, in Togo.
Grosjean was uninjured
and was recovered by
helicopter but the stripped
airframe was ultimately
abandoned in situ.