PNG - Mi Kamap Niupela

When I arrived in PNG, for the first time, the country had been independent for about 8.5 years and my first job was to create and run a flying school at Port Moresby.  I didn't know it at the time, but this was a problem because there was a fair amount of ill-will because the South Pacific Aero Club had closed around the end of the previous year.  I soon detected a general feeling that, if flying training was to be offered in Port Moresby, SPAC should be doing it.

I tended to agree, but the for the fact that the SPAC had finished in something akin to bankruptcy, though I was smart enough to never venture that opinion.  After all, the thing that I had to create, above all else, was goodwill.  Thus, I suffered the slings and arrows of disquiet while going about my business.

The thing was that the SPAC had re-invented itself, before I arrived, as a pub where expats and the aviation fraternity - largely expatriate - gathered at day's end.  My bosses, Doug Valentine and the late Yorkie Mendoza, had discouraged me from going there but, as it was the only place on the airport to whet the whistle at the end of a long day, I finally disregarded their counsel and went there.

Well, for about the first couple of months, I was "tolerated" there because my money - across the bar - was as good as anyone else's.  One of the derisions I encountered as "bloody hell, yer bloody white!".  What?  Well, of course I am!  No, I hadn't been there long enough to get tanned by the tropical PNG sunshine.. and then there was the other interpretation, which only another expat from there would understand.

All I'll say about that latter interpretation is that, at the time, there were still enough white women in Port Moresby!

Anyway, I'd been making progress with the flying school and, among my trainees, were quite a few expatriates as well as a couple of PNG nationals.  As the score of "first solo", Restricted PPL and Unrestricted PPL grew (yep, it was THAT long ago!), I hit on an idea to hold a "Wings Night" at the Aero Club. If memory serves, this was held sometime in the latter part of 1984, so I'd only been in PNG about 6 months or so, by then.

Here's a couple of photos from that night - mostly taken by a bloke who became a very good mate, John Close, using my antiquated Russian-made camera :-

This is the group of recipients, together with a young, skinny and quite sweaty yours-truly!  Not all of them were recipients - L-R :- Simon Versluys, the Minister for Civil Aviation, an assistant to the Director of Civil Aviation, Joe Wal - Director of Civil Aviation, Reg Mason, Chief Engineer at PNG Aviation Services Pty. Ltd.  The other bloke has already been adequately described!

It had been such a big event that none other than the late, great Luke Sela of the PNG Post Courier covered it.  To his left is a bloke who was obviously sweating as much as I was, in the form of Darryl Grady (aka Radar O'Reilly), of the Spak Benk.  To his left is one Richard Hunting, one of "Regan's Rejects", Senior ATCO and all around good bloke.

From that time on, I had fewer aspertions cast upon me at the hallowed "Temple of Aeros", which was probably facilitated by my volunteering to work behind the bar.  There was an informal roster that was set up on a Whyte board, which can just be seen to the left of the photo, upon which club members could write their names for the night/s on which they would serve.  At first, I had to be coaxed into it, with the bribe of a drink or 2, by another good mate, Alan Dunley.

The aspect that became obvious pretty quickly was that volunteers were few and far between.  The one aspect of the job that was not made especially obvious - except to the sober observer - was that the bartender always had to drink his mistakes!  Now, I'm not going to say that I abused that rule, but I DID serve more than my fair share of the mistakes...

Flying?  Did someone mention flying?  Damn and blast, I just KNEW that someone would make mention of that!  Yep, there was indeed flying.  The infamous act of commiting aviation with felonious intent!  I'll save stories along THAT line for another time!