1961: By Ladybird round Africa

[Willy]

Good show Ralf! The default ATC can send you all over the map in IFR.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Tell me about it, Chief!



Soon we are on our way, heading from Kenya's capital on that Central African Plateau towards its main port on the east coast.



That will be Kilimanjaro. Safe enough from here, but aircraft have crashed into these mountains as it can be extremely foggy around them.



Looking out for the Indian Ocean...



...before beginning our descent.



The main trade along this coast in the first half of the 19th Century was slavery, the biggest slave market being Zanzibar, an island we will visit later. The Sultan of Zanzibar had two other islands (Pemba to the north and Mafia* to the south), but also controlled a little of the continental coast, including the three main ports Mombasa, Tanga and Dar-es-Salaam. The slaves were captured in Central Africa by Arab slave-traders who sold them to the folks back home in the Middle East and got extremely rich in the process.



The British, who had already given up their own slavery and were busy supressing the trade on the West Coast of Africa, put pressure on the Sultan to close the Zanzibar slave market. Eventually he did, but the trade just went on from the mainland ports.

*Not to be confused with the Italians of the same name who come from Sicily (another island we flew over!).

[Ralf Roggeveen]

This is a fairly quiet corner of the Cal Classic world, not expecting much at HKMO, now called Mombasa Moi International.



It is named after President Daniel Arap Moi who succeeded Jomo Kenyatta as Head of State in 1978. In the 1950s the Kikuyu people of Kenya, many of whom were well-educated and aware of the shortcomings of colonialism, began the so-called Mau Mau Uprising against the British. This was supposed to involve pagan witchcraft and sinister blood oaths which frightened the rest of the black population. Some white farmers, including women and children, were killed. The British reacted with extreme savagery, interring and torturing thousands of young Kikuyu men and flooding the country with 20,000 troops. Postwar Britain could not afford such a policy, either in monetary or moral terms, so they sensibly released the Kikuyu leader Kenyatta from jail and allowed him to lead Kenya to independence in 1963. Both sides eventually behaved with wise tolerance and understanding, but the brutality of the British reaction to Mau Mau is only just beginning to be revealed and right now, 60 years later, there is a court case in London where some very old Kenyans are seeking compensation - and an apology - for the terrible way they were treated.



For some reason the Ladybird book doesn't mention any of that...

Not much going on here around 9.00 in the morning.



Deserted except for a very swish-looking private business plane (not slave-traders, one hopes).




So we get to park right in front of the terminal building at Gate 1.



Maybe that plane belongs to the mysterious girl in the orange trouser suit who appears ahead of us at so many of these African airports?

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Next stopover for the Ladybird family (minus Mummy) was going to be the island of Zanzibar. There were flights there every day in the late '50s, mostly by C-47 stopping at Tanga and that other island, Pemba, on the way. EC001, which we took from Nairobi, was one of them, departing at 10.05 most days. The DH89a that we saw seems to have covered Pemba - Zanzibar - Dar-Es-Salaam, but didn't usually come as far north as Mombasa. Since I couldn't wait to fly it, let's pretend the Dakota broke down and they've sent the Dragon up as a replacement service:



'Look, Daddy! We're going in a biplane,' said John excitedly, 'Is it from the Great War?'
'Not quite that ancient, O foolish child,' Daddy explained, 'The De Havilland 89a Dragon Rapide is a 1937 development of the 1934 DH89. The military version, the DH89b, is known as the Dominie.'
John carefully wrote all these useful facts down in his notebook.
'Isn't it thrilling that we've been in a great jet and now we're to fly in a dear little biplane,' said Alison.
'One of the advantages of being fictional characters in an unlikely story set in the early '60s,' explained Daddy.
'Gosh,' said both children almost in chorus.



'Is it named after Olivia de Havilland?' asked Alison, 'She was awfully good in Gone with the Wind.'
'No, you silly female thing,' said Daddy, beginning to lose it now, 'It was designed by her father, Sir Geoffrey.'
'Gosh, women are air-heads, aren't they Daddy?' added John. 'Anyway, I preferred her in They Died With Their Boots On.'



So we are going just down the coast to Tanga which is opposite Pemba Island.



Probably one of the best passenger aircraft ever for having a near all-round view.



And here's a shot of it pootling down that east coast of Africa:



Tanga airport (HTTG) ahead:

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Approach and descent:



One reason the Ladybird book doesn't ever mention Tanga may be that it was the scene of a humiliating British defeat. Tanganyika had been a German colony since the 1880s, and with the outbreak of war in 1914 the British decided to grab it quickly using 8,000 troops sent over from India commanded by a Major-General Aitken. They made a very badly-organised landing here, opposed by just a few hundred German colonial troops under the brilliant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. one famous feature of the battle (described quite accurately in William Boyd's novel An Ice-Cream War) was the Indian soldiers disturbing a hive of killer bees who joined in and helped the German Askaris drive them, panic-stricken, back to the beach! Although the British did eventually gain a foothold, it wasn't until the Germans had inflicted massive casualties, captured a lot of useful supplies and generally taught a nasty lesson. Aitken was sacked, and Lettow-Vorbeck went on to lead enormously-superior British armies a merry dance all over East Africa for the rest of the First World War. He, by now promoted Major-General, was quite rightly granted a Victory parade when he got back to Berlin!



Looks like another deserted airport.



No problems parking here, though you have to be careful with the DH89 which is quite difficult to control on the ground.



You can see the red giraffe flag which the British gave Tanganyika Colony from 1919 to independence in 1961:



There's that girl again! How did she manage to get here so quickly? Concorde?



DEJA-VU, or what?!?

Daddy, John and Alison may have been among the last visitors to colonial Tanganyika which was amalgamated with Zanzibar at independence to form modern Tanzania

[tgibson]

Nah, that outfit was just popular at the African (British) clothing stores of the era. Every girl *had* to have one...

[Ralf Roggeveen]

I'm pretty sure it's the same girl. I suspect that she may have chosen (Dutch) Orange deliberately... She seems to be waiting for someone at every airport - and the weird thing is, it's every airport we take Daddy, Alison and John to! Is she waiting for them? Or is she waiting for me? Or am I being paranoid?!?

Dismissing all worries about the South African secret agent, it's time to fly on to Zanzibar.



We'll stick with the de Havilland, C-47s are grounded for the time being.



Someone on a quiz show on TV recently had to name an African country and said 'Zanzibar', which was wrong as it's been part of Tanzania since 1964. 'Zanzibar' is actually Persian (or Farsi) for 'Coast of the Blacks', and Persian, followed by Arab, traders were the first foreigners to arrive as long ago as the 11th Century A.D. (Freddie Mercury was a Parsee/Persian whose ancestors came from India, but he was born in Zanzibar).



Of course the Persians and Arabs brought Islam and civilization to the east coast of Africa; but although they also traded in spices, their main interest in Africa was slaves. Enterprising traders could get an expedition together (i.e. a bunch of armed men) on the coast, go inland, attack a village or two, grab as many prisoners as possible and bring them back to Zanzibar to sell at a vast profit. Both the Bible and the Koran accept slavery as a perfectly normal thing, apparently part of God's great plan.



Keeping the mainland coast on our starboard side, you can see the big flat island ahead.



A view of the great mountains that we've now bypassed and left behind us.



In the 15th Century, due to improved ship technology, the Portuguese managed to sail around the Cape of Good Hope and up the African east coast. They attacked and took over many of the coastal settlements, including Zanzibar and Pemba islands. They wanted spices, and to trade with India, but were happy to let the Arabs go on with the lucrative slave trade too. Portuguese power declined and by the 18th Century the Islamic sultanate mentioned before was established on the three big islands and a little way into the hinterland...



Zanzibar ATC are going to have us fly past the airport, turn around and come in from the south to RW36.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Before we land on Zanzibar there is some catching up to do with the Ladybird book. As well as the boat race on Lake Victoria and the school in Uganda, there were at least two more pages, + their illustrations, for Kenya.



Here you have the classic vague justification for colonialism: the original inhabitants weren't exploiting their land properly, so they deserved to lose it to people who knew how to make money from it! This is illustrated by perhaps the most remarkable picture in the whole little book:



The artist has essentially painted typical English countryside, familiar to the early '60s British children for whom the book was produced. This has led to the imported sheep having to be unrealistically squeezed into a cornfield. It is pretty obvious who's Lord of All he Surveys. But, as the text most patronisingly mentioned, 'the farm workers were Africans, who were very clever with the machinery.' (OK as long as it's a Massey Fergusson tractor rather than a Kalashnikov rifle).

Of course the whites acquired all that rich, fertile land through the simple expedient of superior weapons technology. Before anyone could ask any awkward questions about the political and military history of East Africa you turn the page and writer and artist quickly turn to animals - which can be exploited by man without rationalising the destruction of their way of life!



As mentioned before, there is some progress with 'Reserves' where 'animals are protected and live their lives safe from the guns and traps of man.' There's also another picture where he's crammed everything in:



Someone cared about the animals before it was too late. Unfortunately, of course, colonialists had a similar attitude towards 'native' humans, putting the most dangerous of them into reserves too. This had already happened to 'Indians' on the American continent, both north and south. Soon the Ladybird folk will get to South Africa where a rearguard action of the denial of civil rights and basic liberties to the majority population was still in full swing half a century ago...

But for the time being, there's Zanzibar airport (now greatly expanded into HTZA Zanzibar International) ahead:



And it's another perfect landing in the DH89...

[Ferry_vO]

Yet another great journey and story, Ralf!

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Not long till we reach the big one, South Africa...

Let's go and park in Zanzibar:



There's an Air Safaris Hermes freighter in one corner.



It's a bit busier than Tanga was, but not much.



He must've been sitting there a long time, as it seems to have sunk into the melted apron! That can be quite easily cured by just going into the right file and raising the aircraft a few feet.



Looking round with Traffic Explorer we spot a Hunting Clan DC-6 going up to Mombasa. I also took a sneak preview of Dar es Salaam (HTDA), our next stop, a big, exciting airport:



We will be arriving the dark, so it's good to grab a daylight view.

By the mid-19th Century Britain was the world's maritime superpower with control over India. British explorers like Burton and Speke came to Zanzibar to use it as a base for penetrating the interior of Africa and finding the source of the Nile. At first they weren't that bothered about slavery. Even the great missionary-explorer Livingstone was helped by the Arab slave traders, though he did not like what they were doing and genuinely cared for the African people. Places that he put onto western maps, like Lake Kivu, got the local language name, not named after some faraway foreign Royal! As the British public learnt more and more about what was going on in East Africa - including from Journalist-Explorers like Henry M. Stanley - the Foreign Office intervened more to put pressure on the Sultan to stop slavery. Gordon was trying to do the same thing in the Sudan. In the late 1880s, when the European powers divided Africa into 'spheres of influence' (i.e. areas which it was OK to colonise), Britain took Zanzibar and Germany got Tanganyika.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

The DH89 did fly between Pemba, Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam on Sunday evenings as Flight EC207.



This must have been a magical experience for anyone lucky enough to have made the trip, though many of them probably took it for granted and were worrying more about the price of tungsten, how England were doing in the Test Match, or whether little Nigel would pass his Common Entrance, rather than noticing the ethereal, eternal African sunset...



You're travelling more or less due south:



A good view of the Microsoft mosque which Mr Gates has provided for the spiritual needs of any imaginary Muslims who inhabit the FS world:



They seem to be well provided for with their own water towers. Nice shot of the whole island by night, stretching away into the distance as we leave Zanzibar behind us:



Zanzibar town and the airport:



Took a look at some of the AI plying its trade up and down the east coast:



A C-47, and this DC-6 going from Dar up to Mombasa:



The patch of light up ahead will be Dar-es-Salaam:



It's only a half an hour flight.

[lemonadedrinker]

Very interesting thread to follow, Ralf.

It's all there isn't it, the social history of the Empire, in those simplistic illustrations of a perfect World. Everyone knows their place and the sun is always shining


Looking forward to the next chapter.

Andy.

[tgibson]

Hi Ralf,

Nice job so far! One minor thing - that EAA "DC-6" is actually a DC-4m.

Thanks,

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Hi Tom, I put lots of *purpose mistakes* in to keep everyone on their toes, but you're the only one who ever notices! :salute:

Landing at Dar-es-Salaam:



One of the most surreal geographical deals in History came in 1890 when the British swapped Heligoland, a huge lump of rock in the North Sea, for Zanzibar. Germany kept mainland Tanganyika, but gave the British the islands off the African coast. Kaiser Wilhelm II later fortified Heligoland at great expense.



Zanzibar stayed independent till 1964, though of course the British took over the whole of Tanganyika in 1919 when Germany had been defeated in the First World War. in '64 the black Africans of Zanzibar (perhaps remembering how their ancestors had been treated?) rose up against the Arabs (most of them harmless shopkeepers) and massacred several hundred people. It looked like a Communist takeover and the ex-colonial power, Britain, initiated a major mobilisation including Royal Marine Commandos and an Aircraft Carrier. Unlike the Suez Crisis eight years earlier, this was given the green light by the USA which said Zanzibar was Britain's 'sphere of influence'. Luckily diplomacy was able to prevail and the islands were soon incorporated into Tanzania peacefully.



Cal Classics have retro-ed more than 20 airports in Tanzania - I mean Zanzibar and Tanganyika - and the capital HTDA is one of Harry's finest.



A little look at some of the AI parked here this evening:



It is a bit dark, glad I showed that daylight preview earlier; but we'll take another look round here before flying on the next leg back into the interior.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

'fraid there's still some catching up to do with the Ladybird book as they're still back in Mombasa:



So they do acknowledge that the Arabs had some technological expertise a couple of millenia ago. The artist, Jack Matthew, has provided a beautiful picture of a dhow:



(Nice how he's included the modern yacht to illustrate that lanteen sails are still pretty useful.) They do then have to bring up the vexed issue of the slave trade:



Obviously nobody mentions that the British Empire was itself established through two centuries of trade in and use of slaves, especially in the Americas and West Indies. '...eventually we took over East Africa.' is a nice way of putting things too! However, it was true that 'the Africans' were getting higher education, sharing in Government and 'being prepared to govern their countries themselves' at this time, and the British were, for the most part, quite reasonable about knowing that the days of colonialism were over. This was not the case with the Portuguese who were the first in, last out Europeans in Africa, trying to hold onto colonies like Mozambique and Angola right up into the 1970s. The worst problems British governments had were with white settlers who didn't want to give up their power and privileges to black majorities, especially in Rhodesia. The Ladybird solution to 'Man's inhumanity to Man' is to quickly insert another picture of safe, reliable, innocent animals:



This was in the days when David Attenborough was just starting out, but of course now we see superb film of all these creatures in the comfort of our plasma screens. It occurs to me that for every 10 hours of wildlife documentary from places like Africa we probably only get a few minutes a year on TV of the human history and politics of the continent.



I'm afraid that you CANNOT see the map in John's notebook yet, as it would spoil the surprises of this trip! You can, however, see a nice picture of exciting, mysterious Zanzibar (even Daddy wasn't to know the bad things that kicked off there four years later):

[nigel richards]

Ralf, this could have been an interesting aviation journey through Africa.

As someone who was born in Kenya, the son of a British serving officer, I cannot help but take exception to your constant biased references to whatever crime you consider Britain is guilty of committing.

History and politics are never simplistic.
To dabble with such recent political history is surely folly.

Expressing your personal views on capitalism, liberalism, education or even conservation via an out-of-print childrens Ladybird book simply adds to the insult.

We are all free to have our own personal views and political opinions.

But this is neither the place nor context in which to express them.

Almost everywhere they go (and that includes you, USA) was once a British colony. A strong message of both text (by David Scott Daniel) and pictures (by Jack Matthew) is that all these places have a rosy, successful capitalist future because of what the kindly colonialists have done for them.

What exactly are you implying?
Is the issue with Britain, capitalism...what?

And of course the Sudanese are OK because 'They were raised and trained by the British.' Daddy will give us a bit more of the neoliberal history lesson on the next page

Daddy or Big Brother?

John observed that 'It's just the same as a school at home,' and this remains true of much of the educational system in 21st Century Africa. Not only do the pupils often look very like retro British schoolchildren in their smart uniforms, but African schools usually retain the discipline, respect for teachers and old-fashioned values that we think have been lost in the West! (Whether or not it's a good thing to grow up in the 1950s is a debatable point.

Just thinking...could it possibly be because they admired/admire one of the finest educational institutions in the world?

What's wrong with a smart uniform?

Growing up in the 1950's...is that debateable?

It is named after President Daniel Arap Moi who succeeded Jomo Kenyatta as Head of State in 1978. In the 1950s the Kikuyu people of Kenya, many of whom were well-educated and aware of the shortcomings of colonialism, began the so-called Mau Mau Uprising against the British. This was supposed to involve pagan witchcraft and sinister blood oaths which frightened the rest of the black population. Some white farmers, including women and children, were killed. The British reacted with extreme savagery, interring and torturing thousands of young Kikuyu men and flooding the country with 20,000 troops. Postwar Britain could not afford such a policy, either in monetary or moral terms, so they sensibly released the Kikuyu leader Kenyatta from jail and allowed him to lead Kenya to independence in 1963. Both sides eventually behaved with wise tolerance and understanding, but the brutality of the British reaction to Mau Mau is only just beginning to be revealed and right now, 60 years later, there is a court case in London where some very old Kenyans are seeking compensation - and an apology - for the terrible way they were treated.


For some reason the Ladybird book doesn't mention any of that..

Yes, many of the Kikuyu were well educated!
(Can't for the life of me imagine who provided that education)...

Fact: There was nothing "supposed" regarding the sinister swearing-in 'oath' rituals performed by the Mau Mau.

To the unfortunate victims it was horrifyingly real.

It wasn't the "rest of the black population", it was to people of their own race.
The many other tribes refused to participate.

"Some white farmers, including women and children, were killed"
Thirty eight!

But you omitted to mention over 2,000 innocent Kikuyu, Masai, Luo, Meru men, women and babies brutally murdered by the Mau Mau.
(Note the disproportion!)

Numerically more Kikuyu trbesmen fought alongside British forces than belonged to the Mau Mau.
Furthermore, the British had to forcibly placate the Masai people, who were all for taking the Mau Mau matter into their hands and declaring all out war on them.

If you are in search of the 'noble savage' in the Mau Mau, you barking up the wrong tree.

The British did not react "extremely savagely". and to claim so is a disgraceful injustice to the many British men serving in the British armed forces during that crisis.

It is a sad fact of war that some men will commit treacherous crimes against humanity.

The culprits deserve to be brought to justice and it is to Britain's credit that this will be served.
But true justice must be served on all sides and sadly we hear of no demands for the prosecution of former Mau Mau responsible for more than 2,000 deaths.

The Mau Mau were ruthless terrorists with little concern for human life and values, democracy or independence.

Should a children's book on Africa have made reference to terrorism?

One reason the Ladybird book doesn't ever mention Tanga may be that it was the scene of a humiliating British defeat. Tanganyika had been a German colony since the 1880s, and with the outbreak of war in 1914 the British decided to grab it quickly using 8,000 troops sent over from India commanded by a Major-General Aitken. They made a very badly-organised landing here, opposed by just a few hundred German colonial troops under the brilliant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. one famous feature of the battle (described quite accurately in William Boyd's novel An Ice-Cream War) was the Indian soldiers disturbing a hive of killer bees who joined in and helped the German Askaris drive them, panic-stricken, back to the beach! Although the British did eventually gain a foothold, it wasn't until the Germans had inflicted massive casualties, captured a lot of useful supplies and generally taught a nasty lesson. Aitken was sacked, and Lettow-Vorbeck went on to lead enormously-superior British armies a merry dance all over East Africa for the rest of the First World War. He, by now promoted Major-General, was quite rightly granted a Victory parade when he got back to Berlin!

Do you honestly believe that the author of a children's book on Africa deliberately avoided mention of Tanga?
This is absurdity in the extreme.

Before we land on Zanzibar there is some catching up to do with the Ladybird book. As well as the boat race on Lake Victoria and the school in Uganda, there were at least two more pages, + their illustrations, for Kenya.

Here you have the classic vague justification for colonialism: the original inhabitants weren't exploiting their land properly, so they deserved to lose it to people who knew how to make money from it! This is illustrated by perhaps the most remarkable picture in the whole little book:

The artist has essentially painted typical English countryside, familiar to the early '60s British children for whom the book was produced. This has led to the imported sheep having to be unrealistically squeezed into a cornfield. It is pretty obvious who's Lord of All he Surveys. But, as the text most patronisingly mentioned, 'the farm workers were Africans, who were very clever with the machinery.' (OK as long as it's a Massey Fergusson tractor rather than a Kalashnikov rifle).

Of course the whites acquired all that rich, fertile land through the simple expedient of superior weapons technology. Before anyone could ask any awkward questions about the political and military history of East Africa you turn the page and writer and artist quickly turn to animals - which can be exploited by man without rationalising the destruction of their way of life!


As mentioned before, there is some progress with 'Reserves' where 'animals are protected and live their lives safe from the guns and traps of man.' There's also another picture where he's crammed everything in:

Someone cared about the animals before it was too late. Unfortunately, of course, colonialists had a similar attitude towards 'native' humans, putting the most dangerous of them into reserves too. This had already happened to 'Indians' on the American continent, both north and south. Soon the Ladybird folk will get to South Africa where a rearguard action of the denial of civil rights and basic liberties to the majority population was still in full swing half a century ago...

Unbelievable!
The artist "essentially painted typical English countryside" because Sir: essentially that's precisely how the Rift Valley highlands appear.

Your comparison of the 'native' humans (I do presume you refer to the Kikuyu) with American Indians is inappropriate - the (Bantu) Kikuyu themselves invaded the area 200 years previously from West Africa, wiping out all indigenous tribes as they progressed.


That you perceive the "colonials" as destroyers and enemies of nature displays total ignorance of the many hard working farmers/settlers from Britain, USA, Germany, Austria, Canada, France, Switzerland etc who were simply guilty of occupying one of the world's last wild frontiers.

[djs1]

Nigel, your comments were begging to be made, and for myself, thank you for making them

David

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Hi Nigel & David,

All fair and valid points. The problem with the Ladybird book - lovely though much of it is (for example, the dhow illustration) - is that it's a too late justification for imperialism. Africa is full of cuddly animals discovered (and shot) by clever, well-organised white people. Don't tell the children about the original inhabitants and their feelings (or history for thousands of years before Europeans got there). Unfortunately it's exactly because the Great Rift Valley does look a bit like Sussex that colonialism is 'justified', i.e. taking the rich land away from its ancient inhabitants at the point of a gun and exploiting it. You will note though that I have given Ladybird credit for essentially pointing out that Harold Macmillan's often-quoted 'Wind of Change' was just then blowing through Africa, and that Britain was, quite rightly and wisely, trying to leave Africa to the Africans. In the case of East Africa this was done with some success, creating fairly happy countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. Bad things happened elsewhere. Worst of all, as mentioned above, the problem of settlers who don't agree with what the 'Mother-country' Government plans to do about handing independence to the majority - and take the law into their own hands.

Interestingly, when the Ladybird children go to India they do stay with Indian families who get to speak and show cultural and economic aspects of their country. We will visit one African (Zulu) family in this story, but only in a rather touristy fashion. Immediate postwar US policy was always to oppose the old European imperial powers and support 'liberation struggles', sometimes with unfortunate results that opened doors to Soviet neo-imperialists... (You may get my lectures on the Suez Crisis one day... Can't say you haven't been warned!)

Certainly you cannot change history, but do have to look at it all the time in a questioning way and ask what you're not being told? I have a great admiration for many of the Victorian pioneers in Africa, including men like Gordon and Livingstone who are often dismissed as 'imperialists' by sloppy writers (usually journalists who know NOTHING about history). The Ladybird book is of its time and, as you say, was aimed at children; but there is no doubt that it was trying to justify a lot of wrongs. And of course you are right that the Communist alternative that was then being offered in Africa, Asia and South America was EVEN WORSE: the dogma and police state came along just after the 'liberating' SAMs and Kalashnikovs.

I imagine that everyone will agree that people should be masters of their own destiny and not be robbed or exploited by anybody from afar. Manuel Quezon put it humourously, but rather well, when he said 'We would rather be badly ruled over by our own people, than well-ruled by foreigners'.

Thank you for criticism and argument - please continue to make it throughout; the great thing about the Interweb-thingy is that it can occur as a text appears. What a boring world it would be if everyone just agreed.

Putting aside the red flag, I don my aviation anorak (which is a bit hot for Africa), and we'll board EA507 from Dar to Blantyre, Nyasaland:



Tom will confirm that this is the East African Canadair C-4 Argonaut...



...interesting aircraft.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

This was a DC-4 with the Pratt & Whitney radials removed and replaced by four Rolls-Royce Merlin liquid-cooled engines. Trans Canada Airlines and the Royal Canadian Air Force were the originators of this interesting (1949) idea, but BOAC an important early customer using them for transcontinental flights in the '50s. Going back into the interior of Africa in this will take us about two and a half hours.



A quick look at HTDA in daylight before we go:



Some nice '60s General Aviation AI there:



We left at 12.55 and Hunting Clan had to wait a little:



A good view of Dar-es-Salaam, a city that was largely developed as the main harbour and capital of German Tanganyika colony:



And there's the airport:

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Not sure how good my PC setup was for flying the C-4 at maximum efficiency. It took 20 minutes to climb to 26000 feet.



With the RR 626 V-12 engines you are watching the tachometer for RPM, Boost (Manifold Pressure) in PSI, and keeping an eye on engine temperature. Cruising it made around 185 kias, which seemed reasonable.

The Rufiji River:



Way below overheard this Beaver talking to ATC:



He was flying from Chileka (FWCL), where we're going, to Nairobi (HKJK). Nyasaland/Malawi is an interesting country on Lake Nyasa/Lake Malawi. It essentially runs right down the western side of the lake, and a little to the mountainous south of it, where you will find Blantyre, our target, though the modern capital is Lilongwe. The clue's in the name Blantyre, the country is based on 19th Century Scottish Presbyterian missions, including the work of the famous Dr David Livingstone.

Very flat till we get back inland to the Great Rift Valley and the lakes.



That must be the Rivuma River on the border between Tanganyika and Mozambique:



When Nyasaland became independent as Malawi in 1964 it was run for a long time by a strange but effective leader, Dr Hastings Banda. He had been educated by the missionaries (partly in Scotland itself) and maintained many of their strict and thrifty values. You may recall that Madonna recently tried to start a girls' school in Malawi (which failed). But Dr Banda already has traditional British-style schools there, at least for boys.



There's the Rivuma from the Argonaut, and here's Lake Nyasa coming into view on the other side:



(By the way, Nigel, when I mentioned that such African schools have 'smart uniforms' I made no value judgments; it was simply stated as a fact.) We briefly had Beira Control over the top northwestern corner of Mozambique.

[Willy]

The C-4 Argonaut or DC-4M North Star depending on which side of the pond you're on. One of my favorite propliners. I don't think I have that paint though...

[Ralf Roggeveen]

One fine operator of the time that used them was Aden Airways:



They bought three in 1960, all of which had been built for parent company BOAC in 1949. Unfortunately all three suffered bad salt corrosion (owners of classic cars in wet countries may know how depressing & expensive that can be) and were withdrawn from Red Sea service by '64. Coming in to land at its Aden/Khormaksar hub with Ian's brilliant local scenery:



I'd be interested to know what altitudes and speeds Willy and other North Star/Argonaut fliers have managed to get out of them. As they got older operators seem to have treated the engines more gently, applying less boost than before.

Back with East African, heading out over Lake Nyasa:



How we went round the lake:



Not been here before (only Lilongwe in Mali with Dr Banda's VC-10), so it was good to spot some AI coming out of Chileka:



Quite hilly round here...

[Ralf Roggeveen]

That AI coming down in front of us had come from FAPB, Pietersburg International, aka Polokwane north of Pretoria, where we will be going, in South Africa. For now we land at FWCL Chileka Airport, Blantyre:



Willy will confirm, full flaps bringing the Canadair down. Tragically this is an African airport that hasn't (yet) been given the Cal Classic treatment, so it's only default FS9 buildings:



Nobody seems to be about to bring any steps for the passengers to get out!



Hmm, there's that snazzy Cessna (sinking in the heat) which I suspect might belong to the mysterious girl in orange...



...but there's no sign of her - or anyone at this time of day.



It's quite possible that she's something to do with Daddy's never-revealed 'business' in all these de-colonizing African countries. Either he's an MI5 agent working for the British government in some secret capacity and she's his contact; OR he's an arms dealer selling guns to the liberation struggle and she's from the ANC! After all...



...the *innocent* Ladybird book would be the perfect cover!

[Ralf Roggeveen]

The first eight pages of text of the 1961 Ladybird book have covered just four colonies: Uganda, Kenya, Zanzibar and Tanganyika, i.e. British East Africa. We are now travelling in to the landlocked Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which, as mentioned, the Colonial Office created in 1953. Rhodesia was divided into 'Northern' and 'Southern' parts which are now Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively. Forming the Federation was part of an attempt by London to facilitate the smooth transfer of power to black majorities in this enormous area when each country was given independence. The attempt did not go well in the case of Southern Rhodesia. Whereas Malawi and Zambia both became independent with relatively little violence in 1964, Southern Rhodesia, now just 'Rhodesia', held onto colonial status till '67 when the settler minority declared their UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) against Great Britain and were expelled from the Commonwealth. With help from the powerful neighbouring white supremacist state, South Africa, they managed to retain minority rule until 1980.

We will take EC119 from Chileka to the capital of Southern Rhodesia, Salisbury, about two and a half hours in a Dakota.



FWCL to FVHA (i.e. Harare International) is one of those glitches in FS9 which comes out like this if you use the computer to find an IFR route:



That's via Maputo in Mozambique which we don't want. Better to go the old-fashioned way by ADF:



You can tune in to Tete (in Mozambique on the Zambezi), then pick up the signal from Salisbury after crossing the mighty River. It still required more than 2300 lbs of fuel, so a lot of runway taking off.



Just had to wait for him landing at Chileka:



We left at 15.30 in the afternoon, so should arrive just after 6 in the evening.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

It seemed to be happiest cruising at around 9000 feet. There's the Zambezi ahead, sighted soon after reaching cruise altitude:



We cross the great river:



The tributary that meets the Zambezi here is the Luenha:



Here's the map:



Soon managed to pick up the Rhodesian ADF signal, 330khz...and dusk falls:



Unbelievably ATC called themselves 'Salisbury' the first time I heard them, but it changed to 'Harare (Tower)' within the same sentence - ! Some of the '60s airports have been deliberately changed to their old names, but I never touched this one and visually it remains default scenery too.



It was only when I got safely down that I realised the port engine had stopped running!