Yarns True ones

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tango15
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Re: Yarns True ones

#21 Post by tango15 » Mon May 31, 2021 9:27 am

The road to Baghdad - Part the second.

The taxi took me to the Basra Sheraton. I had been staying at the Sheraton in Kuwait, and discovered that there was also one in Basra, so I booked it through the Kuwaiti hotel. This was quite luxurious, so I assumed the Basra Sheraton would be of the same same standard, but I was to be disappointed. I arrived to find a sleepy and disinterested receptionist in a darkened lobby and was shown to my room, which was basic, to say the least. The hotel was attached to the airport, which would be convenient for the flight up to Baghdad the next day, or so I thought. After a restless night, I proceeded to the dining room for breakfast, to be told that all that was available was coffee and bananas. Having feasted on on these, I went to the airport to suss the place out.

My flight was not until later in the day, but the terminal was deserted. Imagine my surprise to find that none of the reception desks were manned and there was no-one around. I eventually found someone who told me that the airport was closed for renovations, but that I should check in at the normal time and we would be taken to another airport by bus. I duly appeared at the appointed time and, sure enough, the check-in was open and the usual formalities were completed. We were then led out to a waiting bus, and set off for the ‘other’ airport, which turned out to be a military base some miles outside the city. I found myself sitting nest to a Scottish bloke who worked for Shell, who explained that the airport had been closed for about six months and that the oilies had moved into a hotel in downtown Basra, which explained the situation in the airport hotel. As we approached the airport, one of the staff who was on the bus came round and closed all the curtains and we were told that photography was prohibited. We pulled up outside a hangar, which was empty, and promptly led through it, where on the other side an Iraqi Airways 737 was waiting for us. We boarded the aircraft and after the usual formalities, taxied out to the runway. We began the take-off run, but at what I guessed was about V1, the brakes were sharply applied and the reversers cut in. After a few minutes, there was an announcement in Arabic, followed by one in English, in which the flight deck explained that a camel and had been crossing the runway and they had had to abort the take-off. As we turned towards the taxiway, a camel and its calf could be seen cantering away in the distance. After a suitable pause, presumably to cool the brakes, there was a successful take-off and we began the one hour flight to Baghdad.

I headed for the Baghdad hotel, which the company had booked for me and sent a confirmation by telex. This was of no use whatsoever, though, because the reception staff insisted that the hotel was fully booked. Even an offer of baksheesh was refused, but they offered to book me into another hotel nearby. I headed for the nearby hotel, which turned out to be the Iraqi equivalent of a boarding house. Dirty, poorly lit and a tiny rooms with a small window. At the bottom of the corridor, a noisy game of what I assumed was backgammon was taking place. The toilet in my room was Arab style. I found a nearby restaurant which had decent food and returned to my room.

The meeting with the Ministry of Industry took place and in fact we got some useful business from them, so the trip had not been in vain, but I was glad to get on my next flight, a Pakistan Airways flight to Beirut – civilisation! The flight was scheduled for about 90 minutes and after about half an hour, when we were in the cruise an announcement was made that we would be landing in Beirut in about an hour. This was the cue for a race for the toilets, which I didn’t initially understand. It soon became apparent however, that the purpose of this was for the dishdashas to be discarded in favour of the Armani jeans and Gucci shoes. The flight was on a Thursday and clearly many of the passengers (mostly male), were getting ready for a fun weekend in Beirut. Beirut was still quiet in those days and was a pleasure to stay at the Phoenicia Intercontinental, beloved of aircrew, with its glass-fronted swimming pool overlooking the bar.

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Re: Yarns True ones

#22 Post by Pontius Navigator » Mon May 31, 2021 12:10 pm

Tango, shades of a couple of flights in Egypt early in 1973. Our first internal flight was from Luxor to Aswan. As good tourists we were well read up on the local sights. The mesh fly screen in the airport toilets allowed a clear view of the military flight line and the telephoto lens didn't see the mesh. Later we hired bicycles to explore the real countryside. The soldiers at a road block were quite pleasant and enjoyed trying out their English but wouldn't let us pass.
The next day we set off for Aswan. While waiting we saw a most impressive recovery of a flight of 4 Fishbed which made a high speed dash to their shelters in each corner of the airport. When we taxied we set off briskly and reached V1 before application of brakes and reverse pitch, not camels on the runway, but to slow sufficiently to turn on to the runway.
At Aswan we went to a 'secret' unamed military airfield as the civil one was closed. The nearby railway station had its name boards painted out. As the letters were in relief the black on black was quite clear.
There were various other preparations for war and we were shown into a windowless room to wait. As usual we were waiting for the inbound flight. The two of us slipped out and round the back found the workers tea room. They were a little surprised to see us but not worried. We cadged cups of sweet tea served in glass cups.
They went to war 5 months later.

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