SOUTH
EAST ASIA 1960s-1970s - INDONESIA & DUTCH NEW GUINEA Photographs taken by friends and colleagues in a part of of the world rarely covered by the aviation publications |
Airfast Services Indonesia
PT operated a variety of aircraft in support of oil exploration and drilling
in SE Asia, including this Grumman HU-16 amphibian ferried from USAF disposals at Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona. Photographed at Singapore-Seletar in October 1979 by Michael B. Austin |
The same Albatross at
Seletar a few years earlier, when Airfast were promoting their company by
having their name painted
boldly on their aircraft.
Photo by Doug Green,
via Paul Howard
|
Airfast used HS.748s
and DC-3s to carry oil drilling work crews. PK-OBQ at Seletar in August
1980. Photo by Michael B. Austin |
Bouraq Indonesia Airline based at Balikpapan,
Borneo had a fleet of fifteen HS.748s for domestic passenger routes. PK-IHM was at Jakarata-Kemayoran in May 1979. Photo by Barney B. Deatrick |
Sempati Air Transport
Fokker F.27 PK-JFK arrives at Singapore-Paya Lebar in September 1973.
Photo by Barney Deatrick |
P.N. Aerial Survey operating
as PENAS had a mixed fleet including a DC-6 and this DC-6B PK-VDF, seen
at Singapore in September 1973. A retired RAF Hastings is on the fire dump in the background. Photo by Barney B. Deatrick |
PK-VDF was still going
strong at Singapore in November 1980, now as Penas Air Cargo.
Photo by Michael B. Austin |
Bayu Indonesia Air Cargo
DC-6s PK-BAZ waits for its next load at Jakarta-Kemayoran during February
1981. The two DC-6 freighters were soon replaced by two Canadair CL-44s. Photo by Derek A. Macphail |
Seulawah Air Services
Convair 640 PK-RCP Siaga retired
and abandoned at Jakarta-Kemayoran in May 1979. Unusually, the RR Dart turbine engines and 4 bladed propellers have not been removed. Photo by Barney B. Deatrick |
Indonesian Air Force
C-130B Hercules A-1305 at Bali-Denpasar in September 1982 |
PT National Air
Charter purchased two Volpar Turboliners in 1970 from Ransome Airways in
Philadelphia. These were highly modified and stretched trigear Beech 18s with Garrett TPE-331 turbines. PK-WWD, seen here at Seletar in September 1971, was sold and ferried back to USA in 1978, going on to a long life as a freighter. Photo by Ron F. Killick |
PK-WWF at Seletar just
after delivery from USA.
Photo by Ron F. Killick |
Indonesian Aviation Corp
commenced in 1965 with an order for six new Beech H18 trigears, PK-BIA to
PK-BIF. Here's their PK-BIB at Seletar in May 1972, still looking like new. Photo by Ron F. Killick |
23 years later and still
going strong, PK-BIB at Jakarta-Halim in the early morning light in November
1995. Indonesian Aviation Corp had by now re-badged
itself under the more stylish name Indoavia. Photo by Paul Howard
|
Indonesian Army/TNI-AD
Beech H18 A-8037 having maintenance at Seletar in September 1972.
Photo by Ron F. Killick |
A-8037 seen 20 years
later still with the Army, at the Poncak-Cabe military base, 60 miles south
of Jakarta in September 1993 Photo by Paul Howard |
In addition to Airfast, another Australian-founded
company supporting Indonesian oil exploration was SAATAS-East Indonesia. The name comes from the original company name of South Australian and Territory Air Services. Their Dove PK-LEA is seen in August 1974 at its Australian base Darwin NT, where it was wrecked by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve that year. Photo by Nigel K. Daw |
SAATAS East Indonesia imported this veteran
Grumman Goose PK-LEG from USA in 1976 for a contract with Total Oil. Photo: Margaret Picard collection |
Another SAATAS-East Indonesia Goose PK-LEH
was at Adelaide-Parafield SA in April 1980 for maintenance. Photo by Michael B. Austin |
PK-LEH some years later in a new paint scheme
while being operated for McDermott International on oil and gas exploration Photo: Paul Howard collection |
Goose PK-RAM was leased from an Indonesian
military museum collection in 1976 by Merpati Nusantara Airlines for a contract with Total Oil in Sulawesi, the former Celebes. Here it is water taxying on the River Lariang in 1977 when collecting an exploration party to fly them to Macassar, now renamed Ujung Pandung. Photo by David Clegg |
Merpati later returned Goose PK-RAM to
the military. Paul Howard tracked it down in storage at Kalijati air base
in 1995
with other museum aircraft. Civil markings had been removed and Indonesian national insignia added. |
Indonesian Air Force/AURI
B-25J Mitchell M-458 displayed at the Armed Forces Museum in Jakarta in
October 1980. Indonesian B-25 gunships with cheek cannons, nose cannons and wing rocket rails were flown until the 1970s. Photo by Barney B. Deatrick |
Indonesian Air Force P-51D Mustang F-347
at the Armed Forces Museum in Jakarta in May 1983. AURI Mustang
survivors
received in-field Cavalier upgrades at Bandung in the 1960s, and several remained in service into the early 1980s. Photo by Derek A. Macphail |
Indonesian Air Force/AURI Douglas A-26 Invader
M-265 is still displayed at the Air Force Musem, Yogyakarta Photo by John Chapman |
NETHERLANDS
NEW GUINEA, renamed
INDONESIAN IRIAN JAYA, later
WEST PAPUA
PROVINCE |
Shell Oil Co based Consolidated
PBY-5A Catalina JZ-POA at Biak, Dutch New Guinea from 1955 to 1960. Seen here at Hong Kong-Kai Tak in May 1962, retired and deteriorating in the weather. Photo by Peter R. Keating |
Parked alongside in May
1962 was Shell Co's PBY-5A JZ-POD, also retired after inspection by HAECO
at Kai Tak. Both were broken-up for scrap the following year. Photo by Peter R. Keating |
Shell Oil's associate Nederlandsche Nieuw
Guinee Petroleum Maatschappij replaced the Catalinas with Grumman Mallards. Here's JZ-POB on a river in Dutch New Guinea. Photo: Frank Smith collection |
Mallard JZ-POB was sold to an Australian
charter company East Coast Airways and ferried from Biak to Australia
in 1962.
Before finishing its Australian certification, it was acquired by Trans Australia Airlines to become VH-TGA for tourist flights on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. This photo at Melbourne in August 1963 is courtesy The Collection p.2960-0043 |
Netherlands Navy/MLD based Catalinas at Biak,
Dutch New Guinea until they were retired and scrapped there in 1956. PBY-5A 16-217 was retained for display at Biak Airport in the 1960s |
KLM DC-3 JZ-PDF at Kai
Tak Airport in May 1962 for maintenance by HAECO. It was based in Dutch
New Guinea where it was leased to De Kroonduif, although retaining KLM markings. Photo by Peter R. Keating |
A battered colour slide of JZ-PDF on the
weekly De Kroonduif service to Lae in Australian-administered Papua New
Guinea
during the early 1960s. The DC-3
is carrying out mag-checks at the runway threshold on the edge of Huon
Gulf
|
JZ-PDC in De Kroonduif colour scheme, also
at Lae early 1960s, with a Trans Australia Airlnes DC-3 parked behind.
When Indonesia gained control of western New Guinea, Garuda took over in 1963 |
Garuda DC-3 PK-GDP in Indonesian West Iran,
the former Dutch New Guinea, during the 1960s |
De Kroonduif had four
Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneers. JZ-PPW was photographed at Biak in the
early 1960s |
De Kroonduif's five DHC-2 Beavers, along
with the Twin Pioneers, were transferred to Garuda
|
Missionary Aviation Fellowship
USA yellow Cessna 180 JZ-PTF was ferried from Dutch New Guinea to Australia
in 1961 for resale. Seen at Melbourne-Moorabbin in August 1961 before it was sold to Air Mist to became a cropduster VH-IAM. Photo: The Collection |
Brand new Cessna 180F
JZ-PTL at Sydney-Bankstown in January 1963 just assembled from its shipping
crate. It was then ferried to Missionary Aviation Fellowship USA's base at Sentani, Dutch New Guinea. After the Indonesian take-over, the Mafair fleet was re-registered in the PK-MP block, this 180F becoming PK-MPF. Photo by Rod Adam |
Mafair USA's yellow Cessna
180D PK-MPA had been JZ-PTC. It was in Melbourne in 1965 for re-sale in
Australia. Mafair had made the enforced Nationality registration change in a rather blatant style. Photo by Peter F. Limon |
Another Mafair yellow Cessna 180D PK-MPB
at Moorabbin 17 April 1965 had been JZ-PTD, which can still be read under
the wing. Two weeks later, on a flight to Sydney to be traded on a new Cessna, it crashed near Mittagong NSW |
Sentani, West Irian 1968.
Merpati Nusantara Lycoming piston-engined Pilatus Porter PK-NPO with the
huge muffler pipe. Photo by Jim Millar, via Ben Dannecker |