Accra to Ziguinchor: an African Alphabet

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Now that the Cal Classic Africa 1960 Airports has been released it's nearly possible to do a complete A to Z of airports on that continent in that wonderful year!

Let's start with Kotoku International DGAA, Accra, Ghana:

Beautiful Ghana Airways Stratocruiser there showing the national flag, Ghana having been independent since 6 March 1957 (though she still has British "G" registration - I believe on loan from BOAC.

And for our B here's GABS Bamako, Mali:

This airport is called Senou Militaire, so technically an AB. Note the Antonovs, suggesting a flirtation with the Soviets for this ex-French colony, independent from 22 September 1960. It's really the modern airport, but fits into the period well enough. Another B is the monstrous Breguet 763 just lumbering in. Not available at Cal Classics, but from FsNaBisso a (mostly) very good site for French-speaking Africa by Frederic Kabalu. I say mostly because:

WARNING: Do NOT download Bejaia, Algeria (DAAE: FSN-BSP.zip) from that site. The file is infected & will screw up fs9! Guaranteed. Otherwise everything there seems to be OK, some other airports from him will appear below. His Abidjan, Ivory Coast scenery is superb, though you'll have to make do with the default airport there, he's only completed the city and estuary.

Plenty of Cs to choose from, but I'm going for HECA Cairo, Egypt:

Was anxious to see something nicer than the depressing 1963 one that used to be the only retro Cairo available. This does not disappoint. Check Food Lovers Specials and Game Specials. That must be a United Arab Airlines Comet 4C in the AI lineup; don't worry, you will see a few more Comets in this thread, but for some reason today's flyable Speedbird is a less snazzy, more stately Bristol Britannia.

D is for Dar Es Salaam,Tanzania HTDA:

I knew this would be excellent because - though everything at Cal Classics is superb - this is by Harry Biard! Tanganyika became independent on 9 December '61 although East African Airways had Comets from 1960.

Have to have Entebbe, Uganda HUEN for our African E:

A slight cheat because this screenie was taken at the old old Entebbe (if you see what I mean) which you could download on its own. That, and the other separate retro African airports should be removed when you put Africa 1960 into fs9 (I didn't have to because that infected Algerian file had forced me to reconstruct the whole dam' thing!). This explains why the picture is smaller too; must check the new version & see if those curious light patches under the aircraft have gone). It was when I flew the Comet 1 down there - and lived to tell the tale.

Never mind! Here's Francistown, Botswana KBFT for the F in Africa:

Not independent until 30 September 1966, so you'll notice they are still flying the British Union Jack. Actually that Air Malawi VC-10 must date from after their independence in 1964 - and it's doubtful it could land at that bijou airport!

More after dinner when my wife & the cats can watch X Factor by themselves...

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

The situation is even grimmer than I thought, because it's Strictly Come Dancing too tonight.

Good news, however, for anyone (Ferry!) who wants to load 1950s/60s airports, but was previously put off when some of the scenery didn't activate properly: you can now get all the necessary Classic Scenery Libraries at once from flightsim.com: classic_libraries.zip. This is 175MB and will take a while to download, but well worth it in terms of delivering everything you'll require in one go. The secret is the order you place the files in once they're activated - Tom Gibson explains this on the Cal Classic website and in most readme.txts that come with classic scenery.

Now for G, which is the airport at George, South Africa FAGG:

You can make up your own gags about George (Bush, Best, Clooney, Washington, the Third, etc.) being a FAGG, but I suppose it's an unforgettable ICAO code. Pretty little airport with nice GA area, well used by the classic AI available from you-know-where.

H is for Harper, Liberia: Cape Palmas Airport GLCP:

Thought it would be nice to put the TWA Connie into Liberia, though this would have had to have been an emergency landing when he didn't make Monrovia! I just managed to get it out of there on 80 degrees of flaps. Africa has an awful lot of the pilot's old enemies: trees (also a few mountains, another nuisance to aircraft). Note the Liberian Star & Stripes flag: always an independent country, founded in 1847 by freed slaves, many of them African-American.

Ibadan International, Nigeria DNIB for letter I:

The Nigerian VC-10 would have to be after 1966, though the airport flag would be after 1 October 1960 independence, as seen on the aircraft's tail.

And taking us to the 10th letter of the alphabet, Johannesburg, South Africa FAJJ of course:

Another earlier version from when the Mk 1 Comet went down there.

Just time to squeeze in Khartoum, Sudan with its memorable HSSS code:

There's the earliest Speedbird (apart from the prototype of course). Just liked this shot because you can read the airport name in it, always reassuring.

 

[Wing_Z]

Haha good one Ralf!
When I saw this file appear for download, I thought:
"If ever I were to bet on an almost absolute certainty, then in one form or another we can expect to be treated to its contents, within very short order!"

Great to stretch the legs of those magnificent British passenger jets...if I recall Comet 1 had its inaugural flight from London to Johannesburg ( FAJS BTW, not FAJJ).
I had the pleasure of a very fast VC10 flight on the same route years later and fell in love with her sleek lines...

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Hi Wing_Z, you were lucky to do a long haul in a VC-10. I believe I got as far as Paris in one around '67 or '68. Part of the VC-10's problem was that BEA wanted to use them for medium as well as long-range flights and they couldn't really 'have their cake and eat it' like that.

The 1960 Africa Scenery is definitely designed with the British North-South African axis ('Cairo to the Cape') in mind. You can supplement that with the French East-West axis by adding scenery from FsNaBisso, adding airports in countries like Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mali, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Cameroon.

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

Nice tour.

The gray squares are made of concrete and are still at Entebbe (and at Las Vegas). They are used in hot climates at aircraft parking positions since aircraft sitting for long periods of time on asphalt may sink into the pavement unless that pavement is very thick.

I notice you caught the Air Madagascar DC-7C at Dar es Salaam, on its way to that big island.

Hope this helps,

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Hi Tom, thanks for that - will be extra careful about parking in those hot spots. Entebbe is, of course, almost exactly on the Equator.

Spoilt for choice with letter L, but the most interesting has to be Leopoldville, FZAA in what was the Belgian Congo:

In 1960 this Sabena DC-7 would have been mobbed by panicky Europeans trying to escape the violent and disorganised transition to independence on June 30th that year. The country is now Democratic Republic of Congo and they renamed the capital Kinshasa, wanting no reminder of the evil King Leopold II. There's a Space Shuttle-sized runway there. Sinister country, beautiful airport.

Another L which I had to take a look at is HELX Luxor, Egypt. We'll go back a few years to 1956 when Colonel Nasser kept his Il-28 Badger bombers here:

They probably didn't really go to the Gate and pick up passengers. But they did get attacked by French F-84Fs and RAF Canberras. It's one of my own more exotic reality-visited airports; a lot of sand had got in through those nice glass doors at the front (where you'll notice the lady in the purple dress), but at least we didn't get bombed.

Thought my M, GLMR Spriggs Payne, in Monrovia, capital of Liberia, would be a bit bigger than that...

...though I now discover that there are two Monrovia airports, so maybe GLRB is the larger one where MEA Comets from Beirut used to drop by. Nice Liberian flag again !

N is for Ndola FLND, Zambia:

Here being visited by a Stratocruiser of BOAC before their 1964 independence. Excellent example of the typical RAF control tower with postwar modernisation there. With the Stratocruiser you have to remember to land and let the passengers out. (Not just overfly the town and open the bomb bays.)

Here's Owendo FOOW, Gabon:

Another from the FsNaBisso site. Makes Monrovia look like O'Hare. The bench in that booking office may give passengers a foretaste of the levels of comfort to be found in our exotic Transgabon Il-14...

Very glad to now have the 1960 Port Sudan, HSPN in the country of the same name:

This Aden Airways DC-3 is probably picking up Muslim pilgrims for the flight across the Red Sea to Jeddah and their ultimate destination, Mecca. Maybe not that particular lady, however.

Back to South Africa for a letter Q, a quiet afternoon at Queenstown FAQT:

Probably named after Queen Victoria like almost everything else in Africa (apart from Leopoldville - I mean Kinshasa).

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

Yes, GLRB is Roberts Field, which has long been the main airport in Monrovia.

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

We had better investigate Monrovia Roberts Intl, Liberia GLRB, properly:

Here's the MEA 707 visiting in '68:

This was a wonderful route they had (very much doubt it's still possible) Beirut - Accra - Monrovia - Freetown, linking the Europe and the Arab World with West Africa. Earlier in the day that old KLM friend was there. Later Pan Am turned up, and this lovely AI DC-3 for internal flights in Liberia:

Tower shot:

This airport lady was very attractive, but she would pester a group of Mormon businessmen who arrived on the Clipper:

Excuse me, Ma'am, is this the way to the International Afro-American Plastics Conference?

Good day, Good day, Yankee boys! You want see Monrovia? I am your gal. Sure, I speak American. Buddy, can you spare a dime? I show you good time in Monrovia. All best places, all best rates...

GLRB developed by Harry Biard, AI by Mike Stevens

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Harry kindly contacted me and pointed out that the radar wasn't showing up properly in the earlier shot of Dar Es Salaam:

Here's how it should look:

This was done by downloading & installing the big Classic Scenery Library. Don't worry if you have addon Scenery Objects Libraries already installed - running the CSL exec. won't mess them up and you don't have to remove anything to make it work perfectly.

Cal Classics have made the Best even better!

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

A mistake which nobody spotted with TR-LKA the Transgabon propliner...

It is, of course, a DC-4, not an Il-14 (African one to come later). This is Frederic Kabalu's very pretty Tchibanga, Gabon with its memorable 4-letter code FOOT:

As well as the radar garden, they have a smart bouncer in tux and bowtie, supplemented by a soldier with an AK-47 (in case the bowtie wasn't quite intimidating enough). Slightly worried looking passenger checking his watch, he's already two days late for the Plastics Conference in Liberia.

The beautiful Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire:

This takes a bit of installation as you have to put in an Exclude file and corrections to the inaccurate MS estuary landmass, but it's worth the effort:

As mentioned before, it's a pity he hasn't done the actual airport (a little to the east of the city), though the default's probably OK for the 1960s.

Using Cal Classic and FsNaBisso scenery you can now fly right round the Gulf of Guinea: Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea, Senegal.

Africa 1960 even includes very small island countries like Cape Verde & Sao Tome and Principe, but there are still a few gaps, e.g. Freetown, Sierra Leone.

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Could not think of any town in Africa to be the R in this A-Z, which was a bit stupid of me as (a) it's the capital city of the nearest country to Europe, and (b) I've been there.

It's Rabat, Morocco GMME:

This is the modern one by Tony Agramont. He's brilliant for landmark buildings, but his airports can be a little ghosty. Sometimes remove elements, including the static aircraft, though there aren't any anyway at the Rabat terminal. Did you recognise the flyable one yet?

It's the Royal Moroccan Air Force Airspeed AS 57 Ambassador. In this screenie it has flown to Laayoune GMME, Western Sahara, more good scenery from FsNaBisso.

They probably bought British to annoy the French. It may have been transport for the King of Morocco himself; he seems to have got himself a blonde stewardess who must be one of the less likely RMAF personnel...

S is for Setif, Algeria DAAS, another from Frederic Kabalu:

Superb Islamic style architecture for the airport there. The Sud-Ouest SO.30P Bretagne is payware from AvSim/J.R. Lucariny which comes in an Iberia retro livery. Having paid my $10 I was disappointed & annoyed that they didn't bother with a decent panel or VC, though it's flyable enough. Very pretty Air Algerie repaint by Jaap de Baare, however!

Then we go back to the Cal Classic Africa 1960 for this fantastic Tripoli, Libya HLLM:

After WW2 the British occupied what had been one of Mussolini's colonies and held onto a few military and air bases there for a while. Since the RAF AB is still present, my Libyan Arab Airlines Caravelle is an anachronism (good word, don't use that every day), but it's a beauty:

How they stole those Swissair steps is one of life's mysteries, but these things happen. The British AB was useful when they were busy bombing neighbouring Egypt in '56. Harry's put these Transport Command Beverleys in there:

The flyable has got a more accurate tail than the statics, but they're still pretty cool. Note that in the first shot of Tripoli you could see the old Libyan flag, since replaced by Colonel Gadaffi & Co with this: ! Green being the colour of Islam, though Gadaffi, who makes himself out to be a sort of eco-friendly revolutionary socialist, isn't exactly religious... (mind you, the Caravelle had a different flag, so maybe he came up with the green one a few years after taking over?).

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

We have the last six letters of the alphabet to go...

U is for Nansio Airport (well, "grass airstrip & a few oildrums & huts") Ukerewe, Tanzania HTUK:

Decided against trying to bring the East African Comet in here, though that shark-faced Twinpin was quite happy. No independence till '63, as you'll see from the old British flag for Tanganyika.

The mysterious lady seems reluctant to leave... Africa has this effect on people.

I've cheated a bit with V since V is for Victoria Falls and its famous airport FLLI Livingstone, Zambia. Had to go back in time a little with the dear old Comet 1 dropping by on her way down to Jo'burg:

Have only ever found minimal Cal Classic GA traffic here - guess Tom may have left it open for our flyable Speedbirds to drop by? There are several well-dressed women, all called Victoria, all with a lot of luggage, joining us here.

W is FYWB, Walvis Bay, Namibia:

Thought it might be nice for the KLM DC-7 to go there safe in the knowledge that the Carters won't be guzzling all our cheese this time. Another rather lonely spot, though this interesting South African DC-3 turned up around 15.00hrs:

In 1960 Namibia was sort of controlled by South Africa, not yet the apartheid pariah that it later became. From 1884 - 1919 it had been a German colony and, according to my sister who's actually been there, there are still a lot of Germans. Something more attractive, but also weird, that she saw was spider plants (like people have in offices) growing wild all over the Namib Desert.

We have an X, though there isn't really any airport, just a strip. FNXA Xangongo, Angola:

Wanted to put an old Portuguese aircraft in there, as it was their colony till 1975. This is a nice TAP L-10 Electra you can get which may, in fact, be the surviving "classic flight" of that airline.

(Viscount 800 at Yola, Nigeria DNYO for our Y - a screenie which I can't find, but promise to post later - sorry!)

And we have just about reached the end of Africa with GOGG, Ziguinchor, Senegal. This is the modern version from FsNaBisso:

Let's have a look at the CalClassic 1960 Ziguinchor. The French finally left on 20 August 1960. This Air Force transport is just picking up the last of the colonialists, a glamorous-looking lady who will surely be glad to get back to the boutiques of Paris?

You can just see her Para husband's boots as he urges her to scamper across the tarmac and board their Nord Noratlas....

Merde! She's forgotten to take the last lightbulb from the departures lounge. Never mind, it didn't work anyway. Vive la France!

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Here's a better view of Ziguinchor:

You'll be wondering how the story ended? Well, he forgave her for leaving the lightbulb and the huge Noratlas rumbled on and on through the night.

"Oh, Cheri," she murmered into his hard-bitten French Para's ear, "Soon vee vill be in gay Paree..."

"Oui, oui, ma p'tite Amour, but first I must compleetez ma final Tour of Duty..."

"Oooh la la! And vere exactement iz zat?"

"Djibouti (Ambouli HDAM), but it iz onlee for fifteen years. Zen ve vill go to gay Paree..." For you see, mes enfants, the Legion was a hard taskmistress.

Not forgetting Yola in Nigeria, as promised:

The Viscount was leased from British Midland, most of whose livery remains, in 1968.

Her? Oh yes, that's Fiona. Her Daddy is the British Vice Consul, so you'd better be on best behaviour when she's around.

 

[tgibson]

Hi Ralf,

A Twin Otter is really not a Twinpin AFAIK (Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer).

There was not much traffic at Livingstone because BOAC had moved their route away from there several years previously. Other than Central African flying in tourists to Victorial Falls, not much other traffic was left.

http://books.google.com/books?id=KBmGpaD36cMC&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=central+african+vickers+viscount+livingstone&source=bl&ots=nBjNRr2U5s&sig=qULvJuTLtQLDUNz1ufjJDtFiAXM&hl=en&ei=efjOTKCNE4n0swPXhs3cDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=central%20african%20vickers%20viscount%20livingstone&f=false

(scroll down for a view of a CAA Viscount, although not at Livingstone).

Hope this helps,

 

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Hi Ralf,

A Twin Otter is really not a Twinpin AFAIK (Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer).


Hope this helps,

My mistake! Should have said a Twotter of course. :salute:

Wonder if there's more traffic at Livingstone with AI on earlier settings?

Thanks for everything Tom - more nice Cal Classic scenery & AI to be seen in Willy's The Mighty Howard, not a million miles away from here.

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

No, not much more in the 1957 traffic - the move away happened earlier than that.

Thanks for the tip about the other thread.