Beryl Markham, aviatrice extraordinary
Wilson Airport, Nairobi
Latitude 01° 18’ 16” S, Longtitude 36° 48’ 48” E
Elevation above sea level: 5536ft
When I was learning to fly, aged 60, I devoured every flying book I could get my hands on in the misguided belief that the written word would make me a pilot. There's only way to learn. Get up there, with a long-suffering instructor; get on with it; make mistakes, 'feel' your plane and learn to trust it while you get on with the business of building hours towards your PPL. Mind you, although books don't teach you how to fly they do connect you with others who have. You become one, miniscule link in a long chain stretching back to the Wright Brothers, Bleriot ( first across the English Channel), Antoine de St Exupery and, of course, those who flew for their countries in combat. One of the first books I read was West with the Night by Beryl Markham just one of an extraordinary number of women flyers which included my wife's grandmother Lois Butler. Lois ferried Spitfires and bombers around Britain during World War II as part of the Air Auxilliary. She, and her husband Alan Butler who was Chairman of De Havilland Aircraft, ferried a Gloster AS31 from Hatfield, UK, to Capetown in 1931. Flying time: 74 hours 4 mins, using 3539 Imperial gallons of fuel and 218 galons of oil. I shall come back to her diary of the trip in a later blog. |
Antoine de St Exupery’s, author of The Little Prince, wrote the poetic Sand, Wind and Stars. Anne Morrow Lindbergh the exquisite North to the Orient, describing the time when she co-piloted a single-engine 600hp radial-engine Sirius with her husband Charles in 1931 by the great circle route. Beryl Markham’s book stirs the soul. And she was here. At Wilson. She became involved with Denis Finch-Hatton, aviator, white hunter whose clients included the Prince of Wales, later the Duke of Windsor, bon vivant, (Robert Redford in Out of Africa with Meryl Streep playing Karen Blixen). He refused to teach her how to fly, presumably on the principle “Never mix business with Pleasure”. She turned to the dashing Tom Campbell Black. Campbell-Black was managing Director of Wilson Airways, named after Florence Kerr Wilson, the founder of commercial aviation in Kenya. Campbell Black told Beryl Markham; " trust your instincts and your compass. If you can’t fly without looking at your speed indicator, your turn co-ordinator and your altimeter, well then Beryl you can’t fly.“ Her first solo was in June 1931 in a Gypsy Moth. A month earlier Denys Finch Hatton was killed, also in a Gipsy Moth, while scouting elephant over what is today Kenya’s Tsavo National Park with his Somali servant Hamisi. Beryl went on to become a safe, reliable and courageous bush pilot with exceptional navigation skills ferrying parts to farmers and settlers around Kenya.
I had my first experience of a “ hot and high” take-off from Wilson routing to Zanzibar today. A delayed start due to voluminous paperwork meant we started our take-off roll on Runway 14 in Alpha-Charlie for the 3-hour leg to Zanzibar at 09:45 Zulu or just before 13:00 local. ( Pilots and air controllers world-wide invariable operate on UTC or Coordinated Universal Time aka Zulu) It was 25 degrees celcius. The field is at 5536ft above sea level. Back of an envelope told us density altitude - the "real altitude your aicraft has to lift off from- was 8000 feet. At our first attempt with full fuel and one stage of flap Steve nosed Alpha Charlie off the searing tarmac at 65 knots Indicated Airspeed before the stall warner sounded off, like a whining cat, and she settled gently back on the ground. Not this time boys. We aborted our take-off, were instructed to do a 180 degree turn by the nice lady in the tower , back-track up the runway, vacate and state our intentions. “ We’ll give it another go “ said Steve “ If that doesn’t work we’ll pack it in, have a beer and try again first thing tomorrow”. Fair enough. We slotted in behind a twin-Otter. Full power, feet on the breaks, roll: we watched the speed build up, felt the ground effect give her a bit of lift and at around 75 knots I gently put in one stage of flap and Steve eased her away. Alpha Charlie, Bless her little spats, lifted like a bird, obedient, competent, solid. We were routed via the south-east access lane over bush and scattered Thorn trees and made for Zanzibar via waypoint LUDOL. Of course we should have gone earlier when it was cooler ( that’s why Beryl Markham often flew at night delivering parts to stranded farmers in bush) but wanted to meet the remaining Foxes in Zanzibar where I write this listening to the call to prayer from the many mosques in Stonetown.
Mount Kilimanajaro shrouded in cloud: dedicated to Belinda who has been there
We skirted Mount Kilimanjaro to our right, riding mild mountain-waves and landed 3 hours later dripping with sweat in Zanzibar. I’d just like to say that again: Zanzibar in Alpha Charlie: semi-autonomous part of Tanzanania, fomer Porruguese colony, later owned by Oman, famous for spices and slaves. In the mid 19th Century as many as 50,000 African slaves passed through its mainly Arab-controlled slave markets.
Abeam Zanzibar airport for runway 36 downwind left QNH 1008
Tomorrow: Mozambique
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