When flying boats ruled the coast
SAAF moved 35 Squadron up the map to Lake Mzingazi
DECADES after they last took to the air, flying boats still retain their aura of mystique and nostalgia.
Keith Goodall of Pinetown recalls how, as a cadet at the Durban Technical College (which was then affiliated to 35 Squadron of the SA Air Force), he got an opportunity most schoolboys would have happily traded punches for – to fly in a Short Sunderland.
“We could volunteer to do cadets and if you didn’t miss any Fridays (the day the school held cadets) your chances improved for getting a opportunity to fly,” he explained.
While Catalina Bay, at the southern end of Lake St Lucia, had played host to the famous Catalina flying boats, when these were replaced by the much larger Short Sunderlands, the lake was too shallow to accommodate them, as they needed at least 1.2m of water to land in.
So, 35 Squadron, which was based in Durban, relocated to Lake Mzingazi. This was also due to the fact that the much bigger flying boats were not allowed to land in Durban harbour after dark.
Back then Richards Bay did not exist and the terrain was still wild, which means he has some hair-raising tales to tell.
“On one flight I was bracing myself against the door, which was always open. There were two or three guys behind me,” Goodall recalled. “Suddenly, the plane banked and I had to support their weight, while trying not to fall out the door.”
The fact that the planes had no hydraulics, and it took sheer strength to man the controls, meant the time seemed interminable, he said with a shudder. Just when he felt he could not take the strain any longer, the plane levelled out. “We all breathed a huge sigh relief.”
He explained that the Sunderlands were built to stay in the air for long periods at low speed. Many a pilot got a kick flying low over fishermen.
“At times they dropped their rods,” he laughed. “However, when we did climb higher, we could sometimes see turtles swimming out to sea.”
Another kind of excitement came from knowing that the lake had to be “swept” clean before a flight could touch of down on Lake Mzingazi.
The flight from Durban took about 40 minutes and a message was sent ahead, giving the estimated time of arrival. The tender launch set off for a run along the landing area “to check for debris and make sure no hippos were on the surface,” said Goodall.
Hippos aside, the landing was also an experience.
“The plane would first bounce off the water, but when it touched the second time you had to hold on tight as the deceleration was incredible. There were no seat belts.”
Despite having been back several times to try to find where the camp was, Goodall has been unsuccessful, but he thinks it is where the Richards Bay golf club is now.
He says in those days, in the mid-1950s, they used to swim where the harbour entrance is now.
“The Richards Bay Hotel was a big house with a verandah all the way round. Just a few holiday cottages existed and all provisions were fetched from Empangeni 25km away on a single-track, dirt road.
He told of an air show at the old Stamford Hill aerodrome, where the Moses Mabhida Stadium is now.
“The final event involved a low-level flypast of a Sunderland. It looked spectacular as it approached with its four propellers and wide wingspan coming in lower and lower, travelling at 150km/h.
“We later heard that the keel was only 10cm above the grass and the pilot had been in trouble!”