Rothmans Team engineer 1979-1980.
I'm putting the scans on as they arrived, over the Winter, I'll try and put the through Photoshop.
I'm putting the scans on as they arrived, over the Winter, I'll try and put the through Photoshop.
Cartoon by Peter Jones.
The start of the tour diary was 3rd Jan 1980 when I arrived in Dubai from Australia. Rothmans assisted with a flight home for Christmas and I had been in England from March 1979. I don’t remember CAA giving much leeway for an Australian aircraft engineering licence, so had almost a year of experience and a full day in CAA Doncaster of written and oral examinations before gaining a UK licence. The extra time at Teeside airport gaining experience on 4 new Pitts S2A meant missing out on the Malaysia tour so Bob Lee, John Brobin and Dillip Pattel were the support for the other team. It would have been somewhat unfortunate if the Malaysia tour had also made it to Australia although that never eventuated due lack of sponsorship from Rothmans Oz.
The attached map is a somewhat basic from the days before overhead projectors were readily available for presentation.
31 January 1980
We have been rather busy at work one way and another. I wish the 2nd team would hurry up and go back to England and stop using our aeroplanes for practice. We have finally got our Islander over here. It arrived from Calcutta 3 days ago. The Chief Engineer went to pick it up so I was boss for a week or so. He had a pretty hectic trip. Although they managed to get fuel at a cost of something like $70 per gallon, they found they needed more because they weren’t allowed to overfly Pakistan without landing. They weren't sure of fuel there either. So they took everything out of the Islander and loaded on more fuel in jerrycans. Finally took off with 450 gallons of fuel. They did an 18 hour non stop crossing and the part across the Indian Ocean they'd flown for 3 hours without any fix from NAV aids. They made radio contact with a Gulf Air aircraft with OMEGA. They were cruising at 8000 with forecast winds 8-15 knots but the Gulf Air guy checked, at 10000 they had 80 knots headwind and at 5000 82 knots headwind so they did the last 2 hours of flight at 200 feet. Reckon they had 3 hours fuel left when they arrived at Muscat.
All sorts of things went wrong while the Chief was away. We had tail wheels fly apart on landing, exhaust system breaking off and team leader of 2nd team had a taxi accident and bent a prop so we have an engine change on. Still waiting for the engine to get through customs. We are having constant problems with radios, in fact, I wish I knew nothing about electricity, because I am the one that has to keep trying to repair them. We have had condensers falling off circuit boards, aerial connections dropping off, etc. The installation just isn't up to the job. We don 't have proper test facilities and with two pilots to each aircraft they can never agree about anything.
We have been rather busy at work one way and another. I wish the 2nd team would hurry up and go back to England and stop using our aeroplanes for practice. We have finally got our Islander over here. It arrived from Calcutta 3 days ago. The Chief Engineer went to pick it up so I was boss for a week or so. He had a pretty hectic trip. Although they managed to get fuel at a cost of something like $70 per gallon, they found they needed more because they weren’t allowed to overfly Pakistan without landing. They weren't sure of fuel there either. So they took everything out of the Islander and loaded on more fuel in jerrycans. Finally took off with 450 gallons of fuel. They did an 18 hour non stop crossing and the part across the Indian Ocean they'd flown for 3 hours without any fix from NAV aids. They made radio contact with a Gulf Air aircraft with OMEGA. They were cruising at 8000 with forecast winds 8-15 knots but the Gulf Air guy checked, at 10000 they had 80 knots headwind and at 5000 82 knots headwind so they did the last 2 hours of flight at 200 feet. Reckon they had 3 hours fuel left when they arrived at Muscat.
All sorts of things went wrong while the Chief was away. We had tail wheels fly apart on landing, exhaust system breaking off and team leader of 2nd team had a taxi accident and bent a prop so we have an engine change on. Still waiting for the engine to get through customs. We are having constant problems with radios, in fact, I wish I knew nothing about electricity, because I am the one that has to keep trying to repair them. We have had condensers falling off circuit boards, aerial connections dropping off, etc. The installation just isn't up to the job. We don 't have proper test facilities and with two pilots to each aircraft they can never agree about anything.
26 February 1980
Touring has been pretty good although we have had our share of problems one way or another. We have just had to leave one aircraft in Doha because it has a cracked crankcase. A couple of us will be going back to change the engine when a replacement arrives. The southern end of the Gulf has been more enjoyable than this end. There is no alcohol or women here. Muscat was very nice, and I liked it better than Dubai. Travel ling from place to place is very good fun although it gets a bit cramped at times with 6 people, all the tools and luggage in the Islander. We always transit very Iow so I am seeing lots of the country.
The transit times are usually about 2 hours except from Doha to Kuwait today was 2 3/4 hours. As soon as we get out of the towns we go down to below 500 feet and the Pitts usually fly at about 20 feet along the beach. Today even the Islander was down to 60 feet, saw lots of interesting things. Sharks, dolphins, camels, sheep, oil wells and pumping plants, great lines of supertankers and wrecks. The water is a 1 ways quite clear and green. Its not such a bad way to make a living if you can take the boring parts. The hotels are always nice and most things are taken care of for us so we don't need to do much.
Muscat down in OMAN was the best because it had a mountain range just back from the coast and there was a bit of greenness instead of just an expanse of sand. The Intercontinental was the poshest hotel I have ever seen. It was 7 stories high but the rooms were arranged in a square 15 to a side and the centre was just a massive space about 100 feet high with glass lifts and fountains and waterfalls at the bottom. All the rooms open onto balcony's and YOU can see across to any floor and tell who comes and goes from any room. It's great fun throwing paper gliders off the top floor. We had a competition at 4.30 am one morning after the disco closed. They had a beautiful swimming pool there too even though the hotel was built on the beach and we used the hotel as a centre point for our displays so we were quite famous at that place. There were quite big crowds there and the weather was perfect.
The Police Air Wing at Muscat were very friendly also and did a lot of entertaining for us. Some of the guys were taken for a
ride in the Gates Lear Jet. I believe they even did a roll in it. I was taken for a 3 1/2 hour scenic joyride in a Pilatus Porter all over Oman. There was only the pilot and myself and we only had to deliver a couple of letters to towns. He let me fly it most of the time. We even did some circuits at one of the airports . Some of the mountains were quite breathtaking and we went down some ravines with the rock faces sweeping past the wing tips. I have also done a lot of air to air photography. Every place we go to we unload the Islander and take a load of passengers flying in formation with the doors off so press photographers can take pictures. Some of them are so terrified they forget to take pictures. It's hard to believe the Gulf tour is nearly over already. One place the people on the ground got the crowd together in the wrong site and our pilots did a display to two people in a car park. We have been held up a couple of times because of dust storms and once because of rain. We have only actually been late for one display. The only days you really get an audience here is one Thursday and Friday.
Touring has been pretty good although we have had our share of problems one way or another. We have just had to leave one aircraft in Doha because it has a cracked crankcase. A couple of us will be going back to change the engine when a replacement arrives. The southern end of the Gulf has been more enjoyable than this end. There is no alcohol or women here. Muscat was very nice, and I liked it better than Dubai. Travel ling from place to place is very good fun although it gets a bit cramped at times with 6 people, all the tools and luggage in the Islander. We always transit very Iow so I am seeing lots of the country.
The transit times are usually about 2 hours except from Doha to Kuwait today was 2 3/4 hours. As soon as we get out of the towns we go down to below 500 feet and the Pitts usually fly at about 20 feet along the beach. Today even the Islander was down to 60 feet, saw lots of interesting things. Sharks, dolphins, camels, sheep, oil wells and pumping plants, great lines of supertankers and wrecks. The water is a 1 ways quite clear and green. Its not such a bad way to make a living if you can take the boring parts. The hotels are always nice and most things are taken care of for us so we don't need to do much.
Muscat down in OMAN was the best because it had a mountain range just back from the coast and there was a bit of greenness instead of just an expanse of sand. The Intercontinental was the poshest hotel I have ever seen. It was 7 stories high but the rooms were arranged in a square 15 to a side and the centre was just a massive space about 100 feet high with glass lifts and fountains and waterfalls at the bottom. All the rooms open onto balcony's and YOU can see across to any floor and tell who comes and goes from any room. It's great fun throwing paper gliders off the top floor. We had a competition at 4.30 am one morning after the disco closed. They had a beautiful swimming pool there too even though the hotel was built on the beach and we used the hotel as a centre point for our displays so we were quite famous at that place. There were quite big crowds there and the weather was perfect.
The Police Air Wing at Muscat were very friendly also and did a lot of entertaining for us. Some of the guys were taken for a
ride in the Gates Lear Jet. I believe they even did a roll in it. I was taken for a 3 1/2 hour scenic joyride in a Pilatus Porter all over Oman. There was only the pilot and myself and we only had to deliver a couple of letters to towns. He let me fly it most of the time. We even did some circuits at one of the airports . Some of the mountains were quite breathtaking and we went down some ravines with the rock faces sweeping past the wing tips. I have also done a lot of air to air photography. Every place we go to we unload the Islander and take a load of passengers flying in formation with the doors off so press photographers can take pictures. Some of them are so terrified they forget to take pictures. It's hard to believe the Gulf tour is nearly over already. One place the people on the ground got the crowd together in the wrong site and our pilots did a display to two people in a car park. We have been held up a couple of times because of dust storms and once because of rain. We have only actually been late for one display. The only days you really get an audience here is one Thursday and Friday.
10 March 1980
I wrote the last letter in Kuwait so there's only Bahrain to tell you about. It was quite pleasant there, especially to see bars, disco's and women again. The stay was highlighted by a flight in the rear seat of the Pitts. I volunteered for the ride from Bahrain to Doha to retrieve the aircraft which had the engine change . We flew across in the Islander, then Mike Finn put me in the rear seat because he said I would be able to manage it better from there. Only marginally it turned out, the Pitts is a bit of a handful for me with my experience. I took it off without collecting the runway lights then Mike did a flight test in the form of an aerobatic display to ATC on the airfield. We started at 2500 but lost height very quickly with gross weight. Finished with an inverted pass at about 30 feet the length of the runway, very exciting. I don •t know what the people on the ground thought when they could see the pilot in the rear seat waving at them with both hands.
Then the Islander took off to fly back to Bahrain with us but Norman (Islander pilot) wanted to show off to a girl he'd met so we flew around inverted over the Islander for 6 minutes before he decided he couldn•t find the school. Then after finding it we went back for another 2 mins. inverted. That •s also a unique experience hanging upside down 20 feet above an Islander. Mike Finn is an extremely good pilot. I flew all the way back about
40 n ins and just about landed it without scrubbing the tyres off. It was all quite an experience and after doing a little formation flying, I very much admire our pilots being able to do aerobatics in formation. The effort involved in doing a formation outside loop or slow roll must be quite something. The next day I found that my eyes were terribly bloodshot from being inverted and all the skin was rubbed off my hips from the seat belt buckles. We finished dismantling the aircraft yesterday and have packed everything ready for airfreight. Now we have a little spare time in which to do nothing. Good this job isn•t it? We also fitted the long range tanks in the Islander because it will be flying more or less direct to Khartoum. I volunteered for this trip even though it will be 13 hours non—stop flying. I am sure it Rill be an experience. We will be going via Doha because both Norman and I have met girls there and it seems like a good idea to drop in to see them for an overnight stay.
I wrote the last letter in Kuwait so there's only Bahrain to tell you about. It was quite pleasant there, especially to see bars, disco's and women again. The stay was highlighted by a flight in the rear seat of the Pitts. I volunteered for the ride from Bahrain to Doha to retrieve the aircraft which had the engine change . We flew across in the Islander, then Mike Finn put me in the rear seat because he said I would be able to manage it better from there. Only marginally it turned out, the Pitts is a bit of a handful for me with my experience. I took it off without collecting the runway lights then Mike did a flight test in the form of an aerobatic display to ATC on the airfield. We started at 2500 but lost height very quickly with gross weight. Finished with an inverted pass at about 30 feet the length of the runway, very exciting. I don •t know what the people on the ground thought when they could see the pilot in the rear seat waving at them with both hands.
Then the Islander took off to fly back to Bahrain with us but Norman (Islander pilot) wanted to show off to a girl he'd met so we flew around inverted over the Islander for 6 minutes before he decided he couldn•t find the school. Then after finding it we went back for another 2 mins. inverted. That •s also a unique experience hanging upside down 20 feet above an Islander. Mike Finn is an extremely good pilot. I flew all the way back about
40 n ins and just about landed it without scrubbing the tyres off. It was all quite an experience and after doing a little formation flying, I very much admire our pilots being able to do aerobatics in formation. The effort involved in doing a formation outside loop or slow roll must be quite something. The next day I found that my eyes were terribly bloodshot from being inverted and all the skin was rubbed off my hips from the seat belt buckles. We finished dismantling the aircraft yesterday and have packed everything ready for airfreight. Now we have a little spare time in which to do nothing. Good this job isn•t it? We also fitted the long range tanks in the Islander because it will be flying more or less direct to Khartoum. I volunteered for this trip even though it will be 13 hours non—stop flying. I am sure it Rill be an experience. We will be going via Doha because both Norman and I have met girls there and it seems like a good idea to drop in to see them for an overnight stay.
24 March 1980
Norman and myself managed to stretch our stay in Dubai until Sunday evening on the 16th. Everyone was leaving in dribs and drabs . The Pitts were air freighted out on Friday and the Engineers went on Saturday but since I was to help fly the
Islander we had to wait for a clearance across Saudi Arabia. We finally obtained it left Dubai for Bahrain on Sunday evening had about 5 hours sleep before setting off to Khartoum dead tired. It was a long and tiring flight, absolutely nothing of interest to see, so much dust that we flew on instruments the whole way and it was still quite hot even at 8000 feet. It was 12 hrs 30 m ins, we had the 4 x 45 gall. drums full and another 20 galls. in jerrycans . There were slight headwinds but I think we still had about 4 hours fuel when we landed. It was an experience but the next trip like that will need to be slightly more interesting.
The temperature was still 41 C when we landed at 6.30 pm and it hasn't been much cooler since. One advantage of flying across in the Islander was that when I arrived the Pitts were all unloaded and 3 were already partly assembled. I missed the loading too because I was otherwise engaged. My engineers look after me. we now have them all assembled and the last one was test flown today . It •s actually taken 7 days of working from 7.30 am to 1 pm because there have been quite a few snags to play with besides assemb . It gets too hot to work after midday. The new pilots practice twice a day and start displays on Friday 28th. I think they are having difficulty with the power losses from a density altitude of 6000 8000 feet. Especially since the general consensus of opinion among pilots seems that out new S2's are not as powerful as the old ones even though they both supposedly 200 Sudan is a bit of a let down after the Gulf. The allowances aren't as good only $50 a day and this hotel has the monopoly in Khartoum. The prices are outrageous. A glass of beer $6, Orange juice $4, 2 boiled eggs on toast is $10.
I am fixing a speedboat tor a Rothmans Sales Manager, or at least trying to. Everything was going well except I managed to drop a rubber mount off the starter motor in the murky Nile. It's only up to my chest but I couldn't find it. I'll have to fabricate something. I helped out some other people that couldn't start their outboard then these bongos dragged me to an old wrecked Evinrude which had been weathered with the cover off for about 2 years . The spark plugs were broken off and they point at the encapsulated CD I unit and says, 'no replacement, you fix" I mean what can you say that they'll understand. All the wires were cut about and twisted together.
The airport is incredible. Full of aeroplanes nobody can fix. Beech CBO that had flown 500 hours since new but can't fly because it is 18 months overdue for C of A and nobody has licences to do it. Cessna 402 with a damaged rudder that I could repair in about a week. They sent somebody to the States with $17000 for a new one and he hasn't been heard of since, this was 12 months ago. There is another hangar R ith about 24 aircraft of various types only 2 are serviceable. If you could get access to parts you could have a field day here.
Norman and myself managed to stretch our stay in Dubai until Sunday evening on the 16th. Everyone was leaving in dribs and drabs . The Pitts were air freighted out on Friday and the Engineers went on Saturday but since I was to help fly the
Islander we had to wait for a clearance across Saudi Arabia. We finally obtained it left Dubai for Bahrain on Sunday evening had about 5 hours sleep before setting off to Khartoum dead tired. It was a long and tiring flight, absolutely nothing of interest to see, so much dust that we flew on instruments the whole way and it was still quite hot even at 8000 feet. It was 12 hrs 30 m ins, we had the 4 x 45 gall. drums full and another 20 galls. in jerrycans . There were slight headwinds but I think we still had about 4 hours fuel when we landed. It was an experience but the next trip like that will need to be slightly more interesting.
The temperature was still 41 C when we landed at 6.30 pm and it hasn't been much cooler since. One advantage of flying across in the Islander was that when I arrived the Pitts were all unloaded and 3 were already partly assembled. I missed the loading too because I was otherwise engaged. My engineers look after me. we now have them all assembled and the last one was test flown today . It •s actually taken 7 days of working from 7.30 am to 1 pm because there have been quite a few snags to play with besides assemb . It gets too hot to work after midday. The new pilots practice twice a day and start displays on Friday 28th. I think they are having difficulty with the power losses from a density altitude of 6000 8000 feet. Especially since the general consensus of opinion among pilots seems that out new S2's are not as powerful as the old ones even though they both supposedly 200 Sudan is a bit of a let down after the Gulf. The allowances aren't as good only $50 a day and this hotel has the monopoly in Khartoum. The prices are outrageous. A glass of beer $6, Orange juice $4, 2 boiled eggs on toast is $10.
I am fixing a speedboat tor a Rothmans Sales Manager, or at least trying to. Everything was going well except I managed to drop a rubber mount off the starter motor in the murky Nile. It's only up to my chest but I couldn't find it. I'll have to fabricate something. I helped out some other people that couldn't start their outboard then these bongos dragged me to an old wrecked Evinrude which had been weathered with the cover off for about 2 years . The spark plugs were broken off and they point at the encapsulated CD I unit and says, 'no replacement, you fix" I mean what can you say that they'll understand. All the wires were cut about and twisted together.
The airport is incredible. Full of aeroplanes nobody can fix. Beech CBO that had flown 500 hours since new but can't fly because it is 18 months overdue for C of A and nobody has licences to do it. Cessna 402 with a damaged rudder that I could repair in about a week. They sent somebody to the States with $17000 for a new one and he hasn't been heard of since, this was 12 months ago. There is another hangar R ith about 24 aircraft of various types only 2 are serviceable. If you could get access to parts you could have a field day here.
17 April 1980
I am absolutely bushed but learning to live with the feeling. A lot of problems were caused because we were three days late leaving Khartoum. First customs strike, then a sand storm. Khartoum to Aswan in one day, thought we weren 't going to make it. Set out 6 am strong headwinds. Landed at Atbara 1.30 refuel led from 44 gallon drums at dirt strip. 108 F by 9.00 am. Next leg 3.30 hrs didn't follow Nile all the way because its too bendy. Followed a railway line at altitude of 15 feet, well below tops of telegraph poles. Didn't see much for 3 hrs. Landed at Wadi Half a. Another dirt strip. No—one, no fuel, no anything . It was about 1.30 pm. We drained all Pitts into Islander and set off for Aswan to collect fuel. Meanwhile one Pitts took off to buzz the town to see if we could attract attention . We were 1/2 an hour away, when a Pitts radioed to say fuel and customs men had appeared so we turned back. Just managed to get refuel ling done and customs men under control by Made it to Aswan at sunset no time to spare. Very long day . The Aswan Dam is really something. Like an inland ocean . Aswan is a very beautiful place. Stayed in a Hotel built on an Island in the Nile just below dam. The displays went very well, beautiful day and setting, big crowds. Next morning we flew 1 hr to Luxor and did a display as soon as we arrived. Next morning we escaped for 4 hrs, crossed Nile by boat to see Valley of Kings and ruined temples, also Ossymandius. All very interesting and fantastic but very brief.
In the afternoon we had to do a bit of work. We were joined by a film crew who are making a 35mm cinemascope film of us. They make life very difficult. They bolt in a 40-50 pound camera in the front cockpit with 4 jubilee clips and expect the pilots to do all manner of things which aren't practiced. Just do your normal display and the poor pilot gets his head out the side to see round the camera to avoid hitting the formation. The aircraft are becoming very knocked about and dirty. We just can 't keep them clean and maintained, working out of boxes in the desert. I am sure it will be much nicer once we get across to Cyprus . These pilots do a much better display than the other team and they are improving quite quickly. Cairo is an incredible place 13 million. The noise of car horns is incredible. The driving is unbelievable but our display tomorrow should completely bring Cairo to a standstill. It •s over the Nile between two bridges surrounded by 20 storey buildings, right in front of our hotel. This morning I went horse riding around the Pyramids for 2 hours. This evening I have a sore bum. One of the aeroplanes, the old one from Malaysia tour is falling to bits or rather all the wood is shrinking and hinges and bell cranks are coming loose. Never mind we haven •t missed any displays because of engineering problems so far .
I am absolutely bushed but learning to live with the feeling. A lot of problems were caused because we were three days late leaving Khartoum. First customs strike, then a sand storm. Khartoum to Aswan in one day, thought we weren 't going to make it. Set out 6 am strong headwinds. Landed at Atbara 1.30 refuel led from 44 gallon drums at dirt strip. 108 F by 9.00 am. Next leg 3.30 hrs didn't follow Nile all the way because its too bendy. Followed a railway line at altitude of 15 feet, well below tops of telegraph poles. Didn't see much for 3 hrs. Landed at Wadi Half a. Another dirt strip. No—one, no fuel, no anything . It was about 1.30 pm. We drained all Pitts into Islander and set off for Aswan to collect fuel. Meanwhile one Pitts took off to buzz the town to see if we could attract attention . We were 1/2 an hour away, when a Pitts radioed to say fuel and customs men had appeared so we turned back. Just managed to get refuel ling done and customs men under control by Made it to Aswan at sunset no time to spare. Very long day . The Aswan Dam is really something. Like an inland ocean . Aswan is a very beautiful place. Stayed in a Hotel built on an Island in the Nile just below dam. The displays went very well, beautiful day and setting, big crowds. Next morning we flew 1 hr to Luxor and did a display as soon as we arrived. Next morning we escaped for 4 hrs, crossed Nile by boat to see Valley of Kings and ruined temples, also Ossymandius. All very interesting and fantastic but very brief.
In the afternoon we had to do a bit of work. We were joined by a film crew who are making a 35mm cinemascope film of us. They make life very difficult. They bolt in a 40-50 pound camera in the front cockpit with 4 jubilee clips and expect the pilots to do all manner of things which aren't practiced. Just do your normal display and the poor pilot gets his head out the side to see round the camera to avoid hitting the formation. The aircraft are becoming very knocked about and dirty. We just can 't keep them clean and maintained, working out of boxes in the desert. I am sure it will be much nicer once we get across to Cyprus . These pilots do a much better display than the other team and they are improving quite quickly. Cairo is an incredible place 13 million. The noise of car horns is incredible. The driving is unbelievable but our display tomorrow should completely bring Cairo to a standstill. It •s over the Nile between two bridges surrounded by 20 storey buildings, right in front of our hotel. This morning I went horse riding around the Pyramids for 2 hours. This evening I have a sore bum. One of the aeroplanes, the old one from Malaysia tour is falling to bits or rather all the wood is shrinking and hinges and bell cranks are coming loose. Never mind we haven •t missed any displays because of engineering problems so far .
24 April 1980
We are having a lot of work with the amazing film crew. This film is costing something between 50000 80000 there is a crew of 6 and there has been no co—operation with us. We only found out what was happening about a fortnight before they arrived .
It's ridiculous the things they ask us to do. They mount this 40 lb 35 mm camera on a scaffold of 3/4" waterpipe 18" out the side of the front seat. The drag is so phenomenal that it has nearly caused several accidents. They even want to turn it sideways to take some shots. On top of that they ask the pilots to carry it on displays but they want them to vary position so they will be in view. Must think we are bionic super men or something. We were confined to Barracks for 3 days at the beginning of the week by a bad sandstorm. We still spend 3 hours each day getting to the airport at 7 in case we could get away. I went on a trip to the Red Sea but the visibility was so bad could hardly see it. There was a hell of a lot of wreckage and military camps from the war that was fought. It will be nice to move on to Cyprus and Greece where civilization becomes more my standards.
We are having a lot of work with the amazing film crew. This film is costing something between 50000 80000 there is a crew of 6 and there has been no co—operation with us. We only found out what was happening about a fortnight before they arrived .
It's ridiculous the things they ask us to do. They mount this 40 lb 35 mm camera on a scaffold of 3/4" waterpipe 18" out the side of the front seat. The drag is so phenomenal that it has nearly caused several accidents. They even want to turn it sideways to take some shots. On top of that they ask the pilots to carry it on displays but they want them to vary position so they will be in view. Must think we are bionic super men or something. We were confined to Barracks for 3 days at the beginning of the week by a bad sandstorm. We still spend 3 hours each day getting to the airport at 7 in case we could get away. I went on a trip to the Red Sea but the visibility was so bad could hardly see it. There was a hell of a lot of wreckage and military camps from the war that was fought. It will be nice to move on to Cyprus and Greece where civilization becomes more my standards.
