Mersing

 

 

Mersing located at the east coast is a beautiful place, a gateway for tourism to the island of Tioman and the neighbouring smaller islands. The main attraction is diving owing to crystal clear waters and beautiful coral reefs. The tropical islands with white sandy beaches with swaying palm trees gave the assurance of an idealistic environment away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

A historical event occurred at North of Tioman just off Kuantan during the Second World War, two British capital warships were attacked and sunk by Japanese bombers flying from Saigon. The date was 10^th December 1941 three days after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour. The target the new 729 ft battleship HMS Prince of Wales of 35,000 tons launched only in April and the 794 ft older battle-cruiser HMS Repulse of 32,000 tons built in 1916 and re-modernized between the years 1936-1939. The two giants were caught without friendly air cover and sent to the bottom of the sea with heavy loss of lives. In that battle the Japanese had proven Billy Mitchell’s theory that battleships could be bombed from the air and that air power could dominate sea power. Consequently the Allied Naval supremacy disintegrated and the Imperial Japanese Navy became Masters of the sea. Till this day the watery grave is being preserved by the British Royal Navy as a war memorial and marked by a white ensign attached to a buoy fluttering beneath the waves.

When we were booted out of Desaru on the 4^th December 1997 I flew my Challenger II alone to Mersing. I remember that evening having been cleared, took off at 1705 hours and climbed to 1,000 ft, trekking the coastline heading north. After passing the area of Kampong Sedili Besar I encountered low lying clouds and obtained permission to climb to 2,000 ft. When above the clouds I had that strange feeling with the whitish fluffy cumulus vapors suspending below me and all around over a large area. It was an amazing sight as I was trying to gage, to understand, appreciate nature and grasps the magnitude of God’s Creation. The clouds obstructed my view below and for a moment I had no idea of my exact positioning. I just had to rely on my compass bearing and my watch for timing. After some time I observed an opening in the clouds so I penetrated through and found to my relief the coastline directly below.

I identified a fishing village of Tanjong Leman with Pulau Sibu to my right and was happy to know that I was dead on track. Soon I had welcome view of the grassy airfield of Mersing in sight with a solitary open-sided shelter as a waiting hall. I wanted to land immediately so reduced power to descend and lining up with the runway #33 I crossed the mouth of the river, cleared the perimeter fence and touched down smoothly. The trip had taken one hour and forty minutes landing before the sunset. I look forward to our new “home” and hope that our stay would be a happy and a longer one. I could see that the airfield was in excellent condition and properly maintained. The grass being trimmed, with perimeter markings laid out accordingly and all around fencing to prevent intrusion by wild animals.

Airfield specification:

Name: Mersing

Identifier: Whisky Mike Alfa Uniform (WMAU)

Location: Latitude 02 23 00 North

Longtitude 103 52 00 East

Runway heading: 15/33

Length: 500 m

Width 30 m

Surface: grassy

Status: un-control

Navigation Aids: VOR station next to the airfield, north side.

Yes there were wild animals with occasional appearances some wild boars roaming in groups, huge iguanas the local monitor lizards, snakes and variety of monkeys. The monkeys were abundant, daring, mischievous and a damned nuisance; actually they are a pain in the butt. Our building was next to the fringe of the forested belt that ran a long way south parallel to the coast. We were the only frontier outpost therefore quite exposed and obviously became the subject or the object of their curiosity. I believed when nobody was around they came in to scout around.

One incident Capt. Chung and I could not forget when one morning we were preparing breakfast. We had to toast our bread inside and brought it out to the veranda. The Captain had just bought a jug of honey and laid it on the table. We went inside to toast some more bread and when we came back to the veranda we were shocked everything had vanished. The table cleared by the marauding monkeys, they took everything and retreated back to the trees. I could see Captain’s face flushed with anger cursing the intruders with obscene language even though he knew they could not understand. I had never seen him in such a rage; it was an act of war and we promised retaliation with vengeance. That afternoon we went to Mersing Town to shop for armament. I bought a catapult, an improved version with gun-type handgrip and with a foresight. It would be my answer to the problem and began training earnestly thus improving my shooting skills considerably. For ammunition the stones pebbles were plentiful with endless supply from the nearby beach.

From the veranda we imposed an arch of our “exclusion zone” ranging within the slingshot distance and extended further to cover our store and the hanger areas at the back. Our strong-arm tactics acted as a deterrent to any intruders and any primate found within would be shot without any questions asked. It was time for action to enforce our territorial boundary. The shooting war had begun and our message was simple and clear “No more monkey business allowed”. We had some successes I once shot down a monkey within the exclusion zone. It fell directly into the pond but managed to swim out and made it’s desperate escape into the bush.

The veranda with the squirrel’s tree on the left

We had a tree next to the veranda and we made a wooden platform wedged in between the two trunks as a dining mount for the squirrels. In the morning we would leave some pieces of bread for them. In the beginning they would only come down after we stayed clear. Later on they had been accustomed to the routine and could sense that we meant no harm. They became more daring and finally ended up eating from the palm of our hands. However we had to be present for the distribution of food otherwise in our absent the monkey came down and took control. They were a selfish lot and took everything for themselves, no such thing as sharing not in their thinking.

One day a big male wild boar with menacing tusks paid a courtesy call appearing at our main gate and waited to be ushered in. It stood there for some time I supposed summing up the situation before it decided to walk away leisurely. We had two dogs named Browny and Blacky; we thought they would challenge the intruder but obviously they were so frightened that they had retreated with their tails between their legs into hiding.

Another incident a huge iguana took sweet time crossing the airfield when spotted by one of our Malay carpenters. He joking pointed out to us saying “buaya” meaning crocodile owing to the huge size as it struggled on slowly on it’s four legs and dragging it’s long tail. When cornered it would emit a sort of a hissing sound in a defensive mode as a warning to stay clear.

Joseph Cave a New Zealander pilots the crop-duster based at the airfield. The sleek aircraft had a powerful turbo-prop engine and could carry about 2 tons of fertilizer.

The type model “Cresco” with New Zealand registration number Zulu Kilo dash Lima Tango Quebec. He told me that his fuel consumption around 200 liters per hour; Wow! what a guzzler. His daily routine was to fly to work in the morning and return at the end of the day. He was spraying the Felda oil palm plantations all over the country. A familiar sight as he appears overhead on his return and dive in for the landing with ease. When I saw him I would remarked “Ah the Spitfire is back” At times when he found the monkeys sitting on the fence, he would position his aircraft with the back towards them and blew them off the fence. We had influenced him into partnership in our war against the apes.

Joe starting up his “Cresco”crop-duster

One day he took me with him, we lifted off from threshold # 33 and shot into the sky over the airfield. As it attained sufficient height he did a wingover and dived towards the sea. There was a lone fisherman in his native sampan just off shore and we decided to surprise him. So Dave flew his aircraft very low; we were more to the sea along the coastline and well below tree top level. The fisherman must have got a shock of his life to suddenly see an aircraft heading directly for him. We flew over him and continued on and before us the hill right ahead seemed to grow larger and larger in frightening proportion. He kept on and I had almost frozen with fear when he held the stick back and the aircraft zoomed up vertically and did a right wingover. I saw that sinister smile on his face revealing that he had intended to have me wet my pants. We returned to base and he landed as usual with great ease. In a return gesture I offered to take him up in my “Challenger II” he declined I supposed he did not trust me. To him my micro-light was a toy plane, too flimsy to warrant a risk.

Occasionally we would have visitors dropping by like Gautier in his red Piper Tri-pacer, Marcus in his Robin aerobatic aircraft, Piper Warriors from Singapore Youth Flying Club or Eagle from Melaka. Marcus usually on his departure would oblige us with some aerobatic performances as a farewell gesture. We were really impressed with his loops and rolls.

On the 11^th October I took off at 1540 hours for my test flight when I flew Capt. Osman in my “Challenger II”. That day had been rather windy and a lot of turbulence from inland owing to hills nearby and so I took my aircraft out to sea. There at least the wind was constant and we went through a series of maneuvers, climbs, turns, figure of 8 etc…

We flew for half-an-hour before he decided to return to base and later told that I had passed my test for the category of aircraft type and for Assistant Flying Instructor. It had been a rewarding day for me. By then our Micro-light Pilot Licence (blue card) has been scrapped and replaced by Internationally recognised Malaysian Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL)

At Mersing we operated two locally made replica of the Mx II Sports from Seremban, a Buckeye powered parachute that is a powered buggy with a parachute and my faithful Challenger II. Our normal daily routine was to take off in the morning and fly to northwards to Mersing Town and back. Sometimes we flew south halfway towards Tanjong Leman. The scenery was fantastic the white sandy beaches all along the coastline double up as a natural improvise emergency landing ground. It was wide enough especially at low tide and hard enough to take our micro-light. We had observed the Malaysian army driving their 3-tonner trucks along the beach; a clear indication of feasibility for our micro-light. Occasionally we would make practice run to simulate force landing to boost up confidence.

The Kampong Seri Pantai is located near the airfield and the locals were really friendly and helpful. In fact we got our carpenters from there to renovate the open shelter to include office, classroom, veranda, living quarters and a hanger at the airfield. We were flying for Gucharan Singh under Flyright Air Sports. The boss and his wife lived in a rented bungalow at nearby. A little further some Malay entrepreneurs operated the resorts where we recommended our students to put up for their weekend stay. One such example was the J Boat and Fishing Resort operated by Ghazali. His setup was conducive, blending into the kampong environment with clusters of wooden houses built down the

slope to the beach. An impressive main dining hall stood at the lower base and a small swimming pool for the guests to cool down. Usually on our return trip we would “buzz over” the resort to draw attention. The children would respond by coming out to cheer and wave their hands wildly.

In the 22^nd May 1998 I probably made history when I flew my Challenger II micro-light to the three nearby off shore islands of Pulau Besar, Tengah and Kechil. I had arranged Capt. Chung to provide escort in the rescue boat and keep an eye on me in my attempt. If he did not see a speck in the sky he was to rush immediately to the spot as I might end up swimming. I took off at 0820 hours and flew across the stretch of water to Pulau Kechil first, then to Tengah and finally to Pulau Besar. The islands were really beautiful with white sandy beaches, swaying palms and crystal clear waters. At the pier some people was scuba diving and some snorkeling. Those at the chalet came out to wave at me as I flew very low at tree top level. What more can you expect and it was so tempting that I wished I could join them. I returned after an hour ten minutes flight, it had been a very good experience and built up confidence. I hope that I can fly to Pulau Tioman some day.

Then two days later we took off in the morning intending to fly to Ayer Papan further north of Mersing. The Buckeye powered parachute took off first, followed by Singh in the Mx II then Capt. Chung in another Mx II; my Challenger II last. The weather did not look good and as we were approaching Mersing Town, I noticed that dark clouds rapidly building up inland and heading our direction. That was a tell tale indication of an impending storm. Capt. Chung who was ahead of me suddenly turn around and heading

back to base. I immediately followed suit and was trailing right behind him at full power. The earlier two were way ahead and we were sure that they would be caught in the storm. We landed just in time before the rain poured down.

Later we got a call from boss that he had crash-landed north of Mersing Town at a place called Tengulu Laut. The axle had broken and that we were to bring a replacement.

As for the Buckeye powered parachute it had landed safely at a vacant land further north.

We collected our tools, the spare axle and proceeded to Tengulu Laut by car. Arriving there we found the Mx II at the beach with the said damaged. After working a while we managed to make good the repairs and boss was able to take off for the return trip.

The 9^th & 10^th June I took my son Ian up for training flight for over an hour doing the straight & level and turns exercises. I tried to instill interest upon him but he did not appear too keen and I did not want to push him. It had turned out that he was more interested in “motor cross” as at that time he was riding a KTM scrambler; an off-road bike. Once he had a go at the track of the “Camel Adventure” an off road dirt track for the 4-wheel drive vehicles at Desaru.

At Mersing, Ian posing in the cockpit my ‘Challenger II’

I myself have a strong passion for motorcycles but only for road bikes. I bought my first bike “Triumph Tiger Cub” 200cc in 1959. And I nervously rode it home avoiding the main roads, taking side roads and small lanes to reach home safely.

My earlier bikes were English-made such as Norton, Triumph and BSA but later choices were Japanese-made Suzuki and Honda. I had several changes I think about seven and the considered most powerful at that time was Norton Dominator 99 (650cc). It was great you could feel the acceleration as you open up the throttle. However my favourite bike was the Suzuki GSX-400R racer and sometimes gone overboard making the highway a speedway.

Ian with his scrambler Author’s Suzuki

And believe it or not, one night I nearly hit a wild boar that ran across the highway; it flashed passed my high beam and was a near miss. It was a hair-raising shocking experience as I had never expected it. The farthest road journey I had made was to the Malayan/Thai border town of Padang Besar and it was in 1974 on a Lambretta scooter; it took 2 days.

Now back to flying on the 17^th August I took up my wife Josephine and flew coastal to show her the scenic view of the area. The weather had been calm, therefore the flight was smooth and I tried to convince her that it was safe. She was not impressed as her idea of flying is in a wide body aircraft with comfortable reclining seat and a stewardess to serve you. Not in a cramped narrow cockpit of a flimsy micro-light where one had to squeeze into.

Visiting aircraft an ‘Eagle and a ‘Robin’

A visiting Piper Warrior from Singapore Youth Flying Club

On the 6^th September another accident as boss was taking a student up by the name of Than Myint, a Burmese national working with the Singapore Polytechnic. They had taken off from the Runway #15 and climbing when suddenly the engine went dead. The locally made Mx II with poor gliding quality ploughed into the ground at the other end of the runway. It beat up a cloud of dust so much so that Alvin, Than Myint’s wife and myself were really shocked. And as the dust settled down the two figures were seen suspended motionless by their harnesses. The Mx II was upright in a vertical position with the tail end bend inward like a scorpion. We thought the worse had happened and rushed immediately to the scene. However as we got nearer we were relief when we saw movements. We helped to disconnect the harness to free the both of them. Luckily for them not much for physical injuries as they suffered only minor cuts and bruises. I would say moral and psychological injury especially for the pilot. Anyway it was a very fortunate day for the two to be alive.

By early November business had been very bad as there were no new intake of students. The husband and wife team responsible for marketing failed miserably in their job. Finally Singh told us that they had no more money to continue and had to terminate our services. I believed that Capt. Chung did collect his salary and returned to Klang his home town. There was no money for me and I saw no point hanging around without salary and nothing to do. I then decided to return to Singapore and get a permanent job back to the Marine Industry.

First thing to do was to fly my plane back to Batu Pahat where I still had a hanger so on the 11^th November I prepared to leave. At about 0730 hours I took off from Mersing,

Singh and his wife were there to send me off. I circled overhead for one last time to bid farewell and headed inland. I flew across a part of dense jungle, giant trees towering high with huge green foliage spread at the top. The whole area was green except for pockets of small villages or kampongs.

I spotted the Kluang Road and flew FIR (not on instrument) I Follow Road as a safety precaution because on either side of the road there land was flat for farming. In case of an emergency at least I would have a spot for landing. There is a Military base with airfield at Kluang but I was informed that they were not flying that day and that I had free passage through.

I read that during the Second World War the British had Brewster Buffaloes fighters stationed at Kluang. However the lumbering Buffaloes were no match for the invading Japanese Ki-43 Hayabusa fighters and they were literally shot out of the skies. However by late January 1942 a batch of Hawker Hurricanes were flown from the British carrier HMS “Indomitable” off Sumatra. They flew to Palembang to join the fray but they were “too little and too late” to change the course of the conflict. The Japanese by then had over-run the whole of the Malay Peninsular and were poised at Johore, right at the doorstep of Singapore. From there the northern areas of Singapore came within the deadly range of Japanese gun fire.

I crossed the North South Highway near Ayer Itam and headed for the west coast as I could see from that distance. On passing Senggerang area, the coast of Tanjong Laboh appeared in sight. And upon arrival I as usual circled overhead to announce my presence before coming in for landing. I landed at 1015 hours and slowly taxied to Mr.Tay’s hanger where he was with some pilots. I got up to join them and Mr Tay reported to Johore Control of my safe arrival. My trip had taken two hours and forty-five minutes one of the longest duration; it was a tiring one especially in that cramped cockpit.

I returned to Singapore to borrow money for hiring a lorry for transferring my possessions, furniture and rescue boat back to Batu Pahat. I returned to Mersing on a weekday and no one was around so I hired a lorry loaded my furniture, equipment, belongings, rescue boat and left for Batu Pahat. As a courtesy I left a note stating what I have collected. Days later I got a nasty call from Singh, he was upset and agitated by what I did. He had apparently brought a guest to Mersing and upon entering found the sitting room empty. I supposed he was in shock on discovering the unpleasant surprise and of course utterly embarrassed. He was in a rage when he called me on the phone and lashed out his anger. Meantime I found his backlash as un-warranted, un-reasonable, ridiculous and insulting as I had taken what rightfully belongs to me. I wrote my complaint to Capt. Siva and also to DCA appealing for help to recover my financial loss by way of two and half months salary owed, flying helmets sold to him and part of extension costs for the living quarters that he had promised to reimburse; total near ten thousand Malaysian currency. Nothing happened and it was obvious to me that the authority does not involve in private arrangements. That was my second bad experience I had encountered dealing with fellow aviators.