In 1996 our air boss Mr. Tay decided that we supported the 4B Youth Flying Club by way of providing flying training, maintenance and logistic backup, including hanger facilities for their 4 micro-light aircraft. They had been to the States and had purchased from John Lasco four Quicksilver Mx II Micro-light aircraft and had it assembled in Melaka by Maniam. Upon completion we were to help them ferry the planes to our base for training purposes. As Batu Pahat was un-control airstrip, training could be done without any interference whatsoever. Noorashikin the Club’s Captain, a commercial pilot by profession was the key figure in the organization. She and a few like Taslem were to undergo conversion training to micro-light and will be the future instructors of the Club.
Additional of 4 aircraft that came over to Batu Pahat were a blessing, it bolstered our air strength considerably and saw an increased in our activities. It was to the extent that our weekends became a crowd puller and there was never any shortage of local spectators, cheer groups. Especially on Saturdays it was “show time for them to enjoy and us for our display of skill or folly as we proudly took to the skies in our colourful micro-light much to their curiosity and delight. Most of them were trying to understand how a group of aviation crackpots of a good mix of Asians and Caucasian are bonded together by a common interest to fly un-imaginable “flimsy machines”.
The micro-light we had were very basic, it was covered by rags and held by skeletal tubing with seats mounted in an open cockpit exposed to the mercy of the elements. In the chillness of the morning you get the winds battering your face to numbness. The un-thinkable part was that the manufacturer itself declared the aircraft are not certified flying machine. It means that they cannot be held liable and that you fly at your own risk.
Anyway the insurance companies on viewing refuse to have anything to do with it; they are not venturing into risk.I believed that I have flown into Melaka about 7 times, the first time was in 1994 and the second and third time was in April with Capt. Chung in our Challenger II whilst on our way to “Karnival Perlis’95 and in on our return trip. The four time in 2nd May 1996 was to attend the Inauguration of 4B Flying Club. I flew in with Najib as co-pilot in company of Mr.Tay in his GT500 with Paul. We took off from Batu Pahat at about 0830 hours and arrived Batu Berendam Airport at 0935 hours. Upon landing we were directed to park at the sprawling Eagle Aircraft Factory near the Malaysian Flying Academy.
The Malaysian Flying Academy was founded in 1982 for training of student pilots to commercial standard. It operated a fleet of Piper aircraft single and twins; it also provided a simulator for ground training... It was the only professional pilot training institution in the country.
Paul our spoke-person would like to describe his trip in his own words.
“The time was 8.30 am and it was a beautiful morning at Batu Pahat Micro-light Flight Park. There was an air of excitement as Tay called Melaka Control Tower on his hand phone. He then broke into a smile when he had finished the call and said, “The weather report is good. Let’s go!”
Our aircraft a Quicksilver type “GT500” registered 9m-UBI (Niner Mike Uniform Bravo India) with Tay at the controls was first to takeoff and I was in the back seat.
We circled overhead, watched the second aircraft a blue and white “Challenger II” took off with Pattiselanno David as the pilot-in-command and Najib as co-pilot. A few minutes later our 2 aircraft were in radio contact and we set the course North for Melaka.
The view was simply breathtaking as we flew pass meandering rivers, fishing villages and numerous kampongs. We actually noticed that many curious people rushed out of their houses on hearing the drone of aircraft engines just to catch the glimpse. The lush green vegetation consisted predominantly coconut and oil palm stretched as far as the eye could see, interspersed with vegetable farms, durian orchards and padi fields. On our left the coastline with it’s abundant blue waters and over the horizon a thin outline of some Indonesian islands.
We flew comfortably all the way along the coast at the permissible height of about 1,200 ft and noticed that the coastal road to Melaka had little traffic. As we flew over the Muar Bridge, Tay pointed out some prominent landmarks to take note for future reference. Meantime he contacted Melaka Control Tower and reported our position over the radio “Niner Mike Uniform Bravo India report approaching Pulau Besar”. From the air I can say Melaka looked extremely beautiful as I lived in that historical state. I tried to recollect the colourful history that made Melaka a jewel and obviously became the target of foreign powers the Portuguese, Dutch and later the English conquerors. At one stage Tay called Melaka Control “Melaka Tower, Uniform Bravo India passing Pulau Besar, request descend clearance and joining instructions”
Melaka Tower: “Uniform Bravo India cleared for descend, runway in use #03, QNH One Zero Zero Niner, report airfield in sight.” Tay banked the aircraft to the right for the approach to Batu Berendam Airport and begun to descend gradually. Moments later he reported “airfield in sight”.
Melaka Tower: “Niner Mike Uniform Bravo India clear to land, runway #03, wind: 6 knots”. In acknowledgement Tay repeated the message as required “Roger, runway #03. clear to land. Uniform Bravo India. Full stop.”
The aircraft shook slightly as it caught into wind turbulent but managed to stabilize moments before a perfect touchdown. The GT500 rolled along the runway and slowly taxied to the Eagle Aircraft Factory as directed by the ground control. A few minutes later the Challenger II piloted by Pattiselanno David appeared overhead, circled the airfield before descending for also a smooth landing. The time was 0935 am and we had taken some 1 hour and 5 minutes. Later we learned that another colleague named Monty flying the ‘Polaris’ trike was to arrive later in the evening”.
The opening ceremony was the next day 3rd May and Paul had this to comment concerning the event.
“The 4B Flying Club was officially launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The colourful function was attended by a large group of dignitaries, school children and aviation representatives. The President of the 4B Flying Club and also the Deputy Transport Minister, Datuk Wira Mohd Ali Bin Rustam were among the VIP’s in attendance. Datuk Ali Rustam was instrumental in the formation of the 4B Flying Club. After the opening ceremony 3 Quicksilver Mx Sprint put up an aerial display followed by para-gliders from Eric Lee of Air Freedom (Batu Pahat)and also an aero-chute team; the Conti brothers (Australia). Our group from Batu Pahat in strong support of “4B Flying Club” had 4 micro-light aircraft on display.”
Melaka Airport with Datuk Ali Rustam ( From left No.7
Now known as Melaka (old spelling Malacca) is an interesting place to visit as it has a long historical background. The State is located midway of the Malay Peninsular at the west coast about 224 km from Johor Baru. History revealed that in 1511 the Portuguese were the first Europeans to come to the East under Alfonso D’ Alburquerque and had taken Melaka by force of arms after a naval bombardment by some 18 warships. Many ancient ruins still stand like the famous Portuguese gateway, ‘Porta de Santiago’, the St. John’s fort on the hill, the ruins of the Church at St. Paul’s hill. Here the incorruptible human remains of a saint (Francis Xavier) was once laid in the vault before removal to Goa, India. Also there is a Chinese temple dedicated to the 14th Century Chinese explorer Admiral Zheng He or in Hokkien Cheng Ho when he made a state visit to Melaka. The Chinese admiral made 7 epic voyages between 1405 – 1433 to as far as West Africa with a naval armada of some 300 ships and some 28,000 men. It was truly an enormous fleet that only a wealthy country like Imperial China that could have the means to launch it. Admiral Zheng He was acting as an envoy sent on expedition by the Ming Emperor Zhu Di of China; he was a eunuch and came from a Muslim family.
Porta de Santiago A replica of Portuguese warship
The Portuguese Cultural Square at Ujong Pasir
The Dutch had also occupied Melaka for a short period in the 16th Century and named it “Slavenburg” (Slave City). Their influence is evident in some buildings in town; such as the red coloured Christ Church, the Stadthuys, (Town Hall) and the clock-tower. Also interesting is the Maritime Museum where a replica of a 15th century Portuguese warship “Flor de la Mar” (Flower of the sea) on display located at Jalan Quayside. Inside housed a vast collection of pictures and artifacts. Another interesting place to visit is the Portuguese Settlement (Padri sa Chang) at Ujong Pasir where the descendants of the Portuguese are located. There stand a modern building complex known as the Cultural Square where shows are arranged in keeping with their heritage. A nearby beer lounge acts as the waterhole for cooling down after a hot day or a hot spicy meal. A restaurant to sample their local cuisine, their favourite commonly pronounced as ‘devil curry” but correctly should read as debal. It can be hot, spicy for some and not for the faint hearted unless you prepare yourself with a fire-extinguisher or jar of ice water. They spoke a kind of local lingo known as “Kristang” a mixture (rojak) of Portuguese and Malay languages.
The Portuguese had ruled Melaka for more than 130 years and the descendants follow the religion and culture of their fore-fathers and are predominantly Roman Catholics. There are also shops at the square selling all sorts of wares from souvenirs, clothing, to pickles and a horrible local prawn-paste called “belachan” that gave out an awful over-powering offensive smell. It could also contaminate your clothes and came in many shapes, some oblong, some rounded like cannon-balls.
Then on the 12th May Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam, paid an official visit to Batu Pahat and we were much honoured. He was accompanied by an entourage from 4B Youth Movement and some UMNO officials. Our Air Boss Mr. Tay was at hand to show them around and gave a briefing on our setup and activities.
Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam with Monty and Mr. Tay
Then on 14th July Capt.(Retired) Muid Yahaya, AMN visited our Flight Park with his family and we had the priveledge of knowing him. Capt. Muid was the pioneer that introduced micro-light into the country in 1981. In that case he is rightfully known as the ‘Father of Micro-light Aviation.’
Then on 6th July our Air boss and a few other pilots drove to Melaka to prepare to ferry the next pair of 4B Flying Club Quicksilver MX Sports to Batu Pahat. I flew to Melaka alone in my Challenger II for my 5th trip. Meantime Capt. Norashikin and Shamsul carried out some test flight. The next day 6th July we had the honour of Datuk Wira Mohd Ali Mohd. Rustam who arrived at 11.00 am to meet all the fliers before sending us off.
A short while later, the 4 micro-light took off one after another and headed for Batu Pahat. One aircraft piloted by Taslem who circled the airport once in farewell tribute as they had been there for the last 3 months.
I took Phil an Englishman as my co-pilot; we took off at about 1200 hours and headed south for Batu Pahat. After some time, we came to the Muar River crossed near the bridge and before us the red laterite runway of Bakri appeared in view. It is the camp of the Police Field Force locally known as “Polis Hutan”. They are fully equipped with “Commando” armoured carriers; which were amphibious that is to say that they can float or ‘swim’ on water. They are built by the Cadiliac Cage Company of USA and in use by several countries including Singapore.
I reduced power for the descent and had the runway lined up in my approached. It was a bit windy and somehow the landing had not been that smooth. My front nose wheel tire blew up as it contacted the runway and the aircraft swayed off into the grass patch. Fortunately nobody was hurt, it just a slight shock for that moment. We quickly dismantled the wheel and took it to a bicycle shop just outside of the airfield. It was a Sunday but fortunately the shop was opened and had it repaired in no time.
The Police Field Force camp had been our popular spot for stopovers and each time we attracted crowd. The children from the school were even given free time to come over to interact and inspect our micro-light. They were very excited and swarmed all around our aircraft showing keen interest. I guess some would dream to be future pilots like I
had when I was young like them. Anyway our presence there was to generate interest, to instill air-mindedness, to create a young generation of aviation enthusiasts. Our motivation was to encourage flying in general and micro-light in particular. Owing to low maintenance cost in micro-light than in General Aviation, recreation flying can be made affordable to the ordinary man in the street.
One of our stop-over at Bakri taken with school children
My 6th and 7th flying trips to Melaka was when I flew with Bala in May,1997 on our way to Ulu Bernum for the EAA Young Eagle’s Camp and dropped in on our way back.
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