C 124 Old Shaky 30046 from Katanga to Sweden June 7th - 10th 1961

Описание: During UN-operations in Congo in the 60`s, USAF MATS carried soldiers and cargo to and from Katanga. This movie will show some sequences from a flight which started from Kamina Air Base in the middle of Katanga on June 7th -61, headiing Arlanda Airport, Sweden. It was a pleasant, but a bit shaky, trip most of the almost 30 hours "in the air". Except for 20 hell-minutes over the south of Sahara desert. About 2.000 kms north of Leo, near Lake Tchad, the pilots observed on the weather-radar 2 thunderstorms, wich moved towards each other. Calculations said that it was possible for the aircraft to pass between them before they met. But not - suddenly the storms hit the aircraft. During the following 20 minutes, the good Old Shaky 30046 behaved like an outflipped elevator. Not fastened soldiers and cargo flew around as it was in a spaceship. Several soldiers were more or less injured - broken legs and wounds. A metal-box hit the ceiling with such a strength that it made a hole. Later, the pilots told us that they couldn`t do anything - just follow the old bird in her struggle against the storms - up and down, sometimes with the wingtips pointing down towards the desert. On the instruments they could read that the falling-speed was up to 5.400 ft/min and the climbing-speed was up to 4.000 ft. All together, the aircraft fell 6.000 ft - from 9.000 to 3.000. The following 2.000 kms to Wheelus AFB at Tripoli, Libya was as pleasant as before the storms, but everyone was a bit scared, of course. We got 24 hours on the base for medical treatment for injured soldiers and fore some repair-operations on Old Shaky. Rest of the flight to Arlanda via Chateauroux in France went on without any problems. Thanks to an aircraft of quality and surviving-will. Over Lake Tchad we all thougt everything was over and out.