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adrianqcs

Meet Earnie, Malaysia's Oldest Pilot

By adrianqcs, in General Aviation

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adrianqcs    0

adrianqcs
Posted

Meet Earnie, Malaysia's Oldest Pilot

August 08, 2007 09:58 AM E-mail this news to a friend Printable version of this news

 

By Robert Sinniah

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- At 89 years, Earnie Walter Talalla is the oldest aviation pilot in Malaysia.

 

The Royal Selangor-Kuala Lumpur Flying Club member has been given the go ahead by the club to continue flying until he reaches 90. Recently, he did a 30-minute flight in a Cessana over Kuala Lumpur.

 

Earnie, who goes by his first name, fell in love with flying and motor racing in his school days. He gave priority to flying by joining the then Kuala Lumpur Flying Club (KLFC) in Sungai Besi here on April 20, 1949 at the age of 31.

 

Born in 1918, he obtained his Private Pilot's Licence (PPL No.23) on September 9, 1949. He started his flying lessons in a Tiger Moth and did his first solo flight after eight hours and 20 minutes of training.

 

One is allowed to fly solo after flying lessons of between eight and 12 hours. The flying fee was $3 per hour in the pre-war period, $6 post war and RM425 now.

 

Earnie, who retired from Telecoms Malaysia as Special Grade Technical Assistant, has clocked 260 hours on four types of aircraft -- Tiger Moth, Auster, Chip Monks and Cessanas.

 

EARNIE'S NAME TO APPEAR IN MALAYSIA BOOK OF RECORDS

 

Members of the flying club want Earnie's name in the Malaysian Book of Records as the Oldest Malaysian Aviation Pilot.

 

Earnie's most memorable days as an aviator is when he had to fly low, almost touching treetops, to airdrop pay packets in designated areas in plantations during the Emergency. The management would collect the cash, under security forces' watchful eyes to pay the salaries for estate staff.

 

The plantation stopped transporting money by road to overcome the problem of communist terrorists ambushing them. Many a time they were not only robbed but the escorts were also killed.

 

He did a total of more than 200 pay packet drops over lower Perak, Kuala Selangor, Pahang, Kluang and a few other places. The terrorists shot four times at his aircraft during one of his missions and only once the aircraft got hit on the wing, causing slight damage.

 

He also participated in providing joy rides for people during occasions like Chinese New Year for the last 15 years. The money collected from these rides and the airdrop services for plantations were used for the maintenance of the aircraft and the club.

 

AN EXCITING EXPERIENCE

 

"My flying to drop pay packets was very exciting and challenging as the Emergency had just begun and the terrorists were ambushing and taking the money taken by road. Many European estate staff were killed in such way layings. We did these missions for a few years. These missions made me clock more flying hours," he recalled.

 

The money, he said, were in sealed bags and four of it were dropped each time. There were times when we were caught in heavy storms and ran into great difficulty in landing on the flooded airfield in Sungai Besi.

 

"About 50 years ago, the air was very clear and there was no pollution. This paved the way for safe flying and landing even during bad weather.

 

"KL in those days was only a small built-up area and in a minute or two after take-off one would be flying over secondary jungle. Nowadays, it would be between 15-20 minutes," he said.

 

On the Club, he said in the pre-war days there were few Asian pilots while most were Europeans.

 

"There were about 20 flying pilots and 200 logging long hours at the bar," he said in jest. The Club's airplanes were mostly Austers donated by Royal Air Force. An European planter started the Club with a Puss Moth aircraft in December 1929.

 

The name "Talalla," Earnie's surname, was synonymous with the club because his elder brother, Hector, and two cousins, Henry and Jimmy, were pioneers of the Club. Hector became the first Asian pilot of the Club in 1933. He was elected as life member of the Club in 1959 and made Captain of the club in 1960.

 

Earnie's most recent excitement was when his daughter, an air hostess with Cathay Pacific Airways, arranged with the Hong Kong Flying Club where he was flown to the Colony and the pilot handed over the controls for a short while at 300 feet.

 

Earnie's greatest regret is not becoming a commercial pilot. He felt discouraged to apply for the post then because in the pre-war days, the airlines recruited mainly Europeans for the job.

 

Nowadays, he spends a lot of time visiting air shows, especially the Langkawi International Aerospace and Maritime exhibition, and calling on the pilots in the cockpit.

 

-- BERNAMA

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Khaled    2

Khaled
Posted
hes in RSFC? haven't seen him around yet

 

Saw him once only during my stay at RSFC.

How nice last time can do some mission with PPL.

Bullet thru the wing?no thanx...

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BC Tam    2

BC Tam
Posted
How nice last time can do some mission with PPL.

Bullet thru the wing?no thanx...

As the saying goes - win some, lose some ! :)

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Naim    6

Naim
Posted

A heart-warming story, indeed. This is a real aviator. :good:

 

+++

 

August 16, 2007 11:31 AM

 

Meet Earnie, Malaysia's Oldest Pilot

 

By Robert Sinniah

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- At 90, Earnie Walter Talalla is the oldest aviation pilot in Malaysia and the oldest post World War II member of the Royal Selangor-Kuala Lumpur Flying Club.

 

Though the last time he flew was 49 years ago, he recently did a 40-minute flight in a Cessana 172 over Kuala Lumpur. The flight was a surprise birthday gift arranged by his son Rohan.

 

"Though I last flew almost over half a century ago, the instructor who was with me in the plane was surprised that I could still fly safely and gave me a rating of 8 on a scale of 10 minus the take off and landing," he said.

 

Earnie, who goes by his first name, fell in love with flying and motor racing in his school days. He gave priority to flying by joining the then Kuala Lumpur Flying Club (KLFC) in Sungai Besi here on April 20, 1949 at the age of 31.

 

Born in 1918, he started his flying lessons in a Tiger Moth on April 1949 and did his first solo flight after eight hours and 20 minutes of training. He obtained his Private Pilot's Licence (PPL No.23) on July 23 the same year.

 

One is allowed to fly solo after flying lessons of between eight and 12 hours. The flying fee was $3 per hour in the pre-war period, $6 post war and RM425 now.

 

Earnie, who retired from Telecoms Malaysia as Special Grade Technical Assistant, had clocked 260 hours on four types of aircraft -- Tiger Moth, Auster, Chip Monks and Cessanas.

 

 

 

EARNIE'S NAME TO APPEAR IN MALAYSIA BOOK OF RECORDS

 

Club members want Earnie's name in the Malaysian Book of Records as the Oldest Malaysian Aviation Pilot.

 

Earnie's most memorable days as an aviator is when he had to fly low, almost touching treetops, to airdrop pay packets in designated areas in plantations during the Emergency. The management would collect the cash, under security forces' watchful eyes to pay the salaries of estate staff.

 

The plantation stopped transporting money by road to overcome the problem of communist terrorists ambushing them. Many a time they were not only robbed but the escorts were also killed.

 

He did a total of 423 pay drops over lower Perak, Kuala Selangor, Pahang, Kluang and a few other places and along the way clocked 220 flying hours. There were times his aircraft was shot by the communist and on four occasions he ended up with bullet holes in the wings.

 

He also participated in providing joy rides for people during occasions like Chinese New Year and clocked another 30 hours. The money collected from these rides and the airdrop services for plantations were used for the maintenance of the aircraft and the club.

 

Earnie flew occassionaly for about 20 years till he was posted outstation.

 

 

 

AN EXCITING EXPERIENCE

 

"My flying to drop pay packets was very exciting and challenging as the Emergency had just begun and the terrorists were ambushing and taking the money transported by road. Many European estate staff were killed in such way layings. We did these missions for a few years. There were times when we were caught in heavy storms and ran into great difficulty in landing on the flooded airfield in Sungai Besi," he recalled.

 

"About 50 years ago, the air was very clear and there was no pollution. This paved the way for safe flying and landing even during bad weather.

 

"KL in those days was only a small built-up area and in a minute or two after take-off one would be flying over secondary jungle. Nowadays, even after 15-20 minutes you would be still flying over concrete jungle," he said.

 

On the Club, he said in the pre-war days there were few Asian pilots while most were Europeans. The Club's airplanes were mostly Austers donated by Royal Air Force. An European planter started the Club in December 1929 with a Puss Moth aircraft.

 

Earnie's surname Talalla, is synonymous with the club because his elder brother, Hector, and two cousins, Henry and Jimmy, were pioneers of the Club. Hector became the first Asian pilot of the Club in 1933. He was elected as life member of the Club in 1959 and made Captain of the club in 1960.

 

Earnie's greatest regret is not becoming a commercial pilot. He felt discouraged to apply for the post then because in the pre-war days, the airlines recruited mainly Europeans for the job.

 

Nowadays, he spends a lot of time visiting air shows, especially the Langkawi International Aerospace and Maritime exhibition, and calling on the pilots in the cockpit.

 

-- BERNAMA

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Brennan Raj    0

Brennan Raj
Posted

Should catch him if he comes to LIMA this year..Very special..

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