Granger Narara, from simple beginnings in Milne Bay who made his way to be an international pilot in the world of aviation, was the guest speaker at the “Black bow tie only ” event during the Digicel PNG Foundation Men of Honour gala night.
Narara was invited by the Digicel PNG Foundation CEO Beatrice Mahuru to speak to recipients of the 2017 Men of Honour event at the Stanley Hotel on Saturday April 29, 2017.
In the third part of Granger Narara’s speech, he tells of his experiences and how a small group of Papua New Guineans pioneered flying in the early days.
He continues the third part of this speech …
Air Niugini required all national pilots to do at least three years flying in the bush to gain command experience, so in mid 1979 I joined Talair for a 3 year secondment to achieve this. During this time, I was based in Daru, Tabubil, Chimbu, Popondetta and Hoskins. I flew Cessna 206, Islanders, Cessna 310 and Beech Barons, and I flew the length and breadth of the country, most of it at low altitude. PNG is a magnificent and very beautiful country, I have flown over most of most of it and it beats m ny countries in the world, we are very rich in that aspect alone, we just don’t know it.
Talair was a huge company at the time, there were over 80 light aircraft and we had 18 bases throughout PNG with over 100 pilots, mainly from Australia and New Zealand with a handful of PNG pilots. PNG flying was the best training ground for many young pilots, unfortunately too many of our colleague both national and expat lost their lives in pursuing their flying dreams, there were a lot of aircraft crashes in those early days. Many went on to work for major airlines, I still maintain close contact with ex Talair colleagues in Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Air New Zealand.
Flying the bush in those days was very seat of the pants, no GPS, all HF radio and very poor strip and weather reporting, but we managed and we were the lifeline for many village and mission communities off the beaten path. It greatly saddens me to hear that this vital aviation supply line to our grass root communities has been eroded and in some cases lost completely, as companies concentrate mainly on the main trunk routes.
This is a travesty and very much a backward step. You never know, the first PNG Nobel Prize winner, or the first PNG United Nations Secretary General is waiting to be discovered in some remote location that is only served by aircraft. Many of our current PNG greats have come from such humble beginnings. This needs to be addressed. These communities need to be supported.
But talking of remote places, I remember flying a Cessna 206 (ask if everyone knows what a `Cessna 206 is and explain) once from Tabubil to Goroka for the 100 hourly maintenance check. There was full cloud cover all over the highlands, I had been flying for an hour then decided I had better get below the cloud and find a road or a valley to follow to get into the Whagi Valley and then follow the highlands highway to Goroka. I found a hole in the clouds, descended into a valley and was straight over a bush strip I was unfamiliar with. I could not locate my position accurately on my map, so decided to land and find out where I was.
As I shut the engine down, a very surprised American missionary walked up to the aircraft and stated that their freezer and mail delivery run was not until Thursday, it was a Monday. I sheepishly asked him what the name of this airstrip was, he said Kar, Southern Highlands, I said thank you very much, God Bless You, started the engine, took off and quickly found the Mendi – Hagen road and continued on my way. Who needs GPS when you have missionaries?
When I rejoined Air Niugini in 1982, I trained for my captaincy on the 4 engined Dash 7 and became the first national to be an instructor on airline aircraft. I remained in Air Niugini until 1991, flying the F28, and the Airbus A310, both on which I was also an instructor.
There were many firsts and records established in those early days, and along with Minson Peni, the late Nat Koleala, Lekwa Gure and Paunn Nongorr, we became pioneers and pushed the boundaries further out for future PNG aviators to strive for. Although the technical barriers that we broke still remain the same challenges today, I think the barrier that was the hardest to break was that unknown zone…. Did those young PNG boys really have what it takes to fly big complicated airline jets? I am proud to be part of the group that clearly demonstrated that the answer to this was a resounding - YES.
I recall an airline reunion I attended in Brisbane in 2004 when I was Airbus Chief Pilot in Emirates, I met an old pilot, about 80yrs old, who had been flying DC3’s in PNG with TAA before independence, with his slow speech he said to me, “you must be one of those young natives who learned to fly, we didn’t have natives flying back in my day”. I answered with a smile, “Yes Sir I am, and yes, many things have changed in PNG aviation since your day Sir.” To his credit, he had some great aviation stories and I really enjoyed his company that evening.
One of the least publicised National Pilot achievements towards the end of my time in Air Niugini. In mid 1991, Capt. Lekwa Gure, who was my senior in flying school, and I were chosen by Air Niugini to join three other expat pilot instructors to deploy to Bulgaria, in Eastern Europe to train Bulgarian pilots. Air Niugini had two A310 aircraft and one had been they leased to a Bulgarian company called Jesair, but as this company was a start up with no instructors, the contract also included Air Niugini training their pilots. We worked out of Sofia, Bulgaria for seven weeks, operating between Sofia, Dubai, Singapore and Sofia, Ottawa, New York, this was the first time that National PNG airline instructors had deployed to train foreign pilots. It was during this deployment, flying through Dubai in mid 1991 that I found out about Emirates.
As previously mentioned, I moved to Dubai in late 1991, employed by Emirates as an A310 Captain and instructor. The airline was very haphazard in those days, they were still in start-up phase, the aftermath of the Gulf War was still affecting operations and coming in on the ground floor was very challenging but also very rewarding. I worked 15 years with Emirates, rising to Airbus Chief Pilot responsible for 800+ pilots and almost 100 aircraft.
The one thing that stood out for me when I started with Emirates and is still very relevant today in Etihad, is that everyone in these successful companies is judged on merit and merit alone. You must be able to perform a particular job to the required standard and be able to consistently maintain that standard at all times. This principle is critical in aviation where safety is the first priority, but it also eliminates all aspects of cronyism and similar practices.
This is a principle that I have passed on to my children and those that ask me for aviation or any work advise, I say pick up your game, achieve the required standard and maintain it under all stress situations, if you can’t, then maybe you better look for another line of work. This is the most level of playing fields and allows the cream to always rise to the top. The same applies to how we approach our attitudes and behaviours, they must be of the highest standards and be maintained so those that are using us as templates have the best examples to work with.
I had many great experiences during my time in Emirates, the most notable was being able to fly with my younger brother Tim on an Airbus A310 when I did some of his command training in 2002. Tim’s life story is like a mix between mine and Nigel’s.
Like me, Tim was educated in PNG, graduating from Sogeri, he then went to the military to train as an army officer and when he graduated he was transferred from the Army to the Air Transport Squadron. He completed his flight training at 1FTS in Point Cook, Victoria and flew as a pilot and instructor for both the RAAF and the ATS squadron. Tim served time during the Bougainville uprising being based at Nissan and Buka. He then joined Air Niugini and flew F28s and was a Dash 8 Captain.
In 1998 he was selected by Emirates for an interview as an A310 first officer, which he successfully passed. We are very close, and like Nigel I have provided Tim guidance throughout his flying career. In 2012 became the first PNG National to command the largest passenger aircraft in the world, the mighty Airbus A380. It was a great occasion for our family and the PNG nation.
The final part of Granger Narara’s speech tells of how his younger brother as well as his first son join him in flying the A320 aircraft. While his second son, Duanne has decided to go to China and follow his own lifestyle - definately a chip off the block from his grandfather.
Picture: Granger Narara speaking during the Men of Honour gala night.