The “blacktie only” gathering for the 2017 Men of Honour gala night at the prestigious Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby was held spellbound when guest speaker Granger Narara stepped up to the podium to address the audience.
Many who were present had only heard of the name Granger Narara who was flying A330 aircrafts from Abu Dhabi to destinations around the world, but on Saturday night they had a chance in a lifetime to meet this humble yet, living PNG icon.
Captain Narara told his story of his life from a simple village in Milne Bay to being and International Airline Pilot and how he has guided his brother and son to follow in his footsteps.
The following is the first of a series of articles from his speech which he presented to a captivated audience on Saturday night April 29, 2017, Men of Honour gala night.
Thank you so much for such a warm welcome. I have never addressed such a beautiful group of people, you all look absolutely great. I feel so honoured to have been asked by the Digicel Foundation PNG to speak at this gala event for the Men of Honour Awards for 2017.
My thanks to CEO Beatrice Mahuru and the great hardworking team at the Digicel Foundation for arranging everything so I could be here tonight. A big thanks also to all the other major sponsors who support the Men of Honour Initiative and of course to the finalists of this year’s award.
You are the main reason we are here. You have been chosen by your community, your peers, those that have been influenced by your work and witnessed your dedication, and rightfully they want to recognise you in a public forum. This is the most valuable endorsement one can get and I congratulate all of the finalists for this year’s award.
I have been asked to share with you my story, of how I went from my humble beginnings in Samarai and through hard work and determination and taking advantage of good opportunities am now instructing and flying some of the most modern airline aircraft in the world. I also want to highlight how as a man and head of a family unit, the awareness of ones’ responsibility as a role model on a continuous basis can provide a good life template for your children and others that look up to you for guidance.
You have seen some of my life story in the introduction, but I want to start with the most memorable moment and by far the highlight of my 41 year flying career. This occurred on March 30th, 2013 and was the flight I conducted on an A330 from Abu Dhabi to Brussels, Belgium with my son Nigel as my co-pilot. It is the most surreal experience when you have to operate at a very high technical level that requires strict professional protocols, with your little boy, who you saw being born, and in fact he was born not far from here in Moresby General Hospital in July, 1983.
I have been asked to share with you my story, of how I went from my humble beginnings in Samarai and through hard work and determination and taking advantage of good opportunities am now instructing and flying some of the most modern airline aircraft in the world. I also want to highlight how as a man and head of a family unit, the awareness of ones’ responsibility as a role model on a continuous basis can provide a good life template for your children and others that look up to you for guidance.
You have seen some of my life story in the introduction, but I want to start with the most memorable moment and by far the highlight of my 41 year flying career. This occurred on March 30th, 2013 and was the flight I conducted on an A330 from Abu Dhabi to Brussels, Belgium with my son Nigel as my co-pilot. It is the most surreal experience when you have to operate at a very high technical level that requires strict professional protocols, with your little boy, who you saw being born, and in fact he was born not far from here in Moresby General Hospital in July, 1983.
Nigel flew the aircraft to Brussels, it was very cloudy and the winter weather was still around Brussels, the cloud base was quite low with calm winds and freezing temperatures. We were in cloud and being vectored by the radar controller at about 5000 feet with a speed of about 250 knots. In my estimation I felt we were a starting to get a bit high and fast, so I said “ I think you’re getting a bit high”…. The reply I got from Nigel was classic, I have never heard it in an airplane before in my life and probably will never hear it again, he looked at me and said “ It’s OK Dad, don’t worry, I have it under control’ ……. I usually hear something like “yes captain” or see the other pilot making a correction action, but “It’s OK Dad” this was totally non-aviation phraseology. …… I was caught off guard, but smiled and watched the show. Needless to say he did a magnificent job and we rolled out on final approach still in cloud, but on speed and on profile. We broke out of the cloud at about 600 feet, runway straight ahead of us and continued for a perfect landing.
Reflecting back, I realised that I would have probably had the same reaction and done exactly the same thing had I been questioned, Nigel was a confident pilot, had good handling skills and understood the aircraft well, he must have had a good role model!! “The apple does not fall far from the tree.”
It was obvious to me that as he was growing up, my son had been observing and noting all those years of aviation talk I had with my brother and friends around the dinner table and BBQ, and he had mirrored his operation and flying techniques around what he had heard.
It is only natural that our children take every word we say, every action and reaction we make as authoritative or as a template… and will live by it. What a huge responsibility this is on us, the adults, to maintain an awareness at all times on how we are developing a lifestyle template for our children. For those men who are single or do not have kids, you are being observed by your relative’s children or your neighbour’s children, by default all men are born to be the head of the family and you are being monitored all the times 24/7. It’s not a case of “Big brother watching you” but, more of “little brother watching you”. What you say, how you act and more importantly how you React… does matter…. Be aware and be responsible!
In Part two – tomorrow- of Captain Granger Narara’s speech – He tells of his late father – ‘Who has always been my Man of Honour’.