Brussels-Kamina aboard an SV-4B
Each SV-4B that served with
the Belgian Air Force has a history of its own. The most unlikely
one was the journey of a SV-4B that flew from Brussels to Kamina
(Belgian Congo) in 23 days. Major "Manu" Geerts
accomplished this feat in 1950. This famous WWII pilot was to
deliver an SV-4B to Kamina and did so in 66 hrs 20 min after a
flight covering a distance of 10.578 km.
Maj
Geerts and SV-4B V2 in Kairo
Early
1950 the Belgian Air Force saw itself faced with delivering an SV-4B
to Base Kamina, where it would be put to use for various
purposes, the main one being the replacement of an Oxford with
engine trouble. The replacement aircraft was to be SV-4B "V2",
a trainer which had been delivered to the EVS (Elementary Flying
School) and that suffered a category 4 crash in 1949, but had
been repaired since.
Three pilots of repute were being considered for this flight, i.e.
"Mony" Van Lierde, "Manu" Geerts and "Cheval"
Lallemant. The latter did not accept the proposal. The remaining
two tossed a coin over it and Geerts came out as the winner, much
to the dismay of Van Lierde, who denounced his colleague as
future Nile crocodile fodder.
From that moment on "Many" Geerts was to acquire all
the help he could get to bring his mission to a satisfactory end.
He was not to leave anything to chance. He requested No. 15 Wing
to set out his course and at Evere called upon Jo Gueuffen, an
old friend of his who also was an instructor. He asked him to
alter the plane making it suitable for long-distance flights.
Gueuffen started off by installing a P-12 compass taken from a
Dakota. Mounted onto three aluminium legs attached to the
fuselage right above the dashboard, it offered a direct view
towards the horizon. Tuning could be done up to an accuracy of
half a degree. Apart from that Gueuffen also installed a
gyrocompass connected to a venturi.
Stampe mounted additional fuel tanks, one on the forward cockpit
seat and another on the top wing. They also installed a generator
and a wireless set. In the course of the voyage some of these
devices would turn out to be troublesome. Nevertheless flight
autonomy was increased by 7 hours.
The national markings were removed from the fuselage and wings.
Only a miniaturised tricolour flag remained on the tail fin and
the military coding V12 in small lettering underneath the
elevator rudder. A civil registration was attributed to the
plane, i.e. OT-ZAA that was applied to the fuselage and wings.
This voyage would be recorded into two flight logs, one of which
was the military and the other the civil one.
"Manu" had the good old D system installed. Four
thermos flasks were put at his feet next to the control columns.
A rubber hose was attached to them and a special coupling device
was to allow the pilot to supply himself with hot drinks during
flight. In order to allow some leg rest during the flight small
chains were attached to the rudder pedals, calling for some
"automatic steering" of sorts.
SV-4B V2 in Khartoum and next to RAF Anson
The great departure
Date of departure was set for February 27, 1950. The
meteorological forecast was sombre. The weather was atrocious and
it was freezing cold? But the dice had been thrown. "Manu"
Geerts was to leave. Direction: Lyon.
After two hours in the air the pilot decided to quench his
thirst, putting to use his ingenious system for the first time.
One of the flasks contained tea with cream and sugar. The taste
was horrible. Having been whisked about for hours the milk had
turned sour. From then on the flaks were filled only with tea.
The next leg of his trip was to Nice. Snow abounded and crossing
the Alps was done under heavy turbulence. For the first time in
his life "Manu" Geerts was at the edge of mortal fear.
He arrived at Nice having escaped his adventure unscathed.
The next day his destination was Rome. Visibility was zero and it
was raining cats and dogs. In order to be able to find his
bearings the SV was forced to fly as low as possible. A railway
was spotted and followed, in the knowledge that all roads lead to
Rome. Geerts managed to put his plane down at the Chianpino
airfield. After touchdown he was given a good dressing-down by
the tower for having come in from the left, the side of the
mountains, and for not having made use of his radio. Afterwards
at take off, he would yet use the radio, however with his engine
off lest all sounds be deafened by the roar of the engine.
At Chianpino it was discovered that the tank in the front seat
had a leak. His clothing bag, equally containing all his personal
belongings, had been stuffed in front of the tank and was
completely soaked in fuel necessitating prior cleaning and drying.
The time lost doing this allowed for a visit to Rome and
obtaining the Pope's blessing in the process. He met Jean Créteur
who regularly flew Sobelair's Belgium-Congo connection on DC-3.
Créteur supplied him with some valuable navigational tips and
spotting points in the desert. Later on "Manu" Geerts
confirmed that these tips saved his life.
After three days of bad weather the Italian meteorological
service put the light on green, provided he flew via Corsica,
Sardinia and Tunis, instead of via Messina and Sicily. The
crossing over via Cagliari would take more time, but the SV was
to have a 50-km/h backwind.
SV-4B V2 in Kairo - Manono - Marble Arche
The
crossing
Taking off from Cagliari on March 3, 1950, Geerts climbed to 1.000
m and pointed his nose in the direction of Tunis. One hour
passed, then another hour. Not a living soul was to be seen. No
birds, no ships, merely the vast expanse of a blue sea. To while
away the time he tested the reaction time of the compass, which
turned out to be working properly. For lack of sufficient space,
he had, prior to leaving, decided on taking a dinghy in lieu of a
parachute. He now felt good with that decision. Suddenly he
noticed a white object at the horizon. Coming up closer he then
could distinguish a lighthouse. According to the map he was less
than one kilometre away from his planned point of entry.
Gueuffen's remarkable compass had done a tremendous job.
Next came the crossing over of Northern Africa; each lap bringing
its own anecdotes and difficulties. At Tunis the wind was at gale
force making it virtually impossible for Geerts to keep his plane
in hand. At Marble Arch he landed his plane in the midst of a
storm
50 meters from the side of the runway. At Cairo
customs and police officials subjected him to a painstaking
search. At Luxor, his last lap before flying into the Sudan he
was asked whether he carried any weapons with him. "Manu"
gave a positive answer in showing his knife and Very pistol. Over
the desert he managed to get himself lost in a sandstorm that had
come up to an altitude of close to 2.000 metres. At its stopover
Geerts not only battled his ever-present fatigue, but also had to
have the plane controlled, had to replenish, cover up the engine,
go through the customs-, police and security routines, check with
the weather forecasters ands find himself suitable transport and
a place to bed down. At Khartoum his fuel replenishment tube
turned out to be broken and a RAF crew fixed it, checking the
whole engine in the process.
In order to reach Malakia-Juba
Geerts was to follow the track of a thin electricity line
suspended between 3-meter poles. En route he noticed a black
warrior aiming his spear at his plane intending to down it there
and then. New difficulties were encountered on the stretch from
Juba to Irumu as a mountain range having its top hidden in the
clouds had to be crossed. Upon arrival he bedded down in the only
one available hotel. His room turned out to be crawling with a
variety of vermin. Before descending to the restaurant he emptied
a full can of insect spray. After a meal of Flemish stew he found
his room to be free of insects.
SV-4B V2 in Kamina
aside Belgian Oxford The
arrival Geerts - Donnet - Collignon
and Geerts leaving "his" SV-4B V2 in Kamina Database, history, gallery of the 65 airplanes that
were used by the Belgian Air Force, and the still flying planes. Reactions of SV-4B
pilots, mistery photos and contact address
As Geerts reached the lake country he had the privileged of
beholding incredibly large herds of elephants. He passed via
Usumbura where a nephew of his was the local doctor. Crossing
Lake Tanganyika he had to fly around quite some large and dark
rain showers. Upon arrival at Albertville the SV had to be put in
a hangar in order to protect it against the heavy rainfall. In
Manono Geerts visited the tin mines and on March 23, 1950 he took
off for his last leg to Kamina, 23 days after having left
Brussels. Finally the SV could be handed over to the base
commander "Coco" Collignon.
Geerts was to wait another three days for a Dakota to come and
pick him up for his return to Belgium. Upon arrival of the plane
(the K2) apart from the broken down Oxford engine, a load of
bananas and pili-pili was equally put on board.
In the course of his return trip Geerts was to live thru yet
another frantic experience as the Dakota flown by Colonel "Mike"
Donnet and Captain Terlinden ended up bang in the middle of a
storm. Fortunately plane and passengers came out of it unscathed.
Putting his feet back on Belgian soil at Melsbroek, Major "Manu"
Geerts gave in to a huge sigh of relieve. His first words were
"Si c'était à refaire, plus jamais" (If it were to be
done again, I wouldn't dream of doing it.).
Many years later the SV-4B has been written off at Kamina.
Returning the plane to Belgium was not a consideration.
Acro Team "Les
Manchots" ,
the SV planes they used, and the aces. Article of
Dominique Hanson.
Crash report of the
accident with SV-4b V43 in Twente (Netherland) in 1986 - Crash report of the
accident with SV-4B V53 at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome New York (USA)
in 2001 - SV-4B crashes in Belgium database of all Belgian SV-4B
crashes
SV-4B with Blackburn
Cirrus engine article of L. Wittemans.
Other types of SV
airplanes and the LINK trainer , the other types of SV airplanes build bij
Stampe Vertongen and an article about the LINK trainer, the first
generation of flight simulators.
SV-4B OO-ATD and Divoy and Donnet, flight to freedom of Leon Divoy and Michel Donnet
and SV-4B OO-ATD - SV-4B OO-ACB van
Verbraeck en Reuter and their flight from France to Portugal in 1940
SV-4B V2 trip to
Kamina (Congo) , in 1950 military pilot Manu Geerts had to
deliver SV-4B V2 in Congo, Kamina. A trip of 10.578km, and 66 hrs
flying time, article of R. Decobeck.
SV-4B in WWII in Africa , at the beginning of WWII
24 planes of the earlier SV-4B version airplanes, were
transferred to Congo, at that time a Belgian Colony. This version
had no closed canopy. An article of L. Wittemans.
Belgian Air Cadets , they used for several
years the last military SV-4B airplanes.
SV links and other
related links.