The Police Payroll is Delivered to Malim Nawar, 1950
During the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960 Communist attacks on roads and railways were a regular part of living in Malaya, particularly where transfer of cash was concerned.
Consequently the railways introduced the Wickham Armoured Railcar as protection, but for the military and police isolated from the rail service it became normal to fly in the payrolls as the picture shows. There is a post on the Wickham Railcar already on this blog (Search ‘Wickham’) and also on our database archive.
But can anyone identify the aircraft?
Hey, have you seen this news article?
New details about Michael Jackson’s Death Emerge
I was wondering if you were going to blog about this…
No, we were not planning to say anything about MJ,s demise as it is a little out of the thrust of our website and blog, but if you would like to come up with your views please feel free to do so.
is it an auster? but im not sure
Thanks Jeya, bit no not an Auster. You can see one of those on our archive at http://www.ipohworld.org/search8/result.asp?strid=3127.
Given the year and the silhouette, it looks very much like a de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth.
Geoffrey de Havilland’s classic 30s biplane
I might post more about what I remember of Tiger Moths and other light aircraft in Ipoh in the 50s.
Thanks for the suggestion. We shall look into it.
Please do post your memories. They are so important to this project.
More about Moths:
There were 2 Tiger Moths maintained at the then Perak Flying Club, (now Perak Aero Club) just a stone’s throw from Ipoh airport’s control tower; and I remember being taken up for a spin in one of them, probably 1958, by expatriate Peter Delme Radcliffe.
Radcliffe would normally be seated in the rear open cockpit, with a better view of the ground, and I would talk to him via a ribbed rubber tube. Really rudimentary! We would be wearing cloth caps, each with headphones attached that could be plugged into the dashboard.
The engineer charged with keeping the biplanes airworthy was a certain Richard “friends call me Dick” D’Cruz, assisted by an Indian mechanic, one “Abby” perhaps a nickname.
Ipoh Echo a several issues ago carried an article by a local pilot who flew payroll “ops” and whom I also remember meeting. Their website’s online archive goes back only to October 2008 so you’ll need to call them up if you want to read about Capt Thoo’s amazing exploits!
Other light aircraft in Ipoh:
Gliders AKA sailplanes were also kept in the high-roofed hangar that housed the Tiger Moths. There were 2, a sleek single seater and a rather less elegant trainer with tandem (side-by-side) seats. Both would be winched up by a cable (perhaps 200 m long) mounted on the back of a small vehicle.
The only communication between the winch operator and the pilot was by assistants dipping the long wings up and down. Once, to take up slack in the cable, twice to reel it in. Once the pilot had sufficient height, he would disengage the cable by pulling a lever in the cockpit.
I remember the occasion when one of the glider pilots ran out of “lift” and had to make an emergency landing far from the runway. He began to bring the single-seater down on a playing field which lacked sufficient space for a proper landing, So what did he do?
He had the presence of mind to tilt the wing down at the last moment, digging its tip into the grass and pivoting the glider around to a safe landing! The aircraft was later dismantled and trucked back to its home at the Perak Flying Club.
One of the pilots, Peter Radcliffe, also took me up in the trainer for an incredibly quiet ride, as you can imagine.
Click here for more info about trainer sailplanes featuring a Slingsby T.21 craft, very much like the one I found myself in all those years ago.
Thanks for these posts. We shall update the main web site with these as we have archive entries on both PFC Gliders and the Payroll delivery.
How about doing us a big favour please and contacting the PFC for us as you can actually speak from experience.
Your reward will be in heaven.
I was rather delighted to read something that relates to my times in the Perak Flying club.
Peter Delme Radcliffe was the man who taught me how to fly and sail. He would be glad to know that I went a long, long way after that. I was one of the early glider pilots and all the names mentioned above are known to me. The person who crash near my house in Rose Garden is Danny.
Wang, Do you remember Miss Yik? She was flying the tiger moth.
Hi Robin Tan, your post brings back memories of halcyon days in 50s and 60s Ipoh with bright starlit nights and the river-like Milky Way^ alas to be seen no more! Though Lumut and Kuala Selangor may still deliver nights with “good seeing”. While nights in Pekan 72 were too dazzling for words.
I do not recall the name Danny but AFAIR the glider pilot is the younger brother of a PFC member and ACS teacher Mr Choy Yoon Choon who taught me English and who later took up a career as a
commercial pilot in the then Malayan Airlines.
If there is an image seared into my ageing brain cells, it’s that of Choy, who after taxiing the Moth back to the hangar, gave a loud whack with a rolled newspaper to the rear end of a long legged, pretty female student pilot. That must have been Ms Yik, but it never occurred to me to pursue the matter with the adults.
Another ACS teacher the late Robert Leong had a son who may still be flying for MAS. Both father and son were also into aeromodelling.
There was also another boy named Tan Teik Eng who lived in Rose Garden. He was rather good looking with a debonair manner and invariably smiling. He loved to carve wooden propellers* when the rest of us dullards would rather buy them!
^our galaxy in which the Sun and Earth are embedded. *7″ diameter X 6″ pitch for those into hobby trivia.
Hi Wang, thanks for the compliments! That boy who loves to carve propellers was me. I was an aero-modeller then and have gone a long, long way since that time. I have flown in many types of aircrafts and helicopters and been to every part of Malaysia as a young man
A weakness at that time lead me to be what I am now. With only 20cents pocket money at that time I could not afford to buy those beautiful model aircrafts which cost above 5 dollars then. Mind you at that time a bowl of noddles cost only 20cents also.
Since I was so keen to build my own model aircrafts I resorted to designing them myself. This developed into a skill that allowed me to design kayaks, speedboats, sail boats, yachts, solid electric guitars, go-karts, hundreds of model aircrafts, ultralights, surface-effect-craft, buggy, hovercraft,archery set and now currently I am building light sport aircraft in Subang.
All this has a beginning in the Perak Flying Club where I was given free flying lessons. Thanks to the Matt-Salleh then in particular Peter Delme Radcliffe who also took me sailing on alternate week ends.
It was also in PFC that bees nearly took my life. One day as I was waiting to winch the next flyer up an eagle disturbed a nest of wild bees (Black 20mm ones)near the run way and the bees attacked us. I was bad stung by hundreds of them and was very lucky to be a life today. Because of that incident Radcliffe nickname me old-bee-sting.
Yes, I remember Choy and his antics especially with Ms Yik.
Well! Those were the days and thank you for refreshing my memories.
Cheers
Robin
Robin, would love to visit your sport aircraft at Subang. I sometimes just hang out there just to watch planes taking off or on approach. Just lovely!
Another fav spot is on the ring road at KLIA’s runway 32L.
Just the perfect spot to see all kinds of planes from all over the world on finals. My kid just loves it when I point out their make and models.
As with you I took some lessons too, though on PFC’s old 172N Mike Whiskey.
Hi Aaron & Wang, Perhaps you can sms me your email addresses as I would like to show you some photos of the two Tiger moth, Gliders and Ms Yik as well when we were in the Perak Flying Club air races that was going on between Ipoh and Jendaratta. Gliders were taken during our training days.
As Jeya was asking there were several Austers around too at that time. Two were privately owned. A yellow coloured one was being refurbished for a long journey home to Europe The RAF had a number of them parked just off the PFC hanger. Those were Auster AOP recognisance aircraft.
The Cessna 172 is also known to me as I had several flights in one. It was rather docile compared with some of the aerobatic stuff I tried in the Air Force.
I can also direct you to our factory in Lot 525 Jln TUDM, Subang.
I am also into houseboats for Temenggor lake. Any one interested in owning one perhaps on time share basis? Three sizes are available.
I can be reached on 016-2487678.
Cheers!
Robin
When I was a kid I got confused over these two words too. Almost similar meaning, same pronunciation, but different spelling.
Would love to take you up on you offer of a factory visit at Lot 525. Will give you a tinkle beforehand.
Yeah the 172N was rather docile. On top of that that thing was almost as old as me so we had to treat her nice and easy. Slow and steady at 90KIAS all the way.
Do contact me at aaronflong alias hotmail period com.
Robın
May I suggest you send your photos and descriptions to me so that we may share them wıth the readers of this blog. You can send them at high resoltıon scanned at 600dpi. The address is info@ipohworld.org
Yes Robin, do show us your handiwork!! Who knows someone may be interested in a houseboat or two.
Hi aaron & Ika,
Thanks for the correction, aaron. Hahaha! Yes, you were right about the spelling. In fact when I wrote it I knew something was wrong but I forgot about it and sent it off without the correction.
Wonder where are the gliders now? They are wooden and need to be properly stored.
Ok! I will contact both of you by email. If you go to facebook you should have a good idea of what I did from the pictures I posted.
Aaron, the aluminum aircrafts do have a very, very long life span and they can actually out live you and I. Only the life components needs to be changed as their time is up according to schedule.
Cheers
Robin
Well… whaddya know, I just completed a cross country flight to Trengganu with the ever cheery and colourful Capt Tony Thoo, who told me of his exploits while delivering the payroll to estates and mines across the state.
Those were dangerous times, he added, and the ever ready bandits would most certainly pounce on anyone foolish enough to deliver the moolah by road.
Hi Aaron, how can I get to talk to Captain Thoo?
And Hi Robin, what happened to those photos you were going to send me?
Well, he usually hang out at the Flying club just before the airport. You can just go in there and fish him out or you can call him and talk just about anything under the hot Malaysian sun.
I have his number but I’d need his green light before I post it or give it to anyone.
Thanks Aaron, I shall try and track him down today.
OK, If you have any trouble to look for him, gimme a call and I’ll see what I can do. Today, he’s out flying again so as soon as he lands, you can look him up.
HI Aaron & Ika, I just realized that there is something I have not done yet while I was busying myself on the Light Sport Aircraft until someone I knew a long time ago read our messages here and SMS me but without leaving a name from a weird phone number so it is a mystery to me now who is that person.
It so happens I also met up with Tony Thoo last month when we flew the Jet Fox 97, 9M-EBT to Ipoh on its maiden voyage. I was glad to meet up with him as it was more than 40years ago since we last met. I reminded him about his time delivering payroll in the 60s. We took a photo together and I would like to have his email as well so I can send him a copy too. It was just a few weeks earlier in the St Michael’s Inst. do I also met up with his bro Thoo Kai Wan who also love flying.
I will email Aaron the pics as I have your email address.
Robin, I just got off the Cessna on a cross country trip with Tony just now. Yeah he did mention to me the JetFox though he did not elaborate much except that it’s an ultralight, I believe.
I’ll go check your pics.
Ah… thanks for the splendid pictures Rob. I had a hunch sure you would know Tony, a nice chap to fly with.
We just did a test stall over Ipoh around 5000 ft.
Flying with him is like traveling back through time, right to the 50′s.
I believe he is senior in age to you Rob.
Robin, I have the photos and we shall use them over the coming weeks. Thank you so much.
that might be the plane that Earhart was flying before we lost contact with her. Maybe she was on the payroll for some commies.
Just wanted to drop a comment and say I am new to your blog and really like what I am reading. Thanks for the great content. Look forward to coming back for more.
I was amased by A Wickham Armoured Railcar c1950,this article was so well written that now I have an incredible desire to visit the Royal Malaysian Police Museum in Kuala Lumpur.
Oh, I am amazed that the plane in the picture looks like
the first planes by the Wright Brothers of the early 20th century. If the year was 1950, I was hoping it looks a bit more
like the Fokker 50.
The Tiger Moth was built between 1931 – 1944, in 1950 the aircraft would only be between 6 and 19 years old. So it’s really not that old an aircraft for 1950.
Besides the first Fokker 50 was built in 1987.
Hi Ipohboy,
Thanks for letting me know the year the Fokker 50 was built.
What I meant was that I was hoping the plane of 1950 would look
something more like the earlier models of the Fokker series
I saw when I was a kid in the 60′s.
The plane in the picture is nice but looks closer to the Wright
Brother’s first planes as from my best remembrance and my memory
could be wrong too.
Thanks.
Hi Homesick,
The Tiger Moth was responsible for many a pilot’s introduction to flying. My grandfather, Leong Boon Swee was one of them. In fact, he crashed one in the vicinity of Klang, Selangor (or so I’m told).
The Tiger Moth looked like that because it was designed in an era that was closer to World War 1 than WW2. Until more powerful engines became available, a biplane design was necessary to generate sufficient lift to make a slow flyer like the TM fun to fly.
Rapid advances in aircraft technology after WW1 saw to the introduction of monoplanes because faster aircraft meant it unnecessary to have 2 wings. This resulted in aircraft shapes that we are familiar with today.
The Tiger Moth continued to be used well into the 1950s because it had proved to be an excellent trainer and also because it was easy to maintain, thanks in part to its robust construction.
By the time I took wings in the early 70s, initial training was done in Cessnas, like the 150s and 172s. Part of my early flying was also done in Beechcraft 19As.
Wang Shaoming, thanks for remembering my late father Robert Leong (post #11). Were you also into aeromodelling?
wy
I want to thank you for your effort. Your site is great.
Scot
Thanks Scot. Welcome to our world and we are glad you like it. Come back soon.
Hi Merrill,
Are you Philip Leong’s daughter. My mother and your grandmother were good friends.
Hi Sybil,
Philip Leong is my uncle. I am the eldest grandson of Leong Boon Swee. Kay is Philip’s daughter.
Philip’s mum is still in good health although she has to be placed in a nursing home. She is now well into her 90s. Although her memory is still pretty good, dementia with aging is beginning to show. She used to travel often even when she was in her early 90s. It was not too long ago when she had to be air lifted out of the earthquake-struck region of Sichuan in China. The earthquake there was one of the worst to hit China in recent years.
I do not remember your family even though I did visit Chateau Park often to visit Richard (closer to my age). Were you all residing there by any chance?
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
wy
Hi Merrill,
If Ian is not “snowbound” with Christmas preparations, you could get my e-mail from him. I don’t want to hog his weblog with information that no one else is interested in.
Hi Sybil,
That’s fair enough. So, Ian… may I have Sybil’s email please?
Hello,
I am researching a relative who worked as a geologist in Malaya before and after WW2. His name was Herbert Savage and I know that he was a member of the Ipoh Flying Club, and flew Tiger Moths. I am writing an article on him and would love to know if anyone has any information I could use. He would have been flying with the club i think between 1946 and 1957. If anyone has any pictures of the planes or knowledge of the history I would be very interested to hear from you!
Thanks