Times of the Islands Summer 2023

More documents

Recommendations

Info

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum There were two airlines serving the Islands in the early 1970s. They were affectionately named “Air Chaos” and “Chaos Airways.” Air Caicos were based in Grand Turk whilst Caicos Airways were based in South Caicos. The US Air Force base was used by Air Caicos for their Convair 444 flights from Nassau via Eleuthera into Grand Turk. They also had their Piper Aztec planes based there which served the Islands as far out as “Blue Hills,” as Providenciales was commonly known then. Air Caicos were able to use the US base as they carried sufficient insurance whilst planes not carrying enough insurance had to use the airstrip in the centre of Cockburn Town. The Town Strip Town Strip was curious in a number of ways. Most runways have an area at each end to allow for undershooting or overshooting of the landing area. Because of houses on the seaward end of Town Strip there was no undershooting area. The overshoot was unusual, as the runway ended at the cemetery wall and the overshoot was at 90º to the runway and passed parallel to the wall. A degree of skill was required in order to land at Town Strip. The land surveyor’s house was directly under the flight path, so planes went very close to his roof in order to get down to the start of the runway. Once the land surveyor was working on his roof when a plane approached and came in so close he had to lie down flat on the roof, as he felt in danger. The Town Strip was also unusual in that there were no facilities apart from the runway itself. There was no air traffic control, so that pilots had to make a visual approach and take off to ensure that the runway was clear. In addition, there was no facility for refuelling. If an aircraft needed fuel it had to be brought to the airstrip or alternatively, the pilot would need to go with a can to the local aviation fuel supplier. At a very simple level that did not appear to be even a windsock or fire extinguisher on site and there were no facilities for passengers as there was no terminal building. The Town Strip was not fenced so that there was always a risk of feral donkeys walking across the runway. Donkeys were very common (and still are) as they had been abandoned when the salt industry ceased to function and continued to breed. One instance occurred when Here is another 1965 aerial view of the old airstrip running near to St Thomas’s Church in Grand Turk. The runway ended at the cemetery wall and the overshoot was at 90º to the runway and passed parallel to the wall. 72 www.timespub.tc
astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum This 1963 slide shows a plane landing on the Grand Turk airstrip, with horses in the way! a plane was beginning to take off as a donkey wandered onto the runway—fortunately the pilot had got enough lift so that he was able to pop over the donkey, touch down on the other side, and continue his take off run. Thankfully there was not a lot of rain on Grand Turk as the runway had very poor drainage. There was one instance where a Beechcraft Baron was coming in to land following a heavy rain shower. As the plane was passing along the runway, the wheels hit a deep puddle with soft mud at the bottom, which resulted in the plane going base over apex and was severely damaged. For a long time the damaged plane was at the side of the runway as a warning of the hazards of landing at Town Strip. There were a number of aeroplanes landing at Town Strip. There were DC-3 aircraft landing there on a regular basis. Strangely, one of them still had the label Alaskan Airlines written on the fuselage and the wings still had their de-icing boots fitted. (These were rubber attachments to the front of the wings which could be expanded when in the air to prevent ice collecting on the wings!) Most of the planes that came in were Caicos Airways Beechcraft Barons, although a number of private planes also called. One of the small planes was from the Evangelists of the Bible Baptist organisation. Their plane had an accident when they ran out of fuel on the way towards Turks & Caicos when coming from the Bahamas. A number of other small planes were calling mainly as a stopover from places like the Dominican Republic and This slide is an aerial view of Grand Turk in July 1964. It shows the salt ponds and South Base, with the airfield behind the dock and to the side of the road. Times of the Islands Summer 2023 73
Page 1 and 2:
TIMES OF THE SAMPLING THE SOUL OF T
Page 4 and 5:
contents Departments 6 From the Edi
Page 6 and 7:
from the editor MARTA MORTON—WWW.
Page 9 and 10:
Everything’s Included For Everyon
Page 11:
Building Your Vision, Delivering Ex
Page 18 and 19:
TIMES OF THE ISLANDS MANAGING EDITO
Page 20 and 21:
South Caicos, if you haven’t been
Page 22 and 23: MARTA MORTON—WWW.HARBOURCLUBVILLA
Page 24 and 25: Seasonal predictions are influenced
Page 26 and 27: SHUTTERSTOCK
Page 28 and 29: KELLY CURRINGTON Spiny lobster are
Page 30 and 31: making a difference ATTIMI PHOTOGRA
Page 32 and 33: LEMENS WELCH—CAYA HICO MEDIA This
Page 34 and 35: green pages newsletter of the depar
Page 38 and 39: This relationship is, of course, no
Page 44 and 45: SHUTTERSTOCK
Page 46 and 47: Some think the perfect dive vacatio
Page 48 and 49: SHUTTERSTOCK ©AQUA TCI—WWW.AQUAT
Page 50 and 51: FLAMINGO DIVERS—WWW.FLAMINGODIVER
Page 53 and 54: new development Opposite page: Niv
Page 55 and 56: Nivå villas 1 through 5 offer over
Page 57 and 58: Above: Outdoor pools and fire pits
Page 59 and 60: food for thought Opposite page: Ind
Page 61 and 62: CHRISTINE MORDEN—PARADISE PHOTOGR
Page 63 and 64: SHUTTERSTOCK Graceway Gourmet offer
Page 65 and 66: astrolabe newsletter of the Turks &
Page 71: astrolabe newsletter of the Turks &
Page 77 and 78: Time zone Eastern Standard Time (ES
Page 79 and 80: imaging, maternity suites, dialysis
Page 81 and 82: Other land-based activities include
Page 83 and 84: WE ARE LEADING THE WAY TO A CLEANER
show all

Times of the Islands Summer 2023

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?