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My Airway Home

J. P. Obeyesekera, First published 1997.
Reprinted with important addenda 2009 by Lakpahana

This is an account of an epic flight of 7000 miles from Cambridge to Colombo in 1946 by a young gentleman in a small single engined aircraft taking 70 hours of flying time.

The pilot, a graduate of Trinity College, was a member of the Cambridge University Air Squadron, a pilot of Air Transport Auxiliary and a member of the Royal Observer Corps. He was also a keen motor sportsman the owner of several sports cars including a 41/2 litre Blower and a 3 litre Bentley, a brace of Frazer Nash, and an SS airline saloon. He was member of the Cambridge University Automobile Club and an organizer of the first ever motor races to be held in England after the war at Gransden Lodge airfield.

James was the son of the Maha Mudaliyar, had a very privileged upbringing but in reality was a very modest person. In his application to the Air Ministry for registration of his aircraft he had entered his nationality as Singhalese . This had been scored out and replaced with the word BRITISH in the same pen and same hand as had signed with the permit James went on to win the Attanagalle seat with a huge majority and served the country as deputy minister of Health and later of Finance. His trip was no silly undergraduate prank but carefully planned and executed as the meticulously maintained logs and notes included in the book will show. He did not carry a radio, depending on his navigational skills and he very nearly came a cropper only once and that due to information given him by the airport of departure.

The aircraft he flew was a single engined, two-seater with a 90 HP air-cooled engine. These types of aircraft were designated 'army cooperation and used for spotter duties. Due to their short take off and landing capabilities (STOL) they were used to deliver and collect top army brass operating from roads and fields near the front. Better known craft of this genre would be the Feiseler Storch and the Westland Lysander whose duties are now served by helicopters. The faithful little plane brought him safely home except for an emergency landing at Santa Cruz airport in Bombay due to sand in his oil filters. James had foreseen such an eventuality before he left but this had been discounted by the manufacturer. A trip of a third of the way round the world in such an aircraft would be like an overland journey of this length driving solo in a VW beetle. Incidentally in the 1950s James used to drive Beetles in the Monsoon Reliability Trials with great distinction.

The aircraft VP CAO was then given on permanent loan to the Air Academy where it served to train many pilots before it unfortunately crashed and burned killing both its occupants. The wreckage after lying forlorn in a hangar at Ratmalana has now been restored to its former glory by the staff of the SLAF museum but for the moment only as a static exhibit.

The route James had planned had of necessity to cross three seas but in spite of a request from the Maha Mudaliyar he could not cross the Alps because the Auster could not fly that high. Being just after the war however all the airfields on his route were under British control where his CUAC blazer with the RAF buttons got him VIP treatment. His refueling stops were on airfields which any person who followed World War 2 would have recognized, Castel Benito, Marble Arch, El Adern, Mersa Matruh and Cairo. The latter part of this trip took him across an Arabian peninsula still unsoiled by lines in the sand where the hot inhospitable desert did not even have smooth areas for an emergency landing. He noted that Bahrain and Sharjah want little better than a few tin huts. Then on to an undivided India and home.

The book is highly recommended. It is not the story of an adventurer suffering against terrible odds but rather a good humoured account of a hazardous journey undertaken with excellent planning so that the travelogue unfolds smoothly. The fact that it was a tremendous feat in the history of aviation in this country makes it very special.

SriLankan Airlines will soon equip its long-haul fleet with Flatbed Seating and the latest Audio-Video-On-Demand (AVOD) Entertainment System, providing Business Class passengers on long-haul flights with the ultimate luxuries in air travel.

SriLankans Service Delivery Head Captain Milinda Ratnayake said: SriLankan will be one of the few airlines in the world to offer Flatbed Seats in Business Class on flights to Europe and other long-haul destinations.

'This further illustrates our statement that SriLankans Business Class is superior to others,' he said.

Two of the airlines existing fleet of four-engined Airbus A340 aircraft and four of its twin-engined A330 aircraft will be fitted with Flatbed Seating from Aviointeriors of Italy, commencing next May.

The cabin conversion will be carried out at SriLankan's engineering facilities at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport, and would be completed by September.

In addition, the existing entertainment system will be replaced by AVOD from IMS of the United States, the latest in on-board entertainment.

Sri Lanka is fast gaining a reputation as a destination of choice among tourists in Europe, the Middle East, the Subcontinent, and the Far East.

The number of tourist arrivals has been skyrocketing for more than a year now, and is expected to easily set a new record in 2010, which is projected to be quickly surpassed in 2011. With increased demand for hotel rooms, we expect Sri Lanka to attract more and more high-end tourists who will prefer to travel in luxury', Capt. Ratnayake said.

Flatbed Seating is so named since the seat can be adjusted by its occupant to become completely flat and horizontal to the floor, providing a comfortable bed to sleep on while in flight.

With the government successfully maintaining security and peace in the country for more than a year after its military victory over the LTTE, defence authorities are now considering building a Pentagon type establishment at a Colombo suburb, defence sources said.

Under this proposal, the government is planning to build the establishment to house the key defence elements including the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force at a land in Pelawatta, Battaramulla opposite the present army Volunteer Force Headquarters..

There was a plan to bring all the defence establishments under one roof few years back as well, but the then government dropped the idea following the LTTE attack on Bandranaike International Airport on July 24, 2001. The intelligence services advised the government against the idea as it would be an easy prey for the terrorists to give a single knockout blow if they were all housed together.

Meanwhile, sources also revealed that once a pentagon type complex is built at Pelawatte the land where Army Headquarters is situated now will be given to an international luxury hotel chain.

The Shangri-La chain based in Hong Kong has already expressed their willingness to open a hotel in Colombo and the government has identified the land housing Army Headquarters and the Defence Ministry as the ideal location for it, defence sources said while noting this shift of certain defence establishments is also part of the government programme to take the administrative city out of Colombo.

Most of the administrative offices were already being shifted to adjoining Sri Jayawadenapura, Kotte area. The government has already begun the programme to give a facelift to Colombo city under which they are planning to accommodate the large number of slum dwellers in permanent apartment complexes. Most of the key economical lands are occupied by these people who live in shanties, sources noted.

Meanwhile, the cabinet recently approved a plan put forward by the Urban Development Authority to clear slums where 66,000 families are living in a haphazard manner in some of Colombo s choicest lands and to use such land for other purposes.

It is learnt that there are more than 450 acres of prime land being occupied by these families and the government is hoping to utilise 78 acres of this land for leasing purposes. The rest of the land will be used to provide housing and other amenities for these.

Several changes in the Sri Lanka defence services top command structure are likely to be made in the coming months in keeping with the decision of the government not to extend the services of anyone beyond the normal retirement age - for defence 55 and for others 57 years of age.

With the expected retirement of Air Force Commander Air Chief Marshal W.D.R.M.J Goonetileke and the Sri Lanka Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe completing his period of extension of service around the same time, it is likely that changes in the command structure to take effect.

Air Force Air Chief Marshal W.D.R.M.J Goonetileke, who is also presently the Acting Chief of Defence of Staff, a position held earlier by Gen. Sarath Fonseka, will be reaching his retirement age by February 2011.

He is likely to be succeeded by his Chief of Staff Air Vice Marshal P.B. Premachandra.

In the meantime, it is also learnt that Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe will be completing his period of extension of service by January and he is also likely to be succeeded by his Chief of Staff Rear Admiral D.W.A.S Dissanayake.

When Air Chief Marshal W.D.R.M.J Goonetileke retires, he automatically relinquishes his position as Acting Chief of Defence Staff. This leaves the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya as the most senior service commander and it is probable that he will succeed Air Chief Marshal W.D.R.M.J Goonetileke as the Chief of Defence Staff.

If Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya is appointed as Chief of Defence Staff on the retirement of Air Force Chief, it is most likely that his Chief of Staff Major General Daya Ratnayake will succeed him.

Major General Daya Ratnayake an experienced battle hardened war hero, who was once sidelined with envy by the former CDS Gen. Sarath Fonseka, has also proved his organizational ability during the period he has served as the Chief of Staff of the Army.

In such an event it is likely that Major General Daya Ratnayake will be appointed as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.

In the meantime it was learnt that there was a move in the Sri Lanka Air Force to recruit a son of a sister of a vociferous women UNP parliamentarian as a cadet officer, who already failed in the medical interview held for that appointment.

Ministry of Defence was made aware of this fact and the selection of the entire batch of cadets has been cancelled.

An international conference themed on Armoured Vehicles Asia 2010 got underway in Singapore recently where the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya had been invited to present a lecture on Use of Armour in Sri Lanka Conflict .

The conference, designed to serve as a forum for exchanging information on optimizing planning and delivery of armoured vehicle programmes, discussed operational lessons learned from combat zones with much focus on the Asian Region while paying attention on a range of new innovations that covered modernization plans, new technologies, capability enhancements, national requirements, policies, sub-systems, global defence manufacture, etc.

Lieutenant General Jayasuriya during his presentation outlined the use of Armour in the recent Humanitarian Operations, future requirements, possibilities available for modernization of such vehicles in the future, etc and attracted the attention of the conference delegates who were keen to learn how the war for peace in Sri Lanka was conducted.

Lieutenant General Jayasuriya after the presentation contributed to the panel discussion that followed with the participation of other delegates. The panel centred its focus on possibilities of applying different variables that need to be considered when upgrading or modifying such vehicles.

A Singapore man was convicted by a Maryland jury Monday of attempting to purchase American arms for use by the Tamil Tigers, a U.S. designated terrorist group in Sri Lanka.

Balraj Naidu, 48, was found guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist group, and he now faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.

According to a press release by the U.S. attorney's office in Maryland, Naidu and his co-conspirators wanted to obtain grenade launchers, sniper rifles, machine guns and other state-of-the-art U.S. weapons. In 2006, Naidu and his associates started dealings with an agent for an undercover business in Maryland to obtain weapons. According to the U.S. attorney's office, one of Naidu's co-conspirators named Haniffa Bin Osman during the summer of 2006 traveled to Baltimore, where he examined the arms and test-fired many of them.

Representatives of the Tamil Tigers then made a wire transfer to the undercover business for $250,000. That was a down payment on a total price of $900,000. The government says 28 tons of weapons and ammunition were air-lifted to Guam. A group of conspirators inspected the shipment and then another payment of $450,000 was transferred to the undercover business.

At that point, Naidu and his co-conspirators were arrested.

Naidu is scheduled to be sentenced in December. Osman and three others pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from three years to almost five years.

The Tamil Tigers organization sought to overthrow the government of Sri Lanka in a 26-year insurgency that ended last year. The group frequently used suicide bombers to attack military and civilian targets.

The State Department designated the group a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997, and it is not allowed to buy weapons or try to raise money in the United States.

SriLankan Airlines will acquire its first brand new aircraft in more than a decade, among the seven aircraft it plans to take delivery of by the end of 2011. They include five Airbus A320s, including three brand new aircraft, and two Twin Otter floatplanes.

SriLankan's CEO Manoj Gunawardena said: 'We will be celebrating an important new chapter in the history of SriLankan Airlines with the arrival of this large number of aircraft within a short period.

They will allow SriLankan to significantly enhance the passenger experience on board our flights, give us the ability to fly to more cities in the Subcontinent, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and to also increase capacity to existing destinations in these regions.'

The last time Sri Lanka's National Carrier took delivery of a brand new aircraft was in June of 2000, when it received the last of six A330-200s.

The three brand new aircraft are scheduled to be acquired in from May-November 2011, and will sport the latest comforts and entertainment systems including Audio-Video On Demand (AVOD) in both Business and Economy Classes. These three aircraft would be preceded by two other A320s which are likely to arrive in December 2010 and early 2011.

All five aircraft would be on operating leases at very attractive terms of monthly payments. In addition, two Twin Otters are to be acquired for the re-launch of its domestic service SriLankan Air Taxi this winter.

The airline is also exploring the possibility of obtaining at least one more long-haul wide-body aircraft to launch services to more new destinations in Europe and the Far East.