Ali A and beyond 

Isabella's sister Wanda

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 I spent two glorious years at Gamal Abd El Nasser (RAF El Adem) in the Desert Rescue Team, that was until a certain Mr Gadaffi asked us to leave- pronto.
The airstrip lies just 40 miles south of Tobruq on the way to Al Jaghbub which is a lonely place on the edge of the desolate Great Sand Sea 140 miles south, close to the Eygptian border, on ancient pilgrim and caravan routes. 
It was the seat of the Sunusi religious order because of its isolation. The sect founded a religious retreat there and an islamic university and library in the walled town, sadly now in ruins. The town in dominated by the tomb of Sidi Muhammad ibn Ali al Sanusi al Kabir who lived 1791-1859 the founder of the order. Its gardens still produce the most delicous dates, I know, having sampled them myself. 
I will post on these pages, a tale of an expedition,made by the team but not with me, to find the downed Lockheed Liberator bomber "Lady be good" it was written by the late Zeke Zelany, and I'll post it here for your delight when I can find it.
As I said in my last letter we returned to the Airfield at 06:30 and found MA-DEE in a line-up of six MIG-21's with Russian crews dashing about, strangely no one took the slightest notice of us as we calmly did our checks, taxied out and flew away east.
Eng says the whole wheel is shot, the brakes have welded themselves together and he suspects that we, no rather I have bent to port undercart, He also say's there are no spares and we'll have to wait till they can be sent out from the UK.

Before long we crossed the Quattra Depression, a huge area of salt marshes substantially below sea level, which stretches right across Northern Eygpt almost as far as Cairo which we overflew at 09:00 and soon after turned south following the Suez Canal and then following the Arabian coast as far as Jiddah. By 11:00 we were talking to Jeddah ATC and at 14:54 after passing Doha on our port side and following the UAE side of the Persian Gulf we made a textbook landing at Ali A.

We night stopped here and set off early the next morning to Muscat in Oman. On consulting the Flight Plan supplied to us, I decided mistakenly to go east via Karachi the idea of crossing mile upon mile of dreary shark infested ocean filled me with dread, I once spent 3 days and nights alone in a life raft on a stormy North Sea up by the Fresian Islands.

Well as I said, that was a mistake for sure, for as we made our run into Jinnah International we hit the worst monsoon storm I have ever experienced, and what with the late hour and some charlie playing with the airfield lighting (routine maintenance they said) we burst a tyre on landing.

We are down!- This Runway is very wet

Now to Stop!