Musings from the Merse
Friday, June 30, 2006
Jordan King Husseins Dove
A final image from Jordan. Flight Buff will correct me but I believe this is a Dove. The same as the plane used by King Hussein in the late 1950s when still a young man. Flying over the Syrian countryside en route to Cyprus a number of Syrian MIGs tried to shoot him down. He was saved by his personal pilot Wing Commander Jock Dalgeish who took the controls and flew back to Amman at about 30 feet dodging through the wadis where the MIGs could not safely follow. The King never forgot this kindness , remained close friends with Jock and used to visit him in his Scottish village most years-wandering around the place wearing jeans and a sportshirt-the body guards waiting for him in London.
Other images of Jordan at http://www.flickr.com or at http://www.flickr.com/photos/44911990@N00/178324512/
Other images of Jordan at http://www.flickr.com or at http://www.flickr.com/photos/44911990@N00/178324512/
Comments:
I recently met a technician in his eighties who used to fly on the Dove when King Abdullah 1 was on the throne. He was actually in the aircraft which brought the body of the King back to Amman after he was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1951. His story is of being a shepherd in Palestine in the late 1930s and seeing the RAF flying overhead which made him want to have something to do with aircraft so he joined the RAF then the ALAF (Arab Legion Air Force) and then emigrated to the USA in the fifties. T
# posted by 
: 3:27 PM
: 3:27 PM
Thanks for that. It is amazing how people from Bedou stock and with little formal education at primary level managed to break into high tech stuff including, in one case I can think of, open heart surgery
No correction needed as it is a Dove. The Heron is similar, but larger and has four engines.
That's an interesting story which I don't recollect hearing before. Cheers.
That's an interesting story which I don't recollect hearing before. Cheers.
# posted by : 8:41 PM
: 8:41 PM
Thanks Flighty. Good to get expert confirmation the story is in King Hussein's autobiography: 'Uneasy Lies the Head' Even up to four months before he died he was still flying his personal plane-a large Boeing but his great love was a Spitfire he kept on the Isle of Wight.
a spitfire???? More info please as have not seen that name in HM's log book or ever heard of him flying one. T
# posted by : 9:15 AM
: 9:15 AM
He certainly had one-it may have been a Hurricane I have to admit. His grandfather King Abdullah 1 raised money for Spitfires/Hurricanes in the Second World War. One was kept, I think, in the Isle of Wight and appeared in various air displays. The King certainly flew it no and again
Now go to http://www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/Press_Pack/19960908_King_Hussein/Spitfire_Pilot.JPG
I rest my case (except this was not his own!
Post a Comment
I rest my case (except this was not his own!
