'From Nose to Tale'

Strolling down memory lane is always a pleasant pastime, especialy if the contents are of the pleasing kind.

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Book of flying stories to be launched on 29 Nov. 2025 REVIWED BY BY CAPT. ELMO JAYAWADENA Elmojay1@gmail.​com

I have known Capt. Gihan A Fernando (fondly known as GAF) from the first time I climbed into a small aeroplane. We both were student pilots at the Department of Civil Aviation-owned Ratmalana Flying School. We took our initial lessons to become commercial pilots in make-shift classrooms where the teaching was done on a black-board, and the writing was with chalk. I distinctly recall GAF in his 'jungle khaki' trousers walking the shadeless kilometre from the Galle Road to the Flying School.

We all did it most mornings, and, occasionally, with luck, we did get a lift from a passing vehicle. Many days we arrived at the school at first light and hung around past noon and went back without even touching an aeroplane. That was almost a norm, we came, and we saw but we couldn't conquer. Yes, the Mitsuo Fuchida and the Baron von Richthofens of Ratmalana did struggle in a perpetual Calvary in our Katta Kaapu quest to qualify as pilots.

That was more than 55 years ago. From our initial fledgling days, we meandered in the aeroplane world taking measured steps in our crawl to become Airline Captains. The last time I sat in a cockpit with GAF was flying from Singapore to Melbourne and back on a SIA 747, maybe 20 years ago.

That sky tramping was a big slice of our lives, and we are still loitering around and talking about aviation and reminiscing on the 'petals and pellets' that fell on our heads which certainly converted to beautiful memories filled with nostalgia.