Back in 1970; I used to go to swimming at a pool club located not far from Chileka airport. There I would get ice pops to help cool off from the blistering heat. They were called "Penny cools" and well worth the price.
Learnt to fly there. good (light) traffic experience from first flight on. Solo 6:35. Throttle failure, forced landing 16:00. PPL flight test 40:10. Thank you Les Antrobus. (and Norman Edwards [ex-RAF Spitfire Instructor], and Jerry Dunn [ex-RRAF]. Dudley Barlow, [ex Bomber Command, 26000 hrs], declined my request for instruction. Said he could'nt steer without 4 throttles. And a few others. Can you imagine the parties in the airway club pub. And a Speedbird Captain making a special visit to buy me a beer after my throttle failure (and thank me for getting out of the way of his VC10 which was on long finalsat the time. At 43:00 hours, Chip Kay, gave me two hours of short field landing at Confortzi's {loose sand], Malamula [trees bothends, goats in the middle] and finally at his home base, Satemwa,[starting at 500', full flap, full throttle,yoke back under your ribs,full up trim, stall warning screaming,total commitment at 400ft, touch on a veritable golf tee.....] I still sweat at the thought but revelled every second.
A small international airport. Access by tarred road from central lilongwe 25km or 40 minutes. Good, secure cheap car parking. Check in area never more than 3 of the dozen or so desks manned. No obvious queing system. Resteraunt and bar upstairs are reasonable. Depature gate has worn chairs and bar is occasionally staffed, busses to the planes in urgent need of replacement. No more than 5 international flights a day from this ariport which seem to be handled to a reasonable standard. On arrival you are met by efficient customs staff. There is one very worn bagge belt but it is served by good manual baggage services from Plane to terminal. Bags frequently lost by airlines but excellent lost and found staff are based in the arrivals area. Lost bags arrive the following day in most cases. (About 30% of people arrive with lost bags on arrival at LLW - most on South African Airlines and Kenyan Airlines due to the 'JNB vanishing effect' and the short transfer time from European flights at NBO) Taxi operatives clog up the narrow arrivals area, cost is between $20 to $30 into town. No public transort whatsoever to or from this airport. Basically an airport in decay, however this is a very good airport for the region and works well most of the time.
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Back in 1970; I used to go to swimming at a pool club located not far from Chileka airport. There I would get ice pops to help cool off from the blistering heat. They were called "Penny cools" and well worth the price.
Learnt to fly there. good (light) traffic experience from first flight on. Solo 6:35. Throttle failure, forced landing 16:00. PPL flight test 40:10. Thank you Les Antrobus. (and Norman Edwards [ex-RAF Spitfire Instructor], and Jerry Dunn [ex-RRAF]. Dudley Barlow, [ex Bomber Command, 26000 hrs], declined my request for instruction. Said he could'nt steer without 4 throttles. And a few others. Can you imagine the parties in the airway club pub. And a Speedbird Captain making a special visit to buy me a beer after my throttle failure (and thank me for getting out of the way of his VC10 which was on long finalsat the time. At 43:00 hours, Chip Kay, gave me two hours of short field landing at Confortzi's {loose sand], Malamula [trees bothends, goats in the middle] and finally at his home base, Satemwa,[starting at 500', full flap, full throttle,yoke back under your ribs,full up trim, stall warning screaming,total commitment at 400ft, touch on a veritable golf tee.....] I still sweat at the thought but revelled every second.
A small international airport. Access by tarred road from central lilongwe 25km or 40 minutes. Good, secure cheap car parking. Check in area never more than 3 of the dozen or so desks manned. No obvious queing system. Resteraunt and bar upstairs are reasonable. Depature gate has worn chairs and bar is occasionally staffed, busses to the planes in urgent need of replacement. No more than 5 international flights a day from this ariport which seem to be handled to a reasonable standard. On arrival you are met by efficient customs staff. There is one very worn bagge belt but it is served by good manual baggage services from Plane to terminal. Bags frequently lost by airlines but excellent lost and found staff are based in the arrivals area. Lost bags arrive the following day in most cases. (About 30% of people arrive with lost bags on arrival at LLW - most on South African Airlines and Kenyan Airlines due to the 'JNB vanishing effect' and the short transfer time from European flights at NBO) Taxi operatives clog up the narrow arrivals area, cost is between $20 to $30 into town. No public transort whatsoever to or from this airport. Basically an airport in decay, however this is a very good airport for the region and works well most of the time.