PilotPete 0 Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 In his book “View from the Summit,” Sir Edmund Hillary describes how the airfield at Lukla was built. In 1964 I was in the Khumbu again with Jim Wilson, Peter Muigrew and quite a large group of our Himalayan Trust members. I had noticed that below Chaunrikarka there was a large area of almost flat land pushing out into a curve of the Dudh Kosi. I asked Jim Wilson to investigate it and he reported that it just might do, but that it was barely long enough and also very fertile land, so that the local people might be understandably reluctant to sell. Then Jim had a rather amazing experience. He was approached by a group of farmers from the small village of Lukla, which was located in a small tributary valley at 9,000 feet. They had some land for sale and thought it would be suitable for an airfield. They even suggested that the wind always blew in the right direction! How hill people who knew nothing about airfields could possibly make this sort of judgment I do not know, but when we went up to Lukla we agreed that they were right. And best of all we wouldn’t be destroying a lot of arable land. One third was in rough pasture, one third in heavy scrub and the last third in terraced potato fields. It certainly wasn’t flat, the rise from bottom to top was over a hundred feet, but this wouldn’t be a problem to a STOL (short take-off or landing) aircraft. Even the negotiations for the land were relatively easy. I purchased it on behalf of the Nepalese government for a total of $635 — quite a substantial sum in that area in those days. We had no mechanical equipment, of course, so everything had to be done by hand. Mingma recruited more than a hundred Sherpas and with kukris and mattocks they cut down the bush, dug out the roots and leveled the land. The terraced potato fields required a vast amount of earth moving, and there were some huge boulders that we were unable to lift. Instead we used the method pioneered by the Sherpas on the Mingbo airfield. We dug huge holes and then rolled the rocks into them and covered them up with earth. And the first landing: The first Pilatus Porter flight was fast approaching, but I was still not entirely happy with the top surface of the field which was rather soft. I decided to use a simple but practical method to improve this. Sherpa dancing is very vigorous and involves much stamping of the feet. We purchased large quantities of chang and then employed fifty Sherpas to link arms and stamp their way backwards and forwards across the field. A very festive mood prevailed and the earth received a most resounding thumping. Two days of this rather reduced the Sherpas’ enthusiasm for the dance but produced a firm and smooth surface for our airfield. The strip was 1,150 feet long and 100 feet wide and was clearly marked by white painted boards. Altogether I had paid out just over $2,000 for land and labour. No doubt with memories of Mingbo airfield two Civil Aviation representatives were coming in as observers on the new airfield’s first flight and their judgment would be final. It was the sharp ears of a Sherpa who first heard the aircraft coming up the valley and we hastily removed all the children and cows off the runway. I admit to feeling rather tense as the Pilatus Porter circled overhead. Then the plane wheeled, its flaps came down and it swung in to the bottom of the strip. The wheels touched with a puff of dust and next moment it was rolling up the airfield and came to a rapid halt. It took full power for the plane to taxi to the top of the runway and then we were welcoming the clearly delighted crew and passengers. I had an enormous feeling of pleasure and relief. Lukla quickly became the busiest mountain airfield in Nepal and the gateway to Everest. From http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?...Fairfield%2Ehtm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted April 21, 2006 Aerosoft Share Posted April 21, 2006 Assuming 'chang' is a local drink this will be the only airport I know that is build by intoxicated dansers.... Amazing story, thanks for digging it up! Can we offer you a free product to show our thanks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PilotPete 0 Posted April 21, 2006 Author Share Posted April 21, 2006 Assuming 'chang' is a local drink this will be the only airport I know that is build by intoxicated dansers.... Amazing story, thanks for digging it up! Can we offer you a free product to show our thanks? Mathijs, My pleasure! I'm guessing the first passengers and crew were a bit more than just "clearly delighted" to make it down in one piece. I'm sure they consumed much chang celebrating a landing from which they could walk away. Chang is a Tibetan barley beer. It is mildly intoxicating, is thick and white, and has a sweet and pungent taste (just the thing to sip while on approach to Lukla - the virtual Lukla, of course!). Consider having your developers drink some, link arms, and stamp back and forth over their keyboards - imagine what they could accomplish! Thank you, I would love a download copy of Lukla - Mount Everest. I have several Aerosoft products and continue to appreciate your choice of projects and your attention to quality. BTW, due to the plate tectonics in the area, Mount Everest grows 3 to 5 mm higher a year! No doubt future Lukla updates will take this into account :wink: Regards, Peter Hemm pmhemm "at" earthlink.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted April 21, 2006 Aerosoft Share Posted April 21, 2006 We discussed the changing altitude of the plateau, but we decided to implement a totally new feature "Runway Abrasion" were we simulate the loss of mass due to wind, rain and frost. In a standard year we expect to loose about 3 mm, but if the winter has been very severe this can increase to 3.2 mm. Of course our 'Global Warming' feature that makes all elements in FS slightly warmer and expand works in combination with that. Next year we will also try to have our 'Land mass shift' feature implemented were the total mountain moves North East at the staggering rate of 2 inches a year. However at this moment we should acknowledge this as a limitation however. If you contact us at info@aerosoft-shop.com we would be happy to get you a free copy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PilotPete 0 Posted April 21, 2006 Author Share Posted April 21, 2006 ... we decided to implement a totally new feature "Runway Abrasion" No doubt a chang-induced idea! :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted April 22, 2006 Aerosoft Share Posted April 22, 2006 No doubt a chang-induced idea! :roll: Most certainly. We now have chang shipped over from Nepal (troubled country as it is right now) by the ton. Brilliant stuff. Don't expect any new products from Aerosoft until we run dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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