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RON ROBERTI AND TOM HUF 
We loaded 26 000 pounds of gold in New York and departed for the Azores, Mallorca, Ankara Turkey, Tehran Iran, Karachi, Ceylon and Singapore. We leaned on the regs and "double crewed" so no crew rest till Singapore! The closest to hijacking was in TEHRAN. I had soft pedaled our cargo to the authorites until TEHRAN when I was asked to come into customs. Customs was on the upper deck of the terminal which was buzzing as all terminals do. When the customs official asked "Captain is your cargo gold?" I started dancing but he again asked and I had to reply "Yes" When I walked out of customs ten minutes later the terminal was quiet as an undiscovered tomb and people were looking up toward where we were walking. We were the object of attention from there on and I decided nothing would keep us in Tehran. Naturally we had a runaway prop on takeoff and aborted. Jerry Garner and I decided to go again and "pitch lock" the prop on the next TO which was unsuccess at about V-1. Jerry, Ron and some Iranian dug into the prop and found a bad seal which Jerry & I took to the supply room of AIR MALAYSIA and started running thru seals looking for something that would work. I found one which was a little too small in diameter and a little too fat but we guessed that if it were stretched onto the part it would get skinnier and fit well enough! (To this day I'm sure Jerry and Ron pray that the FAA doesn't learn of this). So it was on to Singapore to unload then Hongkong, Bangkok, Bombay, Dunai - ( AIN'T GOING TO NO STINKING TEHRAN FIND ANOTHER AIRPORT !!) Rhodes, Amsterdam, Shannon, Gander and good old NORFOLK VA. Four trips were planned but after the scary experience - I think NY was more worried than we were - the last three were put on DC-8s and flown NON-STOP (How boring) Best from Tom  YOKOTA AIR FORCE BASE   Lockheed L-188 Electra N284F at JFK in 1973 |
Tom Huf sent crew photo to the left to Ron Roberti who relayed it to the ONA Crew Web! "From left to right up front Tom Fenwick, Ron Roberti, Dell Hollenbeck, two unidentified navigators. In the background from left to right Tom Huf, Jerry Garner and behind the two navigators is Bill Fox. Jim Whithouse was with us and he might have taken the picture. Greetings from Tom Huf" DC-8, DC-9 and DC-10 
Tom Fenwick and
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 Photo courtesy Ron Preed |
"You are flying on one of ONA´s Bicentennial Aircraft designed by one of our employees as a symbol of our participation in the celebration of America´s 200th anniversary. In keeping with ONA´s role of promoting masstravel for recreational, cultural and educational purposes, we have named our bicentennial project "visitUS". Through 1975, 1976 and 1977 the aircraft will visit most cities in the US, Hawaii, the islands of the Caribbean and many European countries extending an ivitation to all people to "visitUS" during this "Celebration America" period. We hope this card will serve as a memento of your flight and a reminder of the wonders of a free and independent USA and its 200th Anniversary Celebration." |
