The AAJ and the RJAF

RJAF pilots (from left) Lt. Colonel Farouk and Lt. Colonel Husam with a poster presented to the squadron in thanks for making the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan Project a success since 1997. Photographed by Bob Bewley.

Lost in Translation

Westerners delight in pointing out examples of unfortunate translations into their language(s) from Arabic, Chinese etc. It can work the other way, too, as we discovered last Sunday when visiting an old friend, Colonel Bassem Halawani in his office at Mafraq Air Force Base. On his wall was a photo of a helicopter in flight. It had been presented by a French team that had worked with the RJAF and made the photo, framed it and added a brass plate, briefly commemorating the occasion. The French colleagues had written their names in roman script but had used an online translator for the date and the name of their organization. Unfortunately, knowing no Arabic, they did not realise that when they asked for the Arabic for ‘Cooperation Gendarmerie’ the software returned a message saying "We apologize for finding no search results". That went on the plate …. much to the amusement of the RJAF pilots.

-DLK

I Love the Smell of Nabataea in the Morning

This morning the team made a short but glorious flight in a Bell UH-1H Iroquois from 8 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force - crewed by Lt. Col. Husam and 2nd Lt. Salem.

This particular aircraft - 809 - was acquired by the RJAF in 1995, before which it had a long and storied career with the US Army. 809 is a Model 205 long fuselage variant that was delivered from the factory in Fort Worth, Texas in 1970.

The aircraft bore the number 68-15284 in US service and is a Vietnam veteran, having seen action at Lai Khe in 1970-71 with the 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). It also acquired striking artwork and the name of "Chickenman America" during its tour of duty.

809/284 is piece of flying history and we feel grateful to be able to experience it in the expert hands of the RJAF.