After completion of the training, our plan was to ferry the helicopters to the UAE. Lt Col Awan, the Commanding Officer, Major Taseer Jordanian Army and I were to assist the ferry team of three retired US Army helicopter pilots. Among the two routes considered for the ferry flight – Italy, Cyprus, across Mediterranean Sea to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE, and the other – Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and UAE, the latter was selected for good reasons. During the time ferry details were being finalized which included confirmation of flight plans, insurance coverage, visa formalities etc, helicopters were flight tested and prepared for the ferry flight. We had earlier arrived at the Agusta Bell helicopter factory in Milan where handing/taking over formalities were completed and on May 05, 1975 the plan was to commence the journey.

First halt was at a small border town on Italy-Yugoslavia border. We were booked in a small guest house owned by a middle-aged typical heavyweight Italian lady, that reminds me of Italian women, trust me I have not come across as pretty and attractive girls as I saw in Italy but how strange the same pretty girls no sooner they reach their forties then they lose their physical charms. This is an innocent observation no hard feelings please. We spent the evening resting in our rooms, the owneress was particularly kind, she looked after us well. After dinner I walked over to a nearby market to telephone my wife who was with her family in Nairobi Kenya. I was anxious because my wife was in the family way and expected date of delivery was last week of April or first week of May 1975. When my call went through she was on the other end. She had been waiting to deliver the good news to me. The good news was the birth of our daughter who was named Komel. She was born on the 1st of May 1975 and by the time I called she was already 5 days old. I was very happy to receive the news for I was now a father to a son and a daughter.

The following morning we were all set to resume the journey. Starting early within 30 minutes of flying we crossed over into Yugoslavia. The layout of the land below was not much different except that villages/towns on the Yugoslavian side appeared less modern. Flight was smooth, en route we landed at Zegreb for refuelling before reaching Belgrade for the night stay.

Belgrade International Airport did not give the look of a modern European airport. Systems were old fashioned lacking finesse and mannerism, people did not seem to care for courtesy, they were not as friendly either. I was quite surprised, but later learnt that Socialist system cared little for elegance or its projection. State kept control over all aspects of governance. Emphasis was more on subsistence than affluence. Fear and coercion, State-sponsored measures were commonly used to restrict people from showing desires for personal rights and freedom. It left me with no doubt about the withdrawn behaviour of the common people. Despite all this there was no lacking in efficiency, people carried on with their jobs in routine. Meanwhile, helicopters were made ready for the next day, they were parked at the location earmarked by the Authorities. Later we left for the hotel. Hotel was conveniently located in downtown, it was reasonably equipped without any sophistications. Never mind that, we were fairly comfortable. Food was of good quality and cheap as well, I remember eating the most delicious veal steaks, I have yet to eat more delicious steak than that. We spent the evening walking around the city. Traffic on the road was thin, people mostly travelled on foot or used public transport. Life was much slower than what we experienced in the rest of Europe. Next morning at the breakfast table we were told that due to National Day celebrations in Yugoslavia our departure would be delayed. It was not known when the permission would be granted. On the third day, however, Civil Aviation Authorities finally cleared our flight. Our next destination was Istanbul, Turkey. En route we flew across Bulgaria with only a brief halt at Sophia, the Capital of Bulgaria for refuelling and refreshments. It was a long flight to Istanbul we arrived just minutes before the sun went down.

The hotel we were scheduled to stay at Istanbul was at a distance from the airport. Driving through the streets of Istanbul was a fascinating experience. Seated in the cab, I let my imaginations take me into the glorious years of one of the greatest empires, the Ottoman Empire. I did not for a moment feel I was a stranger, I was overwhelmed with emotions, truly it was an historic moment for me. Next morning while on course to Ankara we took the opportunity of flying over Istanbul, particularly in the close vicinity of the famous bridge over Bosporous which links Black Sea with the Mediteranean Sea, where East meets the West. With full three dimensional view of the structure and the surroundings, I was overwhelmed, the experience was unique, it was as if I was travelling through history.

The euphoria, however, lasted a few minutes. Soon we were past the bridge and the town on course to our next destination. Three hours of non-stop helicopter ride was tiring. We reached Ankara International Airport, our stay there was brief, after refuelling and refreshments we resumed our journey and close to sunset reached Diyarbakir. At Diyarbakir we made up for the lost sleep to be ready for the next day’s flight to Tebrez a small town on the border of Turkey and Iran. Tebrez also is the gateway to Central Asia.

Route to Tebrez was over hilly and uninhabited terrain, flying time to Tebrez was close to 5 hours, we were almost drained by the time we reached Tebrez. Between Diyarbakir and Tebrez refuelling arrangements were not available, therefore, we carried three 40 gallon drum with JP-1 fuel each and a hand operated fuel pump each for manual refuelling. Although we were not happy with this arrangement of manual refuelling, we were given assurance by the ferry pilots who told us they had travelled over the same route a number of times ferrying helicopters for other customers. 3 hours outbound from Diyarbakir, we decided to land. Selecting a lonely spot on a ridge away from the built up area, we put the helicopters down and switched off. It was nice and quiet. We started to refuel, while we were busy refuelling, one by one people started to gather around the helicopters soon a sizeable crowd had gathered watching us from a distance. Nothing was alarming till after refuelling as we prepared to board the helicopters, a man wearing security guard uniform pointed his riffle at us and said “you no go”. It was as simple as that. We looked at each other with wide blank eyes, not knowing what had happened. We made efforts to calm the young man down and also tried to explain our position. The man was unmoved, he kept repeating “you no go, you no go”. There was not much we could do except wait for something miraculous to happen. As minutes ticked, it made us uneasy, we were running short of daylight hours as well. As we thought hard about possible options, a middle aged man, giving the look of an ex-soldier stepped out of the crowd and walked over to where we sat. He began speaking in broken English “What the problem”, he asked. Well, well, at least there was someone who cared what our problem was. He was told about our problem as convincingly as possible. Having listened to us, he turned towards the security guard and started talking to him, all we could gather from their conversation was the security guard nodding his head sometimes in the positive and sometimes in the negative. We hoped better sense would prevail. The arbitrator once again turned towards us and said that a messenger on a horseback would be sent to a nearby security post, he would call Diyarbakir and after permission is granted, we would be allowed to proceed. It took 2 hours for the messenger to return with the good news. Before we left, the arbitrator who came to our rescue told us that one of the reasons which made our case complicated was the presence of different nationalities and helicopters marked with UAE Police Air Wing signs. Anyhow all is well that ends well, thanking our hosts, we departed without any further delay. Thank God we managed to reach Tebrez before dark.

At Tebrez another drama was in the making. This time it was the immigration officer who gave us some anxious moments. At the immigration desk the Americans were given a preferential treatment, they were cleared by the officer with respect and hospitality. When it was our turn the smile had vanished, the officer was noticeably arrogant. He took out a register with names of blacklisted persons. He started checking every passport with the list of blacklisted persons before handing them back to us. The treatment given to us was uncalled for, the behaviour of the immigration officer was disappointing and embarrassing particularly in the presence of the American pilots.

We departed Tebrez early next morning to avoid the heat and the dust, high temperatures and dust storms were a common phenomenon during that part of the year. All the way to Tehran, however, the flight was smooth and comfortable, by midday we arrived at Tehran International Airport. Tehran, the Capital of Iran, was a modern westernized city, from what I saw and observed, the Americans enjoyed a dominating influence over the Iranians although the difference in the rural urban lifestyle was well marked.