A 64-year friendship forged in the skies

Members of the RNZAF No. 36 Pilots’ Course at Station Wigram in Christchurch in 1962. Soon Lian Cheng is seated first left, while fellow Malayan trainee Buang Ahmad is seated far right. (Soon Lian Cheng pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: When Soon Lian Cheng travelled to Christchurch earlier this year, it was not simply another overseas trip.

At 84, the former Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) officer made the long journey to New Zealand for what may have been the final reunion of a group of friends brought together by aviation over six decades ago.

The men met in 1962 as members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s (RZNAF) No. 36 Pilots’ Course at Station Wigram in Christchurch.

Fresh-faced trainee pilots from different backgrounds and countries, they spent a year learning to fly North American Harvard aircraft while building friendships that would outlast careers, continents and, for many, a lifetime.

Soon and the late Buang Ahmad, a flight-lieutenant, were the first two Malayans selected for the programme. The pair became even closer after Buang later married Soon’s sister.

“Upon retirement, I made it a point to attend subsequent reunions, which were very memorable to me,” said Soon, who retired from the RMAF in 1996 as a brigadier-general after 35 years of service.

Soon with former coursemates and loved ones during the No. 36 Pilots’ Course reunion dinner at Wigram Hotel in Christchurch this year. (Soon Lian Cheng pic)

This year’s gathering reunited Soon with five of his comrades – Bruce Johnson, Murray Crawford, Roger Henstock, Kevin Jones and Terry Knight – along with their wives and the widows of deceased coursemates.

One surviving member, Philip Clarke, was unable to attend due to health issues.

The passage of time was impossible to ignore. Johnson now uses a wheelchair following major surgery, although the former Air New Zealand pilot remains a familiar figure in aviation circles after working as a flying instructor with the Tauranga Aero Club until he was 80.

Jones, meanwhile, rose to the rank of group captain and later served as New Zealand’s defence adviser in Singapore.

“With age and worsening health – not to mention the severe difficulty of obtaining travel insurance for those aged above 85 – it may well have been our last reunion this year,” Soon noted.

Soon during pilot training on a North American Harvard aircraft in New Zealand in 1962. (Soon Lian Cheng pic)

Gathering in Christchurch also brought back vivid memories of a very different era. Soon recalled how he and Buang took five days to reach New Zealand in 1962.

“We first travelled by train from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to catch a Handley Page Hastings flight to Darwin, Australia,” he recounted.

“After the refuelling stopover, we continued on the same aircraft to Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley in Brisbane for another refuelling stopover.

“Then, we proceeded to Whenuapai Air Base in Auckland to board a twin-engine Devon aeroplane to Christchurch International Airport.”

Their arrival came with an unexpected twist. “We could not land at Station Wigram directly and were diverted to Harewood International Airport because Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss and others were competing in the Lady Wigram Trophy!”

Upon landing, Soon and Buang were welcomed to the officers’ mess “where beer was given out in flagons, before being sent out to watch the race where Moss won in his Lotus 21”.

Soon posing with the same model aircraft he once flew six decades ago, restored and displayed at the RNZAF Museum in Wigram, New Zealand. (Soon Lian Cheng pic)

Soon went on to fly Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer aircraft during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation and the communist insurgency before retiring as commandant of the Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College.

Sadly, Buang’s life was cut short. In October 1967, he was killed when his Twin Pioneer crashed into the mountains of Pahang during a supply mission.

Other members of the course went on to serve in Britain’s Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and various commercial airlines.

A changed city, a lifetime of memories

Returning to Christchurch this year, the former pilots found a city transformed.

The Wigram air force base no longer exists after the ancestral land was returned to the Maori. The RNZAF Museum remains, while the former officers’ mess has been converted into the Wigram Hotel, where the reunion was held.

The group also visited Christchurch’s new Te Kaha Stadium, built after the devastating 2011 earthquake that damaged much of the city’s infrastructure.

Former coursemates and family members at the home of Kevin Jones in Rangiora, Canterbury for this year’s reunion. (Soon Lian Cheng pic)

For Crawford, the passage of time has done little to diminish the emotions attached to their shared memories.

“The excitement of being around aeroplanes we no longer fly did not diminish our love for aviation. Such memories will hold on to our hearts forever,” he said.

Johnson, meanwhile, reflected on a lifetime spent in the cockpit, including flying Cessnas that were “by far the smallest I had flown in the last 64 years”.

“Taking friends and family for flights around our beautiful coastline and over some of our nearby volcanoes was always a pleasure,” he added.

For Soon, the annual pilgrimage isn’t so much about planes as it is about friendship – the kind forged in youth, strengthened by shared experiences, and sustained across 64 years.

And whether or not the group meets again, that bond will continue to soar.