Alice L introduced me to Hardy Fuerer at the UNDP Compound’s mailbox way back in 1979. He was just back from one of his numerous trips to the far flung corners of the country, this time he had some bottles of rakshi airlifted from somewhere at Humla. Apparently apricots were in abundance there and he had befriended some villagers who make their own hooch from the surplus fruit.
He was the UN pilot extraordinaire, having flown over the Swiss mountains to qualify him to work for the “air bus” or “air ghari”, a Pilatus Porter, to reach at the remotest regions and mostly unpassable by road. His cargo and passengers were unpredictable: these could be medicine, books, hardware, sheep. And rumors of running contraband to a certain training area, but this was never substantiated. The return trips were mostly light so the need to look around for items to ferry back to Kathmandu.
Sad to know that he passed away in 2005.
In 2000, Hardy Furer returned to the country he loved: the Everest View Hotel (rooms are provided with oxygen tanks, the elevation was that high) was to hire him to take tourists there. However things did not go the way he would have wanted to. His health was not at its best, having lost one lung and part of another to pulmonary problems. He was unable to obtain a visa to stay in Nepal, and his condition worsened until his death. He was given a simple Buddhist cremation.
For nearly twenty years, he was a fixture in town. With the Civil Aviation authorities, he extended the number of air strips to 30. One of the more colorful characters at that time, his flying record shows zero accidents. A story goes that he drove his Land Rover (or was it a Peugeot?) into the main road or rather piloted it, hitting a good number of cars. Remember, it was okay to park cars in the median of the road? Some consultants complained that the Pilatus left without them, because they were unable to arrive at the airstrip on time.
His UN flying days were over when the Pilatus was exchanged for a Twin Otter and turned over to Royal Nepal (RNAC). He returned to Switzerland and after years of treatment he left for Nepal.
He lived his piloting life in Nepal with a lot of drive, gusto, and passion. The UN plane’s number was 9N-AAW. Which some people shortened to “Alpha Whiskey”.
Do you have any Hardy stories to share?
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal from 1977-1980 I had numerous encounters with Hardy, often at Lamidanda airport. I would see him at other locations too. I also knew the legendary pilot, Emile Wicks, of the same era in Nepal.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason Hardy and I never hit it off, we actually had some words at some point, I forget about what. As a former pilot myself I certainly respected his flying and was envious of his wonderful career of flying in the mountains in Nepal.
Reading your article above I was saddened to hear of his death.
Roger Ray, Peace Corps Volunteer, Nepal, 1977-1980
I met Hardy at a drinks party he very kindly hosted for our RAF VC10 crew in 1977.
ReplyDeleteHis hospitality was unsurpassable.
I chanced upon Chris Bonington's 'Everest The Hard Way.' on Hardy's bookshelves and asked if I may take a look. Inside the front cover was a note from CB to Hardy thanking him for the stunning photographs he'd supplied for CB's book.
From what I recall, we had a splendid and lengthy night.
R E Lee Squadron Leader RAF (ret'd).