FOND FAREWELL – CAPTAIN VANDERSTRAATEN – by Capt Elmo Jayawardena Trevor was always an excellent pilot and a humble human being. I have known him closely from the time we were penniless student pilots learning to fly at Ratmalana. I may not be wrong if I say he was possibly the most intelligent of the Ratmalana flying fraternity at that time.  We had to sit the British Commercial Pilots Exam comprising of 5 challenging subjects. Trevor was the only student I know who passed all 5 in his first attempt. He sure was clever. Capt. Vanderstraaten was a ‘doubly handsome’ young man, tall, good-looking  and soft and loved by everyone. Great sense of humour, never an ill word for anybody.  Strange, after all these years I can still recall how he used to whistle and sing ‘I was born under a wandering star.” The world got older. Some of us ...

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