2. Air Congo began services in a close partnership with SABENA which had been serving
the Belgian colony of Congo since the 1930s with DC-3s, DC-4s, and DC-6s. Many of
those types were inherited by Air Congo and were used for internal services and for
flights to neighboring countries.
Air Congo also used the Beech 18 and the Curtis C-46. A Boeing 707 was used for
services to Brussels, Rome, and Paris until 1963. The 707 was replaced by a Douglas
DC-8 with more capacity. In 1965, Air Congo became independent of SABENA and
acquired two SE 210 Caravelles in 1967.
Because of technical difficulties experienced by Air Congo, a partnership was
established with Pan American from which Air Congo acquired further DC-8s.
In 1971 the Congo changed its name to Zaire and the national airline was renamed Air
Zaire. In 1973, Air Zaire acquired its first widebody aircraft, a DC-10-30. The DC-3s,
which were still in service, were replaced with the F-27 Friendship, of which eight were
bought. Further fleet modernization saw the Boeing 737-200 enter service.
I got volunteered as the powers to be thought that I spoke French. I was “Hangar
Foreman” for the Fokker's, DC-6 and the DC-8ths. My title in French sounded much
better.
11. Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville) is the capital and largest city of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo is located on the Congo River.
Once a site of fishing villages, Kinshasa is now a bustling city with a
population of more than 7 million in 2004. The city of Brazzaville
(about 1.5 million inhabitants in 2007 with its suburbs), capital of the
Republic of Congo, lies just across the Congo River from Kinshasa.
Together with Brazzaville, the combined conurbation of Kinshasa-
Brazzaville has thus nearly 9 million inhabitants.
In 1974, Kinshasa hosted the 'Rumble in the Jungle' boxing match
between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, in which Ali defeated
Foreman to regain the World Heavyweight title.
The language in Kinshasa is Lingala, which I used to speak.
