This made us now 2 days behind schedule, so we were both eager to get going again. But, we couldn't because "Howie" wasn't making much progress. So little, in fact, that on the Tuesday morning, I got a call saying that "Howie" would have to stay on this island for a few days more.
Mitchell and I had a desicion to make. Do we get the next flight home and give up, or wait for "Howie" to get fixed?
We were just about to wrap it all up when suddenly my phone went off again. "Yes?" I called.
I found that it was an Officer from RNAS Yeovilton. He told me that he had been tracking our progress, and was eager for us to continue.
I asked him how we would do so with a plane that doesn't work.
"Well," he said, "one of my squadrons are willing to lend you one of their FA-2's."
This shocked me. The Royal Navy was willing to lend one of their aircraft??
I asked why they would do so. The officer went on to say that my reputation within the RAF (I forgot to mention I was a Flight Officer in the RAF) was impeckable, and that the RAF were also keen for us to fly RTW.
"Okay," I said, "when will the aircraft arrive?"
"This evening," he sai, and that was the end of the conversation.
So it seems Mitchell and I had a desicion to make. What would we do? After 5 minutes, and a call from the mechanics saying that "Howie" was nearly ready, I said that I shall fly to Cairo in the FA-2 and meet Mitchell with "Howie" there.
****
It was 5pm, and the Harrier had just arrived. After a few preperations and goodbyes, I was ready to go.
It has been AGES since I have flown this baby, and I knew it was going to be a bit sketchy at the beginning. But I would soon get used to it.
Just lifting off here, estimated time of arrival about 6:45pm. It would be dark when I arrived.
Not much about this one; I really do like this shot.
The night was moving in. I was above the Med, just wishing there was an enemy to destroy. I was feeling in a dangerous mood and you can probably see why.
The night had rolled in fast. I switched off the lights because my mood changed to a stealthy mood. I felt like flying at 200ft under the radar, but then somebody would get rather suspicious.
By now I had a headache. That damn alcohol was getting to my head, that probably explained my changing moods. Every so often I felt like I was spinning around, trying to fight the lagers. But it got continually harder. I began to see lights, swirling around in front of my face. I blinked. They were gone.
Now these were lights that I recognized well, as lights of a town. This means I had hit Egypt, and I was nearly there.
On the final, cleared to land. But on which runway? I saw four runways in front of me. Once again, I blinked, narrowing four down to one. "And I thought I could fly well," I told myslef.
Suddenly, a 737 roars into my way. and ATC clear him to land first.
Now as you can probably understand, I was fuming with rage. I wouldn't be so angry if I wasn't rather 'tipsy', but by now it had gone to my head.
I contacted ATC, and told them that I was going to land on a small patch of tarmac by a few aircraft parking. I heard the ATC (or so I thought I heard him say "What??" to another controller) controller tell me that I was approved access to land, if I got it down quickly.
Now somebody telling someone who is drunk to do something quickly is not a good idea. So the word 'quickly' appeared in front of my face , flashing through the colours red, green and blue.
I vectroed the thrust, put the throttle on 25% and realised I was falling throught 2,000ft.
Suddenly, the alcohol was gone. I put the throttle on 100% andfound myself hovering at 700ft, and then-falling??
The throttle control was gone. I had lost control and I was spiraling down again.
I fumbled for the ejector, grabbed and pulled--
BOOM!!! The Harrier hit the ground violently, as I watched from my ejector seat. I was so distracted with the crash, that I forgot to pull the parachute at the correct time, and pulled it too late. Then I hit the ground with an unwelcoming CRACK!!
A horendous crash in Cairo could spell the end of my RTW journey, and maybe even my life??
Will all be fine, or will this be the last of the trip?? Find out next time...
P.S: Sorry about writing too much here!! ;D
Nice work!
