I stepped into Cranwell's main building. I was absoluety soaking, so I wasn't looking my best. I tried to wipe off some of the excess rain.
I looked around. I could see a few men sat on a bench, underneath a banner which said "New Recruits". I decided to sit myself down.
"Excuse me," one of the men said, "are you waiting for some flight training too?"
"Yes," I replied, looking at the man. He seemed to be about my age, however he was slgihtly shorter than I was. He was clean shaven and had curly brown hair.
"Well, that makes three of us then. I'm Rory," he told me as he gestured a hand towards me.
"Nice to meet you," I replied, shaking his hand. "So, where are you from?"
"Down from London, you?"
"Down in the middle of nowhere.....a small town in the hills of Devon."
Suddenly we heard a door swing open, and a man in a large, grey jacket entered. He made his way towards us.
"You must be our new recruits!" He announced, with a very 'British' sounding voice. He wore a flying jacket underneath his top jacket, and a flying helmet, with goggles. He was also very, very tall.
"My name is Officer John Dee," he told us. "Come with me, it's about time you boys got some air time.
We followed him out into the rain. We both shielded our faces and approached a small hangar.
"Inside of here," he bellowed to us, "is your training aircraft. You will sit in the front seat, and I in the back. i will tell you what to do from there." John Dee unlatched the doors of the hangar which slid sideways and.....
a Tiger Moth!!! I was overjoyed. All those months of researching RAF aircraft......now I can see just how she flies.
"You," said Mr Dee, pointing at me, "come and fly first. It will be a wonderful time!!"
I was trembling with excitement as I climbed into the front cockpit. This was it. I fired up the engnes, taxied out to the runway and applied full power. The wind buffeted the aircraft about, and the rain made my goggles rather hard to see through, but, with a bump and a slight puuling back on the stick, we lifted into the skies!!
I had never felt so exhilareted in my entire life. The ground zoomed away from us as we did our turns and rolls.
"Hooray!!" I shouted at the top of my voice. This was wonderful.
"So then, old boy, what do you think so far?"
I turned my head back. "sorry, what did you say?"
"Look out!!!" John Dee shouted as he pulled up on his stick, narrowly avoiding Cranwell's main building.
"Steady old chap!! One of the key things to do when flyin is to look where you are going!!!!"
I felt myself blush. "sorry, sir," I called back.
"Good. Now, I shall perform a manoeuvre which you may find rather useful when in combat. Hold on!!" John Dee called to me as I felt the aircraft lurch upwards.
The speed deteriorated into nothing, and the nose swung down earthward. I thught John Dee had gone crazy, but he pulled up with room to spare. I felt my stomach become suddenly uneasy.
"Fun?" He shouted to me. "Don't worry, you'll get used to this!! The controls are now yours."
I grabbed the flight stick in front of me and did some low passes over Cranwell, waving at some RAF airmen. I could see Rory's face on my final low pass, and he could probably see my ecstasy.
Now it was time to land. I performed a long, swooping curve and lined up with the runway. I could feel the Tiger Moth being buffeted about. "This will be interesting," John Dee called forwards.
I eased the throttle back, and -
The wheels touched down. "Use the rudder!!" I heard a frustrated/worried voice call forward. I applied the rudder and came to a stop, by Rory. I leapt out of the cockpit.
"Wow, that looked amazing!!" Rory called to me.
"It is, that is FANTASTIC!!!!" I told him. "Now, it's your turn. Have fun!" I said to Rory as he climbed into the cockpit. JOhn Dee called to me from the rear cockpit. "Go to the reception, and tell them that you have had flkight training, and you are a new recruit, with flight time 1 hour. Well done old chap!!" He called, as the tiger Moth pulled skywards.
Wow, I thought, if this is what training is like, combat will be amazing!
I made my way towards Cranwell's main building.
Part 2 here
