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FlightCom Magazine 11

Part one

settings and checking the flying controls
for full and free movement. This made Ian
uncomfortable, because the Turbine Dakota,
for all her amazing qualities, demanded the
undivided attention of her pilots. She did not
like to be rushed.
It took a surprising amount of power
to overcome the cloying grasp of the mud
but once the aeroplane started to move the
increasing momentum and the twin blasts
of air from the engines began to lift the tail
feathers and the tail wheel left the ground.
It was at this precise moment that
the left main wheel splashed in to a large
puddle which concealed a deep trough in
the dreaded black mud. This enveloped
the wheel and slowed it down, causing the
aircraft to slew to the left and head for the
trees. The examiner had never experienced
a manoeuvre of such manic determination.
His instant reaction was to try and get
airborne before the trees came through
the windscreen, so he rammed the power
levers to their stops and let out a strangled
expletive.
Ian, on the other hand, immediately
saw the potential for lethal disaster. He
shouted “ABORT!” at the top of his voice,
smacked the examiner’s hand away from
the engine controls, hauled the power levers
into full reverse and slammed his feet onto
the brakes. The examiner suddenly became

aware of the impending catastrophe and

followed Ian’s example, releasing back

pressure on the control column and adding

the weight of his feet to his set of brake

pedals. This produced the equivalent of

Emergency Braking and the laws of physics

inevitably took over, leaving the pilots

with no option but to observe their natural

progress as interested spectators.

The wheels locked up, broke through the

surface of the mud and buried themselves

in the black cotton soil. The rest of the

aircraft however wanted to continue and

immediately overtook the undercarriage,

hurling the tail into the air and plunging

the nose into the ground and crushing it

inwards. Both propellers thrashed into the

ground, hurling great clods of mud against

the fuselage. Ian, Mike and the examiner

were thrust violently against their harnesses

and for a long moment Ian watched in

fascination as the aircraft seemed to hover

before finally deciding to tumble back the

way it had come rather than flopping over

onto its roof. The passengers were flung

violently against their seat belts and any

unsecured articles, including a 20 litre

plastic jerry can of emergency water, were

hurled forward. It was then that the fixed

seat backs justified their lack of comfort by

deflecting the avalanche of objects.

The arrival back on the ground was

accompanied by a thunderous explosion

as the tail wheel was driven up into the

fuselage by the impact.

The silence which followed was almost

tangible, then, slowly everything began to

fall back to where it had been before the

world fell over. The soft whimpers of deep,

uncomprehending shock were the first faint

sounds to break the silence and then Ian

fought his way past the tangle of debris

and clutching hands to open the main door

and check for fire before supervising the

evacuation of the passengers.

We heard about the drama when we

made our first report after getting airborne

from a place called Billing. Our part of the

adventure was about to start.

To be continued next month ...

Hugh’s first book Run And

Break, originally published in

Kenya, is now out on Kindle for

only 86p.

And watch out for his

magnum opus: Point Of No

Return, which will be out soon.

Þ