Page 113 - Demo

111the other pilots from our group %u2013 we had an assorted collection of aircraft from my 109 up to and including a Hunter %u2013 all having arrived from various locations. There was an arrival party if I recall correctly, and we finished up in a hostelry in Deblin town; but, while our hosts seemed to have prodigious appetites for vodka, we were actually (out of character) quite sensible, and were all in our pits at a good hour.Saturday dawned, pretty grey and overcast but flyable, and we eventually found the obscure block where we were to be briefed for the day. This was new territory for the Polish Air Force, as the airshow was the first in Poland since the demise of the Warsaw Pact, and they were keen to get it right. I thought they really did quite well, although application of the rules owed quite a lot to, shall we say, %u2018pilot interpretation.%u2019 John and I were down to open the show in the Spitfire and 109, and it is worth explaining that John%u2019s Spitfire was in the wartime colours of a Polish Squadron in the Royal Air Force, and my 109 was in a standard wartime Luftwaffe scheme.I taxied out past the Polish President%u2019s enclosure, where there were a mass of dignitaries, plus a host of visiting NATO senior officers %u2013many of whom I recognised. The general public crowd was truly massive. I got airborne at show start-time and, for the next few minutes, below the overcast, I %u2018attacked%u2019 the airfield with the occasional rolling manoeuvre to show off the aircraft. The Spitfire then scrambled and intercepted me and in the %u2018combat%u2019 %u2013 which was me leading John in a tail chase %u2013 I eventually switched on my smoke generator, and disappeared over the perimeter, having been %u2018shot down%u2019, leaving the Spitfire to complete a couple of victory rolls. I then discreetly landed, while the Spitfire completed his show. Almost as soon as we landed, we were invited by a very smart officer to accompany him down to the VIP enclosure, where the Polish President wished to thank us for our display. The President was well fuelled by hospitality drink, and proceeded to give John and myself big hugs and an effusive address in Polish, which I can only assume was thanks for our efforts; separation only became possible when the next noisy aircraft got airborne. I was then tapped on the shoulder and, turning around, there was a Luftwaffe General who I knew well from my very recent NATO appointment. After pleasantries he said