Page 99 - Demo

97SORRY? ...... I THOUGHT YOU SAID WARSAW!It was the late 1990s, and I had just finished my last operational posting %u2013 I had had a very good run, but the next posting, my last in the Service, was not going to afford me flying, although getting airborne with the AEF1 would help. More importantly, I was still privileged to be flying %u2018war birds%u2019 out of Duxford, so really no complaints.....except from a long- suffering wife who, a few years earlier, innocently believed me when I said flying vintage aircraft (at that time with the BBMF2) would %u2018only be for a couple of years%u2019.25years later, and still flying historic aircraft, that lame comment is remembered .....!My phone rang, and it was good friend who ran one of the outfits at Duxford %u2013 welcome respite from the hundred-and-one jobs that come with handing over a fairly large command, moving house, guest nights and goodbye visits. %u201cYou%u2019ve flown the 109 haven%u2019t you?%u201d said Chum. %u201cI%u2019ve flown the Gustav3%u201d I replied. He continued %u201cWould you like to fly ours?%u201d I knew he was talking about the Buchon, which is a RR Merlin-powered variant of the 109, given the designation 109J. A vision of a gentle conversion to this tricky aircraft at Duxford...on a sunny day, with 10 knots of wind straight down the strip, came to mind. %u201cOf course%u201d I enthused. %u201cGreat%u201d he said %u201cIf you%u2019re free next week, can you take it to Warsaw?%u201d %u201cSorry?!....I thought you said Warsaw%u201d came my rather incredulous reply. %u201cThat%u2019s right, and you%u2019ll need to pick it up from Sion4%u201d he said, in a voice that suggested going to the local shop for a bottle of milk was no more difficult. %u201cSo let me get this straight, you want me to go to Switzerland, pick up the Buchon, fly it over the Alps, and hop from country to country until I get it to Warsaw.%u201d He came back %u201cYes, should be a great trip.%u201d My mind went through how many ways there were of saying you must be ******* joking, and therefore said: %u201cOK, what are the details.%u201d Oh ye of no moral fibre!I did have the time between posts, and my CinC5 (aka - the wife) said alright, which was a bit of a surprise, and therefore the following