Runway Visions by David Kirk Vaughan

Author:David Kirk Vaughan [Vaughan, David Kirk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2012-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Gear and Flaps Man

In my mail box at CCK, I found a set of orders, dated over a week earlier that assigned me to Major Edgar Smith’s crew as copilot. Ed Smith was one of the squadron’s best pilots, an experienced instructor pilot. But I wasn’t happy about being reduced to copilot status. My reward for a month on the desk at Cam Ranh.

The day following, Major Smith’s crew was on alert. Early in the morning we were alerted to fly some supplies into Vietnam. I sat in the right seat of the aircraft, a copilot once again, raising the gear and flaps. There was a high, solid overcast all the way from CCK to Vung Tau, our first stop. It was unusual for the weather to remain the same throughout the full range of our travel from CCK to Vietnam and back. The weather matched my mood, overcast and gray. I had wakened feeling a little bit light-headed, and as the mission wore on I began to feel feverish. Ed asked how I was feeling. I told him I had a bit of a chill, but nothing I couldn’t deal with.

I read the checklist, set the flaps and gear, and made the radio calls as we coasted in to Vung Tau. From Vung Tau we carried a load over to Bin Thuy, about a half hour’s flight farther southwest, down in the delta. After we left Bin Thuy for the return flight to CCK, I began to shiver. The flight mechanic, bless him, said he had a can of cream of tomato soup he could heat up for me and did I want some?

I sat in the right seat, feet propped up on the foot rests, both hands wrapped around the cup of steaming soup, inhaling the aroma, savoring the taste, watching the slate gray skies, profoundly unhappy. Ed suggested that if I was still feeling bad I could take a nap on the top bunk. I slept for most of the five-hour flight back to CCK. After we landed, I went back to my room, took a long, hot shower, and went to bed. I had celebrated my twenty-seventh birthday by flying as a copilot.

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