Simon the Pilot
As we handed our tickets into the smartly dressed stewardess I could see the 767 in the background, our 767. Although I can't be positive, I think I could make out the pilot and the navigator in the cockpit fiddling with knobs, checking mixes and adjusting concentrations.
Let's call him Simon, the pilot that is. A strong, stoic, courageous man, with a small scar on his left cheek courtesy of sniper fire in the 'Nam. He knew about war and he knew about friendship and at all costs he'd land this 'big heap of tin'. He still had recurring nightmares about Gimpy Hawes, even though he'd done everything in his power to save him. A Jitterbug Series III Helicopter Pilot can only do so much when a bloke's lost half his pancreas but try as he did Gimpy bit the bullet at 0-800 that following morning. Often, even now, he'd wake at night sweating profusely screaming 'HAWES' at the top of his lungs; the cause of many a failed new relationship, although he'd never admit it.
The mental anguish, the gnawing away at his insides was something he'd had to deal with. He never went for the bottle though, oh no, that'd be giving in. No flying was all he had really, all that kept him going. He'd become the best of the best and his reputation preceded him wherever he flew.
Graying at the temples and with a failed marriage in his past, he'd always liked a little bit on the side and what with all those exotic ports of call and lusty stewardesses, I mean, who could blame him. Although well into his fifties he still trained hard and enjoyed the sideways glances he received from women half his....
'What are you going on about now?' the Kid asked in a squeaky nervous voice, as we made our way down one of those horribly claustrophobic tunnels that lead to the flying tube of death.
'I'm mentally visualizing the pilot. I find it helps if I know who holds my destiny in their hands on any particular evening.'
'Okay, what's he like?'
'Let's call him Simon, the pilot that is. A strong, stoic, courageous man, with a small scar on his left cheek courtesy of sniper fire in the 'Nam.'
'Think I've heard enough mate but thanks all the same. I think I need to be drunk to hang around you when you are.'
'Don't you have any mechanisms in place to deal with this fear of flying thing Kuks?'
'Yeah, I panic, then I land, problem solved.'
'Fair call.'
