A memorable flight

摘要

DRESSED IN FORMAL U.S. AIR FORCE ATTIRE, traditional "permission to come aboard" rituals complete, I boarded a U.S. Navy warship anchored in Manila harbor for an evening reception and headed straight for the makeshift bar. My boss, Col. Bud Marston, the U.S. defense attache, intercepted me. "Have you had anything to drink tonight?" he questioned. "No sir, but target in sight." "No, don't," he ordered. "We may have an urgent mission." Diversion from rendezvous with a single-malt scotch is not normally welcome, but this was intriguing. We were two of the Beechcraft Super King Air (C-12) pilots in the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines. As assistant air attache, and the junior pilot in the cadre, I managed the small fleet of King Airs and served as instructor and evaluator pilot. We shuttled embassy officials around the archipelago and completed the occasional odd mission. Looking back, it was an incredible job with some unique and challenging flying into mountainous areas, tropical forests, grass strips, and coral runways. Through all of my military and general aviation flying, I look back on that King Air flying frequently when I think of experiences that tasked my airmanship and sharpened those skills.