Harrier Jump Jet

I did something during the week that I’ve rarely done before, and that was to enter a short story competition. I’m not a great believer in short stories because to me they are more or less like and extended joke with a punch line at the end. There’s very little room for all the artistic merits about building characters, drama, mystery etc., but I succumbed this time with a story of a flight I once took in a Harrier jump jet. I was fortunate enough in 1996 to be in the back seat of a Harrier GR7 with my son, Terry in the front seat. We flew from his base in Lincolnshire to Norfolk where we flew over my house. Then we did an about turn and went across country to Wales to fly through the valleys in a mesmerizing display of speed and consummate skill. (By my son: not me!). It was amazing to see the walls of the valleys flash by as we headed towards a dam on which we would be doing a simulated bombing run (probably the most ‘bombed’ dam in UK). It was incredibly exciting, and on the return trip across England I was allowed to take the controls. I flew the Harrier briefly and performed a barrel roll. The jet reacted like it was on rails. When we returned to the base where my wife was waiting with our three other sons, Terry did a fly-by and then put the Harrier through its amazing ability to hover and rise up and down like a lift. Before the sortie finished, Terry turned the aircraft towards his mum and dropped the nose in a bow. My wife said her heart was in her mouth as she watched the jet almost stand on its nose with her husband and son in the cockpit. It all ended well and afterwards I was presented with a framed, signed picture of the jet in which I flew. It was certainly an unforgettable day. The short story I’ve submitted is almost exactly how the sortie panned out except I have liberated the truth and added some spine tingling dog fighting in there. Whether the story, titled ‘SORTIE’ will win or not isn’t really important, but it has been gathering e-dust in my computer files and needed an airing. Wish me luck!