On Sunday the 12th of December 2004 I flew Mission $$$, making it my 7th Angel Flight.
The mission description from Angel Flight's Miranda was:
Not mentioned, but certainly very important, was that Angel Bear, Varey Skaired, was due to be given to a new home.
- Beta Sigma Phi have been running regular raffles to raise funds for Angel Flight over the past year and will present you with a cheque. The amount is unknown.
- The ladies (10 in all) are interested to hear about Angel Flight. You can talk about the missions you've flown and what they've meant to you. I've attached the current briefing paper and a generic speech to give you some ideas.
- I will mail you a Certificate of Appreciation; some brochures; an Angel Bear, and a couple of posters for the event. If possible can you please wear your lanyard?
The items mentioned in point 3 above arrived in the mail at a few days before the mission. Upon inspection of the packaging it immediately became clear that Peter Riachi (General Manager of Angel Flight and a previous passenger on one of my flights) had been talking to Miranda about my flying skills, or lack thereof: The items were all wrapped in enough layers of bubble wrap to survive any landing.
I made sure that Varey Skaired was properly secured with a three point harness in the passenger seat and gave him the customary safety briefing a before taxying out to the
run up bay and blasting off on the long flight to Redcliffe.
10 minutes after getting airborne at Archerfield, having climed en-route to the nose-bleeding altitude of 1,500', we joined the circuit at Redcliffe and landed without too much ado.
Waiting on the tarmac and waving frantically (ie doing his best at providing ground marshaling signals) was none other than Stephen White (see Mission 224), who is a member of the Redcliffe Aero Club.
Stephen had been kind enough to secure a very nice tarmac parking spot for me and helped me secure the aeroplane.
Varey Scarred had not even noticed that the aircraft had taken off, nor that a supposed landing took place.
Note to Miranda:
While being wraped up tightly stops the ears from popping it also inhibits breathing!
Also waiting for me was Rob, the husband of Beta Sigma Phi member Barbara Joyce, and their friend Rob. Rob took all of them off to the
marina in Recliff where the other Barabara Joyce and Jan, Jan and several other ladies were waiting on the Just Cruiz'm Cruises boat.
After quick introductions and a barrage of photographic shutters, everybody settled down to a lovely seafood spread.
I spent most of the time talking to various members of Beta Sigma Phi, telling them about Angel Flight and my experiences on previous missions.
The cruise lasted just over an hour, dropping us back on the jetty at just the same time as a thunder storm passed through.
Everyone sought shelter under the rotunda in the middle of the pier, with more pictures being taken.
A bolt of lightning hit the mast of a yacht a mere 100m away when I learned that Peter Riachi had commented to one of the ladies that "Jens is happy to do just about anything for Angel Flight". Well, electrifying as the experience was, being struck by lightning certainly is something that I am not relishing, Angel Flight or not!
Of course, as a situation like this demands, a class photo had to be taken. My offers to go onto my knees in order to improve the
composition of the picture were hollered down in protest.
When the rain and thunder storm abated, everyone repaired to the local RSL Club (Returned Services League) for a meal.
It was at the end of this meal that I was presented with a cheque for $700 for Angel Flight, this money having been raised by the ten members (only eight 'active' members) by running three raffles and a barbecue.
I can be seen accepting the cheque and handing the certificate of appreciation. Also handed over was Knotsoskaired Anymore Angel Bear, who was quickly adopted as the Beta Sigma Phi's president's token of office.
We also helped to celebrate the up-comming 90th birtday of Beta Sigma Phi member Kay.
She certainly looked surprised.
I landed after some 10 minutes of flight.
Alas, without proper endorsement, the Chinese Club's management would not cash the cheque for use on their poker machines. Accordingly I went across the street to get such an endorsement from Angel Flight's general manager, Peter Riachi. But, Peter not only refused to do so, he also kept the cheque!
Miranda's eyes glazed over as she tried to work out how many square meters of bubble wrap could be had for $700.