Hunt The Wind

            *     *     *     *     * Flag of Bahrain.       On my first visit to the Maldives, we departed on 23 rd August 1987, and after we passed immigration inspection, at Malé International, they lined us all up at the customs’ tables.   Under the guise of hunting for drugs, porn, booze or Bibles, they made us open our bags.       Okay, dear reader, let’s get a grip.   Myself and my crew were leaving the Maldives, an Islamic, shariah-controlled country, so how could we possibly obtain booze, drugs, pornography or offensive Christian literature there?   I did note, though, that the dark, munchkin customs men spent an inordinate spell sifting, and sniffing, through our dirty underwear!   Was this an Islamic, Maldivian sexual thing?   Hey...one has to grab sex where one can find it.    ...

     *     *     *     *   Flag of The Maldives.       At 120 nautical miles out from Malé International Airport, we were handed off by Colombo ATC to Malé Approach Control.   Contacting them on one of our VHF Radios, at frequency 119.7, they gave us the following:   Weather and visibility clear, wind from the northwest at 10 knots, the local altimeter setting, and that they were using Runway Three Six (360°/180° magnetic, North/South).         The Republic of Maldives consists of 1,192 islands, of which 192 are inhabited with a population of 300,000.   These islands lay within a double chain of atolls running north to south, encompassing an area of 35,000 square miles.   It’s the smallest Asian nation, and the lowest, having an average height of four feet and eleven inches above sea level. The Maldives from Space.       Note, dear reader:...

                   *     *     *     *     *      My captain for the trip that evening was Terry Kemp, a highly qualified and most pleasant British gentleman in his early forties.  The flight engineer, Mr. Tan, was an efficient thirty-year-old Singaporean.  Following their appearance at dispatch, came a surprise in the form of John Maguire, another Brit.  He was short in stature, with dark hair, and politely informed me he was my “training first officer.”   My "Training First Officer," John Maguire.      Under the FAA system, line training was always performed by a training captain.  Surprisingly, under the CAAS system, this chore could be performed by a senior first officer; when training a new-hire first officer.  John proved to be a professional, with a lo...