Originally Posted by
antichef
I recognise the Islander aircraft type in the photo. I have flown in them numerous times, but only ever landed in one once.
Every other time I exited by the left hand door at a sensible altitude.
Back in '83, FIGAS used to offer a spare seat to my ATCOs as they did their various sectors to remote communities across the islands. I took up their offer once, and when the Captain discovered I had once had a PPL he sat me in the right-hand seat (that would be 0B, right?) and asked me if I would like to take the controls. Whaaaat? So, once safely airborne and in the climb heading towards Goose Green, it was "You have control ... climb to 3,000 ft ... aim just to the right of that mountain ." I had no idea what the passengers thought about having some stranger in standard Military combat kit driving the aircraft. The Captain did the landing, of course, and after another hop to somewhere else, we headed back to Stanley.
And that was when we flew over what would become RAF Mount Pleasant ... at that time just a couple of surveyors' wheel ruts carved into the landscape!
