You may have noticed that no news arrived last night (22/03/01). M had not contacted me by 23.00hrs which I put down to: unable to get to 'phone (?locked up?), didn't try, did try and couldn't get through or doing something more interesting (ref. M the tourist!). I hoped, hoped, that everything was OK.
M has just telephoned me at 01.00hrs here sounding cheerful and lively. "They thought I was a Welsh U2" he informed me. Who? What?
M and G-KIRK took off from Karachi this morning (I probably mean yesterday morning) and flew for 9.5hrs. He did not find the tailwinds promised at that morning's briefing and simply did not get to Delhi by dark. Instead, after the said 9.5 hours he landed at Jaipur approx. 120m SW of his destination - verified by his school atlas which has seen more active service since 11 March than it did through two school careers.
M spoke to an Aussie crew via his radio to keep the race informed of his problems, but on landing at Jaipur was suspected of being a spy plane. Why is this? M looked pretty disreputable at Biggin Hill and I shudder to consider his appearance now! A desperado spy figure as never seen before, I suspect. Karachi had not informed the Indian Authorities of his flight and, since he had arrived from a hostile country, and his flight had taken an unlikely 9.5 hours (cf 3.5 hours average for other racers) it took some time to persuade the Authorities of his friendly intentions. I'm rather glad that this race doesn't take in the US and Russia after today's news. He might not have been released after his aircraft had been searched by 15 soldiers and security police. Once the misunderstanding had been resolved, M and G-KIRK were treated with the utmost courtesy and hospitality. M was provided with a meal and a bed for the night and the soldiers made sure that G-KIRK was tied down properly.
At the time of his telephone call, M was surrounded by mosquitoes (yes he forgot yo take repellant and is not taking anti-malarial drugs in case an adverse reaction affects his flying) and is intending to push on to Delhi to again catch up with the field on their rest day. As it is only 120 m he says that this will be a "piece of piss" despite the fact that G-KIRK is still leaking some oil. A cunning plot by M, hitherto unrevealed, is that he has had an extra large sump installed ie an extended reservoir to allow for this! He should get by topping up at each stop (sounds optimistic to me but he knows what he's doing....)
M and G-KIRK are not being allowed to race owing to their low speed - a handicapper's nightmare. You will guess that precision flying is not really their thing. Please, please email the organisers on their website imploring them to allow these two to race, just for a few legs would be fun. They will really go for it.