Another Aviation Story

"pacplyer" wrote in message WWW (Wild Weasle-Wanabe) Fictional Story
#69:

I just came back from a trip. I was flying with another fellow who's
background is similar to mine. We both grew up in South Florida and learned
to fly during the 'Miami Vice' years. He recounted a tale from his days of
working line. He was pumping gas one day when a grundgy Twin Beech came in
from the islands and was swarmed by DEA agents soon after landing. This was
a fairly regular thing in those days. The difference about this tale is that
the pilot didn't get busted.

The agents eventually left the Twin Beech and came to my friend's ramp to
fuel their own plane. He asked the agents about the details. It seems that
the pilot worked for an insurance company and stole the plane back from some
dopers who stole it first. The agents had been staking out the island and
the plane for some time. They saw the plane start the take-off roll and then
they saw the dopers start firing their guns at the plane. They figured about
300 rounds were fired. The agents cornered the Beech after it landed to find
out what was going on. They wanted to know what the heck had just happened.
They wanted to know how the pilot got past their surveillance. They wanted
to know how the pilot got past the dopers.

As I listened to my fellow pilot's tale, I started to remember those days
from a long time ago. I keep those memories to myself though. Most folks
hear those stories and associate the pilot with being a reckless cowboy. I
have to maintain a reputation as a professional pilot, so I just keep quiet.
Maybe some day after I reach the official old pilot age of 60, when I don't
need my professional reputation any more, I'll write a book.

D.