Free JET LAG! by Ryan Clifford

timings exactly and had managed to keep within five seconds of TOT (Time on Target) on all of the previous practices. At the appropriate time, but giving himself two minutes for errors on the part of the other formations, he called them all down to one thousand feet above sea level – starting from front to back.
     
                  When ‘Yellow’ checked in, Todd breathed a sigh of relief and made a call to the Flight Commander on the ground who had a radio and was listening to the entire proceedings. It was his job to give Todd the ten-minute call to confirm that Her Majesty was going to be seated and ready for the flypast. It certainly wouldn’t do if she was held up by traffic and missed the display. The radio man acknowledged Todd’s call and looked over towards the dais and spied the simulated royal car coming down the taxiway, with the ‘practice’ Queen waving to the crowds.
     
                  ‘Purple – ten minutes’ came the call. Todd acknowledged and set the time onto his TV-TAB in the Time Early/Late function. This enabled Todd to see at a glance how many seconds early or late he would be at the flypast point. If it showed late, he could speed up or cut a corner – if too early, he could slow down or throw in a turn to lose time.
     
                  He checked Purple formation in, and as the clock ticked down to zero seconds early/late he set off for the first checkpoint. As the formation crossed the coast he was smack on time and to his relief Yellow leader called ‘all aboard.’ This was the code which told everyone that all fourteen aircraft were in formation on Todd.
     
                  As Todd started the long ninety degree turn onto the IP, the five minute call came from the ground. Todd acknowledged, checked his watch, cross-checked with the Time Early/Late and told Stumpy  to slow down by five knots. This he did after warning the rest of the formation.
     
                  As they flew over the IP everything looked perfect. The run in was clear of cloud and Stumpy called that he had the airfield in site. The rest of the run was straightforward. Stumpy settled down at one thousand feet and the rest of the formation slowly followed. At one minute to go, Todd let the man on the ground know. He replied that the formation was in sight from the ground and that everything looked good. Todd could now see the airfield and the dais. Ninety seconds later the formation had flown past the simulated royal party, and in a further thirty seconds had disappeared away to the west of the airfield.
     
    ***
     
                  ‘Spot on,’ complimented the Station Commander, ‘Well done, Todd.’
     
                  ‘Thanks very much sir, but save the congratulations for Saturday, that’s when it really matters.’
     
                  ‘Absolutely, Todd,’ he answered, ‘but do you really need another dress rehearsal on Friday?’
     
                  ‘I think so sir, ’smiled Todd. ‘Practice makes perfect and I want to try it with all personnel on board plus as much of the gear for Italy loaded as well. One final full dress rehearsal with all four formations cannot hurt.’
     
                  ‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ admitted the Station Commander, ‘Let’s have one final practice on Friday morning,’ and with that turned round, strode to his car and drove off back to his office.
     
    *
     
    Constance Morrissey turned to her husband and silenced him with a withering stare. She re-stressed her point of view:
     
    ‘No, no, no! We cannot afford to change things now. Todd must not know – everything depends on it. We must stick to the plan. If we start changing things now the paradox might destroy all that we have worked for so long to achieve. Todd mustn’t know!’
     
    The AVM grudgingly agreed with his wife, but remained unwavering in his determination to see