Musing about my fighter flying career with a young friend, I recalled that I had taken my first airplane ride when I was twelve years old. That first flight was in a Cessna 150 at Karachi Aero Club, eight years before I actually took controls of a T-6G Harvard at PAF Academy
A friend of mine, who is an ardent
admirer of the PAF, observed that a future F-16 jockey having
been initiated into the world of aviation as a twelve-year old was one thing;
having flown that first sortie with a lady was altogether another. So I thought the novelty of it all merited a short narration, for
the record; it would also be a little tribute to Miss Shukriya Khanum, who took
me up for the memorable short flight on a bright windy day in
An uncle of mine, who was
serving in PIA and knew everyone at the Karachi Aero Club, took our family
along for some joy rides one Sunday morning.
Student pilots were practicing circuits and landings on the Club’s
‘kutcha’ strip adjacent to the Country Club Road Pakistan
We had no idea that a lady would
be taking us kids up, one by one, but before our turn came it was my mother who
was asked to 'volunteer’, which she reluctantly did. She had learnt to drive recently, and knew a
thing or two about the dexterity of women with machines! With holy verses on her lips, she boarded the
aircraft after it puttered to a stop right next to her. In no time she was airborne, as all our family
members tried to keep the little aircraft in sight while it did a wide circuit. It was not too long before the aircraft
turned for the final approach, and we eagerly awaited the landing which was
uneventful. My mother uttered ‘shukriya’,
as the pilot smilingly acknowledged what must have been an oft-repeated pun for
her, and indicated to the next passenger to get on board.
Grinning to the ears, I
boarded the aircraft and strapped myself in the seat. Dumbfounded by the plethora of switches and
gauges in the cockpit, I intently observed how the pilot read out the checks from
the checklist, while touching each item to ensure it was the way it was
supposed to be. As the ATC instructions
crackled in the headset, the pilot responded with Alpha-Papa-something every
time she spoke, which confirmed that some
exciting activity was about to commence. I had seen only a few movies till then and
none had shown anything like what was happening. It was surreal stuff for a young lad and, I
knew one day I had to be at the controls speaking Greek – which it was – while
doing countless other things at the same time, something only real men did. That a lady was showing me the way was just as
well.
The aircraft took off and as
it turned in to the circuit, the pilot indicated towards where my family
members were. My younger brother and
sister huddled next to my parents seemed like tiny fellows as viewed from my
Brobdingnagian world up in the sky. As
the aircraft flew a wide circuit, I sat mesmerised by a hundred things that
were happening: the whirring of the propeller, the swishing of air from the
vents, the crackling of the radio in the headphones, the flickering of the needles
on the gauges and, the lady calm at the controls incredibly monitoring
everything. I could not believe when I
heard a voice in the headphones asking me if I would like to fly the
aircraft. I looked at the pilot as she nodded
and told me to gently hold the control column and keep it where it was. She then actually left the controls and I
found myself flying the aircraft, something that fascinates me no end, even now. After a most exciting two or three minutes
with me in command, the pilot took back the controls and turned the aircraft
for a landing. Taxiing back after a
smooth touchdown, I was so eager to tell everyone that I had ‘flown’ the
aircraft, no matter that nobody would believe me. I was still grinning ear to ear.
PS: I was finally able to get in touch with Miss Shukriya Khanum in Karachi in 2014. We met after 48 years. I had brought along a cake with a message, 'Shukriya, Ms Shukriya'.
© KAISER TUFAIL
© KAISER TUFAIL
