Chapter 3

Jeff thought he still had five days of free time before he was to start flying his new route. It turned out that he didn’t have that free time because he received a phone call asking him if he wanted to Captain a 767-300 that left in the early evening the next day for London. The return flight was the day after landing in the early afternoon. This was a route that normally only Senior Captains flew. He wasn’t keen on long overseas flights because of jet lag, but once in a while, it was okay which had him accept the assignment.

In walking into the terminal, Jeff couldn’t say he was overly excited about doing the flight to London. That was because when he was in the Air Force he had been stationed in England flying an AWACS plane. If there was any excitement on his part, it was what these sixteen hours of additional flight time would mean in the way of compensation that he would be depositing in his investment account.

Jeff was introduced to Tom Wagner, who would be his First Officer on the going and later on the return flight. Together they checked the weather and filed the flight plan.

In entering the plane, they said hello to the flight attendants. The attendants, for the most part, were a younger group with the majority of them being single. That he thought was because they were flying to see the world and it was also that most of them could be away from home for two nights without causing any relationship problems.

After taking his seat, Jeff looked at the instrument panel just to refresh his memory of where the individual instruments were. They did the pre-flight checklist and waited for the flight attendant to say that all the passengers were on board and seated. Getting permission to push back and then taxi out to the runaway was granted.

Permission to takeoff was given, which had Jeff turn onto the runway and push the throttles forward. The powerful thrust of the engines had them quickly up to the rotation speed, which lifted the plane and had them on their way.

When they were at the altitude Jeff had filed for, the automatic pilot was turned on. He told Tom they would alternate with each one having an hour on in watching the instruments. This flight to England was the same as a flight to any other flight destination as to speed and altitude, with the only difference being that the flight was longer.

Jeff fought the tendency to sleep by drinking coffee. Some pilots were said to take drugs or caffeine energy drinks to do that, but he was not going to go that route. There was the time in doing this flying to think about what was happening in his life along with thinking about the present investments in his account.

With the sky starting to lighten, Jeff took over the controls. It wasn’t that much longer before he started to descend for the landing at Heathrow. The sound of the tires screeching as they touched down followed by the roar of the reverse thrusters, was always a welcomed sound.

In leaving the plane and then the airport, both Tom and Jeff headed to and checked in at the Gateway Hotel. Tom had in a remark to Jeff inferred he had something going with one of the flight attendants. More power to him thought Jeff. All Jeff wanted was six hours of sleep now to ward off the effects of jet lag. Tonight he would get more sleep in preparation for the return flight, which would be done all in daylight.

After waking up and showering, Jeff planned to get something to eat and then take some pictures of sites he would consider painting. Oil painting of buildings or bridges was difficult and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it. The more famous site, like the Twin Tower Bridge, was the area he planned to visit and take a few photos.

Jeff was having a meal in the hotel’s restaurant when he heard, “Mind if I join you?”

Looking up he saw that question was being asked by Kathy Summers, one of the flight attendants. She was an attractive girl, probably in her mid-twenties with that California surfer girl look because of her long blond hair.

“No, please do,” he said pointing to a chair.

“I thought I would get something to eat too. The other attendants are out doing some shopping and sightseeing. Aren’t you interested in seeing the sites?”

“I will after I eat as there are some pictures I want to take. I was stationed here for a while when I was in the Air Force, so I have already seen all of the so-called famous sites. Why aren’t you with your fellow attendants?”

“I just wanted to get some sleep to avoid jet lag. If you don’t mind, can I keep you company when you go to take those photos?”

“The company of an attractive woman is always welcomed,” he said, which caused Kathy to smile and laugh.

After the meal, they took a black cab to the area by the Twin Tower Bridge. Jeff took the pictures and explained to Kathy some of the names and functions of the buildings they could see that were there. Having done that, they walked over to a pub and had a drink before taking a black cab back to the hotel.

Jeff was enjoying Kathy’s company. He could be wrong, but he was getting vibes that something more could be developing between them. There was the possibility she would accept an offer to go with him to his room since he was booked in as a single and she probably had a roommate.

The problem in his mind was that he was close to twice her age. If he had married right after college, he could have had a daughter that was Kathy’s age. While it would be nice to have some intimate moments with her, he would feel like a dirty old man if that were to happen.

At the hotel, he said goodnight to her saying he would see her tomorrow for the return flight. He couldn’t read the expression on her face when he said that, but he knew it was the right thing for him to do.

Jeff met Tom for breakfast the next day and then they were off to the airport. After checking the weather and filing the flight plan, they boarded the airplane. Greetings were exchanged with the flight attendants before they entered the flight control area.

All the necessary procedures were followed and soon they were on their way for what turned out to be an uneventful return to O’Hare.