The Wind Up

The Piper Comanche took off from Dyce airport heading out over the North Sea for Sumburgh in the Shetlands.
Joe was sat behind the front right hand seat of the four seater Piper Comanche. A fear of flying had dogged him since his first flight; the slightest shudder or tremble of passenger planes panicked him. This seemed better, more comfortable, more room and not so claustrophobic with lots of visibility
Their pilot, Harry, told them that flying time would be about 2 hours but the weather forecast was poor, how poor they were just about to find out. Within a short time they were being buffeted about like a balloon on a stick and Harry was struggling with the controls. When Harry suddenly looked over his shoulder at him then pointed down wards he thought this was the end; but the man next to him shouted they were going down to a lower altitude because the water on the wings was icing up!
Once down they flew along at what looked like wave height with an angry sea clawing at them with every dip the plane made. They weren't fee-paying passengers anymore; they were all pilots concentrating on Harry and willing him to get them through.
Eventually Harry pointed ahead where in the mists they could just make out the shapes of dark cliffs, Harry talked to Shetland air traffic control then turned to his three passengers and pointed upwards, this time they needed to gain height to land.
On their approach run the plane bucked and rolled and the wind was so powerful Harry couldn't touch down. With a gesture of frustration he opened the throttles and took the plane back up shaking his head and shouting 'I couldn't land, I couldn't land'
They made another approach; at first it was no different, the plane yawing to left and right when suddenly it dropped like a stone. Harry, grinning, shouted 'There's a hole, hang on' and within minutes he landed the Comanche and taxied over to Sumburgh air terminal.
Flying from Heathrow to Bilbao Joe spent most of the trip sleeping, he didn't notice the shudders and trembles as the plane flew across France and Spain, those days were long gone…