The Dashing Test Pilot Beneath Siberia

By John Thompson

The continuing adventures of the Dashing Test Pilot and his intrepid companions. They are given a simple search and rescue task that quickly escalates into all kinds of different areas and action which will surprise and delight you as well as make you maybe rethink one or two theories about the past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781471624896

Book preview

THE DASHING TEST PILOT BENEATH SIBERIA

BY

JOHN THOMPSON

Author of

Fairfax Fights Fair – Fact

The Last Unsolved Case of Maurice Stoneley

The Dashing Test Pilot

Fairfax Fights Fair In America - Fact

DCS Lester Wilson vs The Leeds Vampire

CHAPTERS

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3.

4.

5.

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7.

8.

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30.

EPILOG.

CHAPTER 1. RAF SPRING MILLS

[AUTHOR’S NOTE The action takes place one year after the events of The Dashing Test Pilot.]

The two airmen strolled across the tarmac of RAF Spring Mills looking well satisfied with their hour’s work.

RAF Spring Mills was a top secret base in the Suffolk countryside. On Fridays the two airmen test various aircraft, some were military prototypes but mostly they were commercial aircraft from all over Europe tested for various reasons, some were new, some had been sold by one airline to another, some had been serviced. Aircraft used in movies were also put through their paces here. This was not why the base was top secret.

On Monday through Thursday it was used as a training area by the secret services MI5 and MI6, and by the special forces SAS and SBS. All the facilities for training were beneath the main runway. They included communications, sabotage, testing of weapons, unarmed combat, survivalist techniques and the like.

The two airmen making their way to the main buildings were Col (Colonel) John Thompson known worldwide as The Dashing Test Pilot for his flying skills and ability to remain cool under pressure. He was of below average height with prematurely gray hair. His skill came from air combat over Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. He was the poster boy of the RAF for recruitment. [AUTHOR’S NOTE he is based on me as I know how I react to situations, however I am neither a pilot nor heroic.] The other airman was Sgt (Sergeant) Joe Shaw The Hero of Helmond who rescued six wounded companions from withering fire by guerrillas in Afghanistan, carrying them out one at a time. He was hit several times, ending with the loss of his left hand and part of his right leg.

They had been putting a restored DC3 Dakota through its paces prior to it being used in a World War II movie, which was shortly to go into production.

John said, That old crate was great to fly, they did a grand job during the war in service so this one will distinguish itself in the movie.

  I agree, sir. I will give it a glowing report. I’m parched, fancy a cuppa?

  Yes, Joe, that’ll be grand.

At the entrance to the building they were stopped by Patricia Baynes, secretary to the station commander.

  Colonel, the boss wants you and Joe, something has come up.

Patricia was the best civil servant in any government on earth, she was efficiency personified as well as having film star looks. Many government departments tried to poach her but she loved RAF Spring Mills and so here she stayed.

All three went into General George Elliott’s office where he greeted them with a pleasant smile. He was not a desk soldier but had seen active service in Afghanistan and Kosovo and was decorated for bravery under fire. He was tall with a military bearing and a bristling mustache but was no Colonel Blimp, [AUTHOR’S NOTE Colonel Blimp was a cartoon character personifying military inefficiency] but he had a mind as sharp as a razor. He and Patricia were brilliant at organizing the training yet keeping the whole installation top secret.

  How did it go, lads?

John replied, Great, a peach of a plane it will be the star of the film.

  Excellent, we have someone on Skype for you.

He switched the Skype screens on to be greeted by the beaming faces of the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson and the Defense Secretary, Phillip Hammond.

Boris boomed, The Dashing Test Pilot and The Hero of Helmond, guys I look up to. How would you like to go to the One Day Finals at Lords in a couple of weeks with George and Patricia? All on us, we will pick you up and take you back, feed and water you all for no fee, how’s that?

John replied, What’s the catch? Last year I near on died doing your small job for the Americans.

Phillip Hammond said, "That craft you tested last year, the Russians bought two for oil and gas surveying in Siberia. One of the craft landed in Kamchatka and the crew have disappeared, so the Russians want you to have a gander to see if you can find anything out. You will use the other craft which is at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. You have full security clearance from the Russians so the FSB [AUTHOR’S NOTE FSB are the Russian equivalent of the CIA and MI6] have been ordered by Mr Barzov to stay away. You will be paid a tax free fee by the Russians after completion. The Russians will pick you and your team up at RAF Falling Waters tomorrow and fly you to Baikonur, from there you will fly the craft to the coordinates which the Russians will give you and you will examine the craft that has crashed and look for the crew then fly back to Baikonur."

Col Thompson replied, "I’ll do it. You mention my team. Who are they?’

Phillip replied, Joe of course. Also Phil Jackson and Colin from MI6 and Kimberly Poeppy from Area 51 who is in London at a scientific seminar on computers. You worked together magnificently last year and so I think you will do a sterling job and bring us and Russia closer together. The Russians will supply some special Arctic suits that will enable you to stay out in the cold without feeling it. Phil and Kim have been inventing detection devices for finding bodies under water, snow and so on. Good luck, see you at the cricket. …

2. THE TEAM REUNITES

John and Joe were ferried down to RAF Falling Waters on the north Kent coast in the station helicopter, a short hop. They stowed their kit in the accommodation block then went to the canteen for a bacon sandwich. They were soon joined by Phil, Colin and Kim who had been flown down by an MoD helicopter. After warm greetings they settled down to discuss the mission.

John said, This is a search and rescue mission which is not our field. The London Fire Brigade and Coastal Air Sea Rescue usually do that, we test aircraft so this is not a job we are qualified to do, there must be more to it than that but as usual we are kept in the dark.

Colin, an enormous man who was an MI6 agent with a license to kill, said, It is part of getting cozy with the Russkies and is not part of some conspiracy theory. Phil and I would have been briefed if there had been more to it than that. I think we will see several more of these joint missions in the future. There is a lot of hatred still to unpack from the Cold War, the FSB are trying to move away from spying on us and vice versa. There are terrorists we need to ferret out urgently. In any event, Mr Barsov has ordered the FSB to stay away.

Kim, an attractive American rocket scientist from Area 51 said, It is a chance to check the detection devices Phil and I have developed, they are state of the art search machines which will enable us to find human remains under the ice and this is an opportunity to test them in rigorous field conditions.

Kim had been invaluable last year on the mission to Area 51 and knew the craft they would be using inside out.

Phil, the tall MI6 staffer with floppy black hair similar to the actor Hugh Grant, said, I agree with Kim, if our kit works well it will be picked up by Air Sea Rescue and others making rescue that much easier.

Joe had been quiet thus far and now said, I wonder why the Russians did not use their rescue teams, why go to the expense of using us to look for oil and gas surveyors? It seems a massive mission just to test some people detection equipment. I know our job is to follow orders but I think we are getting involved in something more complicated than first appears, which is probably why Colin and myself are on the team as protection.

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes thinking about what Joe had just said.

Kim said, If what Joe says is true then we are the best team in the world for the job. Last year it was a simple mission to test a craft, we ended up fighting secret agents, rescuing John from certain death and tracing all the major conspiracy theories in America. We can do it though and even John, Phil and myself can handle ourselves in combat and we are all crack shots, plus we have Colin’s ability to kill in 175 different ways. Tell us your real name Colin.