In 1996, I was the captain of an RAF TriStar flying from Ascension Island to the Falkland Islands. I knew that there was a CSE (Combined Services Entertainment) team aboard that were about to spend several days performing to the troops in the Falkland Islands, but I didn’t know exactly who was in the team. A few hours into the flight, when we were cruising about a thousand miles south of Ascension Island and still with several hours to go until landing, there was a tap on the flight deck door and one of the cabin crew popped her head in and asked if we could accept a visitor. As it was before the events of September 2001 and passenger visits to the flight deck were still permitted, I quickly agreed, and in walked Paul Daniels.
Paul sat down on the jump-seat just behind me and asked all of the routine passenger-type questions: how high were we, how fast were we going, what time would we get there? There wasn’t much to see out of the windows because we were in the middle of the South Atlantic, so when I asked if he liked the view I got the almost inevitable reply, “Not a lot”!
Without being prompted, Paul produced a pack of cards from his jacket and started to do some tricks. With the autopilot safely flying the aircraft and not another aircraft within a thousand miles, we could concentrate on what he was doing and I wondered if I might see how he worked his tricks. Sitting only inches away from him, I was staggered at his skill and quickly became amazed at the ease and dexterity with which he produced his magic. After half an hour, our next waypoint was fast approaching, so Paul bid us farewell, returned to his seat in the passenger cabin and left us on the flight deck amazed, puzzled and greatly impressed.
After the usual windy arrival at RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands, all the passengers disembarked whilst we shut down the aircraft for the night. Later that evening, my co-pilot and I went for dinner in the Officers’ Mess. As soon as we entered the bar for a pre-dinner drink, we noticed a large group of people clustered together at the other end of the bar. Moving closer, I saw that the permanent staff were surrounding Paul Daniels as he performed his card tricks. Better than that, I quickly realized that Paul was doing the same routine that he had shown us on the flight-deck. So this time I thought, knowing what the outcome of each trick would be, I’d certainly spot how he did them. Not a chance!
Recent Comments