AEROPLANE POEMS 2 BY NICK ARMBRISTER

AEROPLANE POEMS 2 BY NICK ARMBRISTER

Strike
(dedicated to F-105 pilots and their nuclear mission. Cuba 1962 anyone?)
I can finally say I feel a strong sense of duty and contentment as I do my job, all I ever trained for has come together when events bigger than me came to life. My job is to end life, not yours but your counterpart in the East. Mr Ivan Ivanovich in his collective Soviet missile factory making his nuclear bang sticks to fire at us. We’re the Good Guys who believe, fight and die, for peace, liberty and freedom. The Bad Guys believe in tyranny, oppression and furthering their cause. Together we will stop them and show them no fucking mercy. Godless bastards!

My shiny silver United States Air Force Republic F-105 Thunderchief sits armed with a 1 megaton thermonuclear bomb snug in her bomb bay. Ready for me to fly into Russia on a one way suicide mission to kill Mr Ivan Ivanovich and a million of his kind and their families, to wipe out their collective Soviet missile factories and all of the other Commie shit that is against freedom. All are targets in my nuclear gun sight. I nod to the armed guard who stands by my warplane, do the walk round check, including the single bomb, sign for the jet with her ground crew and climb aboard.

I do my take off checks, start the huge single engine and taxi for takeoff. There are fifteen other F-105 nuclear strike fighters. All armed with the same type bomb, for a similar one way mission. I listen to my radio and the tower gives us permission for a Hot Scramble. Even now, Soviet bombers and missiles could be on their way. We can shoot their slow lumbering bombers down; their missiles will get through, like ours. We have more. Here we go! Slowly picking up speed down the long runway, will need most of it in my loaded jet. So heavy with fuel.