Wings of Duty

Wings of Duty — Page 37

37 the canal and Ferozepur Road intersection until Model Town and beyond. For this reason, the young man had to go into the city to get food and other sundries. But due to the almost daily curfews, he found it difficult to purchase provisions. When I first went from Delhi to Walton Airport to take delivery of the L-5, the young man in question had helped me a great deal. As our acquaintanceship grew, I offered to bring him rations and other necessities from Qadian. I told him that if he let me know a day in advance, I could bring him meat, vegetables, eggs and baked goods. He was so pleased by this arrangement that in exchange he said that he would allow us to purchase as much petrol as we required, without any permits or vouchers. He would also adjust the paperwork for it himself. From then on, I brought him rations from Qadian and he in turn gave me an unlimited supply of fuel. I would fill the plane’s 35 gallon tank at the end of each day, 6 gallons of which would be used during the flight back to Qadian. There, with a rubber tube, I would remove 20 of the remaining 29 gallons from the petrol tank and store it in a drum. Nine gallons would be left in the tank for the next day’s journey to Lahore. Since I flew to Lahore daily, I added 20 gallons to our stocks