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North Star by Ken Leigh extracted from the ‘Horizons’ magazine issue May 1972 |
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You notice it looks strangely out of place … smaller than you remember. The curious tail-heavy look doesn't suit the surroundings of stretched DC-8’s, scattered B-747’s and busy little DC-9’s. Trundling past, you get the feeling it is trying to slip by unnoticed. A few heads turn out of curiosity but quickly turn back to watch a B-747 disgorge its load. Because you're not sure, you look back at the strange airplane. Poised just off the runway, as if trying to talk itself into the decision of flight, it finally rolls to the active runway. You watch, you think you recognize the stranger. Seconds later you hear the sound. Now you are more than curious. The sound rekindles an almost forgotten memory. Inside the cockpit two men are at work. They watch the engine rpm reach 3,000; the manifold pressure nudges 71.5 inches of mercury. At 85 knots the man on the left eases the yoke back a little …the nose wheel lifts slightly...at 110 knots his task off the ground. As you continue to watch, the airplane doesn't seem to be climbing at all, just holding there half-a-hundred feet up. Then, ever so gradually, it eases upward. A few "old timers" now hear the clean and distinct sound. They stop, look around and remember too. The full, throaty sound of four Rolls-Royce Merlins will do that.
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