This is the quite remarkable and true story of Squadron Leader Derek J. Sharp AFC BSc Dip Comp JP RAF and his incredible adventures. Nothing perhaps was more astonishing than his survival after meeting a Mallard duck at 500 mph and his subsequent fight back to become a pilot in command once again. That he survived to age 30 was amazing, that he continued unashamedly on to a ripe old age was nothing short of a miracle. Conceivably he followed the advice written on a fridge magnet in his kitchen `Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly'. Those who knew him would say not a chance! This fascinating book follows the adventures of Sharp from spotty schoolboy to highly respect aviator. He flew everything from fighters to heavy transport, wise old navigators and Her Majesty The Queen. He joined a flying club called the Royal Air Force and unexpectedly found himself at war. That mirrored his namesake, Pilot Officer Derek Sharp who lost his life in a Lancaster in WW2. He lived in a time long before Political Correctness, the Breathalyser and motorcar safety checks. He achieved all that he set out to do, and more. That would undoubtedly be his epitaph.
Preface; Acknowledgements; 1 In the Beginning; 2 Early Days; 3 In the Service of Her Majesty; 4 Basic Flying Training; 5 Advanced Flying Training: The Pocket Rocket; 6 500 Hours: A Dangerous Time; 7 Another Petter Masterpiece; 8 Operational at Last; 9 Mercy Mission; 10 I Learnt About Navigators from That; 11 The North German Plain; 12 Survival Courses and Canberra Twilight; 13 Learning to Fly-Again; 14 Night Landings; 15 Engine Failures; 16 Widow Maker; 17 Top Gun; 18 Pastures New & Past Over; 19 My Appointment with Donald Duck; 20 Aftermath; 21 The Last of the Combat Buffalos: Beirut 1983; 22 Truck Driving; 23 Air Force One: British Style; 24 Balkan Adventures; 25 Fighter Pilot or Truck Driver?; 26 Far Eastern Suarez; 27 Easy Life Being a Captain; 28 Winter Adventures; 29 Rules and Regulations; 30 Saddam Hussein: My Part in his Downfall; 31 New Tricks: Air Tanker Blues; 32 The Last Forty Years Have Flown By-Literally; 33 Time to Go; 34 Solo Again; 35 Air Racing; 36 Full Circle: Chalk and Cheese; 37 My Other Love: Motorcars; 38 How a Bulldog Devoured My Bank Account; 39 Return to 10 Squadron; 40 Don't Rely on Modern Gismos; 41 The Final Odyssey; 42 Twilight; Appendix I: List of Photographs; Appendix II: Aircraft Qualified to Fly; Appendix III: Record of Service; Appendix IV: Record of Jaguar Crashes.
