Air Cadets 2

“What do Air Cadets do?” I asked.

“For one thing, they practise plane recognition,” said Ed. “Like people used to do during the war. So they could tell if it was an enemy plane or one of ours. There’s people, you know, who could look up at a plane miles away and tell you exactly what make and model it was. American, German, French, British, Russian. My dad can do that, you know.”

“I’m not surprised,” I said.

“Sure, and he taught me some too. Look,” he said, pointing at a gnat floating lazily beneath a cloud some distance away, “That’s a Piper Cub.”

“No,” I contradicted, “It’s a mosquito.”

Eddie looked sharply back at the gnat. “It’s not a Mosquito,” he said, “A Mosquito has a completely different profile.”

“No, Eddie, I mean it really is a mosquito…”

Sure enough, a mosquito was just about to land on Eddie’s cheek. That really scared him.

“I’m allergic to mosquitoes!” he shouted, swatting with his hand, ducking and diving. Within seconds he had performed both a barrel-roll and a loop-the-loop.

I fell on the ground laughing. “Did they teach you that in Air Cadets?”

“Very funny,” said Eddie as he lifted himself up onto his unsteady landing gear legs. “But I’m serious about these Air Cadets. Dad’s going to take us out to the airport. We’ll get to see the old planes, learn about how they work. We’ll learn skydiving, and eventually we’ll get to take flying lessons. Really, you oughtta get in on it.”

“OK, Eddie,” I said, “I think that might be fun. But I’ll have to check with my parents about it. Especially my old man. He was a turret gunner in the war, you know. I bet he could recognize a mosquito with his eyes closed…”

“Hey! Your old man could be the assistant leader!”

“I don’t think so Eddie. He likes flying in front of the television better now…but I’ll ask.”

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