For those of you who are ignorant as to what an opportunity flight is, it can be loosely described as the act of being herded onto a big plane, hundreds of miles from home, flying to somewhere exotic, then coming straight back. Which by a phenomenon that can only be explained by Stephen Hawking, takes three days.

OK, perhaps that's not quite the full story. After being awakened at 0430 by Gateway House’s tannoy system (Gateway House being RAF Brize Norton’s ultra high-tech squaddie hotel) I eventually got on to the VC10 on which I was supernumerary crew, flying to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Realising I was going to be sat there for about 10 hours, there and back, I started chatting with the rest of the crew.

Conversation went something like this:
Steward: “So you spent 6 hours getting here,on a train, from Yorkshire?”
Me: “Yes”
Steward: “To fly to Cyprus and straight back again?”
Me: “Yes”
Steward: “Then go home again?”
Me: “Yes”
Steward: “Why?” —— A question I pondered for some time!

In all honesty, it was a good flight really and an interesting experience that few cadets get. The onset of tedium was hindered only by the masses of food they insisted in thrusting upon me and being told I ‘don’t each much for a fat lass’

If you are ever offered something like this it’s a great opportunity providing you’re not afraid of a lot of travelling and waiting around . Also I suggest you avoid flights that are too long, purely for the sake of your sanity!

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