The Fenwick Freighter
The manager of the airport in Pontarlier, France, stared in disbelief at the government official who sat across from his desk. “They have an air force now?!” “They certainly do,” replied the gentleman from the Direction générale de l'aviation civile, or DGAC. “Apparently it confers certain obscure international advantages in transport of taxable goods, so they decided to establish one. It will also be operated as an airline, mostly for freight, as their wine exports are becoming much more profitable. Tourism may follow, but whether they will use the same aircraft is unknown at this time. But since they don’t have enough land, flat or otherwise, on which to build a suitable airfield, our government has allowed them the use of this airport as it’s both close enough, and has a runway long enough, although just barely. Your extra costs will be covered by the DGAC, and the government will probably get a lot of wine at a good price. They should be arriving today, sorry for the short notice…”
As if on cue, a heavy rumble of two Bristol Hercules engines interrupted the conversation, and they both sprang to the door, rushing outside to witness the largest aircraft ever to have landed on Pontarlier’s 1,000 meter runway 20/02. The simple shape of the aircraft intrigued the manager, and he asked the old joke “Is that an aircraft, or the box it comes in?” Within minutes, the Bristol Superfreighter, the only aircraft in the Duchy of Grand Fenwick Air Force, was tied down, and a crate of the finest Pinot Grand Fenwick wine was presented to both men. Honor was satisfied, international relations buttressed, and the airport immediately closed for the day in order to celebrate in style.
