A Flying Story with a difference.

As It Happened.1989.

It happened a while back but it looks like it was only a couple of days ago.

The EH Holden station wagon drove into the yard and up to the house and out got a guy who looked like he was in his seventies, the big Dalmatian dog he had with him jumped out and stood beside him, I met the guy and he put out his hand and said, “ Howdy, I`m JJ, I`m looking for Frank “, that`s me I said, and with that he proceeded to tell me how he`d got my name around Cairns and he knew that I flew Ultralight aircraft and would I be prepared to take his dog named ‘We two’ for a flight, I seriously thought he was joking and that it was he who wanted to go for a flight, so I just smiled and waited for what he`d say next but it soon became clear that he wasn`t joking.

I said “ Look JJ, I can`t do that, it`s against the law “ but that didn`t seem to bother him and he wasn`t going to take no for an answer so he proceeded to tell me how he`d had a special harness made for’ We Two’ and that they`d both gone parachuting together and done all sorts of things, he also said, “Frank I`m going to get a TV crew out to shoot it all, we`re going to get a movie contract, we`re going to Hollywood, Frank “, now I was really concerned about this guys sanity so I simply humored him until he left, hoping I`d seen the last of him.

About two weeks later he was back and we went through the same scenario as before and again I politely refused, he wasn`t offended but again told me we would go to Hollywood, then left.

A couple more weeks and you guessed it, JJ was back, this time he showed me a photo of a dashing young American air force pilot and officer, I couldn`t believe it, it was he, JJ, and he`d been a pilot during W W 2, he proceeded to tell me that he had no family and had come to Australia and ended up in Cairns, living out of his station wagon, in one of the caravan parks and that the dog was his whole life and companion, he had a cart that he would hitch the dog to and take the kids around Cairns for a ride, trying to raise money for charity, he would always finish up with “ We`re going to Hollywood, Frank, you and I ”, This time I just couldn`t say no.

The time came and JJ turned up with ‘ We Two ‘ and strike me down if he didn`t have two separate TV stations, camera men and their crew and a couple of journalist photographers with him, they strapped cameras to the flying wires and the king post of the Drifter, we put ’ Wee Two ‘ in the back seat with his flying gogles and harness on and strapped him in securely then off I went, I did a couple of low passes for the cameras on the ground then a couple of circuits for ‘ We Two ‘ and finally landed, every one packed up and left, JJ was a happy man and I felt contented, all was well.

Believe it or not the story made the Courier Mail and SBS took it around the globe, months later CASA let me know they knew about it because they had the Courier Mail, read the article and seen the photos, they told me I was a naughty boy for not seeking their approval but had I asked they would have given it anyway, not bad I reckoned.

I never saw JJ again and later I learned that some mongrel human had poisoned ’ We Two ‘ and that he`d died, JJ left Australia with a broken heart and went back to America and I don`t know what became of him, I hope his spirit is in Hollywood.

I was going through old photos and came across the Courier Mail article that I have kept all these years and I felt compelled to write this in memory of JJ and his beloved “ We Two ‘.

A direct quote from JJ to the Courier Mail......" I`m not crazy,not even a little bit.It`s just some fun for us to do,I haven`t got a wife to take up my time so it`s just 'we two' and me, that`s all"..

Frank.

Ps. I would have added the Courier Mail photos but couldn`t get them down to the required 150kb.

If you like, email me the photos and I'll post them for you - [email protected]

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You did GOOD Frank.. What a poor old fella.... Nev

Great story Frank, sad ending unfortunatly..........................................Maj...

Thanks Frank, loved the story.Not the Ending.

What a story and a half!! Poor ole Wee Two! Thanks for posting, i enjoyed reading it.

Lovely story: well worth posting on here

Great story Frank, loved it.

Dog-gone Frank. What a touching story. Thanks for posting.

Thanks Frank was a great story nice to hear asomething good instead of the doom & gloom that seems to be around at present. Thank you for posting it. Cheers Sue