Bill Mitchell
was known to have a stomach which did not take kindly to turbulence.
He didn’t fly except on transit flights, when he normally flew
in the right hand control seat so he could see the horizon to
help keep his own gyros stable. How he managed to carry out the
following practical joke says much for his intestinal fortitude!
Bill was flying in an Anson between Melbourne and (I think) Ballarat.
The pilot was Bruce Sellick, whom I have never met, but he had
the reputation of having a similarly sensitive stomach to Bill’s.
Before the flight, Bill and Dean Darcey, the camera operator (and
a natural born comedian), had planned this dastardly event. About
midway between Melbourne and Ballarat and in moderate turbulence,
Bill was looking particularly seedy, especially because the crew
had had something of a session in a hotel bar the previous evening.
Dean came forward from the cabin to the cockpit and Bill readily
accepted Dean’s offer of a sick bag. Bruce was attempting to ignore
this conversation. Dean went back to the cabin after providing
Bill with a sick bag and Bill went through the actions of being
sick into the bag. Unbeknown to Bruce, Dean had emptied a can
of diced vegetables into the sick bag and, coming back a few minutes
later he took the bag from Bill, opened it, had a look inside,
showed it to Bruce, commented what a good job Bill had done, then
said “Well, we can’t waste it”, and he upended the bag and ate
the contents! Of course Bruce was almost out the side window!
Wal Bowles
11th February 2003
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