.....and, having lit the ' igniter, retired several yards. After a short wait, that seemed an eternity, he heard a 'pop', followed a moment later by another. Under his breath Neiwil said " Good luck Tailspin". Of course Tailspin didn't hear this, besides, he was too busy tightening his restraining harness. There was a louder 'POP' and a blue / green lick of flame spouted from the rear of the F-104. The wooden marvel began to roll forward, as the air from the induction tube began to mix with the gas, the flame grew and began to glow bright, like the sun. With a roar, like another of the Devil's own trouser trumps, the F-104 shot across the cart park, accelerating like nothing, but the previous F-104, had ever done before. The nose wheel began to leave the ground, rising skywards, Tailspin eased back on the stick. The main wheels appeared glued to the ground, then with a wisp of dust, the bond was broken, the air rushing through the gap between tyres and ground caused ripples on the surface of the water with which Neiwil had filled the pothole. As the F-104 began to climb it began to roll to starboard, then it leveled and began to roll to port. In the cockpit Tailspin was overcome, such speed, such power, he followed the High Street as 'Snotters' flashed by in a blur. On the edge of town he pulled the nose up and 'Snotters' appeared to shrink behind him. The unseen and unknown G forces exerted on Tailspin now began to have an effect. The liquid turnip in his stomach was compressed to the consistency of jelly, giving Tailspin a most queasy, uneasy feeling that he had to get rid of. His first attempt led to him 'cracking' the canopy a couple of inches, to vent the smell when his exhaust back-fired!. His next attempt involved clenching his stomach muscles and relaxing his sphincter, this led to the accidental invention of the 'afterburner'. As the F-104 leaped forward with added thrust, it went vertical, rocketing towards the cloud base. Tailspin had often lain in the grass watching clouds drift by, without much thought as to their composition. Now, with his entire field of vision filled with these great white monoliths, he wondered, ' what if they're concrete?'. As the impact loomed, he closed his eyes.... INTERMISSION.......... This seems an opportune moment to mention something I've avoided so far. Those of you who have followed this tale and taken time to comment, (thank you) are obviously an intelligent, grown up group, who I believe will be able to handle a discussion of the 'S' word. Obviously the ingestion of liquid turnip produces the required gas, but there is also the matter of 'slurry' to be considered. The previously introduced 'exhaust pipe' is in fact two pipes, one you know transfers the gas, the other takes care of the slurry. This is stored in another collapsible bladder, running the length of the floor in the main body. One end is fastened by a knot and fed into an outlet chute below the tail. If the sloshing slurry should cause stability problems, the pilot can pull a toggle rope, undoing the knot and dumping the slurry. This could be very useful over agricultural land, maybe less so over residential areas...All this may have no relevance to our story....then again.... THANK YOU....WE NOW RETURN YOU TO OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION...