Wg Cdr CK Sharma (Retd)

If aircraft behaved, auditors were ready to help cause trouble

Sometime in the mid-sixties, auditors visited the Gnat Sqn I was in. And, soon enough, they found that two aircraft had both been refuelled after their sorties with the same amount of fuel and yet, the Autho Book as well as the F700 showed that one aircraft had done 50 minutes’ sortie whilst the other had done a 30 minutes’ sortie. This, they insisted, was a case of certain defalcation as both the aircraft had got airborne within minutes of each other.

After the initial flutter, the Flt Cdr realised what had happened: one had gone for a Hi Level Nav sortie whilst the other was on a Lo Level Nav! And yet, it took all of three hours of explanation to tell them that the rate of fuel consumption would be different at different altitudes!