Ride The Restless Wind

 Ride The Restless Wind

By

Michael MacLeod

An African Adventure

Intro

Two pilots, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, defy death in an attempt to save some hostages from a fanatical rebel terrorist group. 

Just be careful of what you wish for because the power of the universe acts in strange ways to make your wishes come true. 

Two old friends, Mac and Jock, both pilots and divorced, fly an old Dakota DC3 all over Africa. They are going through a mid life crises and their lives become boring and monotonous and they wish for some excitement and adventure. But in this modern day and age there is no excitement left or any new discoveries to be made, is there? Suddenly they find themselves caught up in a hostage drama, putting their own lives on the line.

Ride The Restless Wind

Copyright © Michael MacLeod 2009.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author. 

ISBN: 9781311395498

First edition:

2009

This edition 2023

Printed and published by Mike MacLeod,

Benoni.

South Africa.

cammhifi@gmail.com

Other books by the author:

Technical:

Constructors Mate

Introduction to Capacitors

The Lost Art of Loudspeaker Design

The Ultimate Loudspeaker Design

Crossovers

Map Reading and Navigation for Everyone

Anodising at Home

Novels:

Ride The Restless Wind

Dead Mens Gold 

http://www.novelbooks.weebly.com

 Dedicated to Jock Sinclair

Glossary of South African terms 

(The following terms are italicized in the book)

2 SAI,             Second South African Infantry   

                        Battalion, Walvis Bay, Namibia 

                        in the 70's and 80's.

7de Laan,      Local soap opera on SABC 2 

                        television.

afkak,             Afrikaans: Literally 

                        shitting off or having a hard time.

Ag,                  Afrikaans for 'oh' as in 'Oh, alright!' 

AGL,               Aircraft term: Above Ground Level.

ANC,              African National Congress

apartheid,     The Afrikaners policy of 

                        separate development.

babbelas,      Afrikaans: hangover.

bakkie,           Afrikaans: Pick-up truck or 

                         utility vehicle.

baro,               Aircraft term: barometer.

basics,          The first six weeks of 

                        training in the army.

beanie,          knitted woollen cap.

big five,        Originally used only by 

                       hunters,the term 'Big Five' 

                       refers to five of Africa's 

                       greatest wild animals -  

                       buffalo,elephant,   

                       leopard,lion,and rhino.

biltong,         unique South African way of 

                       drying beef strips for eating  

                       as a snack.

bird shit,      Army slang: referring to an 

                       officer's badges of rank on 

                       his shoulders.

Boer War,      The Great War fought between 

                         the Afrikaners and the 

                         British Empire from 1899 - 1902.

boerewors,     Afrikaans: a minced beef and 

                          fat sausage.

boet,              Afrikaans: short  for 

                        broeder or broer, meaning  

                        brother. Also: Rhodesians say bru.

bokkie,          Afrikaans: small buck.

bonnet,         car’s engine cover or hood 

                        in America.

boogey man,    The mythical bad man that 

                             our parents used to frighten

                             us with when we were naughty.

braai’s,          Afrikaans: barbeques.

bundu,         wild bush or fields.

cell number,   cellular phone number.

charfing,           the act of chatting up a   

                            person for a date.

cheers,          either a term for saying 

                        goodbye or as a toast when 

                        drinking.

chick,         girl.

china,         slang for mate, from British 

                    slang: china plate, used as a 

                    sarcastic remark.  

chow,          food.

Ciao,          popular way of saying goodbye, 

                    pronounced 'chow'. Probably 

                    adopted from the Italian 

                    prisoners of war that were 

                    held in South Africa.

claymore mines,       an explosive device standing 

                                      knee high and detonated by 

                                      trip wire blasting out 

                                      horizontally.

clicks,        term used to describe the 

                    action of pressing a radio's 

                    microphone pressel switch for 

                     communicating without talking.

COMM licenses, commercial pilot’s license

cutline,        The name for the border fence 

                      between Namibia and Angola 

                      built by the Germans of the 

                      then South West Africa.

dagga,         African name for marijuana, or 

                      daga for cement mix.

Dak,             Douglas Dakota DC3.

dice,            to race.

DJ,               disc jockey.

dog biscuit,   army slang for the square dry 

                         energy biscuit in ration packs.

donkey pump,   hand operated pump, usually in 

                              a 44 gallon (200 litres) drum.

doos,             Afrikaans: for box, also 

                        women's vagina.

doppies,       Afrikaans: empty cartridge 

                       cases.

DRC,             Democratic Republic of the Congo

drag,             road

Dutchy,        English speaking person's 

                       derogatory term for an 

                       Afrikaner, short for Dutchman.

eish (aysh)    African: Used to express 

                       surprise, wonder, 

                       frustration or outrage.

Engelsman,     Afrikaners derogatory name for 

                           an Englishman, also Rooinekke.

ETE,              Aircraft term: estimated time 

                       enroute

experimental aircraft,  a category of home built aircraft.

flats,               type of communal dwelling as 

                        in American apartments.

frosty,            ice cold beer.

geweer,        Afrikaans: rifle, R1 or 

                       nowadays R4. 

GPS,             global positioning system.

Groen Dakkies, nickname of a state run 

                              asylum, named after it's green 

                              roof.

guys,          collective term for a group of 

                     people boys or girls.

gyros,         gyroscopic platform used in 

                     certain aircraft instruments.

HaLo,          army term: for High altitude 

                      Low opening parachute jump.

highveld,     South Africa is divided up 

                       geographically into four 

                       regions, namely: the coastal 

                       belt, the Karoo, the central 

                       highveld and the eastern 

                       escarpment or lowveld.

'hot',              army term for having a bullet 

                       in the chamber and the safety 

                       catch off.

Howsit,        South Africanism for how is it.

IP,                  Internet Provider.

IV pack,       intravenous drip.

Ja,                Afrikaans: yes, pronounced: 'yah'

Joburg,        popular name for Johannesburg, 

                       also Joey's or Jozi.

kay’s,           short for kilometres.

kak,              Afrikaans: shit.

kilo’s,           short for kilograms.

knackered,     buggered or tired.

kraals,         mud huts used by many rural 

                     Africans.

laaitie,         Afrikaans: youngster.

leg over,      term for sexual intercourse.

lekker,         Afrikaans: nice or great.

leopard crawling ,     army term for the action of crawling 

                                       on your stomach using your elbows 

                                       and knees to propel  yourself along 

                                       the ground keeping a very low profile.

lift,                or elevator.

looty,           army term: for a Lieutenant.

macky,         mechanic.

mag,             aircraft term: magneto, also a 

                      rifle magazine

meisie,         Afrikaans: girl.

melk tert,     Afrikaans: milk tart.

mic,               microphone.

mielie,           Afrikaans: cob of corn 

mine dumps,     are the unique piles of yellow sand

                              left over from the mining process and

                              are a  familiar sight around Gauteng Province.

Mossies,       Afrikaans: sparrows.

Mpumalanga,    one of South Africa's 9 provinces.

muti,              Zulu: word for medicine.

N12 highway,     All motorways in South Africa 

                              are numbered, with highways 

                              starting with the letter N, 

                              while main routes start with 

                              M, e.g. M1. Secondary roads 

                              start with R, e.g. R62.

NAAFI,       army slang: for No Ambition 

                    And Fuck-all Interest.

now now,        If a South African says now,now 

                          he really means later, maybe never.

O-group,       order group. A meeting held by 

                       a commander when issuing the 

                       days battle plans to his 

                       officers and NCOs’.

ou's,                Afrikaans: guys.

Owambo piele,  army slang for tinned 

                              sausages, literally meaning 

                              penises.

pap,                Afrikaans: maize meal 

                        porridge.

'percy',           name for a penis.

Parabats,      army term: for Parachute 

                        Battalion, also known as Bats. 

                       Elite infantry unit in the 

                        South African National 

                        Defence Force. 

pavement,   pedestrian sidewalk

piss creeks,   term for small light aircraft.

pissed,        drunk.

pissed off,  cross, angry.

piss ups,     drinking spree, good night out

PT,                Physical Training.

QM,               Quarter Master stores.

rag,               tease.

Rand,           Rand airport in Germiston

rec,               recreational hall.

recce,          reconnoitre, also 

                     Reconnaissance Commando

                     of the South African Defence 

                     Force, i.e. the elite special 

                     forces similar to the SAS.

regmaker,      Afrikaans term used for any 

                         thing that alleviates a hangover.

robots,       Traffic lights.

rockspider,    English speaking person's 

                         derogatory term for an Afrikaner.

rondawels,     Afrikaans: round walled 

                          chalets with thatch roofs.

SAA,           South African Airways.

scheme,       think.

skinner,       Afrikaans: for  gossip.

sluiping,      Afrikaans: for sneaking off.

sms’s,          short message service on cell