Developer Strobe Posted June 17, 2019 Developer Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) Jack Clyde Date of Birth: 29/SEP/1988 Height: 6' 2" Weight: 182 lbs. Total flight hours: 850 Youth, early life, becoming an adult. Spoiler Jack Clyde, born in Lawton, Oklahoma, enjoyed the great benefit of being born into an upper middle class family. He had a well and unbothered childhood, developing interests into athletics and, thanks to his father, strong interest into aviation. His father undertook several trips to splendid holiday-resorts, taking the family along with him on his Beechcraft Bonanza 35, a plane that Jack still wallows in good memories with today. Graduating from high-school, Jack received an important assurance from his parents, that he could attend college and on top of it he managed to convince his parents to fund half of the costs for his own Private Pilot's license. The other half had yet to be earned by Jack through casual employments within the city. Fast-forwarding he did not manage to gather the other half, but seeing that he already had started his training, his parents paid the rest allowing him to absolve and acquire his license at the age of 19. With college in progress he could not attend much of his leisure-activities and especially not the time-consuming field of aviation. Idling some time in college rather than to study, he eventually made his Bachelor in finance although one year later than expected, leaving him with the tough task of finding a job. He hopped onto the first offer that he received consent from and found himself to be a junior employee for a bank in Lawton. Expecting to sit at the desk all day, he was surprised that he nevertheless enjoyed his work, although it may come from the enjoyment of finally earning money. However he had this delicious day-dream that tended to play in his head when getting bored whilst being at work: Becoming a bush-pilot in the far-ends of the world, witnessing other cultures and their feats. He quickly stuffed his dreams aside when work continued. A major benefit that came from working (at the bank) was that he could attend his leisure-activities somewhat more, without any remorse of wasting time not studying. Things went pretty good and unlike in any movie there came no stroke of fate in his life after so many good years. But thinking to himself that there is always more to get, his day-dreams no paired themselves with day-dreams of a sunny beach-life outside of Oklahoma. Seeing that the work at his bank would stand in good stead with himself, he would not just quit it, but he would start to mark other cities that his bank was set in, in order to seize the chance of being transferred to another city whilst keeping his work. After trying repeatedly he finally got the offer to be transferred to a city called Los Santos at the west-coast. His flight was paid and after several phone calls and visits he arranged an apartment to stay at. From here on it was routine work at the bank again, but with that upside of occasional visits to the beach and a to him unused vivid nightlife, pleasing his heart to the fullest, in his free-time. Unfortunately having no plane of his own and his fathers plane left behind in Oklahoma, he could not attend any flying and had to settle with the other activities in his freetime. Therefore he stacked up holidays planning a trip to the Bahamas, where he would rent a plane and get to see the island whilst enjoying his hobby. Holidays on the Bahamas. Spoiler He departed for the holidays in the summer at the age of 26, for a three-week trip and set foot onto the Bahamas, immediately rushing to his hotel to get the papers for his rented plane. After some brief confirmations he was given his rented plane and the next day he started took off for an expedition around the Bahamas. He considered this to be one of the most exciting and enjoying moments of his life, spending time with at Bahamas nightlife/cocktails and woman along with trips throughout the day in his plane. As time passed he nearly forgot about his work at home, but the day before his departure came and he knew that he had to go back. He knew that in his head there was a new day-dream forming up, in which he would stay and figure out a life on the Bahamas going on with this forever. (Image of the Bahamas taken from Jacks rented plane) But these day-dreams always ended up with him reminding himself of the fact that he would look like a clown if he announced that he would not return to the bank. And besides that he had no income on the Bahamas, meaning that his life would not go on the same as it did during the holidays. So the day of the departure came and he took a taxi from the hotel back to the airport. He checked his luggage in and had to wait some hours before the gate opened, strolling around at the airport. He suddenly noticed a stand inside the airport with the sign: Tourist flights, See-by-air, Bahamas-Trips. As if he was pulled by gravity he approached the stand, and got into small-talk with the person behind the stand. At first he was asked whether he would like to get a trip around the Bahamas by plane, to which Jack declined and told about his holidays and how he flew around the island himself. Some small exchanges later the person jokingly said to him that he should then apply for a job as trip-pilot. They both considered the statement to be a joke, but it was only when going back at the gate, Jack realized that this may be the opportunity for him: The first step in making his day-dreams come true. He rushed back and tried to play cool, asking just out of curiosity how the employment would work even. He got told that they had enough applicants and people applying would need to undergo an interview along with a requirement of 300 flight-hours. The rest would be a matter of learning by heart and getting to know hotspots on the Bahamas. He was given a number, which he could call in case he wanted to attend an interview with the company. He thanked the person and said goodbye, going a longbow through the airport hall in which he not only traveled from the one end to another physically but also mentally, pondering his head with the thought of whether he should do this. Whether he should take this opportunity to enjoy the life he had dreamt of. As he arrived at the end of the hall, he had crossed the gap in his mind. As if his mind was on auto-pilot he got his phone out, calling his parents, informing them about his decision and assuring them (and secretly himself) that this would turn out to be the best decision he made. Afterwards, he went to the airport-personal, demanding his luggage back, canceling the flight and taking another night at the hotel, to call in the next day for the interview. The day came and with unshook morale he went into a small office, got greeted by the interviewer and underwent several stages of the interview and was assured to get called back within one day. With each hour that passed now, he changed from being optimistic to pessimistic and back and back, and back again. As the day came to an end, he superficially thought to himself, that they surely would just have much to do and would call in later, deep inside however he already knew that this surely was not the reason why they did not call already. Finally on day two, his phone rang and he was told what was already known to him: "We are most unfortunate to tell you that we cannot hire you. But you can try again if you like the comming season!". In his mind he started to panic, he already knew the fact deep-inside but hearing it made it official. Of course he also knew that he could go back to his bank-work, he could just let it be, and return to Los Santos. Go and work the same as he did before he came to the holidays, but failing now and not trying to get into his dream, would mean that for every day-dream he would have back at home, he would know that he failed and he could never achieve what he was dreaming about. Trying to not let the panic gain the upperhand he rushed to the beach, where he had spent most of his time during the visit. He was looking for a few persons he had met during the stay, which Jack had gotten into conversation with. Attending the nightlife of the Bahamas, he had met many different people, and in them were some pilots working on the Bahamas. They had told him during these conversations about their experiences and how they gained their flight-hours not in their home-countries or on the Bahamas, but rather at places like Indonesia, Congo, or Papua New Guinea. Scanning the beach frantically for hours he found what he was looking four: A guy named Mike. He explained Mike the misery he was in and promptly got a phone-number for a company in Congo. Jack got also told that he should leave soon since many people would try to grab the same chance there when the season started. Jack called the number on the spot and explained on the phone what he had in mind and why he called in. He was assured to get the job, though only on limited time and that after his evaluation-time, they would tell him whether he could continue to work or not. Thanking the person on the phone and sliding his phone back in, Mike shook the hand of Jack and patted him onto the shoulder wishing him all well and best of luck... in becoming a bush-pilot in Congo. Congo bush-pilot, hostage incident and lessons to be learned. Spoiler Jack went back to the airport, back to Los Santos, packing his things and finalizing everything for his trip to Africa. He took an Air-France flight from Los Santos to Kinshasa airport in Congo, from where he then took a smaller plane to Goma airport, visiting his cheap hotel and the airline he would work for on the same day. He was glad to get the job, though something had been stuck in his mind the day he took off from Los Santos. A small flyer that was handed to him, of which he remembered almost every sentence, as he read it on the flight to Congo: Reconsider travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to crime and civil unrest. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory. Do Not Travel To: North Kivu and Ituri provinces due to crime, Ebola, and kidnapping. Eastern DRC and the three Kasai provinces due to armed conflict. Violent crime, such as armed robbery, armed home invasion, and assault, while rare compared to petty crime, is not uncommon, and local police lack the resources to respond effectively to serious crime. Be aware that assailants may pose as police or security agents. Many cities throughout the country experience demonstrations, some of which have turned violent. Police authorities have at times responded with heavy-handed tactics that have resulted in civilian casualties and arrests. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens outside of Kinshasa due to extremely limited infrastructure and poor security conditions. Read the Safety and Security section on the country information Page. If you decide to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Avoid demonstrations. Use caution when walking or driving at night. Always carry a copy of your U.S. passport and visa (if applicable). Keep original documents in a secure location. Visit the CDC Travel Notice on Ebola in Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has information on this outbreak. Visit the CDC Travelers' Health Page for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which includes information on Ebola. Consult with a doctor for preventive medical advice. Many diseases present in the DRC have symptoms similar to Ebola. If suspected to have Ebola, you could face travel delays. Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency. U.S. Citizens who travel abroad should always have a contingency plan for emergency situations. This powerful warning had burnt into his head, though for the moment he did not seem to care. He was about to do the job he always dreamt of. His first shift started and he was greeted by a colleague who would introduce him to bush-flying. The colleague taught him lessons in time-management, passenger-management and specialties of the Congolese weather. The first flight he took off was in a Cessna 180 and headed for a small road in Walikale. Landing on such a road seemed to be something only a maniac would do. Yet the traffic on the road was stopped and the Cessna touched down, leaving the crew with a thirty-minute time-frame to do their stuff and get back into the air. The more time they needed on the ground on the road, the higher the risk got that another plane would be on the final approach for the road and could collide with them or would see them too late and try to go around only to crash into the trees next to them. (Goma airport, runway 36) (Walikale road landing in Congo) Every hour he spent in air was logged in a book and added to his flight-time. These hours were valuable, because not only did he gain more experience, but they also jacked up his qualifications, as most airlines wanted pilots with a high-count of flight-hours along with other qualities such as a bachelors degree. It was also in the Congo where he experienced the real dangers of a phenomenon called microburst. He had already read about it but experiencing it in action for the first time whilst flying made him realise how this could quickly lead to his owm death. Sometimes the plane would drop several feet down in a matter of seconds out of no where. This would be especially bad when being on your final approach to an already not certain runway. However there were also more pleasing sides about Congo: He often got to land in remote places where the native people would go on without any connection to the outside world for months. These people would cheer, laugh and be joyful whenever they saw a plane like his landing, bringing in food, medicine or new people. This was all to Jacks amusement but he also was fascinated by how these people lived so remotely in today's modern world. This fascination however to a disaster one day. As Jack and a co-pilot had landed on a dirt-runway in a village some 4 miles from the Nyiragongo volcano, he and his co-pilot spend the time idling and getting into contact with some friendly locals, instead of packing and immediately taking-off. As they finished their more-or-less primitive talk, both Jack and his co-pilot did not speak any Kananga (the village-people language) and had to gesture most of the time during the conversation, Jack told his colleague that he would be taking a quick piss around the bush. He moved towards the bush preparing to unzip his pants, when all of a sudden shouting and the steps of several armed men could be heard. They were waving around with assault-rifles and some of them even had spears. Jack quickly realized that this could turn out to be a very ugly situation. He tried to calm the people down by gesturing them that he is friendly but he got a knock onto his head from what later felt like the stock of an assault-rifle. He and his colleague were dragged of into a hut two Klicks away from where they had landed. It was only when one of the men gestured a phone to Jack that he knew that he had become a hostage of these bushmen. The bushmen signaled him to phone. Upon not understanding they started to shout louder, to which Jack started then dialing his companies number. Then when the bushmen heard a voice out of his phone they snatched the phone out of Jacks hand and had one of their men talk on the phone. Not understanding the language and especially not understanding it this fast, Jack could not understand what the talk was about or what the demands for him and his colleague were. He was given his phone back and the company told him that they would take the steps to get them out of there but they had to be patient and under any circumstances remain calm and not try to escape. Throughout the next two days they had to stay inside a little bush hut, guarded by two men with spears and assault-rifles. They were occasionally given some water and a bit of food in form of nuts and fruits. Not knowing the outcome and with his phone battery empty, he felt the most isolated he ever had felt, even with his colleague having the same fate and at his side. He tried to not imagine the cruelty that could await him and the sadness he would leave behind at home with his death. As his thoughts darkened on the third day and he was flirting with the idea of just trying to make a run for it, when all of a sudden the guards in front of the hut made way for what seemed to be a general of the bushmen. He came in and uttered two words "You go". At first this was a relief but realizing that he just meant that they should follow him, this had Jack thinking that perhaps they were leading them away from the hut for some kind of an execution. He was now sweating and the urge to just scream and run away was the strongest. With a lot of hesitation he started to follow the general, thinking to himself that he would improvise and just take his chance at first glance. However half a minute into the walk he heard the engines of a plane roaring in the distance. A half minute later he saw the plane passing above them as the general lead them to a group of persons. Upon arriving the general pushed them towards the group of persons and then turned around disappearing into the thick bush. Along with the group Jack followed the path that was in front of him, pushing aside several boughs until he and the group arrived at a flat dirt-runway with a plane at the end of it. It seemed like they had been bought free. Few moments afterwards Jack realized that the people with him were hostages as well that were exchanged free, seemingly in a bigger operation. After a thirty-minutes flight they were back at the companies headquarter. He and his colleague got lectured about the importance of time-management and as so often the fact to stay near to the runway which is guarded. A doctor was called in to check him and his colleague and then they were let off. Jack was told that his trial-stage would be extended due to this and one more fault would cost him the job. All in all, this was the best outcome he could expect, though from now on he pretty much felt more uneasy on the ground outside Goma airport. Life in Congo taught Jack the advantages and disadvantages of an unstable society. Although there was great misery within the country, the people were filled with motivation and knew how to earn a bit for their living. There was an occasion on one day where a plane could not pull-up into the air during take-off, went over the runway of Goma airport and crashed into some shops. Everything around there went up in flames. It was a horrific accident with many wounded and dead people. However on the second day of the crash when the authorities opened the site, the people flooded in to grab any valuable and scrap metal, in order to sell it. Like ants it seemed they came and it took no longer than six-hours before the site was stripped to its bare-bone. This was impressive to Jack, in both ways, seeing at one side people that still search the site for their beloved ones and at the other side people making the most money they probably ever have made. Another crash Jack heard of in the newspapers said a crocodile escaped the storage within the airplane and caused irritations on-board, leading to a fatal crash. This is only one of many examples how things can go south literally in Congo. (Newspaper article of the crocodile-crash) Whenever Jack could, he tried to evaluate, compare and take the best of both mentalities from the Western and the African. The next years went by very fast in retroperspective and Jack gathered a solid amount of 800 flight hours and a lot of lessons learned from landing at strips that were moments ago sleeping-places for bush-animals. He had become 30 years-old at the current time and had the great urge to visit his family at home, whom he had not seen in many years, except for some weeks. Jack also knew, that the next departure from Congo would be a final one, since he had gathered the amount of flight-hours he wanted and also had gotten into a dispute with the company who had caught him idling too much on the runway again. He knew, that he would not come back when departing from Congo and he knew that he had collected enough qualifications to apply for a job in the western world. On the second week after his birthday, he had made his mind up. He went to the company headquarter in order to terminate his work-contract and wished the company good luck before strolling one last time around the runway of Goma airport. He went back to the hotel packed his things, got into the plane from Goma to Kinshasa and then back to Los Santos Airport on a thirty-five hours long flight. Return to Los Santos, employment and prospects. Spoiler Back in Los Santos he rented into his old apartment and enjoyed the products that he had missed out on in Africa. After taking some time to orientate himself, he called a private-jet company in Los Santos that specialized into transporting private-persons. With enough flight-hours on his account he saw no problem in getting the job which was even relativly good paid. Once again he was invited to an interview, however this time he would make sure not to fail by pointing out his experiences and the flight-hours he has. Filled with confidence he attended the interview and this time immediatly got the response that he was accepted. Jack shook hands with employer and then got the details of his job which would now be to transport type c celebrities and their puppies from Los Santos to their residences within the States. He knew that this would lay the foundation for even more flight hours and better paid oppurtunities, along with the chance of visiting his family more often. Despite beeing in a private-jet company he is not yet trusted with flying jets and is currently aviating a Beechcraft Baron which the company provides for the customers to use to get to their locations. The more important thing for Jack is, that he has turned his greatest interest into his work. Background Music Spoiler Character-Screenshots NoticeIf you want to support aviation-roleplay on this server please check these two threads out. Many thanks to both creators. Edited May 11, 2020 by Strobe 3 1 Link to comment
Developer Strobe Posted May 11, 2020 Author Developer Share Posted May 11, 2020 (edited) All screenshots depicting roleplay have been taken ingame on GTA World without the use of any third party mods or methods to reconstruct the scene. The information here is not to be used for any metagaming. SOUND Spoiler Edited May 11, 2020 by Strobe Link to comment
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