That man in the lower camouflaged aircraft.. facing an Israeli fighter.. in Egyptian skies.. days after the war broke out.
The war of the sun.
The war of the Sixth of October.
His name is "Sami".. a highly skilled pilot.. but he has one small problem.
There is no ammunition left in his aircraft.
At all.
And the Israeli Phantom turns toward him.. and faces him armed with missiles.
And...
And this situation requires us to go back to the story from its beginning.
To a day like this very day.
And "Sami" is on the ground arming his aircraft and loading it for the third or fourth time...
And he takes off.
And beside him an Egyptian MiG fighter takes off.. and slows down.. because his fighter's speed was noticeably slower than the MiG.
And in the sky the Israeli fighters appear to them, of the Phantom type.. launching across the horizon.. trying to cover their infantry forces and armoured brigades.. and penetrating deep into Egypt.. because the command in Tel Aviv believed that if it could bomb Cairo.. the war would end in moments.
And the pilot takes off with his comrades.. and separates from the squadron formation.. with a single Egyptian MiG.. which was immediately followed by.. another Egyptian fighter.
And the fighters face each other in the sky.
And after the engagement, a second engagement begins.
And a third.
And a fourth.. of a different character.
Seven Israeli fighters.. against three of our eagles.. among them "Sami".
And the bullets and missiles launch.. cleaving the air with a terrifying hiss.. like deadly snakes.. with tails of flame.
And the MiGs swerve off course and bank and spin around themselves.. and evade the Israeli missiles.. and launch their own missiles in turn.
And the missiles hit their targets.
And pieces of Israeli metal plunge from the heart of the sky ablaze, wrapped in flame.
Five Israeli fighters fall.
And an Egyptian fighter falls.
And two Israeli aircraft remain.. of the Phantom type.
Against two from Egypt.
And here.. one of the Israeli Phantom pilots realises that he will never win.. and panic seizes him.
And his fighter turns and flees.
And the Egyptian MiG raises its speed in fury.. and launches after him. And its pilot swears deep inside.. that he will avenge his comrade.. whatever the cost.. even if he chases the Israeli to the end of the world.
But the second Israeli fighter does not flee.
On the contrary.. its pilot launches it in defiance and ferocity toward another target.
Toward the depth.
The Egyptian depth.
When "Sami" sees him heading for the depth.. extreme tension seizes him.. because orders require that the Israelis not reach the depth.. at any cost.
And our hero launches after the Phantom.
And opens fire.
His aircraft was equipped with powerful cannon.. and more ammunition than the Phantom.. and strong armour.. but it was empty of missiles.
But the Israeli pilot was truly skilled.
And the Israeli Phantom climbs high and evades the bullets.. and opens fire on "Sami".
And "Sami" spins his fighter around itself in an astonishing manoeuvre.. to evade the Phantom's bullets.
And he succeeds.
And this was an advantage of his Hunter-type aircraft.. not present to the same degree in the Egyptian MiG, nor in the Phantom, the Mirage and the Israeli fighters combined.
Immense agility and an astonishing ability to manoeuvre.
And during his manoeuvre.. he opens fire.
And a second time the skilled Israeli pilot evades it.
Then a fact suddenly leaps into his head.
True, his opponent's bullets, the one he wants to stop from reaching the Egyptian depth, are far more numerous than his own ammunition.
And true, his fighter's ability to manoeuvre is astonishing.
But it has a single problem.
It is slower.
Slower by a slight margin.. less than two hundred kilometres an hour.. but in the sky.. that difference becomes dangerous.
Extremely.
And the Israeli pilot raises his speed and breaks the sound barrier. And a tremendous sonic boom echoes through the sky.. and a white circular cloud forms around the Phantom as it launches toward the depth.. at supersonic speed.
A speed that "Sami"'s fighter can never reach.
And "Sami" pushes his speed to the maximum.. and launches after him.
And he presses the trigger of his cannon.
And the bullets launch after the Phantom.. which streaks toward its target in determination.
And the chase drags on at this terrifying speed.
It drags on for four whole minutes.. at a frightening speed.. covering enormous miles through it.
But suddenly something strange happens.
The Phantom suddenly slows down.
And it enters "Sami"'s line of fire.. and he grips his fighter's stick with a cold grip of steel.. and presses the trigger indeed.
And there was supposed to be no chance of error.
The Israeli is in his line of fire now.. with no chance to manoeuvre.
But when he presses the trigger, and despite the sound of the engines and the air decompression.. he hears a faint click.. and not a single bullet launches.
His ammunition had run out completely.. with the successive engagements.. and all the rounds he had fired at the Phantom.
And it seems the Israeli pilot was truly skilled.. because he realised this.. and climbed and turned in a wide loop.. and levelled his fighter facing "Sami".
And the Israeli presses the missile launch button.
And the missile launches toward "Sami" and he evades it with an astonishing manoeuvre. And he tries to search for a solution to stop the Israeli.. in extreme tension.
"Sami" did not realise that the Israeli was no longer fighting to reach the Egyptian depth.
He was fighting for his life alone.
His stubbornness made him misjudge it.. because his manoeuvres and his flight and his breaking of the sound barrier.. had brought his fighter's energy to the verge of exhaustion.
That is why he slowed down.
And that is why.. he must bring down "Sami" at any cost.
Or fall himself.. at no cost.
And the Phantom fires a last missile.. "Sami" sees it coming and evades it with astonishing skill.. as he makes his decision.
The Israeli must not reach the Egyptian depth.
Never.
And the Phantom turns to face him a second time.. and the Israeli presses the fire button.
But "Sami" was not there.
The bullets did launch toward him.. but in that very instant he summons all his experience and his skill.. and exploits his fighter's astonishing ability to manoeuvre.. and climbs.. and spins around itself like a huge bullet.
Then he brings his fighter down below the Israeli's fighter.
And he swoops.
From below.
To above.
He swooped on the Phantom without ammunition.
With his aircraft itself.
And "Sami"'s fighter hurled its strong armoured body.. into the heart of the Phantom.
And split it in two.
And the Phantom plunged from the sky ablaze.
And with it "Sami"'s fighter.. and his pure soul pouring forth to its Creator.
One mass of flame.. they melted and merged into one another.
Our hero triumphed. And the Israeli fell.
The story of "Sami" is not known to many.
But with his memory approaching.. we must remember.
We must remember that Lieutenant Pilot "Sami Fadel" of the Iraqi Air Force.. and commander of the Hunter fighter; gave his life side by side with his comrades from the sons of Egypt.. so that the land of Egypt would remain dear and free.
And he succeeded in his mission.
.
#War_of_the_Sun #awareness_against_terrorism #The_Sixth_of_October