Mercury's only Dakota, based at Ringway, awaits passengers for schedule MI100 bound for Sandown (Isle of Wight) at 0845. It will be back in 3 hours 30 minutes and will perform another trip, interspersed with a return flight IOW to Leeds Yeadon, before ending back at Ringway at 2030. A 1500-mile itinerary for the day - not bad for a wartime-built old transport. It is refuelling from a Shell-BP tanker before the underground fuel pipes were commissioned.