the flight deck officer raised his flag above his head ( he had refused a bribe of an almost new sports car to let his deputy do it ) , waved it in circles , and natasha opened the throttle wide , and when the avon was at maximum rpm she gave him the thumbs up ( although it should have been a salute , i think ) and he dramatically dropped to one knee and pointed his body ( and the flag ) down the angled flight-deck ( more for the benefit of the hundreds of cam-corders whirring away , than us ) , just like he did with the big boys on the catapults , and then he waited , and waited , and waited and then finally he glanced up at natasha , who blew him a kiss and released the brakes .