Plane Tales

What better day to celebrate the aviators of Ireland than on St Patrick's Day.  From the crash of Alcock and Brown to a tractor maker and a flying olympic competitor, the Emerald Isles have a fascinating aviation history. Henry Ferguson, perhaps better known as an agricultural machinery maker than a pilot.   Lilian Bland piloting her Mayfly.   Lady Heath featured top centre amongst the best known aviators of the '30s.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Joseph D. Eddy and The Queenslander.  

The sequel to Passing Gas recalls what it's actually like to plug into a tanker and take on a fighter pilot's life blood... fuel!  Of course not every tanker mission goes as planned and some have ended in tragedy and one, by the smallest of margins, was saved from further disaster on an epic scale. Two MH-53E Super Stallion helicopters perform aerial refueling from a KC-130J Hercules tanker aircraft.   A K3 VC10 tanker of the Royal Air Force.   KC-135 Stratotanker refuels an F-16 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.   The casings of two B28 nuclear bombs involved in the Palomares incident on display at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Navy, MCS James Turner, USAF, John E. Lasky, Marshall Astor and Chris Lofting.

The history of Air to Air refuelling and how the systems that we are now familiar with, the boom and the probe & drogue, came into being.   Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter receiving the first mid-air refueling on June 27, 1923.   The Question Mark receives fuel during its record breaking endurance flight.   A KB-50J refuels a F-101A Voodoo, B-66 Destroyer and F-100D Super Sabre at RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire on Battle of Britain Day, 14 September 1963.   A TriStar K1 of the Royal Air Force refuelling two McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18C Hornets of the US Navy over Afghanistan, 2008.   An F15 Eagle takes gas.   A Boeing KC-135Q refueling the SR-71.   The Old Pilot flying an F4 and plugged into a Victor K2 tanker of No 57 Squadron RAF.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Air Force, TSRL, Tech Sgt Shane A. Cuomo, US DoD, Cmdr. Erik Etz, U.S. Navy, SrA Allen McArthur and Ken Hackman,

With the prospect of a new movie following the classic Top Gun in the offing, we take a largely 'tongue in cheek' look at the F14 and how Maverick got into a 'flat spin heading out to sea!"   F-14A Tomcats of Fighter Squadrons VF-51 "Screaming Eagles", the VF-111 "Sundowners" and F-5E/F Tiger IIs of the Navy Fighter Weapons School.   An F-14D Tomcat.     Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn, the U.S. Navy, LCdr. David Baranak,

During the Vietnam war, the A6 Intruder was known for making daring, low level attacks in foul conditions and often alone.  As such it had more than its fair share of losses. One such loss was due to a lone .303 bullet which gravely injured the pilot and would have killed him if not for the brave actions of his Bombardier Navigator... actions that would result in the award of a Navy Cross. An A6 Intruder on deck.   USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63).   A pair of A-6As of VA-85 the Black Falcons in flight over the South China Sea.     Images under Creative Commons licence, with thanks to US Navy, Mike Corrado, ATR2 Randy Bender, PHCS Brown

If you've ever looked out onto a wing and wondered what the strange looking blades and plates attached to it are? Then wonder no longer!  An explanation of Vortex Generators and Wing Fences and why we need them. A fine set of wing fences on the Mig 17. This one can be seen on the deck of USS Intrepid in NY.   A line of vortex generators on the wing of an A4 in the hangar of USS Intrepid.   The wing of a Skyhawk on USS Intrepid displaying a number of boundary layer control devices.   Vortilons can be seen projecting from underneath the center leading edge of the wings of this Hawker and it also has neat little winglets.       Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Adrian Pingstone.

Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stonehenge and you will pass another stone monument.  It's the Airman's Cross, placed by his comrades to commemorate the death of an early airman, Captain Eustace Broke Loraine and his Sergeant, who died when he crashed his Nieuport Monoplane near Stonehenge. This pioneer aviator deserves to be recognised not just because of his own place in history but for his friendship with a very special officer who he encouraged to take up flying.   The Nieuport Monoplane   Stonehenge   Trenchard, the father of the Royal Air Force   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Garethwiscombe and William Orpen.

Fun in the Sun continues with part 2 of my first Air to Air Gunnery camp in Cyprus.  The work has started and now it's time to become ACE (Allied Command Europe) qualified with the mighty M61 Vulcan cannon. Before long, though it's time to return to reality and, as my first year on the squadron comes to a close, time for my first annual assessment.   An unmounted M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon.   The shells that the Vulcan cannon fires.   As pleased as Punch!   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, Rhodekyll

Delving back into my RAF Pilot's Logbook, Form 414, it's time for the annual instrument rating and prepare for our first deployment to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.  Whilst the 'High Ups' sorted everything out for a major detachment, I'm left doing QRA but at last we are heading south for the Mediterranean. My journey, however, is in the opposite of a supersonic fighter jet! The ancient island of Cyprus.     Our little corner of the ancient island of Cyprus.   A miniature and modern version of the usual meze that we often enjoyed.   Images under Creative Commons licence and others with thanks to Peri Reis and Cyprus Beat.

This story harks back to the 300th APG show and was rewritten for the Plane Talking UK live show near Heathrow Airport.  It is the story of a crippled Airbus A300 that barely survives a missile attack and the excellent work by a phenomenal Flight Deck crew. The DHL A300 that was struck.   The landing.   The damage done to the A300's left wing.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to dodmedia and Airbus Flight Safety.

The Convair 990 was a financial disaster that cost General Dynamics one of the largest corporate losses in history but thanks to some fascinating aerodynamics it was also the world's fastest subsonic airliner.  This is the story of a little known airliner and the transonic design that allowed it to cruise at Mach 0.97!   Convair CV 990 displaying anti-shock bodies on the top surface of its wings as it sits on the ramp at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center.   Listener Ramiro Couto takes a selfie in front of the NASA Convair 990 that now resides near the Mojave Airport.   The Convair 990 near the Mojave Airport showing off its anti shock bodies which allowed the aircraft to take advantage of the Whitcomb area rule.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the San Diego Air & Space Museum, NASA and listener Ramiro Couto.  

Growing up in poverty, life in Germany following WWII was hard, but for one young man, dreams of starting a new life as a pilot in America seemed beyond imagination.  However, through strength of character and determination, Dieter Dengler would achieve his goal only to have his short career brought to an abrupt end when he was downed flying a secret mission over Laos at the start of the Vietnam war.  The story of his subsequent capture, torture and his ultimate fate is a remarkable story.   Dieter after his escape.     Dieter and Colonel Eugene Deatrick, the man who spotted him in the jungle of Laos.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Navy and draykov.

From one of the lesser known Bee Gee's records comes a bizarre title for a seasonal song that brings to mind the story of Captain William Wincapaw, a native of Friendship in Maine.  In his early days of flying float planes around Rockland Harbour he often used the many lighthouses of New England to help him navigate in poor weather.  His fondness for the families who tended these lighthouses and Coast Guard stations, often in the most remote of situations, led him to begin a Christmas tradition that continues to this very day. Captain William Wincapaw.   Delivering Christmas presents.     Images under copyright to the Friends of Flying Santa.  To donate please go to the Friends of Flying Santa website.

After WWII many American pilots were employed by the growing Chinese airline industry flying from poorly equipped airfields in China.  The weather was often difficult and the terrain dangerous but on Christmas day 1946, struggling to get back to their base at Lunghwa airfield tragedy would strike... not once but three times.  This is the awful story of that night in Shanghai.   A CNAC Curtis C46.         Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to CNAC archives and National Museum of the USAF.

The very next installment of my flying logbook stories has me attempting my first arrester wire engagement, paying tribute to the Bell Rock Lighthouse and meeting the USAF's 527th Aggressor Squadron for combat training.   Armed Phantoms of No 43 (F) Squadron, RAF Leuchars.   Three F-5E Tiger II aircraft from the 527th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor Squadron, RAF Alconbury.   Bell Rock lighthouse under construction.   Bell rock lighthouse as I remember it!     Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Me, the USAF, Derek Robertson and Robert Stephenson.