Plane Tales

Military fighter aircraft that fly themselves around without their pilot on board is unusual, to say the least.  Sadly this is often a situation that has tragic consequences.  This tale is of three such events; happily one has safe outcome for the pilot... the others were not so lucky.   An early Harrier prototype, the P1127.   The Sea Harrier.   A 75 Sqn F/A-18 in the foreground during a Red Flag exercise in the US.         Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Alan Wilson, Billy Bunting MOD, USMC and USAF.

So feared were these pilots, flying almost silently over the German positions at night to attack any movement or light, that the Nazis called them Night Witches.  With just the wind whistling through the wires of their old Po-2 biplanes, again and again the brave young women of the Soviet Air Force flew with such skill that many were made Heroes of the Soviet Union. Senior Lieutenant Irina Sebrova who flew 1,008 missions.   The wood-and-canvas Polikarpov Po-2 biplane.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Douzeff.  Other images from public domain.

Recorded on the anniversary of the world's worst air accident.  A enormous loss of life that highlights the vital importance of standard radio procedures and the pressures of command.  A word that still puts an icy hand around my heart when I hear it... Tenerife. The KLM 747.   The Pan Am 747.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Dutch National Archives, clipperarctic and Michel Gilliand.

The art of Skywriting began with an ex WW1 fighter, the venerable SE5a, saved from the scrapyard.  This is the colourful tale of airborne advertising! The last of Jack Savage's SE5a fighters that he used for skywriting, now to be found in London's Science Museum.   Traditional Skywriting over the EAA Airventure Oshkosh.   A novel marriage proposal on a flying banner.   Images used under a Creative Commons licence with thanks to Alan Wilson, Sky Ads, FutureUApilot and the U.S. Navy.

It's common for airline Cabin Staff to be treated will little respect and the travelling public assume that they are little more than waitresses.  However, if you have a heart attack, suffer anxiety, need oxygen or directions in the case of an emergency evacuation it's these highly trained professionals who will be the ones to help you.  Some are also brave and resourceful beyond all expectations.  One of those was Neerja Bhanot and this is her story. A poster for the film made about Neerja.   The hijacked Pan Am 747, flight 73.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the Indian Government and aussieairliners.org  

There is a particular class of Military personnel who, at least in my time, were referred to as Capture Prone.  Whilst for me it was something that was treated as a mild annoyance, during conflict, being captured represents a true hazard.  For the crew of a downed B-24 Liberator, Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am, during WW2 who faced the fury of the German people, it would be deadly.   A Consolidated B-24 Liberator   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Jerry J. Jostwick and the US Gov/USAF archive.

Six turning and four burning… what a sight it must have been to see the mighty Convair B36 Peacemaker fly.  Less of a welcome sight would be watching a nuclear weapon being dropped by one in Canadian territorial waters only a few hundred miles North of Vancouver! This is the story of Bomber 075 and its sad ending!   The later marks of the Peacemaker had an additional 4 jet engines!   Convair XB-36 main landing gear.   The US Mk4 nuclear bomb.     Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the USAF and the US Gov.

A B17 crew training before deploying to Europe during WW2 managed to put a little town in Oklahoma on the map but not in the way they might like!   The M38A2 100lb practice bomb was no small device when dropped from a few thousand feet!   How the centre of Boise City might have looked on the night it was bombed!   The B17 Flying Fortress.       Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Doug Kerr, the USAF, Google World and Airwolfhound.

Hong Kong's old airport, Kai Tak, was always a challenging approach for any pilot, particularly during the Typhoon season but what was it like to actually fly around the Checker Board.  Hopefully, this Tale explains all.   One particular Captain's very last Kai Tak landing.   Aircraft on the approach would just clear the apartment blocks of Kowloon.   How the airport looked in the late '60s before the IGS was built.   A 747-400 ran off the end of Runway 13 into the harbour. The military blew off its fin because it jutted up into the take off path.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Christian Hanuise, Barbara Spengler and Ywchow.

On the APG show we have been discussing why the percentage of airline pilots in a stable relationship is so much higher than the average population. In this interview we discover what it's like to be a pilot's wife. The photograph I took of Mrs A on the day we met. Taking the kids on their daly ride around the Base to see the kangaroos! The Airline Pilot's Wife.

We have recently been listening to Adam Spink describe the sight of a Boeing 777 crash on the threshold of runway 27L at Heathrow airport whilst he was the Air Traffic supervisor in the tower. On this tale we look at the technical reasons for why BA38 lost power on its approach. Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the NTSB.

The second part of the interview with Adam Spink, the Heathrow tower Supervisor and Birthday Boy on the day that Speedbird 38 crashed on the threshold of Runway 27L at Heathrow.  In this final part we talk about the aftermath of the accident.       Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Maarten Visser, Alchetron, the AAIB and UK Gov.

Observing a large wide body airliner crash is, mercifully, a rare occurrence but to have one crash onto your airfield when working as the Air Traffic Supervisor in the control tower puts it in a completely different category of amazing!  This is Adams story of the day it happened to him at London's Heathrow airport.   G-YMMM, the accident airframe a few years before.   Speedbird 38 after the crash.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Marc-Antony Payne, Aero Icarus.

Widow Maker is an epitaph attached to aircraft that present a particular risk to the life of the pilot. Many times this name is inappropriately used but in some cases, sadly, it is all too valid.  This is the story of two such aircraft.   The Martin B-26B Marauder.   A USAF recruitment poster featuring the Marauder.   Chuck Yeager in the NF104, an aircraft that would nearly kill him after he lost control and ejected. His helmet was punctured and the oxygen within caught fire badly burning him.   The F104A.   The F104 was the first fighter to be fitted with the M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon.   Images under the Creative Commons licence, with thanks to National Museum of the USAF, Michael Wolf, Charles E Brown and the US Gov.

There are some sleek and elegant aircraft out there and some pretty ugly ones too!  Despite gaining nicknames such as the Flying Bathtub and the Flying Potato, many of these amazing flying machines did a great job in furthering our understanding of spaceflight.  This is the story of the Lifting Body aircraft. Three of the NASA experimental lifting body aircraft.   The Mig105 Spiral, nicknamed the Flying Shoe.   Images shown under creative commons licence with thanks to NASA and Bernhard Gröhl.