Plane Tales

Many of us have past generations in our family who flew during the Second World War but few of us have a wonderful diary describing the lives they lived during the conflict.  Nick Kidd's Uncle was one of the secretive pilots who flew agents into France and supplied the Free French Resistance and this is the fascinating story of his Uncle Geoff. The Wellington under construction showing its unusual geodesic design.       The Pundit system that Geoff and his navigator used to help them find their home base.   How to fly the corkscrew evasion manoeuvre.   The original version of the Wellington.       Images under Creative Commons Licence with thanks to UK Gov, the RAF and HMSO.

He was the greatest fighter pilot that ever served with the United States armed forces. A quiet and unassuming man who, even when he had more kills than the fabled Eddie Rickenbacker, insisted on going back into combat.  A remarkable pilot whose life was brought to a sadly early end.   Images under Creative Commons Licence with thanks to US Gov, USAF and Mikejfm.

To the primitive tribes of the Pacific Islands the sudden arrival of flying machines disgorging tons of wonderful cargo is beyond their understanding.  Their attempts to make sense of what is occurring leads to the creation of a remarkable new religion.     Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the authors.

A gradual degradation of engine performance leads a Cathy Pacific crew into a dire situation, all due to Super Absorbent Polymer Spheres!  This is the story of Cathy 780 and the excellent job that the crew did to get their crippled aircraft onto the ground. The incident aircraft, an Airbus A330. Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to SA 4.0 and Aero Icarus.

During World War 2, for the bomber pilots, getting shot down over enemy territory was far from the only risk that they faced.  In England, Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force suffered significant losses when returning to their bases only to find that they were fogged out.  This is the story of FIDO. A Lancaster comes to grief amongst the FIDO pipes.   Images under Creative Commons license with thanks to Goodchild A, the Imperial War Museums, the RAF Museum and UK Gov.

The Chief Pilot of the British Registration Board, D P Davies, wrote THE definitive book for airline pilots moving to the the big jets of the 70's and 80's.  An acerbic, opinionated but incredibly talented pilot his life was full of fascinating stories.  

With the Chinese forces under Chiang Kai-shek keeping over a million Japanese troops occupied, once America joined the Second World War, they were keen to prevent those troops from becoming free to engage them in the Pacific theatre.  Supplying the 10th Air Force and the Chinese forces became a priority.  So began an enormous effort to air lift thousands of tons of supplies over some of the most treacherous and difficult terrain in the war.  This the unsung story of the crews that flew the Hump. The C46 Commando.   The C54 Skymaster.   Pictures under Creative Commons Licence with thanks to the US Gov and the USAF,

An American analyst poured over a satellite image of a vast and strange aircraft being built on the shore of the Caspian Sea.  What was this monster of a machine?  The Russians had delved into the world of ground effect vehicles and this is the story.   The KM (Korabl Maket) Ekranoplan.   The successor to the Caspian Sea Monster, the Lun Class missile carrier, NATO code name Duck!   The Duck being decommissioned.   The more successful A-90_Orlyonok.   The Boeing Pelican ULTRA concept aircraft.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Fred Schaerli, the Stock Archives of Soviet Navy, Mike1979Russia, К.Е.Сергеев and Boeing.

In the post WW2 era the Farnborough Airshow was a fabulous and exciting window into the amazing world of advanced jet fighters and in 1952 test pilot John Derry was flying one of the most advanced prototypes there.  This is his story.   Test Pilot John Derry.   The Sea Vixen with it's unusual offset pilot's canopy.   The aftermath of the DH110 crash. Images through Creative Commons licence with thanks to the National Library of Austria, the United States Navy, The Crown (Gov UK) and Kaboldy.

Following my previous story concerning the tragic murder of both pilots on the flight deck, the son of First Officer Ray Andress wrote and told me the story from his side.  Steve Andress went on to become a USAF pilot and is now flies for a major legacy airline.   He also tells us of the work his mother undertook to ban the use of flight insurance vending machines at airports to deter others with murderous intent and we hear of a couple of other awful murder cases involving air travel. Captain Steve Andress     With thanks to Steve for the photographs of his father which heads this story and of himself.  The image of a flight insurance vending machine under a Creative Commons licence.

Two dramatic and awful incidents when unsuspecting pilots are attacked on the Flight Deck, enough to put shivers down the spine. The title image is of Francisco Paula Gonzales, one of the murderers.   The Pacific Air Lines F27 that was involved in the tragedy of flight 773.   An Eastern Air Lines DC9.   The Eastern Airlines Training Centre plaque. Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to The Beaver County Times and Jon Proctor.  The EAL plaque image is, unfortunately, unattributed.  

The dream of flight began with makeshift wings bound to men's arms which, like Icarus from Green mythology failed, often with deadly results.  This is the story of the pioneers who took to the air under their own power. Zaschka's Human-Power Aircraft, Berlin 1934.   SUMPAC was the first successful human powered aircraft.   The Gossamer Albatross II is seen here during a test flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre, Edwards, California.     Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Madrid, Museo del Prado, Popular Science, Nimbus227 and NASA.  

The Vickers VC10 was an aircraft that was ahead of its time.  Sleek, fast and powerful it was designed to please an airline which then turned its back on it.  However, the VC10 won the hearts of many. The RAF version of the VC10, the K3.   The VC10 flight deck including the 'voice activated throttles'!   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Bahnfrend, Steve Fitzgerald and Chris Lofting.

Despite being injured during a civil war and losing the sight of an eye, Carlos Dardano became a B737 Captain for TACA.  On descent into New Orleans, he strayed into a thunderstorm with disastrous consequences.  The fate of the aircraft its crew and passengers now depended on the flying skills of the Captain.                                                          Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to US Gov, NTSB and other sources.

During the height of the Cold War, a most unlikely spy plane gathered intelligence over East Germany on behalf of the Western allies.  This is the little known story of the British Commander's in Chief Mission to the Soviet forces in Germany! The BRIXMIS logo.   The de Havilland Chipmunk.   A Soviet BMP photographed whilst a soldier aims at the Chipmunk!   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to UK Gov (BRIXMIS) under Crown Copyright, Peter Farey, Adrian Pingstone and Roy Marsden.