Any of Brien Wygle’s achievements would be enough for most of us to dine-out on for the rest of our lives. A World War 2 pilot who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy. A man who flew Hump missions in a vulnerable C-47s and who saw three of his comrades go down in a single day. A pilot who volunteered to fly bombing missions for the fledgling Israeli Air Force, who taught Howard Hughes to fly jet aircraft and who became a notable test pilot and yet was one of the most unassuming people you would want to meet.
Much of Brien’s love of flying came from magazines and building model aircraft.
As a young man Brien saw a formation of Hurricanes which lit the flame of his desire to become a pilot.
Brien’s flying training started in the Tiger Moth.
Brien’s first operational type was the Douglas Dakota.
Brien spend much time in the Far East flying dangerous mump missions and supply drops to the Chindits.
Back in Canada, Brien got some rare jet time on the De Havilland Vampire.
Joining Boeing, Brein started work flying the B47.
Famously, Brien was the project test pilot for the Boeing 737.
Posing with Lew Wallick after a successful maiden flight of the B737.
Brien was also part of the crew that flew the maiden flight of the B747.
Brien Wygle passed away on the 15th of September 2929.
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Phil Major, MOD, RAF, RCAF, Bill Barnes Magazines, USAF, RAF, Boeing Corporation.
Our crew today: Hosts Dr. Steph, Captains Nick and Jeff, Producer/Director Liz. Join us for the latest in aviation news, your feedback, and this week’s Plane Tale: “Holmes and the Battle of Britain.”
Intro/outro Music, Coffee Fund theme music by Geoff Smith thegeoffsmith.com
Dr. Steph’s intro music by Nevil Bounds
Capt Nick’s intro music by Kevin from Norway (aka Kevski)
Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100255
Artist: https://incompetech.com/
On the 18th of June 1940, Churchill stood in Parliament and gave a speech in which he stated that what General Weyland had called the Battle of France was over and that the Battle of Britain was about to begin. In the middle of this remarkable conflict was one Raymond Towers Holmes…
Sir Winston Churchill
Hermann Göring
Preparations being made for the invasion of Britain
Joseph Kennedy, the US Ambassador to Great Britain
Adolf Hitler
The Me 110
The Supermarine Spitfire
The Hawker Hurricane
The Me 109
Battle of Britain pilots
The coverage of Chain Home
Chain Home operators
Arty Holmes in his fighter
Dog fights over London during the Battle of Britain
Dornier Do 17s
The secret weapon flamethrower
The Do17 without its tail plunges down towards Victoria Station
Wreckage of the Do17 that Arty brought down
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to BiblioArchives, Bundesarchiv, the RAF, Wide World Photos, ROC, Adrian Pingstone, Imperial War Museum and the British Official Histories.
Our crew today: Hosts Dr. Steph, Miami Rick, Captains Nick and Jeff, Producer/Director Liz. Join us for the latest in aviation news, your feedback, and this week’s Plane Tale: “It’s Not What You Say.”
Intro/outro Music, Coffee Fund theme music by Geoff Smith thegeoffsmith.com
Dr. Steph’s intro music by Nevil Bounds
Capt Nick’s intro music by Kevin from Norway (aka Kevski)
Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100255
Artist: https://incompetech.com/
I was recently digging through some old airline paperwork and came across a delightful booklet from my old airline entitled Cabin Address from the Flight Deck – briefing notes and suggestions. The booklet is more than 20 years old so the content might, on occasions, fail to reflect current sensitivities but I thought it worth digging into so that I could share some of its suggestions with you.
Images with kind permission of cartoonist Capt John Reed AKA Figment.
