by Nick Anderson | Jul 4, 2022 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
Whilst we are discussing quaint idioms, many of us trust that old American adage, “If it looks good, it’ll fly good” attributed to both Neil Armstrong and Bill Lear and is something that all pilots understand. There is something about a fine looking aircraft that makes it appear trustworthy and gives one confidence that it will perform well. Sadly, I know of one company, however, who seem to have looked at their aircraft through bottle bottom glasses… or perhaps they never got the memo.
The Dunne D5
The Type 184
The Cardington Gasbag
The Shorts S38
The Singapore
The Shorts Empire flying boat
The Sunderland
The COW gun
The Sunderland’s internal bomb racks
The Sunderland’s rest facilities
The Bombay
The long legged Stirling
The unlikely looking Seamew
Hurel-Dubois Miles 106 Caravan
The Shorts SC 7 Skyvan
The Shorts SD360
The coolest Skyvan ever… Pink!
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Marinha do Brasil, Short Bros of Cardington, the RAF, Shorts, the Library of Congress, SADSM, George Jackman, the Royal Navy, Adrian Pingstone, Tomás Del Coro and those images orphaned or in the Public Domain.
by Nick Anderson | May 5, 2022 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
The aircraft was named ‘Flagship District of Columbia’ and was only the 12th Boeing 707 ever made. It was delivered to American Airlines in February 1959 so at the time America was taking its first steps into the void of outer space it was a mere 3 years old. It hadn’t long been out of it’s periodic inspection and with less than 8,000 hours on the airframe N7506A was expected to have a long and productive life ahead… a wish that would be dashed in a few short minutes.
The New York skyline
An American Airlines Boeing 707 at LAX
Changes in apparent span and the effects of sideslip on a swept wing when yawed
The 707 rudder control system
Wreckage from American Airlines flight 514
The Calverton crash still smoking
A New York ticker tape parade
The flight recorder trace from the American One’s final moments
A reconstruction of the track of Flight One
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Jon Proctor, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, the Civil Aeronautics Board and Ted Quackenbush.
by Nick Anderson | May 5, 2022 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
The Royal Air Force’s Pilots Flying Logbook is a sturdy publication, cloth bound in blue with gold printing on the cover, on the inside of which are the instructions for use. Para 1, sub para (a) it states that the Book is an official document and is the property of Her Majesty’s Government… well, good luck trying to get this one back!
The star of the Top Gun movie
The much admired RAF Phantom QWI badge
The island of Cyprus was famous for its rough red Kokinelli wine
The 20mm SUU23A Vulcan cannon
A typical Cypriot meze
Mrs A moving yet again
Receiving my 1000hrs Phantom badge
The F4 rear office
The arrival of son No1
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Gage Skidmore, Google Earth, Thomas Fedor and Cyprus Tourism.
by Nick Anderson | Apr 11, 2022 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
Last week we chatted about historic incidents that led to aircraft upsets. This week we talk to a newly qualified airline pilot who is undergoing advanced Upset and Recovery Training at a British training school. We also speak to the school’s chief pilot and one of the instructors, an ex Mig 29 pilot.
Basem undergoing upset training at BAA in a Grob
One of the BAA’s Extras
Basem off to be turned upside down!
Adrian… Basem’s ex Mig 29 instructor
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Capt Nick Anderson
by Nick Anderson | Apr 7, 2022 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
With the arrival of jet powered airliners, commercial pilots entered a new world of high altitude flying in large swept wing aircraft at velocities approaching the speed of sound. They were often unprepared for the challenge and before long unexpected and unexplained loss of control events began to worry the world of aviation. These events initially occurred when an aircraft was upset from its normal benign straight and level environment and ended up in a high speed dive, something that was rare in the earlier days of straight winged, piston powered airliners. Hence, they became known as Jet Upsets.
Coffin Corner!
Upsets involve extreme attitudes
Less than perfect cockpit design often contributes to upsets
A Pan Am B707
China Airlines A300
The tragic result of the China Airlines upset
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Boeing Company, Geni, the NTSB/CAB, Guido Allieri and the JTSB.
