by Nick Anderson | Jan 31, 2021 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
It is the beginning of 1981 but for me it was the conclusion of my first front line tour of duty. When my posting came I was devastated. I had been sent to instruct at No 4 Flying Training School, RAF Valley on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. A remote corner in the middle of nowhere doing a job I didn’t want.
An F4 Phantom FG1 of No43(F) Sqn.
The Hawker Harrier GR1.
Survival Scramble.
The A10 Warthog.
The BLC Malfunction emergency checklist.
Greek Gunboats!
My posting to become a QFI loomed!
My much loved Yamaha along with our poo coloured Rover!
Climbing Mt Snowdon.
Dave would perish during Exercise Red Flag when he crashed his RAF Jaguar avoiding a simulated SAM engagement.
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mike Freer, Senior Airman Matthew Bruch, CC BY-SA 3.0, the USAF, the RAF and myself!
by Nick Anderson | Jan 23, 2021 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
The Sound Barrier was first broken in 1947… by 1949 Convair had submitted its initial bid for the USAF’s first supersonic bomber. So much had to be learned in that time… the aerodynamics of supersonic flight, the construction materials that would be required and the engines that could power it were only part of the technological challenges that would be faced. It was truly a remarkable effort. The pilots that were chosen to fly this tricky Mach 2, 70,000 ft capable aircraft that could climb at over 45,000ft a minute, were highly skilled and Lt Col Henry, John Deutschendorf was one of them.
The opposing sides of the Cold War
The first generation of US and Soviet ICBM nuclear missiles
The B-58 Hustler
The Hustler’s escape pod
The three B-58 cockpit hatches
John Denver
The Long EZ
Ghostbusters II
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Kingkingphoto, the USAF, NOAA and Impawards.
by Nick Anderson | Jan 11, 2021 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We’ll weather the weather,
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!
Nowadays, however, we are blessed with more ways to get the weather than one can shake proverbial sticks at and, certainly in the world of aviation, it’s all remarkably accurate even if it’s presented in a rather archaic code. Of course even that is pretty advanced when compared with the early days!
Hippocrates
Galileo’s thermometer
Early weather forecasting equipment!
The wrecking of the Royal Charter on the Island of Anglesey
Robert Firzroy, the father of met forecasting.
Gp Capt Stagg who forecasted the weather for Operation Chastise
The US Bureau of Metrology
An early radiosonde met balloon
A decode aid for aviation forecasts
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, NOAA, Fenners and the RAF.
by Nick Anderson | Jan 9, 2021 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
The pride of the Air India fleet, their first Boeing 747 was named after the Emperor Ashoka. The first of the Maharaja-themed aircraft it epitomised luxury and was, “Your palace in the sky.” On this New Year’s day, however, its flight would last only a few seconds.
The Emperor Ashoka Boeing 747
The cockpit
The Engineer’s station.
The interior of a Maharaja-themed Air India aircraft
The famous Jharokha styled windows
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Air India PR, Oliver Cleynen, Snowdog, Mitchel Gilliand, Shahram Sharifi, Dharma and Searchtrail67.
by Nick Anderson | Feb 15, 2019 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
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.
