by Nick Anderson | May 26, 2025 | Plane Tales
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From the French word saboter, sabotage refers to the act of bungling, botching or wrecking something, particularly for political or military aims. It is derived from the French word for a wooden shoe, a sabot and likely refers to clumsy work carried out by those peasants who clattered about in such simple footwear. The world of aviation escaped known acts of sabotage until 1933 when a sleek and streamlined Boeing 247 of United Air Lines Flight 23 taxied to the departure gate at Newark Airport to allow it’s passengers to embark. At a time when most airlines were flying flimsy wood and cloth biplanes that looked like old World War One bombers, and indeed many were, Boeing were ahead of the game.
The Boeing 247
An early 247 with the forward sloping windshield flying for the Royal Air Force
Passengers embarking on a United 247 NC13345 which later crashed into a hill in dense fog and burned.
J Edgar Hoover’s letter closing down the sabotage investigation
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Boeing, the SDASM, the RAF, United Airlines, the Library of Congress, the Chicago Tribune and the FBI.
by Nick Anderson | May 22, 2025 | Plane Tales
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I’m sorry dear listener but the logbook stories continue unabated with the next instalment. I had been inducted into Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and, after completing the type rating technical exam we were dispatched to the heart of Airbussery, Toulouse in France, to undergo their simulator training course. There were about 10 of us but, other than our sim partner, we didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other with our busy month long schedule.I’d been paired up with a 340 pilot from the Northern Isles of Scotland and was all set to pick his brains on the subject until I discovered he had been flying the SAAB 340, a little Swedish twin engined turboprop.
Lufthansa A340
The World Ranger livery
When your instructor says, “Bof!”
Breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner!
Cordes
Pool drill with the Cabin Crew
The Queen opens Queen’s Building
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to MarcelX42, Airbus, HM Gov, Heathrow Airport, Cordes tourist board, Nick Anderson Photographic and Mid Journey AI.
by Nick Anderson | Apr 7, 2025 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
I’m sorry dear listener but the logbook stories continue unabated with the next instalment. I had been inducted into Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and, after completing the type rating technical exam we were dispatched to the heart of Airbussery, Toulouse in France, to undergo their simulator training course. There were about 10 of us but, other than our sim partner, we didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other with our busy month long schedule.
The SAAB 340… a little smaller than the A340!
Lufthansa A340, the A340 launch customer.
The World Ranger paintwork
A340 Sim
Cordes, France
Door training
Pool training
First time in the Black Pyjamas for real!
Taking G-VSKY into the air for the first time
Circuits at Manston
Job done!
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Ronnie Robertson, MarcelX42, Simaero, Clément Gruin and Nick Anderson.
by Nick Anderson | Apr 7, 2025 | Plane Tales
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In earlier decades, the early demise of pilots was mainly based on empirical evidence and based on the well publicised news of an ex colleague’s early death. However, in 1992, the time when I was putting in my papers to leave the RAF to pursue a life as an airline pilot, the Flight Safety Foundation published a study which seemed to confirm that pilots died at a younger age than the general population. The oft quoted statistics that a retiring pilot would only have 5 years to enjoy their pensions was quoted… BUT WAS IT TRUE!
Early pilot death has been assigned to the myth that, as a work group we are prone to a tragically short retirement down to ‘flight line talk’ and that each time an airline pilot dies shortly after retiring the hypothesis of early death is reborn and reinforced in this weak minded group of grounded gossipers! (I said that last bit)
The 1992 study which expressed mortality data as percentages is now considered an “interesting” method and apparently, dare I say it, “inappropriate”!
This information is quoted by a large fiduciary investment company based in Dubai. They quote a Boeing Aerospace actuarial study of life span based on age at retirement. Boeing deny ever producing this study.
The Flight Safety Foundation later published this study by, amont others, the Wright State University School of Aerospace Medicine and the US Federal Aviation Administration Civil Aeromedical Institute
The comparison group of the general population used was that of US white males.
Please feel free to discus
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the Flight Safety Foundation and AI generated images.
by Nick Anderson | Mar 13, 2025 | Plane Tales
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So the logbook tales continue. I am out of the RAF and seeking an airline job but in the downturn there are few available. In the meantime I am working for British Aerospace flying Tornado F3s on trials flights. I had also been given the chance to deliver a Hawk 100 series trainer to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. I left you at Bangkok having turned a brand new aircraft into a blow torch and nearly cooking an inquisitive guard.
Flying the last leg to RMAS Butterworth
We complete our 7,000 NM to Malaysia
Chasing the towed decoy trials
Some of Hoppy’s aircraft had parted company
We soon passed 600 knots and slipped through the sound barrier without a ripple
I went off to a little commercial uniform shop to pick up my first of the 4 different Virgin Atlantic uniforms I would wear over the next 25 years.
The Flight Crew Operating Manuals, from which they picked facts at random to put into the question paper.
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mid Journey AI and Nick Anderson.
by Nick Anderson | Jan 24, 2025 | Plane Tales
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Colin will be visiting California in a few weeks and will speak at the Voices of Valor Gala Dinner, A Tribute to the Greatest Generation, to be held at the Palm Springs Air Museum California Gala Dinner on the 8th of February 2025. https://palmspringsairmuseum.org/gala/
Colin Bell telling us his story
The cockpit of a Mosquito
The Canadian Mosquito factory at Downsview, near Toronto, Ontario
RAF bomber crews eating their traditional breakfast after a mission
One of Chilon of Sparta’s famous quotes
Colin beside a painting of his Mosquito
Female German Army personnel and an AA gun battery
The dreaded white light indicating the presence of a Luftwaffe Me262 night fighter
Colin standing by an Me262 jet fighter showing us what he thought of being chased by one
The book of their exploits written by Colin’s navigator’s son
Images shown under a Creative Commons licence with thanks to Fotoafdrukken Koninklijke Luchtmacht, the Royal Air Force, the IWM and images in the Public Domain.
