by Nick Anderson | Dec 16, 2021 | Plane Tales
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Waiting for the arrival of the December flying roster was always a tense time. Those with big family gatherings are anxious to ensure they are at home with their loved ones whilst the more carefree crew, with fewer ties, might want to be down route somewhere exotic knowing that a bevy of party goers would be flying with them. I know of one crew who flew over Christmas with great excitement… at least I believe so! Their names were Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders, the crew of the Apollo 8 space mission.
Saturnalia
Victorian Christmas
Father Christmas
The Apollo 8 Crew
The Zond 5 spacecraft
The emblem and launch of Apollo 8
Stage 3 jettison
The surface of the moon
Earthrise
A safe return
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Antoine-François Callet, Joseph Lionel Williams, Robert Seymour, Josiah King, Alfred Henry Forrester, the USSR Post and NASA.
by Nick Anderson | Dec 3, 2021 | Plane Tales
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And so Plane Tales was born with the story of the mixologist Joe Gilmore… well, kind of. There had been a few bits in the Show pre the Farnborough special but it hadn’t become part of APG like it is now. The number of Tales will never catch Jeff’s impressive half millennium but they have now passed the 300 mark and these are a few of the memorable ones.
The mixologist, Joe Gilmore
Tumble Down Dick
The flight under Tower Bridge
Parliament
Capt Ogg ditching the Sovereign of the Skies.
Bob Hoover
Major Bung Lee lands his Bird Dog on the USS Midway
Capt Andy Anderson
Hillel
Voiceover artist Greg Willits at GregWillets.com
A tribute to the crew of Lady be Good
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks given on the original episode, Thomas Rowlandson, Greg Willits and DaniKauf, the USAF, the USN and those in the Public Domain.
by Nick Anderson | Nov 24, 2021 | Plane Tales
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In the United States the Coast Guard is a fully paid up branch of the military. Its men and women have served with valour in many conflicts and I’m going to tell you about one such event, the rescue of Misty 11.
The badge of the US Coast Guard
An F100 Fast FAC Misty crew
An OV10 Bronco
Spads escorting a Jolly Green Giant
The jungle penetrator.
Landing in difficult terrain
500 saves
The approach into the valley
The rescue
Technical Sergeant Donald G. Smith
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the USAF National Museum, the USAF, USAF National Museum, USGOV-PD, Digital Public Library of America, Defence Imagery, the US Coast Guard and US Gov.
by Nick Anderson | Nov 19, 2021 | Plane Tales
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Year two of Porridge… that’s an old term used by prisoners to describe their time inside jail but was very apt as many of my fellow flying instructors and I had not volunteered for this particular job and it was a long one. As I leaf through the pages of my log book I recall memories from my flying career.
Flying with the Air Officer Commanding
The badge of No 4 Flying Training School, palm tree and all!
Lining up for breaks to the right when someone decided to go LEFT instead!
The fabled MON formation
How the English might have read it!
10 Hawks in echelon
Fishing!
The F4 FIRE Drill
If FIRE confirmed – EJECT
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, BAe, MOD and Mr Geoff Lee of Plane Focus.
by Nick Anderson | Nov 11, 2021 | Plane Tales
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Suddenly the black of the night that surrounded them was split open by bright tracer cannon fire that streaked by the windows with loud cracks and then came the shock and thud as some struck the aircraft. The lights were all extinguished… so in the dark, tense and alarmed, everyone waited to see what would happen next. It was the 24th of October 1956, and the first shots in a war over the Suez Canal had just been fired!
Ferdinand de Lesseps, the Father of the Suez Canal
The opening of the canal
A collection of canal views
British armed forces went great lengths to protect the canal during 2 World Wars
After a military coup in Egypt, Nasser took control of the country and seized the Suez Canal
The NF13 Meteor sold to the IAF by Britain
An Il14, as used by the Egyption Air Force
The actual Gloster Meteor used in the attack
The Ilyushin is brought down killing all onboard
The invasion by British, French and Israeli forces is a complete success but political pressures force them to relinquish the canal
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mohamed kamal 1984, NADAR, the Tropenmuseum, the IWM, the RAF, the MOD, Lars Söderström and other images in the Public Domain.
by Nick Anderson | Nov 3, 2021 | Plane Tales
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About this time of the year, I like to do a tale that turns our minds to those who gave their lives for their countries in the many conflicts that have plagued the world. In the past in tales such as, “In Flanders Fields and Lest We Forget” I’ve talked about the poppy, used as a symbol of remembrance in many countries, and the poem penned by the Canadian doctor, Lt Col John McCrae. There was a gap in my story, however, that I would now like to close. The gap that transformed the sad words of John McCrae’s poem into the adoption of the poppy as a representation of remembrance for the fallen, amongst such a large part of the English speaking world… and beyond.
Lt Col John McCrae
The Escadrille Lafayette in July 1917
Moina Belle Michael
Desk and poppy
The YWCA
In Flanders Fields written by John McCrae
An original remembrance poppy
The Poppy Factory in London
Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance in the Albert Hall
The Poppy Lady’s historic road marker
Images under Creative Commons licence under Public Domain and with thanks to the National Museum of the Air Force, the Poppy Project, Neysa McMein, Heatherannej, Nickeaglesfield, the MOD and Ember390.
