by Nick Anderson | Jun 11, 2021 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
Another foray into the log book as the Old Pilot starts work as a Qualified Flying Instructor at No 4 Flying Training School, RAF Valley.
Another course of newly minted QFIs
A Hawk T1 over RAF Valley on the island of Anglesey
Hawks in close formation
The Reds doing it properly in cloud and everything!
Flying solo in the Hawk
The Hawk doing aerobatics
The RAF Valley Summer Ball
Yours truly, B2 QFI
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the UK Ministry of Defence.
by Nick Anderson | Jun 1, 2021 | Plane Tales
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Looking back on the final years of the second world war its easy to forget that nobody knew quite when the conflict would end. Many aircraft were constructed and flown and were thought to be the pinnacle of fighting science at the time but we know little of them nowadays because the war ended and they never made it into service… they were no longer required. Here are a few.
The Supermarine Spitfire
The Republic Rainbow
The Martin Baker MB3
The Martin Baker MB5
The CAC Boomerang
The CA 15 Kangaroo
The HO 229
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, SDASM, USAF, Insomnia Cured Here, RAF, Martin Baker, IWM, Australian War Memorial collection John Thomas Harrison, US Army, Tomás Del Coro and the NASM.
by Nick Anderson | May 27, 2021 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
A favourite old tale of the checkered history that brought about the Phonetic Alphabet and Op Brevity Code… retold.
A early radio
Send three and fourpence!
An early Army signals book
N for November
The NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Army, an Unknown cartoonist, US Mint, Matthäus Mérian, Daiju Azuma, Screenland, Elmer Eustice Bucher, Generali, Master of Jean Rolin II, Mcj1800 and the Auckland Museum.
by Nick Anderson | May 20, 2021 | Plane Tales
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Air Law is something that all pilots must have some knowledge of or they wouldn’t be awarded a licence or certificate… it’s required knowledge. Having said that, it’s a long way from being simple and even a qualified Air Transport pilot will only have scratched the surface. In the Air Force, one might have assumed that things would have been pretty tight and mutiny unheard of.
Let me set you straight!
Early balloons
An aircraft Commander
The Signals Corps in a balloon basket
The Freeman Field mutiny
Lt Bill Terry
The RAF in Karachi
The RAF mutiny
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Library of Congress, US Army,the RAF and the RAF Museum.
by Nick Anderson | May 16, 2021 | Plane Tales
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The Vulcan bomber only had ejector seats for the two pilots… the rear crew made do with an escape slide, a level if inequality that killed many and resulted in questions being asked in Parliament. This is the story of the Vulcan and a look at the USN Skyknight which had a similar escape system.
The rear crew compartment of the Avro Vulcan
Malta
Malta
The Vulcan
The Vulcan air brakes
The crash site
Avro Vulcan XV770
The Vulcan rear crew escape hatch
The F3 Skynight
Skynight bailout trials
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Isaac Bee, Anton Zelenov, NASA, DFST, RuthAS, the RAF, Roland Turner, US Navy, Ultra7 and the USAF.
by Nick Anderson | May 8, 2021 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
The noise of flying machines can be a source of joy or annoyance. Let’s have a look at what makes that noise and how much progress has been made over the years!
The F-84F Thunderbirds team
The XF-84H ‘Thunderscreech’!
The Boeing Dash 80, prototype of the B707
Noise creating vortices coming from an airliner’s flaps
The Bypass section of a RR Trent
A possible Airbus blended body design
An APU exhaust
The Gyrodyne Rotorcycle
Images are displayed under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Dreamstime.com – Airbus, the USAF, Boeing Dreamscape, David Monniaux and the US DOD.
