by captjeff | Sep 14, 2018 | Plane Tales
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Many of us have past generations in our family who flew during the Second World War but few of us have a wonderful diary describing the lives they lived during the conflict. Nick Kidd’s Uncle was one of the secretive pilots who flew agents into France and supplied the Free French Resistance and this is the fascinating story of his Uncle Geoff.
The Wellington under construction showing its unusual geodesic design.
The Pundit system that Geoff and his navigator used to help them find their home base.
How to fly the corkscrew evasion manoeuvre.
The original version of the Wellington.
Images under Creative Commons Licence with thanks to UK Gov, the RAF and HMSO.
by captjeff | Sep 9, 2018 | Plane Tales
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He was the greatest fighter pilot that ever served with the United States armed forces. A quiet and unassuming man who, even when he had more kills than the fabled Eddie Rickenbacker, insisted on going back into combat. A remarkable pilot whose life was brought to a sadly early end.
Images under Creative Commons Licence with thanks to US Gov, USAF and Mikejfm.
by captjeff | Sep 2, 2018 | Plane Tales
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To the primitive tribes of the Pacific Islands the sudden arrival of flying machines disgorging tons of wonderful cargo is beyond their understanding. Their attempts to make sense of what is occurring leads to the creation of a remarkable new religion.
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the authors.
by captjeff | Aug 25, 2018 | Plane Tales
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A gradual degradation of engine performance leads a Cathy Pacific crew into a dire situation, all due to Super Absorbent Polymer Spheres! This is the story of Cathy 780 and the excellent job that the crew did to get their crippled aircraft onto the ground.
The incident aircraft, an Airbus A330.
Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to SA 4.0 and Aero Icarus.
by captjeff | Aug 17, 2018 | Plane Tales
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During World War 2, for the bomber pilots, getting shot down over enemy territory was far from the only risk that they faced. In England, Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force suffered significant losses when returning to their bases only to find that they were fogged out. This is the story of FIDO.
A Lancaster comes to grief amongst the FIDO pipes.
Images under Creative Commons license with thanks to Goodchild A, the Imperial War Museums, the RAF Museum and UK Gov.
by captjeff | Aug 14, 2018 | Plane Tales
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The Chief Pilot of the British Registration Board, D P Davies, wrote THE definitive book for airline pilots moving to the the big jets of the 70’s and 80’s. An acerbic, opinionated but incredibly talented pilot his life was full of fascinating stories.
