by captjeff | Feb 17, 2018 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
President of France, Charles de Gaulle is on a state visit to the United States of America and he asks to meet a French hero who holds the Légion d’honneur and who lives in New York. Eventually, retired lift operator is found and brought to the President. The man is Eugene Jacques Bullard and is almost unknown in the country of his birth but he holds a remarkable place in the history of aviation.
Bullard in his Corporal’s uniform during the WW1.
Bullard in 1917 beside a Nieuport while with Escadrille 93.
Bullard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris, 1954.
Title image by APG listener Jonathan Alexandratos who lives near Flushing Meadows cemetery and who took the time to visit the grave of Eugene Bullard which can be found in Section C.
Other images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Sus scrofa, Wikimedia Commons, US Gov USAF.
by captjeff | Feb 11, 2018 | Plane Tales
Podcast (pt): Download
Watch the movie ‘The Right Stuf’ and you will see, portrayed, a desert bar near Edwards Air Force Base where a generation of great Test Pilots drank whisky and bantered with the bargirl. The lady was Pancho Barnes and she was much more than a bargirl!
Pancho and her Travel Air type R Mystery Ship.
Barnes in 1928, the image used on her pilot’s license!
Pancho serving at the Happy Bottom Riding Club.
Images under Creative Commons licence; with thanks to the San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives and the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate Archive.
by captjeff | Feb 5, 2018 | Plane Tales
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After the Second World War, a tall lanky RAF pilot undertook clandestine missions from Hong Kong in a photo reconnaissance Spitfire FR Mk XIV. At the absolute limit of its range and despite being pursued by Chinese fighters Flt Lt Ted Powels undertook some remarkable flights. This is his story.
Images made available under a Creative Commons licence. Photographer unknown.
by captjeff | Jan 26, 2018 | Plane Tales
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An aircraft for the people, the ubiquitous Cessna 172 became, by far, the most produced aircraft in history and secured a place in many pilot’s hearts. This is its story.
Images under a Creative Commons licence by Daniel Piotrowski, P Alejandro Díaz and Adrian Pingstone.
by captjeff | Jan 19, 2018 | Plane Tales
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The loss of Swissair Flight 111 in the most appalling circumstances wasn’t just a tragedy for those onboard and their loved ones, but for a whole community of people in the quiet town of Halifax and even more so for the folk near Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia.
The memorial at Peggy’s Cove.
Images under Creative Commons licence, by Aero Icarus and Aconcagua.
by captjeff | Jan 14, 2018 | Plane Tales
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Every document or book within the Royal Air Force has a Form number. One of the most precious to a pilot is Form 414, the PILOTS FLYING LOG BOOK. Inside is a record of every flight a pilot undertakes. Looking back through a log book brings back many memories. These are a few of mine.
