Plane Tales

Flying is an environment where the pilot's senses, coordination and mental faculties are vital to the safe conduct of a flight. Getting airborne having taken something that might impair one’s flying ability is a complete anathema to the vast majority of aviators so it is vital that we look at ourselves and our fellow pilots to recognise those who might need help.                   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the NTSB, Alma Media Suomi Oy, Jjm2311, Ritvara,  Aktug Ates, MAK,

When the gentlemen aviators of the First World War were looking for protective clothing to wear whilst doing battle over the trenches of the Somme, they visited establishments such as Alfred Dunhill’s where they were invited to alight for the best equipment.  This is the story of such wonderful flying garb as the Sidcot Suit, the Irving jacket and the classic American flight and bomber jackets.             Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the FAST Archive, the Imperial War Museum, Solicitr, USAF, Dunhill's and Robinson and Cleaver.

Necessity is the mother of invention so it's often during war that the most amazing contrivances are developed... and some of the most ridiculous.  This is a look at a few of the less successful wartime inventions!                   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to US Army, US Gov, USAF, CyranoDeWikipedia, Teramatt, US National Archives, and the US Navy Archives.

In this, the final part of the Ian Palmer interviews we find out about another life threatening concern that Ian had to deal with and how it led to a wonderful relationship. After my many years in the world of aviation there aren’t many people I have met who would be willing to open up their lives in the way that Ian has done.  In doing so my regard and respect for him has done nothing but grow.  Should anybody listening feel that they want to seek Ian out to ask for his help or advice then please contact him at Ian@ianpalmer.com       Images with thanks to Ian Palmer.

The third Ian Palmer interview deals with Ian's attempts to overcome his condition of alcohol dependance and how his life moved on.     Images with thanks to Ian Palmer.

In this, the second of the Ian Palmer interviews we continue with Ian's story and he describes his move from a career in music to one in aviation.  We also find out how his condition of alcohol dependance starts to affect him.         Images with thanks to Ian Palmer and, under Creative Commons licence,Tibboh.

My father was beacon that led me into the world of aviation and steered me unerringly through my flying life more accurately than any gauge or needle on my instrument panel.  He grew up on the white sand beaches of Western Australia, fought in the Second World War on the Sunderland Flying boats of No 10 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force and continued to fly in peacetime, plying his way around the world on firstly the DC2 and finally the B747. He became a restaurateur, avocado farmer and eventually learned to rest with an occasional game of lawn bowls.  He even agreed to let me record some interviews about his life.  Sadly, he is no longer with us.           Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to RuthAS and Adrian Pingstone.

Ian Palmer's life has hardly gone as smoothly as he might have wished.  Born into a family of musicians, particularly drummers including Carl Palmer of the band ELP, he started off as a very successful drummer himself.  What he didn't know was that he suffered from a condition that carries great stigma and frequently leads to ruin and death... alcoholism. This is the first part of an inspiring and brutally honest interview that follows his life from drumming into aviation. Title image: Ian Palmer with Steve White of the Paul Weller band, Brian Bennett of The Shadows and Pete Cater.   Images with thanks to Ian Palmer.  

Born in Wales to immigrant parents he would grow to a height of 6’ 6” and climbing into the cockpit of a World War II fighter was going to be a problem… but he managed it and before long had earned the moniker Lofty.  He would pen books that charmed children for generations and generations for Lofty, who was an army officer, fighter pilot and spy was better known as the renown author who sold over 100 million copies of his books, Roald Dahl.           Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Paramount pictures, the US Library of Congress, the British Government, DeFacto and Rob Bogaerts.

Fifty three years ago a man fell to earth.  He came from space having survived the appallingly hostile conditions that exist there.  Apart from the hard vacuum, the electromagnetic radiation, the intense cold, the cosmic rays and other damaging particles that exist there.  Despite overcoming numerous failures on his Soyuz-1 spacecraft he had achieved the near impossible and piloted a manual reentry... all he had to do now was to wait for the life saving parachutes to deploy.           Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to NFCC, Smithsonian Institute, NASA and the US Gov.

The German name for the Shrike songbird is Würger, which also means Strangler and by coincidence, was also the name given to the Focke-Wulf 190, a World War II fighter which quickly became one of the most feared Axis fighters of the 2nd World War.  Various dubious plans were made to get hold of one to reveal its secrets but then along came Oberleutnant Armin Faber.       Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the Imperial War Museum, FO Watkins and the Shoreham Aircraft Museum.

Dick Andrews was flying over the battle of A Sầu in Vietnam and feeling deja view as he saw what was going on beneath him.  It took his mind back to the day in WWII when he landed his P38 Lightning in a field to rescue his leader who had crash landed there.  Now he was watching the same thing happening below except a Skyraider was landing amongst enemy Viet Cong and not German troops.  A remarkable coincidence and a remarkable pair of stories.               Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the USAF and March Field Air Museum.

I was about to enter the Devil's Triangle, the Limbo of the Lost, the Twilight Zone or the Hoodoo Sea… more commonly referred to as the Bermuda Triangle.  What dangers awaited, would I disappear like the famous loss of the 5 Avengers of Flight 19!  Listen to this terrifying story of myth and mystery!       Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Lt Cdr Horace Bristol, US Navy, Alphaios and People's Cyclopedia of Universal Knowledge (1883)

Boeing was the most successful aircraft manufacturing company on the planet but a European consortium thought they could take on the world's best selling airliner, the B737, with a design of their own.  So was borne the A320 family of airliners with the most daring and radical of technological advances that the airline industry had seen since the advent of the jet engine.  But the birth of the A320 was marred by a controversial crash that might sink the project before it had got going! A tale produced to celebrate the A320 Podcast’s 100th show.             Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Ken Fielding, Bill Larkins, Austrian Airlines, Aero Icarus and the BEA.

What better day to celebrate the aviators of Ireland than on St Patrick's Day.  From the crash of Alcock and Brown to a tractor maker and a flying olympic competitor, the Emerald Isles have a fascinating aviation history.       Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Joseph D. Eddy and The Queenslander.  

The sequel to Passing Gas recalls what it's actually like to plug into a tanker and take on a fighter pilot's life blood... fuel!  Of course not every tanker mission goes as planned and some have ended in tragedy and one, by the smallest of margins, was saved from further disaster on an epic scale.         Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Navy, MCS James Turner, USAF, John E. Lasky, Marshall Astor and Chris Lofting.

The history of Air to Air refuelling and how the systems that we are now familiar with, the boom and the probe & drogue, came into being.                 Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Air Force, TSRL, Tech Sgt Shane A. Cuomo, US DoD, Cmdr. Erik Etz, U.S. Navy, SrA Allen McArthur and Ken Hackman,

With the prospect of a new movie following the classic Top Gun in the offing, we take a largely 'tongue in cheek' look at the F14 and how Maverick got into a 'flat spin heading out to sea!"         Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn, the U.S. Navy, LCdr. David Baranak,

During the Vietnam war, the A6 Intruder was known for making daring, low level attacks in foul conditions and often alone.  As such it had more than its fair share of losses. One such loss was due to a lone .303 bullet which gravely injured the pilot and would have killed him if not for the brave actions of his Bombardier Navigator... actions that would result in the award of a Navy Cross.         Images under Creative Commons licence, with thanks to US Navy, Mike Corrado, ATR2 Randy Bender, PHCS Brown

If you've ever looked out onto a wing and wondered what the strange looking blades and plates attached to it are? Then wonder no longer!  An explanation of Vortex Generators and Wing Fences and why we need them.             Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Adrian Pingstone.