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Plane Tales

Capt Nick

The View from Our Side of the Cockpit Door

leisure aviation

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18:49

The Mike Wildeman Story – Part 2

Plane Tales ·

2021/10/15

This is the second part of my interview with Mike Wildman, an amputee pilot who has had a fascinating career in aviation. The first part covered Mike’s life in the Royal Air Force flying, amongst other aircraft, the C130 Hercules. In this part we hear about his life changing decision to have part of his left leg removed and his fight, not only to get back into the cockpit of an aircraft but to lead the world’s first disabled formation display team. Recording the interview with Mike in front of a

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20:50

The Mike Wildeman Story – Part 1

Plane Tales ·

2021/10/07

Mike Wildman is an amputee pilot who has had a fascinating career in aviation. This tale is about his time in the Royal Air Force flying the C130 Hercules in some very challenging theatres. His story will both amaze and inspire, particularly in the later parts when we will cover his work as the leader of the world's only fully aerobatic amputee formation team... TeamPhoenixAir.com Mike, learning to fly Mike during his RAF basic flying training Mike was posted to fly the C130

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18:26

Where it All Began

Plane Tales ·

2021/09/28

The Old Pilot ventures back to the little airport where his career in aviation began nearly half a century previously, meets the young lady now doing his old job and recalls some adventures from his early days. Many thanks to Nev of Plane Talking UK for providing the audio visual equipment Grace talks about Synergy Flight Training The Old Pilot does his thing! Thanks to those who came

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20:21

The Millionaire’s Mob

Plane Tales ·

2021/09/07

White's is the oldest and most exclusive Gentleman’s club in London its members have included more Earls, Dukes, Lords, Barrons, Princes, Knights, Viscounts. Marquesses, heads of industry and notable politicians than you could shake a stick at. The name we’re interested in, though, is that of Lord Edward Grosvenor, the youngest son of the 1st Duke of Westminster. It was in White's that Grosvenor had the idea to form an RAF Squadron of wealthy aristocratic young aviators all of whom were already

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19:26

The Sensory Pilot

Plane Tales ·

2021/09/02

The world of a pilot is different to any other. They see things from a different perspective and view the world from places that even the mightiest birds cannot reach. All their faculties of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing experience sensations unique to their position whether they are manoeuvring a mighty airliner or sliding through the air on sheets of silk in a slippery sailplane. When they get a chance, even the most professional and conscientious pilots will take a moment to marvel at

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19:58

Airtists

Plane Tales ·

2021/08/28

We all have our favourite flying movies, whether it’s a black and white classic with biplanes wheeling around the sky flown by actual World War One flying aces, comedy cult movies from which we can quote our favourite lines (Shirley you don’t mean that) or modern thrillers which employ state of the art computer generated imagery. This is a story of a much loved actor who didn't just act in an aircraft crash, he became an unwilling participant. Favourite movies Ancestor William

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18:45

The “Young Tiger” Tanker Boys

Plane Tales ·

2021/08/19

The work the Young Tiger crews performed during the Vietnam War was monumental. With an average fleet of 88 tankers over a 7 year period they performed nearly 180 thousand missions offloading 8.2 billion lbs, thats over 3,700 million tons, of fuel. A staggering achievement only surpassed by the hundreds of aircraft saves they achieved, preventing many of their fellow aircrew from falling into enemy hands. The Lockheed L193 tanker proposal A B52 of SAC refuelling from a Boeing KC135 The

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18:50

Four Instructors Walk into a Bar, Part 2

Plane Tales ·

2021/08/12

Forty years ago, four RAF pilots graduated from Central Flying School and became fast jet Qualified Flying Instructors. They hadn't been together at the same time since then. When they did, they shared some more stories. Four QFIs then Dave A typical course photo How Dave's Hawk might have looked! The Hawk canopy showing the lines of Miniature Detonating Cord MDC Dave after receiving his Green Endorsement Dave's Green Endorsement Nij An F4 Barry An RAF

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17:53

The Asoh Defence

Plane Tales ·

2021/08/06

Sadly there are also many who think that ‘Boy Scout’ honesty is something that should be left behind in childhood but luckily not many that do take on the responsibility of becoming a career pilot. When I discovered recently that there is a name for this capacity to openly admit guilt for one’s mistakes, it didn’t come as a surprise that it was named after a pilot. Captain Asoh. Tokyo airport A DC8 on approach A JAL Captain's hat The DC8 cockpit The miraculous accidental

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19:35

Four Instructors Went Into a Bar

Plane Tales ·

2021/07/21

Forty years ago, four RAF pilots graduated from Central Flying School and became fast jet Qualified Flying Instructors. They hadn't been together at the same time since then. When they did, they shared a few stories. Four QFIs back then The Hawk in close formation The English Electric Lightning The Lightning F3 Loch Ness Four QFIs now! Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mike Freer, Bob Adams, RuthAS and the Director General of the Ordnance

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19:52

Defending the Baltic Express

Plane Tales ·

2021/07/13

Defenceless, it relied on its unmatched performance to provide vital data for the USA and NATO on some of the most sensitive parts of the globe. One of the regular missions flown by the SR71 Blackbird out of a base in the United Kingdom, RAF Mildenhall, was East across the North and Baltic Seas towards the territories of the Soviet Union; these flights were known as the Baltic Express. All went until one day... The SR71 at Mildenhall The original A12 The Baltic Express track The Saab

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17:50

Check-in Confessions, Part Two

Plane Tales ·

2021/07/05

The crew come clean on some of their layover hotel experiences. After Part 1, the Good, comes Part 2, the Bad and the Ugly! Capt Nick's hotel in Mong Kok, the epicentre of the SARS pandemic. The New York hotel nicknamed the Transylvania! The Kentucky Derby. ACME B-727 Flight Engineer Jeff. His room resembled a monk's cell. Stouffers in its heyday. Steph's famous A sign! Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Chong Fat, Maximilian Dörrbecker, Dr Fred

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18:03

Check-in Confessions, Part One

Plane Tales ·

2021/07/01

Over their careers, airline pilots, and doctors come to that, will have stayed in a myriad of loggings during their overnight stays and the vast majority will have merged into a conglomeration of memories but every now and then one or two will stand out from the rest. In this tale, the crew have kindly shared some of their experiences starting with the Good… the Bad and the Ugly will follow on next week so be sure to tune in! Capt Nick landing in Hong Kong The Langham Place hotel The

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20:13

The Baby Killers

Plane Tales ·

2021/06/22

It was the 19th of January 1915 and the people of the English towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn were woken by an eerie throbbing sound from above them. No-one there had ever heard it before, this deep rumble of powerful engines in the sky, slowly approaching in the darkness. People left their homes and looked into the inky black sky but nothing could be seen. The noise grew and, now alarmed at this strange roaring, they began to run but nobody was sure which way would be safe… they didn’t know

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19:12

Sweet Retirement

Plane Tales ·

2021/06/16

Lieutenant Colonel Rob Sweet, after a 33 year career flying the Warthog, completed his final flight on the 5th of June 2021 at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. As he climbed out he was met with a shower of champagne. I don’t regret going over there, fighting and getting shot down, Sweet said, that’s what I took an oath to do. The Air Force Chief of Staff, General Charles Brown said, with your retirement, it will be the first time in the history of our Air Force that we will not have a former POW

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18:45

RAF Form 414 Vol 11

Plane Tales ·

2021/06/11

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

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19:03

Flying all the Fours

Plane Tales ·

2021/06/01

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

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15:38

Coca Able Peter Tokio, Nan Item Canada King… Revisited!

Plane Tales ·

2021/05/27

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.

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18:30

Mutiny

Plane Tales ·

2021/05/20

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

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20:38

Leaving Them Behind

Plane Tales ·

2021/05/16

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

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