PODCAST

Plane Tales

Capt Nick

The View from Our Side of the Cockpit Door

leisure aviation

All Episodes

18:08

RAF Form 414, Vol 35

Plane Tales ·

2025/08/13

Delving into my log book yet again I recall thatI had flown a couple of supernumerary trips to John F Kennedy airport in New York, sitting in the back of the cockpit watching how it was done but now it was my turn to clamber into the hot seat to start my line training with Virgin Atlantic. I was also flying with the Chief Pilot so absolutely no pressure!Compared with the Airbus A340, the old Boeings were beginning to look a bit like dinosaurs! The confusion of aircraft flying over the

en-US

19:26

Sabotage

Plane Tales ·

2025/05/26

From the French word saboter, sabotage refers to the act of bungling, botching or wrecking something, particularly for political or military aims. It is derived from the French word for a wooden shoe, a sabot and likely refers to clumsy work carried out by those peasants who clattered about in such simple footwear. The world of aviation escaped known acts of sabotage until 1933 when a sleek and streamlined Boeing 247 of United Air Lines Flight 23 taxied to the departure gate at Newark Airport to

en-US

19:08

RAF Form 414, Vol 34

Plane Tales ·

2025/05/22

I’m sorry dear listener but the logbook stories continue unabated with the next instalment. I had been inducted into Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and, after completing the type rating technical exam we were dispatched to the heart of Airbussery, Toulouse in France, to undergo their simulator training course. There were about 10 of us but, other than our sim partner, we didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other with our busy month long schedule.I’d been paired up with a 340 pilot from the

en-US

20:23

RAF Form 414, Vol 33

Plane Tales ·

2025/04/07

en-US

20:48

The Final Checkout

Plane Tales ·

2025/04/07

In earlier decades, the early demise of pilots was mainly based on empirical evidence and based on the well publicised news of an ex colleague’s early death. However, in 1992, the time when I was putting in my papers to leave the RAF to pursue a life as an airline pilot, the Flight Safety Foundation published a study which seemed to confirm that pilots died at a younger age than the general population. The oft quoted statistics that a retiring pilot would only have 5 years to enjoy their pensions

en-US

19:22

RAF Form 414, Vol 32

Plane Tales ·

2025/03/13

So the logbook tales continue. I am out of the RAF and seeking an airline job but in the downturn there are few available. In the meantime I am working for British Aerospace flying Tornado F3s on trials flights. I had also been given the chance to deliver a Hawk 100 series trainer to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. I left you at Bangkok having turned a brand new aircraft into a blow torch and nearly cooking an inquisitive guard.Flying the last leg to RMAS Butterworth We complete our 7,000 NM

en-US

20:18

Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 3

Plane Tales ·

2025/01/24

Colin will be visiting California in a few weeks and will speak at the Voices of Valor Gala Dinner, A Tribute to the Greatest Generation, to be held at the Palm Springs Air Museum California Gala Dinner on the 8th of February 2025. https://palmspringsairmuseum.org/gala/Colin Bell telling us his story The cockpit of a Mosquito The Canadian Mosquito factory at Downsview, near Toronto, Ontario RAF bomber crews eating their traditional breakfast after a mission One of Chilon of

en-US

20:56

Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 2

Plane Tales ·

2024/12/27

This Tale is a continuation of the interview of World War II pilot Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC. At the age of 103, Colin recalls with perfect clarity what it was like to fly his De Havilland DH 98 Mosquito bomber into action as part of a Pathfinder Squadron. This Tale is the second part of the interview with Colin, the opportunity for which I have to thank my old friend Bob Judson. Having had a high ranking career in the RAF, Bob is now a consultant in the field of psychological, life and

en-US

15:34

The Safety of Safety

Plane Tales ·

2024/12/27

You are sitting in your airliner and the handsome, pretty or in a non-binary sense cute, elegant, lovely or in a non exclusive way charming, fine, interesting or personable flight attendant is standing in front of you to demonstrate the safety features of your aircraft. Hopefully if you enjoy the airline pilot guy enough to be listening to this you might have more than just a passing interest in what safety equipment there is onboard the average big, well equipped, airliner.Most airlines show the

en-US

19:22

Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 1

Plane Tales ·

2024/12/17

It is rare to have the opportunity to meet one of the brave young men who flew and fought in the Second World War so I was delighted to be able to talk to Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC. At the age of 103, Colin recalls with perfect clarity what it was like to fly his De Havilland DH 98 Mosquito bomber into action as part of a Pathfinder Squadron. This Tale is just the first part of the interview with Colin, the opportunity for which I have to thank my old friend Bob Judson. Having had a high

en-US

RAF Form 414, Vol 31

Plane Tales ·

2024/12/01

I’m moving things on a bit in my logbook tales as it seems to be taking forever to get to the end so here’s the next one. I’d found a temporary job with the aircraft manufacturer British Aerospace flying Tornados and Hawks but now I was getting invitations to interview for jobs with a number of airlines. After months of drought, the flood gates seem to have opened and after wishing for just one offer I now had the opportunity to chose who I would go to. First, however, I needed to get through the

en-US

19:01

RAF Form 414, Vol 30

Plane Tales ·

2024/10/23

My logbook tales continue and after 5 months without an income the bucket of shekels I had to keep us afloat was starting to run dry... I could see glimpses of the bottom. Luckily the mortgage on our modest 2 up, 2 down, 250 year old, Scottish stone, terraced cottage at Leuchars wasn’t excessive and we had pared our living expenses down to the bone. The sniff of some flying work for British Aerospace down at their factory at Warton, however, was very, very welcome.RAF Warton during

en-US

16:30

RAF Form 414, Vol 29

Plane Tales ·

2024/10/09

Stories from my logbook continue with the last few weeks of my service career, which were a blur of form signing, return of equipment, formal dinners, informal parties, speeches and gifts, all accompanied by feelings of regret and excitement at to what my future held. I flew my last flight in an F3 leading a 3 ship out over the Scottish highlands and then, after everyone had landed, I beat up the squadron low and fast. I then planned to do a low, slow pass with a full burner pull-up into the

en-US

16:59

RAF Form 414, Vol 28

Plane Tales ·

2024/08/27

Log book stories still abound but I’m now on the last volume of my small collection of RAF Form 414s. Unbeknown to me back then, my time in the Air Force was fast coming to a close. When I was offered the job on the Tornado it was on the understanding that I would serve an additional year to amortise the cost of training and I was now in coming up to the completion of my term of service, 19 years or aged 38 which ever was longer. If I signed on again it would be to age 55. What's more, I needed

en-US

18:53

The Guinea Pig Club

Plane Tales ·

2024/08/27

In the words of it’s benefactor, “It has been described as the most exclusive Club in the world, but the entrance fee is something most men would not care to pay and the conditions of membership are arduous in the extreme.” Other clubs that sprang up during the World Wars are more a measure of the bravado, luck or good fortune of its members to make use of an aircraft’s emergency survival equipment but the club I will tell you about today is one that honoured the grim stubbornness of its members to

en-US

20:09

RAF Form 414, Vol 27

Plane Tales ·

2024/08/27

My logbook tales continue with my tour on Tremblers flying the F3 Tornado which had got off to a difficult start when our compliment of brand new aircraft were shipped off to other squadrons and, in return, we received the dregs of the RAF’s Tornado ADVs. They certainly weren’t in the best of condition and I began to think I was fated when I was forced to divert following a generator failure and X-drive clutch failure on an air test but then I was looking forward to leading a detachment down to

en-US

21:06

See and Avoid

Plane Tales ·

2024/06/28

It’s the summer of 1971 and Helen Reddy is singing about hiking down to the canyon store to buy a bottle wine and having such a good time. I have no doubt that the nine prominent Salt Lake members of the Fishy Trout and Drinking Society returning from their deep sea fishing trip were feeling equally relaxed as they boarded their flight back home from Los Angeles. They were getting onto a Hughes Airwest DC-9, Flight 706, the forerunner of Capt Jeff’s beloved Mad Dog and Angry Puppy, belonging to a

en-US

20:29

The 1 to 10 of Aviation

Plane Tales ·

2024/06/27

The numeric version of three previous Tales covering the A to Z of Aviation. Now we look at what numbers might mean to pilots?Babylonian numeric text The Japanese Zero fighter A 'tongue in cheek' three engined Airbus The twin hulled S55 flying boat The North American F-82 Flying in Vic The Piaggio Avanti EVO The Old Course with RAF Leuchars in the background The 10 ton Grand Slam bomb The Seven Seas appeal of the DC-7C The NASA B-52 "Balls 8" Red

en-US

18:58

RAF Form 414, Vol 26

Plane Tales ·

2024/06/10

en-US

19:11

RAF Form 414, Vol 25

Plane Tales ·

2024/02/06

Form 414, my RAF Logbook continues with me leaving Australia and the Hornet unhappily in my rear vision mirror as I was heading back to Blighty and a cold winter in Lincolnshire. No 229 Operational Conversion Unit was the training unit that would give me my first taste of the Mighty Fin, the Swing Wing Super Jet, Mother Riley’s Cardboard Aeroplane otherwise known as the Air Defence Variant of the Tornado.Not just a British aircraft, the Tornado was a project involving Germany and Italy as

en-US

319 results

Plane Tales

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Expres Ráno

Expres FM

詭哭郎嚎

郎祖筠 & FMTaiwan製作團隊

Ron en Erik Podcast

Ron en Erik

Poor Man"s Pinball Podcast

Poor Men Ian and Drew

WeAreChange on Odysee

WeAreChange