Plane Tales

A tribute to the amazing Bob Hoover.

Operation Black Buck.  The remarkable effort made by the RAF to attack Stanley airfield from Ascension Island, using aged Vulcan V Bombers, during the Falklands war in 1982. A Vulcan bomber over Ascension Island.   The refuelling plan for the Black Buck mission.   The damage assessment of Stanley airfield.   Images licensed by Creative Commons. Vulcan by Ken Griffiths, Stanley airfield Crown Copyright.

Capt Nick recounts his past and describes how Quick Reaction Alert functioned and follows an RAF Phantom through a scramble to intercept two Soviet Tu144 Bears. A Phantom FG1 is armed up ready to be used on QRA. Q1 sits quietly in the shed after being 'cocked' by it's crew. Intercept complete.

The dangers of spatial disorientation for the pilot community.         Title picture by Alain R under Creative Commons licence.

Preparation for the APG meetup at Farnborough with a little history of the area.       Title image The Posting House Tumbledown Dick, a watercolour of the pub painted in 1782 by Thomas Rowlandson. Creative commons image licence.

Years before Sully ditched his A320 in the Hudson, Captain Ogg performed a similar feat in his Pan Am Stratocruiser in the open ocean between Honolulu and San Francisco.  A remarkable story.   Images by William Simpson, US Coast Guard - US Coast Guard Photo, Public Domain.

Some history of Farnborough prior to the 2016 Meetup, including the delightful story of Miss Tilly's Orifice!       Title image by JAW at English Wikipedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

The first men to land at Normandy on D Day flew in Horsa gliders as part of a daring raid to capture a bridge.  This is the remarkable story of their mission.     Title image created and released by the Imperial War Museum on the IWM Non Commercial Licence.

A disgruntled RAF officer flys his Hunter up the Thames and round Parliament before finishing up with a spectacular stunt.     Wiki Creative Commons Licence.  CC BY-SA 2.5

The story of the quiet hero of a Sabena DC4 crash in a remote part of Newfoundland. US Army Doctor Sam Martin organised one of the first ever helicopter rescues and treated the injured survivors in the most dire of circumstances.

The final part of the Andy Anderson interview.

Nick's conversation with his father continues.

Nick's conversation with his father continues.

Capt. Nick's father Andy Anderson talks about his start in aviation.

The story of Hanna Reitsch the Nazi test pilot who flew the V1 flying bomb.   Image via Wikimedia Commons licence, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-B02092.