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.

The route taken by Aero 311.

The Bay of Bothnia.

An Aero DC3.

The crash site of Aero 311.

The JAL 8054 DC8 Freighter.

The DC8 crash site.

The Aeroflot Flight 821 crash site.

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.

A 1930 ‘Sidcot’ suit.

The G1 Navy Flight Jacket.

Steve McQueen in his A2.

Chuck Yeager in his B10.

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!

The Bat Bomb.

During testing, a few bats escaped and disaster followed!

 A slab of Pykrete with a bullet mark.

The proposed Pykrete aircraft carrier.

The Bat guided bomb used in Project Pigeon.

The Fu-Go hydrogen balloon bomb.

A Fu-Go balloon found near Bigelow, Kansas on February 23, 1945.

A rendition of the proposed Nazi Sun Gun.

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 [email protected]

Brain surgery isn’t for the faint hearted but Ian, with typical understatement, tackled it head on!

Ian, back on the flight deck of his beloved Airbus A330.

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.

Ian rehearsing with his friend and mentor, Steve Gadd.

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.

Ian doing aerobatics in an Extra 300.

The unusual Piaggio P-180.

Ian meets the Iron Maiden drummer, Nicko McBrain.

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.

A No 10 Sqn RAAF Sunderland flying-boat of Coastal Command sets out on patrol.

Flt Lt Andy Anderson with his Sunderland crew.

An Airwork Vickers Viking.

A Kuwait Airways Boeing 747.

His final years.

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.

Ian Palmer… drummer.

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.

Roald Dahl.

The Gloster Gladiator.

Roald Dahl’s WWII flying helmet.

Roald Dahl in later life signing books in Amsterdam in front of an adoring audience.

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.

Colonel Vladimir Komarov

The Soyuz 1 capsule.

The aftermath of the Soyuz 1 crash.

The commemorative plaque and the Fallen Astronaut sculpture left on the Moon by the crew of Apollo 15.

Vladimir Komarov with his wife Valentina Yakovlevna and daughter Irina.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to NFCC, Smithsonian Institute, NASA and the US Gov.