Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stonehenge and you will pass another stone monument.  It’s the Airman’s Cross, placed by his comrades to commemorate the death of an early airman, Captain Eustace Broke Loraine and his Sergeant, who died when he crashed his Nieuport Monoplane near Stonehenge.

This pioneer aviator deserves to be recognised not just because of his own place in history but for his friendship with a very special officer who he encouraged to take up flying.

The Nieuport Monoplane

Stonehenge

Trenchard, the father of the Royal Air Force

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Garethwiscombe and William Orpen.

Fun in the Sun continues with part 2 of my first Air to Air Gunnery camp in Cyprus.  The work has started and now it’s time to become ACE (Allied Command Europe) qualified with the mighty M61 Vulcan cannon.

Before long, though it’s time to return to reality and, as my first year on the squadron comes to a close, time for my first annual assessment.

An unmounted M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon.

The shells that the Vulcan cannon fires.

As pleased as Punch!

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, Rhodekyll

Delving back into my RAF Pilot’s Logbook, Form 414, it’s time for the annual instrument rating and prepare for our first deployment to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.  Whilst the ‘High Ups’ sorted everything out for a major detachment, I’m left doing QRA but at last we are heading south for the Mediterranean. My journey, however, is in the opposite of a supersonic fighter jet!

The ancient island of Cyprus.

Our little corner of the ancient island of Cyprus.

A miniature and modern version of the usual meze that we often enjoyed.

Images under Creative Commons licence and others with thanks to Peri Reis and Cyprus Beat.

This story harks back to the 300th APG show and was rewritten for the Plane Talking UK live show near Heathrow Airport.  It is the story of a crippled Airbus A300 that barely survives a missile attack and the excellent work by a phenomenal Flight Deck crew.

The DHL A300 that was struck.

The landing.

The damage done to the A300’s left wing.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to dodmedia and Airbus Flight Safety.

The Convair 990 was a financial disaster that cost General Dynamics one of the largest corporate losses in history but thanks to some fascinating aerodynamics it was also the world’s fastest subsonic airliner.  This is the story of a little known airliner and the transonic design that allowed it to cruise at Mach 0.97!

Convair CV 990 displaying anti-shock bodies on the top surface of its wings as it sits on the ramp at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center.

Listener Ramiro Couto takes a selfie in front of the NASA Convair 990 that now resides near the Mojave Airport.

The Convair 990 near the Mojave Airport showing off its anti shock bodies which allowed the aircraft to take advantage of the Whitcomb area rule.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the San Diego Air & Space Museum, NASA and listener Ramiro Couto.

Growing up in poverty, life in Germany following WWII was hard, but for one young man, dreams of starting a new life as a pilot in America seemed beyond imagination.  However, through strength of character and determination, Dieter Dengler would achieve his goal only to have his short career brought to an abrupt end when he was downed flying a secret mission over Laos at the start of the Vietnam war.  The story of his subsequent capture, torture and his ultimate fate is a remarkable story.

Dieter after his escape.

Dieter and Colonel Eugene Deatrick, the man who spotted him in the jungle of Laos.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Navy and draykov.

From one of the lesser known Bee Gee’s records comes a bizarre title for a seasonal song that brings to mind the story of Captain William Wincapaw, a native of Friendship in Maine.  In his early days of flying float planes around Rockland Harbour he often used the many lighthouses of New England to help him navigate in poor weather.  His fondness for the families who tended these lighthouses and Coast Guard stations, often in the most remote of situations, led him to begin a Christmas tradition that continues to this very day.

Captain William Wincapaw.

Delivering Christmas presents.

Images under copyright to the Friends of Flying Santa.  To donate please go to the Friends of Flying Santa website.

After WWII many American pilots were employed by the growing Chinese airline industry flying from poorly equipped airfields in China.  The weather was often difficult and the terrain dangerous but on Christmas day 1946, struggling to get back to their base at Lunghwa airfield tragedy would strike… not once but three times.  This is the awful story of that night in Shanghai.

A CNAC Curtis C46.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to CNAC archives and National Museum of the USAF.

The very next installment of my flying logbook stories has me attempting my first arrester wire engagement, paying tribute to the Bell Rock Lighthouse and meeting the USAF’s 527th Aggressor Squadron for combat training.

Armed Phantoms of No 43 (F) Squadron, RAF Leuchars.

Three F-5E Tiger II aircraft from the 527th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor Squadron, RAF Alconbury.

Bell Rock lighthouse under construction.

Bell rock lighthouse as I remember it!

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Me, the USAF, Derek Robertson and Robert Stephenson.

In the 1970’s, Germany was in the grip of a terrorist nightmare, led by a far left militant group known as the Red Army Faction or the Baader-Meinhof Gang.  Their most audacious act was, with the aid of Palestinian terrorists, to hijack a Lufthansa Boeing 737 named Landshut.  For the passengers and crew this was the start of a 5 day nightmare during which they were subjected to awful treatment and murder.  This is the story of flight 181.

Hanns-Martin Schleyer in captivity following his abduction.

Landshut during the hijacking.

The route Landshut was forced to take.

 The hostages and GSG9 team arrive safely back in Germany.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Ken Fielding, Devilm25 and the Bundesarchiv.