The North of Africa holds the world’s largest hot desert, known as The Greatest Desert, or more commonly by the Arabic word Sahara.  The Lady be Good’s WW2 mission hadn’t gone well and crew of the were hopelessly lost and running out of fuel when the first engine failed. They decided to abandon the aircraft rather than risk a crash landing and they parachuted out over, what they believed to be, the sea… only to discover it was a sea of sand.

The Lady Be Good as it appeared when discovered from the air.

The aircraft was in surprisingly good shape, considering it landed itself.

The aircraft’s weapons were still functioning.

Some of the guns were still able to be fired.

My apologies to the sharp eared amongst you as I misspoke when describing Lt Hatton’s take off, “Pushing up the throttles of his two Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp supercharged radials…”  The Liberator is, of course, a four engined aircraft.

Images used under a Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Air Force.

It was a hot and sunny day at the United States Airforce Base at Ramstein near Kaiserslautern in West Germany… a perfect day for their 1988 annual air show.  One of the best parts of the show was going to be the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian formation team, doing their stunning display.  After several minutes of what was a great performance, the team started one of the most impressive manoeuvres,  the pierced heart.  What followed was a disaster beyond anyone’s imagination…

The Frecce Tricolori.

The awful mistake that led to the tragedy.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the US Air Force, A Micheuand J Herzog.

As a military aviator he was exceptional.  From a starting point that had him at a disadvantage, 40 seconds was how long it took him to get behind you for the kill! His flying skills weren’t the reason we remember Colonel John Boyd as his ideas would change the whole direction of military aviation.  A maverick who would lead a like minded group known as the Fighter Mafia, he was a brilliant as he was controversial.  His lasting legacy would include the concept of fighter manoeuvre diagrams and the OODA loop. This is his story.

Colonel John Boyd.

An illustration of the OODA loop.

An example of an F4 Energy Manoeuvre diagram.

Images under Creative Commons with thanks to the US Gov, P E Moran and John Golan.

Lokichokio, is a dusty, flyblown, Kenyan frontier town that is a long way from the tourist images of African safari lodges.  There’s an airstrip there with a few buildings, offices and compounds, one with a pool and a bar. At 6 o’clock sharp, an attractive blonde could be found there sipping a G&T while the ice tinkled in her glass. With her short, blonde hair, good looks and brilliant smile, she could easily have been mistaken for the hostess of an English garden party.  Meet ‘All Weather Heather’ one of the most capable bush pilots you would ever want know… this is the story of her life.

Loki’s airport as it looks now.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Guido Potters and an ‘orphan image’ photographer.

The loss of his father early in his life led to David Warren’s fascination with electronics.  Although he grew up to be a scientist who specialised in chemistry, particularly aviation fuels and early rocketry, his little invention, a flight data and voice recorder, made a contribution to flight safety that has left a lasting legacy.

David Warren with his original recorder device.

The NTSB recover a Flight Data recorder from a crash site.

A modern Flight Data Recorder.

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the Australian Government Department of Defence, YSSYguy, Meggar and the NTSB.

Captain Leul Abate was no stranger to hijackings… this was his third!  An amazing story that ends in tragedy for many when, quietly sitting by the sea sipping cocktails, the residents of the beautiful Galawa Beach Hotel see a huge airliner plough into the water only 500 yards away.

Images under Creative Commons licence and fair use with thanks to JetPix.

This story has graphic references to violence and injury and may not be suitable for all ages.

For the operating crew the flight started just as it had done many times before.  They were departing from Memphis in Tennessee and flying to San Jose in California in their McDonnell Douglas DC10 freighter.  After an uneventful start, taxi and takeoff the crew were settling down to the normal routine of the climb and chatting easily amongst themselves, as pilots do… and then a deadheading crew member reaches into his case and all hell breaks loose!

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Peter Bakema and unattributed media.

Geoff Lee started his career as an apprentice photographer for Hawker Siddeley Aviation and progressed to become the Chief Photographer for British Aerospace Systems.  His specialty was air to air photography, a field that put him in the cockpits of some of the world’s finest fighters.  His photographs have graced the covers of aviation publications and major newspapers throughout the world. I was delighted when he agreed to talk to Plane Tales and tell us about his remarkable career behind the viewfinder.

In this final part of the interview Geoff brings us up to date, relating some of the more interesting situations that he been engaged to photograph. My heartfelt  thanks go to Geoff for sharing his story with us.

Should you wish to look at some of his images, please follow the link that appears below.

Geoff Lee, Master Photographer – Part 3

All images are copyright ©Geoff Lee

Geoff Lee started his career as an apprentice photographer for Hawker Siddeley Aviation and progressed to become the Chief Photographer for British Aerospace Systems.  His specialty was air to air photography, a field that put him in the cockpits of some of the world’s finest fighters.  His photographs have graced the covers of aviation publications and major newspapers throughout the world. I was delighted when he agreed to talk to Plane Tales and tell us about his remarkable career behind the viewfinder.

In this second part of the interview we discuss how his career moved into the cockpit of some fantastic fighter aircraft and into the world’s best formation teams.  Should you wish to look at some of his images, please follow the link that appears below.

Geoff Lee, Master Photographer – Part 2

All images are copyright ©Geoff Lee

Geoff Lee started his career as an apprentice photographer for Hawker Siddeley Aviation and progressed to become the Chief Photographer for British Aerospace Systems.  His specialty was air to air photography, a field that put him in the cockpits of some of the world’s finest fighters.  His photographs have graced the covers of aviation publications and major newspapers throughout the world. I was delighted when he agreed to talk to Plane Tales and tell us about his remarkable career behind the viewfinder.

In this first part of the interview we discuss his early years.  Should you wish to look at some of his images, please follow the link that appears below.

Geoff Lee Photos Part 1

All images are copyright ©Geoff Lee