Plane Tales

Waiting for the arrival of the December flying roster was always a tense time. Those with big family gatherings are anxious to ensure they are at home with their loved ones whilst the more carefree crew, with fewer ties, might want to be down route somewhere exotic knowing that a bevy of party goers would be flying with them. I know of one crew who flew over Christmas with great excitement… at least I believe so! Their names were Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders, the crew of the Apollo 8 space mission.

Saturnalia

Victorian Christmas

Father Christmas

The Apollo 8 Crew

The Zond 5 spacecraft

The emblem and launch of Apollo 8

Stage 3 jettison

The surface of the moon

Earthrise

A safe return

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Antoine-François Callet, Joseph Lionel Williams, Robert Seymour, Josiah King, Alfred Henry Forrester, the USSR Post and NASA.

And so Plane Tales was born with the story of the mixologist Joe Gilmore… well, kind of. There had been a few bits in the Show pre the Farnborough special but it hadn’t become part of APG like it is now. The number of Tales will never catch Jeff’s impressive half millennium but they have now passed the 300 mark and these are a few of the memorable ones.

The mixologist, Joe Gilmore

Tumble Down Dick

The flight under Tower Bridge

Parliament

Capt Ogg ditching the Sovereign of the Skies.

Bob Hoover

Major Bung Lee lands his Bird Dog on the USS Midway

Capt Andy Anderson

Hillel

Voiceover artist Greg Willits at GregWillets.com

A tribute to the crew of Lady be Good

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks given on the original episode, Thomas Rowlandson, Greg Willits and DaniKauf, the USAF, the USN and those in the Public Domain.

In the United States the Coast Guard is a fully paid up branch of the military. Its men and women have served with valour in many conflicts and I’m going to tell you about one such event, the rescue of Misty 11.

The badge of the US Coast Guard

An F100 Fast FAC Misty crew

An OV10 Bronco

Spads escorting a Jolly Green Giant

The jungle penetrator.

Landing in difficult terrain

500 saves

The approach into the valley

The rescue

Technical Sergeant Donald G. Smith

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the USAF National Museum, the USAF, USAF National Museum, USGOV-PD, Digital Public Library of America, Defence Imagery, the US Coast Guard and US Gov.

Year two of Porridge… that’s an old term used by prisoners to describe their time inside jail but was very apt as many of my fellow flying instructors and I had not volunteered for this particular job and it was a long one.  As I leaf through the pages of my log book I recall memories from my flying career.

Flying with the Air Officer Commanding

The badge of No 4 Flying Training School, palm tree and all!

Lining up for breaks to the right when someone decided to go LEFT instead!

The fabled MON formation

How the English might have read it!

10 Hawks in echelon

Fishing!

The F4 FIRE Drill

If FIRE confirmed – EJECT

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, BAe, MOD and Mr Geoff Lee of Plane Focus.

Suddenly the black of the night that surrounded them was split open by bright tracer cannon fire that streaked by the windows with loud cracks and then came the shock and thud as some struck the aircraft. The lights were all extinguished… so in the dark, tense and alarmed, everyone waited to see what would happen next. It was the 24th of October 1956, and the first shots in a war over the Suez Canal had just been fired!

Ferdinand de Lesseps, the Father of the Suez Canal

The opening of the canal

A collection of canal views

British armed forces went great lengths to protect the canal during 2 World Wars

After a military coup in Egypt, Nasser took control of the country and seized the Suez Canal

The NF13 Meteor sold to the IAF by Britain

An Il14, as used by the Egyption Air Force

The actual Gloster Meteor used in the attack

The Ilyushin is brought down killing all onboard

The invasion by British, French and Israeli forces is a complete success but political pressures force them to relinquish the canal

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mohamed kamal 1984, NADAR, the Tropenmuseum, the IWM, the RAF, the MOD, Lars Söderström and other images in the Public Domain.

About this time of the year, I like to do a tale that turns our minds to those who gave their lives for their countries in the many conflicts that have plagued the world.  In the past in tales such as, “In Flanders Fields and Lest We Forget” I’ve talked about the poppy, used as a symbol of remembrance in many countries, and the poem penned by the Canadian doctor, Lt Col John McCrae.  There was a gap in my story, however, that I would now like to close.  The gap that transformed the sad words of John McCrae’s poem into the adoption of the poppy as a representation of remembrance for the fallen, amongst such a large part of the English speaking world… and beyond.

Lt Col John McCrae

The Escadrille Lafayette in July 1917

Moina Belle Michael

Desk and poppy

The YWCA

In Flanders Fields written by John McCrae

An original remembrance poppy

The Poppy Factory in London

Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance in the Albert Hall

The Poppy Lady’s historic road marker

Images under Creative Commons licence under Public Domain and with thanks to the National Museum of the Air Force, the Poppy Project, Neysa McMein, Heatherannej, Nickeaglesfield, the MOD and Ember390.

Within a few days of detonating their first nuclear bomb, to the dismay of the Soviets, President Truman announced that they had the evidence to prove that within recent weeks an atomic explosion had occurred in the USSR. How the United States had obtained that knowledge was highly classified but we now know the story of the secret snoopers who sniffed the stratosphere and their spooky sorties!

The Castle Bravo test blast

The Tsar Bomba

American concerns over nuclear fallout

The WB-29

The RB-47H at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

Balloon debris

The RC-135

The long thin island of Novaya Zemlay

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to TravelingOtter, the US Department of Energy, Croquant, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Ruth AS, the USAF, the University of Texas, the SDASM Archives and NASA.

This is the concluding part of my interview with Mike Wildman, an amputee pilot who has had a fascinating career in aviation. The first part covered Mike’s life in the Royal Air Force flying, the second concerned his life changing decision to have part of his left leg removed and his fight to lead the world’s first disabled formation display team. In this final section Mike tells us about creating Team Phoenix Air and flying the stunning Yak 50.

Mike leading the Bader Bus Company team

The Ultimate High Flying Experience

The interview with Mike, filmed by Nevil Bounds

Team Phoenix Air formation display

Sherill from Team Phoenix

The Yaks

The Yaks

The proposed 2022 air show highlights

The Yakovlevs in the air

The home of the Yakovlevs

How to get in touch with Mike Wildman

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mike Wildman, Nevil Bounds, The Bader Bus Company, Ultimate High, Team Phoenix Air and the Yakovlevs.

This is the second part of my interview with Mike Wildman, an amputee pilot who has had a fascinating career in aviation. The first part covered Mike’s life in the Royal Air Force flying, amongst other aircraft, the C130 Hercules. In this part we hear about his life changing decision to have part of his left leg removed and his fight, not only to get back into the cockpit of an aircraft but to lead the world’s first disabled formation display team.

Recording the interview with Mike in front of a Yak 52

Mike, a Captain with Virgin Atlantic Airways

Mike after his life changing decision to have part of his left leg removed

Aerobility, the organisation that got Mike back into the air as an amputee pilot

Sir Douglas Bader, a double amputee WWII Battle of Britain fighter pilot

The pilots of the world’s first amputee formation team

The Bader Bus Company Still Running formation team

Mike climbing out of his Yakovlevs Yak 52

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, Aerobility, the Yakovlevs, the Bader Bus Company and Mike Wildman.

Mike Wildman is an amputee pilot who has had a fascinating career in aviation. This tale is about his time in the Royal Air Force flying the C130 Hercules in some very challenging theatres. His story will both amaze and inspire, particularly in the later parts when we will cover his work as the leader of the world’s only fully aerobatic amputee formation team… TeamPhoenixAir.com

Mike, learning to fly

Mike during his RAF basic flying training

Mike was posted to fly the C130 Hercules

Low flying over the desert

Mike, the captain of a Belgium Air Force C130 during his exchange tour

The EPTS Andover that Mike flew

The Boscome Down Comet 4 named Canopus that Mike flew to the North Pole

The day at RIAT when a Mig 29 crashed onto Mike’s aircraft nearly killing him and the others who were watching the show from the top of the fuselage!

Contact details for Mike and Team Phoenix, the world’s only disabled aerobatic formation team

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mike Freer, RuthAS and the RAF.