Anglais
Plane Tales
par Capt Nick
The View from Our Side of the Cockpit Door
Épisodes
RAF Form 414, Volume 39
19 juil. 2026 · 19 min
With the influx of new Airbus airframes, Virgin needed more pilots and not just to occupy the right hand seat… there were opportunities for promotion to Captain much earlier than had been the norm. When I joined the time to command was about 8 years. Looking back I did my first sector with Virgin…
RAF Form 414, Volume 38
17 juil. 2026 · 19 min
And my heart went! Thump, thump, thump; thump, thump! I was lying in the King Edward the 7th hospital imagining Phil Collins playing drums on my heart while watching the monitor and wondering how I was going to support my family after I’d been permanently grounded with this condition that had come…
Basam Aggad Interview
23 avr. 2026 · 15 min
We last spoke to Basam when he was doing his Jet Upset Training but now that he has his dream job it was appropriate that we should chat again on one of his London layovers. In particular, he is flying around a war zone which presents additional challenges to a civil airline pilot. Basam in London…
RAF Form 414, Volume 36
23 avr. 2026 · 19 min
A flock of seagulls had chosen that moment to break ground from the grass beside the runway and fly across our path. They disappeared under the nose as we climbed away and cleaned the aircraft up… no noise of an impact but then we noticed the No 2 engine’s N1 vibration number was pulsing and…
RAF Form 414, Volume 37
19 mars 2026 · 16 min
The next tale from my RAF Logbook, albeit now being filled with civilian flights for Virgin Atlantic Airways… A Virgin A340-300 going round the checkerboard at Kai TAk airport, Hong Kong. The checkerboard approach from the flight deck. The treasured Hong Kong landing authorisation card. The A340…
Fast Jets on the Front Line, Part 2
19 mars 2026 · 21 min
The second part of an interview with Alan Munro, retired RAF pilot and Cold War warrior, where we talk about his book… Fast Jets on the Front Line. A 19 Sqn F4 Phantom A 228 OCU F4 Phantom An RAF Chinook helicopter The back seat of a Phantom Berlin’s infamous Checkpoint Charlie The RAF’s Winter…
Fast Jets on the Front Line
3 févr. 2026 · 20 min
In this tale we listen to part of an interview with author Alan Munro who talks about his recent book, Fast Jets on the Front Line. Interviewing Alan The Gloster Javelin A 29 Sqn F4 Phantom The RAF’s Harrier GR1 Images are shown under the Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, Alan…
What’s in a Name?
3 févr. 2026 · 20 min
A tale that might have been forgotten but here it is from APG670! This tale isn’t about me operating into the massive aviation hub of Chicago O’Hare Airport but of how it got its name. For that, I’m going to take you back into Chicago’s seedy past to the days of Prohibition and the notorious…
RAF Form 414, Vol 35
13 août 2025 · 18 min
Delving into my log book yet again I recall thatI had flown a couple of supernumerary trips to John F Kennedy airport in New York, sitting in the back of the cockpit watching how it was done but now it was my turn to clamber into the hot seat to start my line training with Virgin Atlantic. I was…
Sabotage
26 mai 2025 · 19 min
From the French word saboter, sabotage refers to the act of bungling, botching or wrecking something, particularly for political or military aims. It is derived from the French word for a wooden shoe, a sabot and likely refers to clumsy work carried out by those peasants who clattered about in…
RAF Form 414, Vol 34
22 mai 2025 · 19 min
I’m sorry dear listener but the logbook stories continue unabated with the next instalment. I had been inducted into Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and, after completing the type rating technical exam we were dispatched to the heart of Airbussery, Toulouse in France, to undergo their simulator…
RAF Form 414, Vol 33
7 avr. 2025 · 20 min
I’m sorry dear listener but the logbook stories continue unabated with the next instalment. I had been inducted into Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and, after completing the type rating technical exam we were dispatched to the heart of Airbussery, Toulouse in France, to undergo their simulator…
The Final Checkout
7 avr. 2025 · 21 min
In earlier decades, the early demise of pilots was mainly based on empirical evidence and based on the well publicised news of an ex colleague’s early death. However, in 1992, the time when I was putting in my papers to leave the RAF to pursue a life as an airline pilot, the Flight Safety…
RAF Form 414, Vol 32
13 mars 2025 · 19 min
So the logbook tales continue. I am out of the RAF and seeking an airline job but in the downturn there are few available. In the meantime I am working for British Aerospace flying Tornado F3s on trials flights. I had also been given the chance to deliver a Hawk 100 series trainer to the Royal…
Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 3
24 janv. 2025 · 20 min
Colin will be visiting California in a few weeks and will speak at the Voices of Valor Gala Dinner, A Tribute to the Greatest Generation, to be held at the Palm Springs Air Museum California Gala Dinner on the 8th of February 2025. https://palmspringsairmuseum.org/gala/ Colin Bell telling us his…
Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 2
27 déc. 2024 · 21 min
This Tale is a continuation of the interview of World War II pilot Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC. At the age of 103, Colin recalls with perfect clarity what it was like to fly his De Havilland DH 98 Mosquito bomber into action as part of a Pathfinder Squadron. This Tale is the second part of…
The Safety of Safety
27 déc. 2024 · 16 min
You are sitting in your airliner and the handsome, pretty or in a non-binary sense cute, elegant, lovely or in a non exclusive way charming, fine, interesting or personable flight attendant is standing in front of you to demonstrate the safety features of your aircraft. Hopefully if you enjoy the…
Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 1
17 déc. 2024 · 19 min
It is rare to have the opportunity to meet one of the brave young men who flew and fought in the Second World War so I was delighted to be able to talk to Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC. At the age of 103, Colin recalls with perfect clarity what it was like to fly his De Havilland DH 98 Mosquito…
RAF Form 414, Vol 31
1 déc. 2024
I’m moving things on a bit in my logbook tales as it seems to be taking forever to get to the end so here’s the next one. I’d found a temporary job with the aircraft manufacturer British Aerospace flying Tornados and Hawks but now I was getting invitations to interview for jobs with a number of…
RAF Form 414, Vol 30
23 oct. 2024 · 19 min
My logbook tales continue and after 5 months without an income the bucket of shekels I had to keep us afloat was starting to run dry… I could see glimpses of the bottom. Luckily the mortgage on our modest 2 up, 2 down, 250 year old, Scottish stone, terraced cottage at Leuchars wasn’t excessive and…