Defending the Baltic Express

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 also flying with the Chief Pilot so absolutely no pressure!   Compared with the Airbus A340, the old Boeings were beginning to look a bit like dinosaurs!   The confusion of aircraft flying over the Atlantic only really became apparent when they were all leaving contrails!   With the early MCDUs it was possible to outpace the processor that was trying to keep pace with your key presses.   Despite the plethora of satellites whizzing around the world, the world of aviation still often relied on old fashioned HF radios for communication.   The data we used to plot our position on maps came from the same source as that that guided the aircraft!   I was surprised to see that this famous airport still regularly used approach aids common in much less developed countries.   Images used under a creative commons licence with thanks to Nick Anderson, NATS, Airbus and the UK Gov.  

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 such simple footwear. The world of aviation escaped known acts of sabotage until 1933 when a sleek and streamlined Boeing 247 of United Air Lines Flight 23 taxied to the departure gate at Newark Airport to allow it’s passengers to embark.  At a time when most airlines were flying flimsy wood and cloth biplanes that looked like old World War One bombers, and indeed many were, Boeing were ahead of the game. The Boeing 247   An early 247 with the forward sloping windshield flying for the Royal Air Force   Passengers embarking on a United 247 NC13345 which later crashed into a hill in dense fog and burned.     J Edgar Hoover’s letter closing down the sabotage investigation   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Boeing, the SDASM, the RAF, United Airlines, the Library of Congress, the Chicago Tribune and the FBI.

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 training course.  There were about 10 of us but, other than our sim partner, we didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other with our busy month long schedule.I’d been paired up with a 340 pilot from the Northern Isles of Scotland and was all set to pick his brains on the subject until I discovered he had been flying the SAAB 340, a little Swedish twin engined turboprop. Lufthansa A340   The World Ranger livery   When your instructor says, “Bof!”   Breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner! Cordes   Pool drill with the Cabin Crew   The Queen opens Queen’s Building       Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to MarcelX42, Airbus, HM Gov, Heathrow Airport, Cordes tourist board, Nick Anderson Photographic and Mid Journey AI.

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 training course. There were about 10 of us but, other than our sim partner, we didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other with our busy month long schedule.   The SAAB 340… a little smaller than the A340!   Lufthansa A340, the A340 launch customer.   The World Ranger paintwork   A340 Sim   Cordes, France   Door training   Pool training   First time in the Black Pyjamas for real!   Taking G-VSKY into the air for the first time   Circuits at Manston   Job done! Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Ronnie Robertson, MarcelX42, Simaero, Clément Gruin and Nick Anderson.

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 Foundation published a study which seemed to confirm that pilots died at a younger age than the general population. The oft quoted statistics that a retiring pilot would only have 5 years to enjoy their pensions was quoted… BUT WAS IT TRUE!   Early pilot death has been assigned to the myth that, as a work group we are prone to a tragically short retirement down to ‘flight line talk’ and that each time an airline pilot dies shortly after retiring the hypothesis of early death is reborn and reinforced in this weak minded group of grounded gossipers! (I said that last bit)   The 1992 study which expressed mortality data as percentages is now considered an “interesting” method and apparently, dare I say it, “inappropriate”!   This information is quoted by a large fiduciary investment company based in Dubai. They quote a Boeing Aerospace actuarial study of life span based on age at retirement. Boeing deny ever producing this study.   The Flight Safety Foundation later published this study by, amont others, the Wright State University School of Aerospace Medicine and the US Federal Aviation Administration Civil Aeromedical Institute   The comparison group of the general population used was that of US white males.   Please feel free to discus   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the Flight Safety Foundation and AI generated images.

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 Malaysian Air Force. I left you at Bangkok having turned a brand new aircraft into a blow torch and nearly cooking an inquisitive guard.   Flying the last leg to RMAS Butterworth   We complete our 7,000 NM to Malaysia   Chasing the towed decoy trials   Some of Hoppy’s aircraft had parted company   We soon passed 600 knots and slipped through the sound barrier without a ripple   I went off to a little commercial uniform shop to pick up my first of the 4 different Virgin Atlantic uniforms I would wear over the next 25 years.   The Flight Crew Operating Manuals, from which they picked facts at random to put into the question paper.   Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Mid Journey AI and Nick Anderson.

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 story   The cockpit of a Mosquito   The Canadian Mosquito factory at Downsview, near Toronto, Ontario   RAF bomber crews eating their traditional breakfast after a mission   One of Chilon of Sparta’s famous quotes   Colin beside a painting of his Mosquito   Female German Army personnel and an AA gun battery   The dreaded white light indicating the presence of a Luftwaffe Me262 night fighter   Colin standing by an Me262 jet fighter showing us what he thought of being chased by one   The book of their exploits written by Colin’s navigator’s son   Images shown under a Creative Commons licence with thanks to Fotoafdrukken Koninklijke Luchtmacht, the Royal Air Force, the IWM and images in the Public Domain.

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 interview with Colin, the opportunity for which I have to thank my old friend Bob Judson. Having had a high ranking career in the RAF, Bob is now a consultant in the field of psychological, life and executive coaching and has a podcast, Leading 4 Life, which explores leadership in the stories of his own life and those told by his many illustrious guests, such as Colin. Bob was kind enough to allow me to share in this opportunity to interview Colin. If you want to take advantage of Bob’s services or listen to his free podcast then check out his website, here: https://www.leading4life.co.uk/ and his great podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2227500   The Nissen Hut was wartime emergency accommodation with a single coal burning heater. It was notoriously cold in the winter.   A No 608 Squadron Mosquito, B Baker March, takes off from RAF Downham Market   Bomber Command aircrew mission briefings   RAF Bombers attacking Berlin with Pathfinder flares below them   Most of Colin’s bombing attacks were made as individual aircraft   Colin Bell talking to us during his interview   Hanover under attack from US forces during a daylight raid   Germani Anti Aircraft Artillery   A Mosquito formation   A period description of how OBOE functioned   The bar of the Crown Hotel Downham Market   A Focke Wolf FW190A similar to the type that employed the Wild Boar tactic   Jimmy Stewart who flew the B17 and B24 in operational missions and became a Brigadier General in the USAF   Colin stands beside one of the few remaining Mosquitos   Images shown under a Creative Commons Licence with thanks to Mark Vickers, Colin Bell, the RAF, Bert Verhoeff, the Australian War Memorial collection, the IWM, RAF Bomber Command, German Federal Archives, the USAF and the USAAF.

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 airline pilot guy enough to be listening to this you might have more than just a passing interest in what safety equipment there is onboard the average big, well equipped, airliner. Most airlines show the gender-specific pronouns that are typically used to refer to people in the way they identify   Door Arming controls   Girt Bar system that can be found on older style aircraft   Steph beside ‘her’ emergency exit   Slide use in theory and in practice   Disobeying safety instructions can lead to increased danger and possible loss of life   The early days of air travel   Jack Grant, an Australian, who invented the modern inflatable slide and won the Cumberland trophy     Aircraft safety equipment Halon (halo-genated hydrocarbons) are the world’s best fire extinguishing chemicals but banned from manufacture   Safety cards through the history of aviation   Images are used under a Creative Commons licence with thanks to Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, Airbus, Oleg Bkhambri (Voltmetro), Boeing, Dr Steph, Marc-Antony Payne, Qantas Airways Ltd, John Collier, the Library of Congress, The Museum of Civil Aviation and SOC.

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 bomber into action as part of a Pathfinder Squadron.  This Tale is just the first part of the interview with Colin, the opportunity for which I have to thank my old friend Bob Judson.  Having had a high ranking career in the RAF, Bob is now a consultant in the field of psychological, life and executive coaching and has a podcast, Leading 4 Life, which explores leadership in the stories of his own life and those told by his many illustrious guests, such as Colin.  Bob was kind enough to allow me to share in this opportunity to interview Colin.  If you want to take advantage of Bob’s services or listen to his free podcast then check out his website, here: https://www.leading4life.co.uk/ and his great podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2227500 Flt Lt Colin Bell DFC RAF   The lonely and dangerous job of a tail gunner   The PT17 Stearman   The Vultee BT-13A Valiant   The North American AT-6 Texan trainer AKA the Harvard.   The Bristol Blenheim   The de Havilland DH98 Mosquito   Colin with Bob (left) and myself (right) at the RAF Club in front of a painting of the Mosquito gifted to Colin and then presented to the RAF Club to display.   All images are shown with permission or under the Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF, the IWM, the USAAF, the National Museum of the USAF and Fotoafdrukken Koninklijke Luchtmacht.