I’ll start with the miraculous survival from an SR71 which disintegrates at over Mach 3…

SR-71 Pilot explains how he Survived to his Blackbird Disintegration at a Speed of Mach 3.2

What you got?

This gunner fell 22,000 feet without a parachute and lived

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87

A free, but meticulously researched, very well written, book detailing a low level bombing raid on the port of Rotterdam by a force of Bristol Blenheims in the summer of 1941.

Mast High over Rotterdam – Section One
Mast High over Rotterdam – Section Two
Mast High over Rotterdam – Section Three

My next door neighbour when I was growing up managed to avoid being put on a charge to take part in the raid, and indeed was the only pilot to put his bombs on the ship which was the main target of the attack.

As tonight is the anniversary of this feat of magnificent flying it would be remiss to share. Armed with nothing but a stopwatch, map and compass for navigation to then put their gliders right on the target, at night in gliders will remain an inspiring piece of military aviation.

Lucky enough to have spent time with a few of the pilots over the years, amazing gentlemen who sadly are no longer with us.

Operation Deadstick

Falklands:

Tonka tactics:

Tornado

Wing Commander ‘Taffy’ Holden’s inadvertent flight in Lightning XM135

I always liked the SR71 speed check story.

https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blackbird-speed-check-story

I always liked the SR71 speed check story.

https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blackbird-speed-check-story

Brian Shul (the pilot) telling the story:

Somewhat less fantastic, but entirely essential for my existence was my grandfather’s experience.

He was in the rear turret of a Wellington on a night raid of (iirc) Dresden. The turret was destroyed and somehow he managed to scramble back up the plane and survived.

After surviving his Battle of Britain service he was deployed to North Africa.
He then survived a runway explosion and recorded all of this with photographs and logbook entries.

Sadly he died of bladder cancer aged 45.

Here’s his logbook. Meticulous doesn’t do it justice.

http://www.216squadronassociation.org.uk/pages/flt_lineBook/649770%20A%20Reeks%20AFC.pdf

Off of Twitter t’other day.

About now(ish) on #DDay, the telephone rang at AEAF HQ where the WingCo Armaments, L.E. Healy, was manning the desk. On the phone was a diligent officer of the Air Ministry informing him that the Typhoon had not been cleared for 1000lbs, this is Healy's perfect response. #DDay78 pic.twitter.com/Z1hGMzGdTw

— Matt Bone (@BoneyAbroad) June 6, 2022

I’ve finally got around to reading Vulcan 607, as it’s been on the list for some time, and I like Rowland White’s research and writing. I can’t decide whether I’m impressed or sad really. All that effort… The personal stories of the aircrew are just extreme dedication and professionalism, but honestly, what a waste of time and money.

Not anywhere near close to the SR71 stories, but my Uncle was a machine fitter and a seriously good lathe worker. He made loads of things for me, finally got around to telling me a while ago before he passed on that most of the stuff he made from me was dural that he’d kept after the war where he worked on a protected job making Mosquito landing gear.

I do like the SR71 stories. 🙂

Going back 70 years… The German fighter pilot who wouldn’t shoot down a crippled US bomber but instead escorted them to safety.

There’s a Wikipedia summary of it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown_and_Franz_Stigler_incident

and a video with the two pilots (both dead now) here:

Humbly submit my grandfather’s story:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11168230

I was with him at Leuchars in 2009 and he absolutely loved it.  He was the kindest, most gentle and humble man I knew.  An absolute gentleman, a huge inspiration and one of the few people I would say was a hero to me.  I carry his squadron pin with me on all my adventures.  He sadly died in 2015, upon his death he left a box of war memorabilia including his diaries from PoW camp which he didn’t want us to read whilst he was alive.  My dad currently has them but I’m not sure he wants to know what’s in them.  He only ever told me the fun, boys-own type stories of the war.  As I’ve got older I’ve realised just how much he kept from us and just haw content and happy he was to have made it home to his family.

I was just posting the exact same event from history as crazy-legs about the German fighter pilot who wouldn’t shoot down an enemy plane.

The band Sabaton have a video/song about what happened and show Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler being interviewed at the end.

https://youtu.be/dslO-3GgenY

Maybe slightly off topic (sorry if that’s the case) but…..  Eric “Winkle” Brown was just amazing.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160222-eric-winkle-brown-britains-most-incredible-test-pilot

I can really recommend his book. An amazing man and an amazing life.

Wings on my sleeve

I live near Farnborough, where Cody made the first powered flight in the UK. His flying machine ended up at the Royal Navy Air Station Eastchurch (this is before the RAF was formed), where my grandfather was a mechanic. He saw the growth of avaition there during WWI until being demobbed after the war. He was still around to watch the first moon landings, having witnessed the incredible leaps in technology over that relatively short time period.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/sergeant-norman-jackson-vc

This one is not a military story, but great skills in behalf of both pilots and air crew. The film of it was quite cheesy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_188_Pacific_rescue

In 1990, a @USAF B-52 was five miles out from USS Ranger and asked permission to do a fly-by. The carrier granted the request, but said they had no visual on the plane. The B-52 told them to look down, and then flew past the Ranger below the flight deck level. #SeaStorySaturday pic.twitter.com/SFfDyEg3La

— U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) July 2, 2022

Posted here previously but…..

Filmmakers surprise a former USA Spitfire pilot with film of his crash landing as he returned from a solo mission to Germany.

https://petapixel.com/2013/07/14/wwii-photo-reconnaissance-pilot-reacts-to-footage-of-himself-from-1944/

That B52!

Here’s the money shot from that Spitfire video above.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk-down_aircraft_landing

The last one is very recent, and notable since the plane was a complex glass cockpit Cessna caravan.

No large commercial plane has ever been landed by a non-pilot, although passenger pilots have assisted.

Fearoflanding.com is an good aviation story blog.

Loads of stuff. Passenger getting a deom ride on a jet fighter accidentally ejecting.

64-year-old Civilian Ejects Himself from Dassault Rafale B Fighter Jet