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.
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20:18
Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 2
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.
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20:56
The Safety of Safety
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.
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15:34
Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC, Part 1
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.
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19:22
RAF Form 414, Vol 31
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 airlines. After months of drought, the flood gates seem to have opened and after wishing for just one offer I now had the opportunity to chose who I would go to. First, however, I needed to get through the interviews.
A Monarch A300
A Cathay Pacific Tristar
Virgin Megastores worldwide
RB's Manor House and the album cover for Tubular Bells
Richard Branson starts his own airline, Virgin Atlantic
Northwest Airlines put in a substantial order for Airbus A340s which were then flown by Virgin Atlantic
The BAe Hawk delivery team
One of the RMAS Hawk 108s
In formation and we're off to Malaysia
First stop Nice
Then on to Tanagra
Luxor
Dubai
Mumbai
A little 'hot start' in Bangkok
Images under creative commons licence with thanks to RHL images, Virgin, Jaco Ten, Northwest Airlines History Centre,
South Africa