All our episodes

The air war in India and Burma (World War Two) has not received the focus it deserves. In this episode we talk to author K.S. Nair (Sree) to look at this area of conflict, the contribution made to the allied efforts in both WW1 and WW2, as well as the evolution and early operations of the Indian Air Force.

The story of China is space is not one widely known nor properly understood in western corridors, although China of course has been launching rockets for almost a thousand years. In this episode we welcome back author and Chinese space expert Brian Harvey to help us address that.

Cranfield Aerospace Solutions’ (CAeS) are converting a Britten-Norman Islander 9-seat aircraft from conventional fossil fuel to that of gaseous hydrogen propulsion. This development is set to deliver the world’s first fully certified, truly green, passenger-carrying aircraft using hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Few aircraft encompass as many contradictions as the Fairey Swordfish – the legendary ‘Stringbag’ naval torpedo bomber which was approaching antiquation at the start of the second world war yet struck mortal blows against some of the most powerful battleships in the Axis fleets.

Mike Bannister joins us to talk about Concorde and his career flying the supersonic airliner. He became the youngest pilot on the Concorde fleet in 1977, was appointed the airline’s Chief Concorde Pilot in 1995 and regularly flew as Captain on all of the aircraft’s routes worldwide. 

Our latest roundtable discussion focusses on aviation journalism and to better help us understand the challenges and ups and downs of writing a good article are the journalistic legends that are Tim Robinson, Steve Bridgewater and Rich Cooper.

Consider for a moment repairing and loading aircraft at -30 degrees with no cover, flying in thick cloud through heavy flak and snow with no idea if you might get through or even deliver your precious cargo. Robert Forsyth talks us through the Luftwaffe’s Stalingrad Airlift, a less well-known event in the tragic Stalingrad story.

We are joined by Brian Harvey and Gurbir Singh authors of the book The Atlas of Space Rocket Launch Sites. The book is the first of its kind; an atlas of all major sites where space rockets have been launched since the World’s first Sputnik in 1958.

Dr Steve Bond joins us to talk about the helicopter in Fleet Air Arm service through the stories in his third book in the series of ‘Fleet Air Arm Boys: Helicopters – True Tales from Royal Navy Men and Women Air and Ground Crew’.

This is Volume 1 of ‘The Debrief’, a new Xtended feature where we bring aviation people together to tell stories and share memories. Our first guests are former Tornado pilot Mike Napier and former Phantom pilot Tug Wilson. Join us as they discuss operating fast jets in RAF Germany and beyond during the Cold War.

Stephen Walker is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and his films have won BAFTAs, an Emmy, Royal Television Society awards and the Rose d’Or. Today we talk to Stephen about his award-winning book ‘Beyond; The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space’.

Graeme Rendall returns to tell us the story behind the airfield at RAF Morpeth. In World War Two, RAF Morpeth was extremely important to Bomber and Coastal Commands, as the station was home to an Air Gunners School which trained airmen how to shoot effectively whilst in mid-air.

Ellie hosts our first roundtable discussion on the health of the general aviation sector as it recovers from lockdown. Our guests on the panel are CFI Charlotte Dadswell, PPL Holder Charlotte Rositter and Eire PPL holder and Medical Examiner Kieran Murphy.

We are joined by Liz McConaghy. Liz is from a small town in County Down and spent a total of seventeen years flying with the RAF’s Chinook Force. Liz talks to us about her flying career, the mighty Chinook and the after-effects of war, stress and the impact on her mental health.

Commander Paul Tremelling spent nearly twenty years flying the Royal Navy’s Sea Harrier, with several exchange duties, including flying the F-18 Super Hornet.

We are joined by Jonathan Sayers a local historian who takes us on Greenham Common’s journey from Jacobean rebellion camp through World War 2 and into the Cold War where it became mostly familiar as a base for Ground Launched Cruise Missiles.

On this episode we have the Editorial Team from the Royal Aeronautical Society talking about events over the summer and return of airshows.

Whilst we take an Xtended break we mine the archives for some great content many of you may have never heard before. In this episode Gareth talks to Dave Gledhill about flying and fighting the F-4 Phantom FGR2, what the Tornado F-3 was really like and the Cold War realities of a nuclear outcome!

While we take an Xtended break we mine the archives for some great content many of you may have never heard before. In this episode Tim talks to Tony Blackman about test flying the V-Bombers, how he got in to flying and what it is like to have Howard Hughes in the cockpit.

Kim Gough is an Approach Air Traffic Control Officer, has a popular social media profile and is a trustee of the new charitable organisation – AiR Aviation in Reach.

Entering the aviation scene with his PPL at 17, Chris Taylor went on to have an amazing career flying over 400 aircraft types, a Royal Navy career flying Wasp and Lynx, leading to becoming a Test Pilot at the Empire Test Pilot School at Boscombe Down, later going on to become a Tutor at the ETPS. He later joined the UK Civil Aviation Authority as an aeroplane and rotary craft test pilot.

Gene Mikulka is the producer and a presenter on Talking Space the leading podcast on space and space exploration topics. Gene has been our ‘go to’ expert for space exploration updates having appeared five times on Xtended over the past 10 years. In this episode we look at the current plans for the ISS, how Boeing’s Starliner has faired on its LEO flight to the ISS. We also discuss SpaceX, Mars exploration and deep space exploration.

Bryan Wheelz is an Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic who has worked across multiple aircraft types. He has worked in aviation maintenance supervisory and management positions and is passionate about aircraft safety. He is also the host of the podcast ‘The Good the Bad and the Ugly: The Aviation Maintenance Industry – Raw’!

Michael Napier is an experienced author with multiple published titles to his name. An ex-RAF Tornado pilot with combat experience over Iraq, he is thorough in his research and, because of his knowledge of air warfare, is highly qualified to write on the subject. His latest book Flash Points – Air Warfare in the Cold War is the focus for discussion in this episode.

Graeme Rendall is an aviation and unidentified aerial phenomena historian, researcher and author who is a frequent guest on UAP-related podcasts. He has written books on Northumberland aviation history, a trip around north-east Siberian airfields and two titles dealing with UAP (UFOs) – one on the “Foo Fighters” of World War 2 and another concentrating on pilot and aircrew sightings between 1950 and 1952.

Gerry Humphreys is a former RAF Wing Commander with over 2500 hrs on the Harrier. With over 10,000 total flying hours on everything from fast jets, general aviation, aerobatic, sport, land, sea, utility and training aircraft, he is now an organic beef farmer living in Limerick.

With limited funding available to the South Africa Air Force, we talk to Darren Olivier from African Defence Review about why their Saab Gripens are all grounded and what impact this is having on both flying training and operational readiness. On a wider front we discuss rotary wing and heavily lift capability and how this too is hindering SAAF operations.

Michael Napier is normally associated with fast jets and he is also a recognised author specialising in aviation history. Most notable for his book ‘Tornado Over the Tigris’, Mike’s military career spanned almost two decades but what is less known is that for 21 years Michael Napier was a pilot and captain at British Airways. We discuss how he migrated from military fast jet flying to the life of an airline pilot; flying the DC10, Boeing 777, the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 787.

John ‘Rain’ Waters is a former USAF F-16 combat pilot and demo pilot. Now flying in the civilian world, John is the creator and host of the highly acclaimed and hugely popular ‘The Afterburn Podcast’.

We discuss the current news and analyse what can be taken from the early weeks of the conflict; the tactics, losses and impacts. Airliner issues are also on the agenda along with their impact on the supply chain and we finally move on to look at the space sector and some of the issues faced by the ISS team, ESA, NASA and the UK Space Agency.

Nothing seems to be more popular than Cold War aircraft and today’s guest Ian Sanders is the presenter and producer of one of the best historical and military podcasts out there…..Cold War Conversations.

‘Confessions of a Phantom Pilot: Memories of Flying the Phantom FGR2’ is Tug Wilson’s first book and he joins us to discuss his career and flying the mighty Phantom FGR2.

In the 40th anniversary year of the Falklands Conflict, we are joined by John Shields, author of ‘Air Power in The Falklands Conflict – An Operational Level Insight into Air Warfare in the South Atlantic’.

We are joined by Bill Yenne to talk about his book ‘America’s Few – Marine Aces of the South Pacific’, published by Osprey.

Welcome to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 9 – RAF Thorney Island. In this chapter we look at the role of the RAF Coastal Command airfield at Thorney Island.  

Welcome to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 8 – The Fleet Air Arm.In this chapter we look at the role of the Fleet Air Arm as it supported RAF Coastal Command in World War Two.

Welcome to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 7 – Australian & Allied Aircrews. In this chapter we hear the reports and stories of aircrews from Australia, Jamaica, Canada and Morocco. Their commitment, heroism, and ultimate sacrifice.

Welcome to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 6 – The Adversaries. In this chapter we look at the adversaries for RAF Coastal Command.

Welcome once again to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 5 – Kiwi Crews. In this chapter we look at the role and involvement of aircrews from New Zealand in RAF Coastal Command.

Welcome to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 4 – Strike Wings. In this chapter we discuss the thinking behind the strike wings of RAF Coastal Command and focus on the North Coates and Banff squadrons, how they were structured and their successes and failures.

We are joined by Robert Forsyth to talk about his book ‘Luftwaffe Special Weapons 1942-1945’, published by Osprey.

In this brand new episode we talk exclusively to Major Renaud ‘Grat’ Thys, a CF-18 Hornet pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Welcome to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 3 – Battle of the Atlantic. In this chapter we discuss the role of RAF Coastal Command in the Battle of the Atlantic, with Mark Lardas.

In this chapter we talk to Ian Thirsk about the various aircraft types and their roles across the campaign. We have an interesting view of the Avro Anson thanks to an interview with Bill Reid who has the only airworthy Anson Mk1 and we also catch up with Andrew Bird to discuss the Blenheim’s Coastal Command service in detail.

Welcome to our Coastal Command series. This is Chapter 1 – Constant Endeavour (The Overview).

Tim is joined by John Nichol. During 15 years’ service in the Royal Air Force John Nichol flew Tornadoes in both the Air Defence and Ground Attack roles. On active duty during the first Gulf War in 1991 he was shot down on the first low-level, daylight raid of the conflict.

We are joined by author and Area 51 expert TD Barnes.We hear from TD on secret aviation developments, spy planes and how security was managed in such a highly sensitive environment.

With International Women In Engineering day on June 23rd we are absolutely delighted to welcome Kathy Morten to the show. Kathy is a Royal Air Force officer with a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering and shares her experience on military engineering careers and her pathway to her current role working with the mighty #TeamChinook.

Seaplanes and floatplanes, what is the difference? We talk to Dan Bolton, otherwise known as That Mallard Guy, who has arguably one of the best flying jobs in the world, flying seaplanes into one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

We talk to James C Goodall (USAF Retired) about his latest book ’75 Years of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’. Jim relates his source for the book from Area 51 and the Skunk Works and brings fascinating stories to life.