Author: Xtended

The Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo) is a family owned business that specialises in aircraft maintenance, restoration and operational services, especially ‘warbirds’. They have restored over 40 different aircraft types from Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters to the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star and the F-86 Sabre. Tim travelled to Duxford in Cambridgeshire to talk to John Romain from ARCo about their recent project to recognise the National Health Service efforts during the recent pandemic – the NHS Spitfire. 

Naval Air Historian Matt Willis joins us to talk about the the Supermarine Seafire – a navalised version of the famous Spitfire, adapted for use on aircraft carriers. A total of 2646 were built and saw action with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm from November 1942 until after the Korean War in the early 1950s.

Our guest for this episode is Lt Cdr Ian Sloan who has accumulated vast experience, including day and night, VSTOL embarked operations in the Sea Harrier and operational missions in Afghanistan in the Harrier GR9. As an instructor, he has delivered Advanced Flying Training to RAF, RN and Indian AF students in the Hawk, and has provided aviation assurance as the Hawk ‘Trapper’ on Naval Flying Standards Flight (Fixed Wing). He is also one of few people to have flown both Sea Harrier and Super Etendard.

We welcome Alexander Mladenov back to talk about the KA-52 Alligator (Nato codename – Hokum). We talk all variants from the early development of the V-80 single seat attack helicopter which materialised in to the KA-50 Black Shark through to the two-seat KA-52K Naval Variant.

Ellie Carter is Britain’s youngest licensed pilot, notably hitting the headlines on her 16th birthday after she became the youngest person in the country to fly solo in a powered aircraft. At 14 she was also the Britain’s youngest solo glider pilot.