The Aviation Show

This week I'm joined by poet and author Alison Hill whose new biography of Pauline Gower, the pilot who would spearhead the Women's Section of the ATA and ensure her pilots received equal pay for equal work, is one I was thoroughly moved by. In this episode, we discuss Pauline's early career, when she formed a nascent airline with friend Dorothy Spicer, whose book of their escapades received a rare positive review from the formidable Aeroplane Magazine editor C.G. Grey.

Check out Alison's book, Pauline Gower, Pioneering Leader of the Spitfire Women, at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9780750996822

You can follow Alison on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/rhythmandmuse, and her website is: https://www.alisonhillpoetry.com/

Please check out our sponsor, the Pima Air and Space Museum, through the links below:

Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/

• Learn more about the Titan Missle Museum here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/
• Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/
• Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Amalong is the president of Arizona Aero-Tech and Velocity Air, which provides flight training and aviation services out of Ryan Field in Tuscon, Arizona. While I was in Arizona, I got to chat with Tim about his life in aviation, the environment his businesses fly in and the services his companies offer. It was a fascinating chance to discuss proper grassroots flight with someone who sees many dedicated soon-to-be pilots and mechanics visit him for the next step in their journey.

To learn more about training with Arizona Aero-Tech, visit: http://www.arizonaaerotech.com/
To see the services provided by Velocity Air, visit: http://www.velocityairinc.com/

Please check out our sponsor, the Pima Air and Space Museum, through the links below:
Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/

• Learn more about the Titan Missle Museum here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/
• Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/
• Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Women have been involved in flight from the earliest moments, yet they have been relegated to the margins in most of our histories. So it was fantastic to read Sally Smith's book that brings these magnificent women back to our attention.

From women who flew balloons professionally in the 19th century to the Manchester lass who won the most prestigious air race in the country and the first Briton to go to space after hearing a radio advert, women have fought to be seen as equals and have forever excelled in the air.

Sally Smith is a journalist, skydiver and balloonist whose book Magnificent Women and Flying Machines contains a series of biographies of female aviators that demand reading and chatting about. So today, we look at a few of them and I hope you find these women as magnificent as I have.

Buy Sally's book, Magnificent Women and Flying Machines, at the Boney Abroad Pods Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9780750997461 

• Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/
• Learn more about the Titan Missle Museum here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/
• Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/
• Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Women's Auxillary Air Force has a specific spot in the public's memory. Either as the headphoned women sat around the RAF's plotting tables or of Susannah York's Section Officer Maggie Harvey in the Battle of Britain film. But what was the reality? War historian Dr Sarah-Louise Miller joins us to discuss the WAAFs who are the subject of her new book, The Women Behind the Few: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force and British Intelligence During the Second World War. Sarah helps us to look beyond the one image that has been popularised and to see the incredible work these remark markable women accomplished and, quite literally, helped win the war.

Full details of Sarah's book launch at Bletchley Park can be found on the Bletchley Park website here: https://bletchleypark.org.uk/event/the-women-behind-the-few/

Buy Sarah's The Women Behind the Few: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force and British Intelligence During the Second World War at the Boney Abroad Pods Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781785907852

Check out Sarah's website here: https://www.sarah-louisemiller.com/
Follow Sarah on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/SarahLouMiller  Follow Sarah on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dr_sarahloumiller/

• Visit our sponsor's website, the Pima Air and Space Museum, here: https://pimaair.org/
• Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/
• Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

Image: A WAAF flight officer photographic interpreter with two Canadian pilots of a photographic reconnaissance squadron, examining newly-developed 8" x 7" film at Benson, Oxfordshire. © IWM CH 10864

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, Arizona, was formally Complex 571-7 of the Titan II ICBM defence system that was active between 1963 and 1987. The museum houses the original silo, crew and control complex of 571-7 and holds training Titan II N-10. In this episode, we tour the complex with site manager Mike Riggs who takes us around the silo and under the missile itself to see what life was like for the four-man Air Force crews that manned a 24-hour watch, maintaining, practising and waiting for the call we are glad never came.

Be sure to visit the Titan Missle Museum website here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/

Follow the museum on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/TitanMissileMuseum 

Follow the museum on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/titanmissilemuseum/ 

Be sure to check out their YouTube channel too here: https://www.youtube.com/user/titanmissile 

• Visit our sponsor's website, the Pima Air and Space Museum, here: https://pimaair.org/
• Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/
• Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm delighted to announce that the podcast will now be brought to you in association with the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. To kick off this new partnership, I visited the museum and sat down with Scott Marchand, the Executive Director of the Arizona Aerospace Foundation, which includes Pima, to discuss the museum's history and its incredible collection there in the Arizona desert. Scott and I also delve into our ongoing conversations about the museum business and how he and his team curate their collection and their relationships with museums worldwide.

Click the links below to learn more about the Pima Air and Space Museum and the associated museums within the Arizona Aerospace Foundation.

• Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/
• Learn more about the Titan Missle Museum here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/
• Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/
• Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/
• Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we were at Duxford for last week's ace chat with Rebecca Greenwood Hard about the hurricane: Unsung Hero exhibition, historian Matt Willis and I decided to have a wander around and celebrate what we feel are some of Duxford's unsung heroes. As the museum was closing, we had to rush about a bit. Despite the time slipping away from us, we did get to have a look at the restoration hanger and the huge effort going into the Avro Shackleton. In the American Air Museum, Matt couldn't stop me, despite his very best efforts, from getting on my hobby horse about what was the best North American Aviation aircraft of the Second World War. Spoiler - it ain't the Mustang. This is my hill. I'm going to fight you for it.

Buy James Hamilton-Paterson's Blackbird at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781786691200

Buy Matt's Fleet Air Arm Legends: Fairey Swordfish at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781911658498

Buy Matt's Fleet Air Arm Legends: Supermarine Seafire at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781911658290

Check out Matt's website at: https://navalairhistory.com/

Follow Matt on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/NavalAirHistory

Hurricane: Unsung Hero runs until the 19th February at IWM Duxford. Click here to learn more: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/Hurricane-unsung-hero

You can follow the IWM at: https://twitter.com/I_W_M, and IWM Duxford here: https://twitter.com/IWMDuxford

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hawker Hurricane has gone down in popular history as 'not the Spitfire'. But when the Imperial War Museum unveiled their latest exhibition at IWM Duxford, Hurricane: Unsung Hero, the avgeek crowd, myself included, went 'unsung?! Never!'. So how better to discuss the exhibition with than the IWM'sHead of Technical Objects Rebecca Greenwood Harding. Rebecca has a broad remit at IWM, so I was delighted that we were able to spend a Friday with the Hurricanes to discuss making the event happen and also delve into the intricacies of managing the IWM's collection. This left me with much to think about. Please stick around for the end, as I have things to say about how we discuss and interact with the institution we love. There are people involved, they are not just faceless monoliths.

Hurricane: Unsung Hero runs until the 19th February at IWM Duxford. Click here to learn more: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/Hurricane-unsung-hero

You can follow the IWM at: https://twitter.com/I_W_M, and IWM Duxford here: https://twitter.com/IWMDuxford
You can follow Rebecca at: https://twitter.com/buffybat

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com
Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catch-22 is one of my favourite books. My battered paperback copy lives on my bedside table. I have the fancy Folio Society edition on the shelf too. As an unashamed B-25 nut, I do bang on about how the Mike Nichols adaptation, written by Buck Henry, basically saved all the flying B-25s we still have. But, how much of it is true? Heller certainly always maintained he had made it up. Author, historian and screenwriter Thomas McKelvey Cleaver took a look into Heller's war and the 57th Bomb Wing for his book The Bridgebusters, which is finally getting a UK release. Tom found that fact and fiction are a lot closer than Joe Heller ever admitted to.

You can buy Thomas McKelvey Thomas' The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781684513635

Tom's book on the USAAF's attacks on the Gothic Line, Gothic Line 1944-45: The USAAF starves out the German Army, part of Osprey's Air Campaign series can be found here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781472853417

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.