The Aviation Show

In 1919, the forerunner to the United States Air Force, the Air Service, staged an audacious transcontinental air race. While flying coast to coast had never really been done before, the head of the Training and Operations Group, Brigadier-General Billy Mitchell. Decided that making it a round-trip race would be even better than just going one way. So in October 1919, using war surplus aircraft, including British and German single-seat Scouts, the great air race began.

Former Washington Post Foreign Correspondent and pilot John Lancaster has retraced the roots of men like Tooey Spaatz and the 'Flying Parson', Belvin Maynard, back and forth across the United States and his new book. The Great Air Race.

To learn more and John, visit his website at: https://www.johnlancasterauthor.com/
Follow John on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/JohnKLancaster
Follow John on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/JohnLancasterAuthor/

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As the last Boeing 747 rolls off the assembly line at Everett, the once distinctive shape of the airliners we have known have become the norm. But with the changes in power source we discussed in Part 1 coming into effect, the shape of the aircraft of the future will adapt to make the best use of them. Aerospace engineer Joe Wilding returns to help us look at what the Shape of the Future may be. Oh, and we chat about Nuclear Aircraft too.

Follow Joe on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/joe_wilding

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Aviation is at a fascinating crossroads. As the production of the 747 ends this year and the production lines have been quiet for quite some time now In their place, we are seeing in a shift in the way we travel by air. Aviation is also very much in the sights of all those who want us to reduce our carbon footprint because it is a very visible sign of carbon emissions.

Joining us today is Joe Wilding who is an aerospace engineer currently working in the fascinating field of electric aircraft. Joe joined me to look at a number of the concepts currently being explored to make aviation more sustainable that could make aviation have a future after all. Our chat looked at a number of different concepts. In part one of this two-parter, we look at the reasons why aviation needs to change and how the different power sources of power we could turn to will have different effects on the aircraft of the future. Be warned, I go on about hydrogen for a bit. It is the future, you know.

Follow Joe on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/joe_wilding

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Stephen Walker's Beyond was one of my reads of lockdown. Beyond covers the months leading up to Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1 flight that made him the first human in space. Stephen has crafted a fantastic narrative that does not just focus on Gagarin but on the Chief Designer and the team that worked in such secrecy to put him in space.

I sat down with Stephen on the day NASA returned to the moon with the Artemis Orion test flight. We chatted about some of the lesser discussed aspects of what went into creating the book, the tragic Grigory Nelyubov and the myths of the Lost Cosmonauts.

You can grab a copy of Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space at our bookshop below, and you can find the links to Stephen's social media there too.

Let me know what you think and if you've read the book!

Beyond - Paperback: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9780008372545

Beyond - Hardback: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9780008372507 

Stephen's website: https://www.stephenwalkerbeyond.com/

Stephen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SWalkerBEYOND 

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The Challenger Disaster is one that still resonates nearly 40 years after that the tragedy that claimed seven astronauts 73 seconds into their flight. On the 10th November 2022, NASA announced that a 20-foot section of the orbiter had been found by a team searching for the lost Grumman Avengers of Flight 19. Today I am joined by two of the team of the History Channel's new series The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters, historian David O'Keefe and filmmaker and historical investigator Wayne Abbott, as we discuss this incredible find and get the low down on the new series.

The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters debuts in the US and Canada on the History Channel on Tuesday, 22nd November and on Sky History in January 2023. Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/tSz3UfTsUGc

Follow David O'Keefe on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/okeefehistorian
Wayne's website is: http://www.nsetv.ca/index.html

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The day job recently took me to Oz where on my last morning, I went to Moorabbin in Southern Melbourne to visit Ewan McArthur at the Moorabbin Air Museum. The museum is home to an eclectic collection of aircraft with the view to have as many of them as hands-on as possible. The star attraction is their Mk.XXI Beaufighter. Ewan kindly showed me around, and we recorded the tour for you. We do ramble a bit, and we do eventually get to the Beaufighter, so stick with us.

Do check out the museum's website and social media because, as you'll hear, you can't keep Ewan and the team there down for long!

Let me know what you think.

Moorabbin Air Museum website: https://www.aarg.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moorabbinairmuseum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ANAMAviation
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anamaviation/
The Beaufort Fund Raising Page: https://gofund.me/3d3fb4d6

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The Fairey Swordfish was an aircraft out of time. Obsolete by the time it was called upon in the Second World War, it was an aircraft of contradictions. Kept in service because her replacement would have taken too much time and resources to build in numbers, the Swordfish was thrown into battles where she performed admirably. And also where it should never have been.

Joining me today is author and historian Matthew Willis, whose new book on the Swordfish looks to delve into some of those contradictions. And explain why it stayed in service when the aircraft that were intended to replace it, like the Albacore, never got to the frontline in the numbers that the Swordfish did.

If you are in the UK, you can buy a copy of Matt's Fleet Air Arm Legends: Fairey Swordfish at the Boney Abroad Podcasts Bookshop on the link below. 10% of every sale goes to supporting the podcast, and Bookshop.org will donate to help independent bookshops in the UK too. Get your copy here

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

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Jesse L. Brown was the US Navy's first African-American Naval Aviator. With his squadron mates, onboard the USS Leyte in VF-32, Jesse and his wingman Thomas Hudner Jr. struck up a remarkable friendship that would lead to the tragic, heroic events of the 4th December 1950. Tom Hudner's actions would earn him the Medal of Honor, and Adam Makos would write their story in his book Devotion, soon to be released as a major motion picture starring Johnathan Majors and Glen Powell.

But at the EAA in Oshkosh, they found that their F4U-4 Corsair had a direct link to Tom Hudner. Joining me today is the museum programs coordinator at EAA, who was part of the team that researched the history of that Corsair that would lead to an incredible unveiling with the Brown and Hudner families.

Learn more about the Experimental Aircraft Association at: https://www.eaa.org/

Watch the trailer for Devotion here: https://youtu.be/NCDEGP6VjYY
If you are in the UK, you can buy Adam Makos' book, Devotion, at our Bookshop here. 10% of every sale goes to supporting the podcast, and Bookshop.org will donate to help independent bookshops in the UK, too: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781782395775

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

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The 1960s saw the true birth of international air travel. The glamour of the jet set was only matched by the glamour of the flight attendants that cared for them. as they dashed across the globe. At the forefront of this change in air travel were Pan American Airways and their powder blue uniformed stewardesses. 

While the hyper-sexualised image of the stewardesses was capitalised upon by the airlines, the women themselves were in no way stereotypes. Joining me today is author Julia Cooke, whose new book Come Fly the World looks at the remarkable period in the late 60s when Pan Am stated: "Stewardesses Wanted. Must Want The World."

Julia's website can be found at: http://www.juliacooke.com/
You can follow Julia on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/juliaccooke

If you are in the UK, you can buy a copy of Come Fly the World at the Boney Abroad Podcasts Bookshop on the link below. 10% of every sale goes to supporting the podcast, and Bookshop.org will donate to help independent bookshops in the UK too. Get your copy here:: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781785787799

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

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A change of President in 1981 led to a complete change in US military posture, and with Roland Regan came the rebirth of the B-1 project as a much-refined B-1B with a slightly different role.

Kenneth P. Katz is an Air Force Veteran and career aerospace engineer, returns to conclude the story of the B-1 as the aircraft is raced into service as the B-1B just in time for the Cold War to end. But, the aircraft would prove to be a vital asset for the war that would come and last two decades.

You can follow Ken on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/kennethpkatz 

The Supersonic BONE: A Development and Operational History of the B-1 Bomber by Kenneth P. Katz is out now. It is published in the UK by Pen and Sword and in the USA by Casemate.

If you are in the UK, you can buy a copy of The Supersonic BONE at the Boney Abroad Podcasts Bookshop on the link below. 10% of every sale goes to supporting the podcast, and Bookshop.org will donate to help independent bookshops in the UK too. Get your copy here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781399014717 

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

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

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