Xtended

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.

We were delighted to be joined by Major Michelle Curran of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team. Major Curran, callsign 'Mace' is just the fifth female Thunderbirds pilot and chatted to us from Las Vegas, discussing her route to becoming a fighter pilot and the challenges she met along the way.

For our 100th episode we welcome back Flt Lt Jon Bond (Red 6 - RAF Red Arrows) to update us on his progress over the past eight years from Tucano Display Pilot to Eurofighter Typhoon and on to the Red Arrows. We also go back to our roots to talk to the AirplaneGeeks about their success in reaching 600 episodes.

We welcome Rowland White back on to the show to talk about his latest book 'Harrier 809 - Britain’s Legendary Jump Jet and the Untold Story of the Falklands War'.

We welcome Tim Davies back on to the show to reflect on his memories of the Tornado GR4 and look forward to Aeralis.

With seven authors introducing their books, two book club reviewers, over 50 books and over 10,000 pages, this bumper episode's only focus is on aviation books. Enjoy the content and we hope they will help you choose some interesting aviation reads. We would like to thank GrubStreet Books, Fonthill Books and The Aviation Historian for supporting this episode.

In the second episode of our 'Women In Aviation' features we talk to two extraordinary and inspirational women.

On 24 April 1994, after encountering problems just seconds after taking off from Sydney Airport, DC3 VH-EDC ditched in to Botany Bay with all 25 souls on board saved. The pilot, retired Captain Rod Lovell talks to us about the ditching and blowing the whistle on his treatment by the authorities.

The Boeing 707, a classic airliner that set so many standards that still exist in modern airliners today. Charles Kennedy, author of the 'Haynes Manual Boeing 707 1957 to Present' joins us to discuss everything from those barrel roles in the Dash 80 Test aircraft, to the airframes still flying today.