Xtended

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.

We are joined by Naval Air Historian Matt Willis to discuss many of the lesser known aspects of the aircraft and its real impact on World War Two Fleet Air Arm operations.

Matt’s book is available through our bookstore:

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9781911658498

Recorded 11th January 2023

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Matt Willis

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

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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.

He was at the controls when the British Airways’ Supersonic Flagship returned to service in November 2001, and commanded and flew the final Concorde commercial flight from New York to London on October 24th 2004. By the time Concorde retired Mike had amassed over 9,200 Concorde flight hours – around 6,900 at supersonic speeds. For over 10 years he was extensively involved as an expert witness and lead technical advisor in the ‘Air France Concorde Trial.’

Mike’s book ‘Concorde: The thrilling account of history’s most extraordinary airliner’ is available through our bookstore https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9780241557006

Recorded 19th December 2022

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Mike Bannister

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

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Happy new year to all our wonderful listeners. See you in 2023!

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.

Enjoy hearing their techniques, challenges and unusual stories!

Recorded 7th December 2022

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Rich Cooper

Steve Bridgewater

Tim Robinson

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/

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.

He brings to life the challenges, horror and heroism of the pilots and crews who tried to save those trapped in the ‘pocket’.

His new book is published by Osprey Publishing and is available now on our Bookshop and is called ‘To Save An Army: The Stalingrad Airlift’.

Robert is an author, editor and publisher specialising in historic military aviation. He set up his own publishing company in 1994 to publish his first book and has gone on to write more than thirty titles on the aircraft, campaigns and units of the Luftwaffe, an interest he has held since boyhood.

Robert is a member of the editorial board of ‘The Aviation Historian’ and was of course an expert guest on our Coastal Command series and featured in Episode 126 on the Luftwaffe’s special weapons.

To Save An Army: The Stalingrad Airlift buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9781472845412

Recorded 28th November 2022

Robert Forsyth

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/

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.

But it also covers some historic sites, and we get to discuss these and others, as well as where launch sites are built, how they are laid out and some lesser known locations in the world for launching rockets.

XTENDED BOOKSTORE The Atlas of Space Rocket Launch Sites buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9783869227580

This bookstore supports our authors with higher royalties than major internet based superstores, it also supports small local bookshops and pays a small commission to Xtended on a sale.

Recorded 28th October 2022

Find everything Xtended on our Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended

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Brian Harvey

Twitter https://twitter.com/BrianHarveyAut1

Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Harvey_(author)

Gurbir Singh

Twitter https://twitter.com/GurbirSingh

Web www.gurbir.co.uk

https://dom-publishers.com/products/the-atlas-of-space-rocket-launch-sites

A limited number of signed copies will also be available directly from the authors, Brian in the Republic of Ireland and Gurbir in England

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/

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.

We talk through the history of rotorcraft in Fleet Air Arm service and their impact on operational performance.

Fleet Air Arm Boys Volume Three: Helicopters – True Tales From royal Navy Men and Women Air and Ground Crew buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9781911667278

Recorded 9th November 2022

Find everything Xtended on our Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended

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Dr Steve Bond

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

XTENDED BOOKSTORE

‘Beyond’ – buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9780008372507

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/

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.

Please note - this episode contains some adult language.

Recorded 4th November 2022

Find everything Xtended on our Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended

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Michael Napier

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelNapierAuthor/

Tug Wilson

• Website: https://www.fonthill.media/products/phantom-pilot

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/

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’.

‘Beyond….’ relates how the Soviet Union beat the USA to put the first human into space.

XTENDED BOOKSTORE

‘Beyond’ buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9780008372507

Recorded 14th October 2022

Find everything Xtended on our Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended

Contact Us: [email protected]

Stephen Walker

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

You can shop through this Amazon link (No cost to you but a small benefit to us):

For Aviation and Aerospace Podcasts join https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlightAudioandVideo/

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.

Trained gunners were constantly in demand and often in short supply. Many of the pilots of the training aircraft based at Morpeth were from other Allied nations and Graeme gives us a really interesting view of operations at the airfield. 

Post-war, like many airfields, it lost its status and faded away with only relics remaining today.

Graeme also gives us an insight to his other three Northumberland airfield books, from air crashes to storage facilities.

Recorded 15th September 2022

Graeme Rendall

Aviation Xtended Partners

• Royal Aeronautical Society https://www.aerosociety.com/

Show Supporters

• The Aviation Historian http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/

Ellie hosts our first round-table 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.

They discuss the health of the sector, how are new entrants and training being delivered and how easy it is these days to be a general aviation pilot.

Recorded 27th September 2022