episode 158: Ep.158 - Fleet Air Arm: Helicopters with Steve Bond
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...
episode 159: Ep.159 - Space rocket launch sites
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...
episode 160: Ep.160 - Stalingrad Airlift
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’...
episode 161: EP.161 – Roundtable discussion, 'Trust me, I'm an aviation journalist'
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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episode 163: Ep.163 - Fairey Swordfish with Matt Willis
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...
episode 164: Ep.164 - Hydrogen Powered Flight with Cranfield Aerospace
Cranfield Aerospace Solutions’ (CAeS) is an established aerospace business of over 33 years, with 100+ staff and is one of very few aerospace SMEs globally to have both whole aircraft concept design capability and to hold a range of regulatory approvals for the design and manufacture of modifications to existing aircraft...
episode 165: Ep.165 - China in space with Brian Harvey
The story of China is space is not one widely known nor properly understood in Western corridors, although China of course has been launching rockets for almost a thousand years. In this episode we welcome back author and Chinese space expert Brian Harvey to help us address that.
In 2019, China astonished the world by landing a spacecraft and rover on the far side of the Moon, something never achieved by any country before...
episode 166: Ep.166 - Indian Airmen and the IAF in WW2 (Part 1)
The air war in India and Burma (World War Two) has not received the focus it deserves. In this episode we talk to author K.S. Nair (Sree) to look at this area of conflict, the contribution made to the allied efforts in both WW1 and WW2, as well as the evolution and early operations of the Indian Air Force.
K.S. Nair is the son and son-in-law of Indian Air Force officers...
episode 167: Ep.167 – Indian Airmen and the IAF in WW2 (Part 2)
In the second part of our feature Sree (KS Nair) talks to us about IAF Training, aircraft types and ground attack tactics. We expose some of the challenges around motivation as well as culture and work through the quote from many at the time that “The Indian Air Force was an experiment that was never meant to succeed”.
K.S. NAIR is the son and son-in-law of Indian Air Force officers...
episode 168: Ep.168 - North Korea Airshow
On our Journalist’s Roundtable discussion in Ep.161 (Trust Me I’m an Aviation Journalist), Rich Cooper mentioned the visit to a North Korea Airshow. We wanted to find out more and Rich introduced us to author and photographer, Gerry Manning, who was there.
Gerry joins us to share the experience and we talk airliners and fighter jets as well as helicopters, cargo lifters and microlights...