Xtended

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 Fr...

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 F...

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 BOOKSTO...

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 b...

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 a...

Please note, some parts of this episode include discussion about mental health and wellbeing issues. If you feel you may need to reach out for support in the UK: For Veterans: Combat Stress 24/7 0800 138 1619 and if calling is too difficult text 07537 173683 For everyone: Samaritans 24/7 Helpline 116 123 We are joined by Liz McConaghy. Liz is from a small town in County Down and spent a total of s...

Commander Paul Tremelling spent nearly twenty years flying the Royal Navy's Sea Harrier, with several exchange duties, including flying the F-18 Super Hornet. His book 'Harrier: How To Be a Fighter Pilot', gives an honest view of the life, challenges and rewards of being on the front line, flying fighter jets. Paul joins us for a discussion about his journey and we occasionally stray into other te...

We start our new airfield series with RAF Greenham Common. We are joined by Jonathan Sayers a local historian who takes us on the journey from Jacobean rebellion camp through World War 2 and into the Cold War where it became mostly familiar as a base for Ground Launched Cruise Missiles. Recorded 6th September 2022 Find everything Xtended on our Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended Contact U...

On this episode we have the Editorial Team from the Royal Aeronautical Society talking about events over the summer and return of airshows. Tim Robinson talks about his USA Boeing visit, Farnborough and the Swedish Airshow at Uppsala and Stephen Bridgewater joins us to talk about Oshkosh. What a summer! Recorded 5th September 2022

Whilst we take an Xtended break we mine the archives for some great content many of you may have never heard before. In this episode Gareth talks to Dave Gledhill about flying and fighting the F4 Phantom FGR2, what the Tornado F3 was really like and the Cold War realities of a nuclear outcome! You can also hear Dave in the following episodes: · Ep.75 – Falklands Air War Part 3 · Ep.74 – Xtra – Ope...

While we take an Xtended break we mine the archives for some great content many of you may have never heard before……… In this episode Tim talks to Tony Blackman about test flying the V-Bombers, how he got in to flying and what it is like to have Howard Hughes in the cockpit. Find everything Xtended on our Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtended Contact Us: GetInvolved@aviation-Xtended.co.uk To...

Kim Gough is an Approach Air Traffic Control Officer, has a popular social media profile and is a trustee of the new charitable organisation – AiR Aviation in Reach. We discuss the role of Air Traffic Control and Kim’s career in aviation, what was involved in training, on-going assessments and a ‘day in the life’. Kim takes us through the role and ambitions of Aviation in Reach, how it will delive...

Entering the aviation scene with his PPL at 17, Chris Taylor went on to have an amazing career flying over 400 aircraft types, a Royal Navy career flying Wasp and Lynx, leading to becoming a Test Pilot at the Empire Test Pilot School at Boscombe Down, later going on to become a Tutor at the ETPS. He later joined the UK Civil Aviation Authority as an aeroplane and rotary craft test pilot. Now runni...

Gene Mikulka is the producer and a presenter on Talking Space the leading podcast on space and space exploration topics. Gene has been our ‘go to’ expert for space exploration updates having appeared five times on Xtended over the past 10 years. In this episode we look at the current plans for the ISS, how Boeing’s Starliner has faired on its LEO flight to the ISS. We also discuss SpaceX, Mars exp...

Bryan Wheelz is an Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic who has worked across multiple aircraft types. He has worked in aviation maintenance supervisory and management positions and is passionate about aircraft safety. He is also the host of the podcast The Good the Bad and the Ugly: The Aviation Maintenance Industry – Raw!

Michael Napier is an experienced author with multiple published titles to his name. An ex-RAF Tornado pilot with combat experience over Iraq, he is thorough in his research and, because of his knowledge of air warfare, is highly qualified to write on the subject. His latest book Flash Points – Air Warfare in the Cold War is the focus for discussion in this episode.

Graeme Rendall is an aviation and unidentified aerial phenomena historian, researcher and author who is a frequent guest on UAP-related podcasts. He has written books on Northumberland aviation history, a trip around north-east Siberian airfields and two titles dealing with UAP (UFOs) - one on the "Foo Fighters" of World War 2 and another concentrating on pilot and aircrew sightings between 1950 a...

Gerry Humphreys is a former RAF Wing Commander with over 2500 hrs on the Harrier. With over 10,000 total flying hours on everything from fast jets, general aviation, aerobatic, sport, land, sea, utility and training aircraft, he is now an organic beef farmer living in Limerick.

With limited funding available to the South Africa Air Force, we talk to Darren Olivier from African Defence Review about why their Saab Gripens are all grounded and what impact this is having on both flying training and operational readiness. On a wider front we discuss rotary wing and heavily lift capability and how this too is hindering SAAF operations.

Michael Napier is normally associated with fast jets and he is also a recognised author specialising in aviation history. Most notable for his book 'Tornado Over the Tigris', Mike's military career spanned almost two decades but what is less known is that for 21 years Michael Napier was a pilot and captain at British Airways. We discuss how he migrated from military fast jet flying to the life of...

John ‘Rain’ Waters is a former USAF F-16 combat pilot and demo pilot. Now flying in the civilian world, John is the creator and host of the highly acclaimed and hugely popular ‘The Afterburn Podcast’.

We discuss the current news and analyse what can be taken from the early weeks of the conflict; the tactics, losses and impacts. Airliner issues are also on the agenda along with their impact on the supply chain and we finally move on to look at the space sector and some of the issues faced by the ISS team, ESA, NASA and the UK Space Agency.

Nothing seems to be more popular than Cold War aircraft and today’s guest Ian Sanders is the presenter and producer of one of the best historical and military podcasts out there…..Cold War Conversations.

‘Confessions of a Phantom Pilot: Memories of Flying the Phantom FGR2’ is Tug Wilson's first book and he joins us to discuss his career and flying the mighty Phantom FGR2.

In the 40th anniversary year of the Falklands Conflict, we are joined by John Shields, author of ‘Air Power in The Falklands Conflict - An Operational Level Insight into Air Warfare in the South Atlantic’.