Since its formation in 1957 the Army Air Corps has played a prominent role in almost every British Army operation. We get to talk to the authors of ‘Ops Normal Volume 1, The Authorised Operational History of the Army Air Corps, 1957-2017’ and they take us through the evolution of the Corps, how it was founded and its theatres of operations during t…

Air Marshal ‘Black’ Robertson CBE BA FRAeS FRSA flew all the RAF’s front-line fast jets and also qualified as a helicopter pilot. Now retired, he also completed five tours in Whitehall, which he describes as his time as a ‘Whitehall Warrior’. He is a well published author, including ’Fighters in the Blood’, ‘A Spitfire Named Connie’ and ‘From Spitf…

Garth Barnard joins us to talk about his work cataloguing Bomber Command OTUs during WWII around central England. Aerodromes such as RAF Barford St John, RAF Bicester, RAF Chipping Warden, RAF Croughton, RAF Finmere, RAF Hinton-in-the-Hedges, RAF Silverstone, RAF Turweston and RAF Upper Heyford. Training crews flew aircraft such as the Hampden, Ble…

A new biography is being written on Claude Grahame-White. One that this will give more depth to the story behind the man who was a British aviation legend in his time and one who was sadly downtrodden and outcast by the government of the day. Joining us is Alison White who has taken on the task of correcting the historical record and resetting our …

Although we finished the main content of the Cold War Coastal Command series in the last chapter, a story emerged that we just couldn’t resist. Stephen Bridgewater, Deputy Editor for Aerospace Magazine and good friend of the show mentioned that he had in fact purchased an RAF Nimrod directly from the RAF back in 2010. After Steve’s story, Gareth jo…

In our final Chapter of the Cold War Coastal Command series, we are honoured to speak to Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge, KCB, CBE, ADC, FCMI, FRAeS. Sir Brian takes us not only through flying the Nimrod and Nimrod operations in the Cold War period, but also explains how the Nimrod was used strategically in theatres such as the Falklands War, …

Nimrod XV250 is based at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington near York. She was dedicated by the Archbishop of York to stand as a permanent tribute to the 14 British servicemen killed in Afghanistan when Nimrod XV230 crashed near Kandahar in September 2006. Her team of volunteers keep her in a ground running condition to remember all Aircrew and …

The Shackleton replacement now started to become more urgent. For years the Air Staff and Ministries had argued over what type should replace the Shackleton, including variants of the Vulcan, Britannia, VC10 and Trident, before settling for the Nimrod in 1964 We return to Chris Gibson, author of the brilliant book 'Nimrod’s Genesis' to learn how th…

There is a Shackleton that still ‘Growls’ and this chapter features Shackleton MR2 WR963, currently based at Coventry but with a major project underway to move her to Elvington and the Yorkshire Air Museum. We speak to Richard Woods the driving forcebehind the project all about the aircraft and how to engineer the airframe when very few original en…

In this feature we talk to Ian Chisolm, Secretary of the Coastal Command and Maritime Air Association, about the RAF’s Avro Shackleton. Ian logged over 3,000 hours as an Air Electronics Officer (AEO) in charge of a team of five SNCO Air Electronics Operators who manned the Radio, Radar and Underwater Acoustics systems as well as the 20mm Hispano ca…

At the end of World War Two RAF Coastal Command faced the same challenges of all the British military services, one of reduction, cutbacks and a return to a peaceful world. The threat from the axis powers had been effectively squashed but there was a new threat emerging, in the form of the Soviet Union. Coastal Command had to start learning about n…

Ever wondered how you go about marketing one of the worlds premier airshows, an air display act, or an airport? Helen Webb, Founder and Director at International Airshow Marketing, joins us to tell us how it all fits together. Recorded 30th July 2024 Contact Us: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Xtended Link Tree https://linktr.ee/aviationxtende…

We speak to the inspirational founder of Elevate(Her), Katherine Maloney. Katherine eloquently speaks up for a more diverse workforce across the aviation sector. Elevate(Her) is growing exponentially due to the demand for the work they do, encouraging, nurturing and assisting the future generations of aviation employees. Recorded 18th July 2024 Con…

We talk to Chris Wroblewski and Garth Barnard about their in depth investigation of the 1943 B-24 Liberator crash, that killed Polish General Sikorski and dispel the myths and conspiracies around assassination or accident being the cause. Recorded 4th June 2024 Contact Us: [email protected] You can buy a copy of the book at our boo…

The Xtended team finally all assemble to talk about 200 episodes of the podcast, recent sad news from the aviation world, Ellie's trip to Normandy for the D-Day 80th commemorations and more. Believe it or not, this is the first time all four members of the team have managed to record together - hopefully we will do it again soon! Recorded 3rd June …

Amanda Harrison has always wanted to recreate the footsteps of Amy Johnson, flying solo in a Tiger Moth from the UK to Darwin, Australia in just 20 Days. Listen in as she tells us the tale of the attempt and how things unfolded. From Dracula’s Castle to Mediterranean wonders! Although a professional pilot, Amanda is also dyslexic, an additional cha…

Mick Oakey, Robert Forsyth and Chris Gibson come back to the History Round Table to answer listener questions. We discuss what books do not get written, what they would love to read, their proudest work and what do they think about graphics and photos in books and articles. Along with advice for budding aviation authors this is an enjoyable roundta…

There is a new podcast focused on RAF Bomber Command in World War Two hosted by Writer and Military Historian Jane Gulliford Lowes and Historian and co host James Jefferies. It is of course 'Never Mind The Dambusters'! In this, our landmark 200th episode, we get the opportunity to talk to Jane and James about Bomber Command and the challenges the a…

Samuel de Korte is a graduate student of Utrecht University, where he studied an MA in the Cultural History of Modern Europe. He wrote his Master's thesis about the representation of black Americans during the Second World War, indicating that although they formed a substantial part of the American armed forces, they don't receive an equal share in…

Finalising our focus on how the use of AI, data and machine learning is changing the sector, we are joined by Andy Taylor, the Chief Solutions Officer at NATS. NATS it is the UK's leading provider of air traffic control services as well as providing air traffic services to airports, airlines, air traffic service providers and governments across par…

In 2023 Dave Homewood from the Wings Over New Zealand podcast visited the UK to record and document Kiwi aviation involvement in World War Two by visiting some of our historic aircraft, museums, airfields and memorials. Dave is returning in 2024 but with a slightly different agenda. We caught up with Dave as he planned the return ‘Wings Over Britai…

Steven Bailey discovered that the story of the U.S. Navy airstrikes on Japanese-held Hong Kong during the final year of World War II had never been told. Operation Gratitude involved nearly 100 U.S. Navy warships and close to a thousand planes. His new book ‘Target Hong Kong’ brings this massive operation down to a human scale, recounting the air r…

Dr Tony Redding is a military historian and author with a particular interest in RAF Bomber Command. He joins us to talk us through the operational capability and credibility of Britain’s airborne nuclear deterrent during the peak years of the Cold War. Recorded 23rd Feb 2024 Contact Us: [email protected] You can order a copy of th…

Continuing our focus on how data and technology has changed the aviation sector we welcome Diana Franganillo Luque from Indra and Udi Segall from Intell-Act to discuss an exciting project to integrate all airport, airline and air traffic data using AI to streamline the ‘Perfect Aircraft Pit-stop. Recorded 7th Feb 2024 Contact Us: GetInvolved@aviati…

Ryan Noppen joins to help us understand the overlooked air battle between the Netherlands and Germany that thwarted the German invasion of Holland in 1940 for five days. Ryan is a military author with a Master of Arts degree in European history. Ryan is a scholar of Dutch, German and Central European history and the author of ‘Holland 1940, The Luf…