In part two of our interview with Martin Withers, he relives the joy of displaying what was the last surviving Vulcan, XH558. It was an unexpected and hugely welcome chapter to his flying career after he had flown two of the historic Black Buck Raids during the Falklands Conflict in 1982. That was the only time the Vulcan had been used in anger as a bomber, and came right at the end of its RAF career. But the RAF kept two Vulcans for public displays, XL426 and XH558, known as the Vulcan...

In this 40th anniversary year of the Falklands Conflict we devote two Full Flaps editions to Martin Withers who flew Avro Vulcan XM607 on the historic Black Buck Raids on Stanley Airfield. Martin and his crew were actually the reserve crew for the mission, but when the primary aircraft went u/s, Withers and XM607 immediately stepped up to carry out one of the most extraordinary, not to mention longest bombing raids of all time. In part one Martin talks to us in detail about the build-up to...

This week’s podcast drops in a very timely manner as we release the first of our episodes  marking the 40th anniversary of the Falklands Conflict. Specifically this week’s episode features the magnificent Avro Vulcan and the Black Buck Raids flown by our guest Martin Withers. The first raid, with Martin flying Vulcan XM607, set out from Ascension Island on the 30th April 1982, dropping its 21 1,000lb bombs on Stanley Airfield in the early hours of the 1st May. It is one of the most...

We’re delighted to finally get series 4 of our aviation podcast Top Landing Gear up and flying – at last! We’re kicking off this first episode with a look back at some of our favourite topics and guest interviews from our first three series. There are two reasons for this: firstly they’re worth hearing again; secondly we weren’t organised enough to come up with a new subject in time. So for this week please enjoy, no really please try, our ‘Best of’ episode, including clips from our...

Top Landing Gear Series Four starts this week.    A quick two minute preview from Rob and a reminder of who we are, what we do and that there is a quiz!     

In our final interview from our trip to Lincoln the TLG team talk to Flight Lieutenant Neil 'Faz' Farrell inside the iconic BBMF hangar at RAF Coningsby. As we walk around Lancaster PA474 Neil tells us about his experiences as Bomber Leader, what it's like flying the Lancaster and about his other roles in the RAF such as flying the E-3 Sentry and instructing others to fly the E-3, Lancaster and Dakota.  We would like to thank Neil and everybody at RAF Coningsby and BBMF for all their time...

The team are finally back together as a foursome in the studio - well, not quite the studio but backstage at GLive in Guildford just before Roy takes to the stage on the Surrey leg of his SFG 2021 tour.In this episode we discuss all things BBMF and Lancaster after our 2020 tour to Lincolnshire.  James was asked about bang seats, Jez's quick facts had to be quick - as the support band were just about to start kicking out some beats; and the quiz made a triumpant* return.  Plus we hear a...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. Regular listeners to TLG will know that our aviation expert James Cartner is a former RAF Puma pilot. As such he has some kind of weird chip on his shoulder about the mighty Chinook, alleging that all any Chinook crew will talk about is how much it can lift. For the rest of us, and I suspect for James as well although he’d hate to admit it, the Chinook is an incredible aircraft, and its impressive display...

  Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. We were extremely honoured to be invited to the Festival’s opening ceremony which was attended not only by some of the show’s participants but also some top brass, among whom was Air Vice Marshal Simon Edwards, Assistant Chief of The Air Staff. A former Hercules and C17 pilot, he’s now responsible for ASTRA, the RAF’s future strategy. Yet despite being such an incredibly important and impressive...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival.   Both the RAF and the Royal Navy took part in the flying display at Bournemouth, as did the Army, who were superbly represented by the Tigers Free-fall Parachute Display Team. These guys from the Princess of Wales’s Regiment and Queens Division do this in their spare time as parachuting isn’t part of their normal army life – that tends to be left to the Parachute Regiment. But they’re all highly...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. There are those whose sole reason for attending an airshow is to watch and hear the old piston-engined fighters and bombers from WWII, and indeed few could argue with their reasoning. But for others, and I suspect the majority of airshow-goers, one of the greatest thrills is seeing the Typhoon being put through its paces, accompanied by the crackling roar of its twin jets rasping through the air. RIAT...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. Since its launch in 2008, the Bournemouth Air Festival has established itself as one of the UK’s leading public aviation events, and is estimated to generate in the region of £30 million pounds annually to the local economy. It’s certainly highly regarded by aviation fans and display teams alike as it attracts top acts in the air, at sea, on the ground, including most years music acts, not least Roy...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. No airshow would be complete without the intrepid AeroSuperBatics Wingwalkers who’ve been thrilling airshow crowds all over the world since they were founded back in 1984. They fly the Boeing Stearman, a biplane trainer from the 1940s, with the wingwalkers climbing from the open cockpit onto the top wing to perform various moves, while the aircraft perform aerobatics in close formation, at speeds of up to...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. Putting on an airshow requires an immense amount of organisation, and safety is of course paramount. But when a display takes place over the sea, and away from an airfield, who controls the display area and calls the aircraft in to begin their display? What if they need to hold, or if there needs to be a last minute change due to unforeseen circumstances? Dave Walton is Display Director for the UK’s...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. One of the most eye-catching solo displays at UK airshows is the ultra high-energy performance by Rich Goodwin in his Pitts Special. A former RAF Tornado pilot, Rich has been performing aerobatics for over 30 years, and his phenomenal display has spectators gasping in disbelief as he hurls his tiny Pitts Special Muscle Biplane around the sky. Rich is also passionate about building and modifying these...

Welcome to TLG and to our series of interviews from the 2021 Bournemouth Air Festival. With the 2021 airshow season in the UK drawing to a close, what better time to speak to Red 6, Squadron Leader Jon Bond, as he brings the curtain down on his 4 year stint with the Red Arrows. As Red 6 ‘Bondie’ is Synchro Leader, and also choreographed a brand new manoeuvre for the Reds this year called Boomerang. We also spoke to former Red 1, now OC the Red Arrows, Wing Commander David Montenegro, and...

After several hi-octane podcasts celebrating the magic of the Merlin-powered Avro Lancaster, and the roar of the mighty Eurofighter Typhoon, we’re back with, not so much a bang, but definitely not a whimper either, in fact more of a whoosh. This week the TLG team goes gliding. None of us knew quite what to expect ahead of our gliding debuts, but, as you’ll hear in our Full Flaps episode, we loved it! We hope this episode will open your eyes, as it did ours, to the glory of gliding, and the...

After several hi-octane podcasts celebrating the magic of the Merlin-powered Avro Lancaster, and the roar of the mighty Eurofighter Typhoon, we’re back with, not so much a bang, but definitely not a whimper either, in fact more of a whoosh. This week the TLG team goes gliding. None of us knew quite what to expect ahead of our gliding debuts, but, as you’ll hear in our Full Flaps episode, we loved it! We hope this episode will open your eyes, as it did ours, to the glory of gliding, and the...

Welcome to our second FULL FLAPS Eurofighter Typhoon episode. During our trip to RAF Coningsby the TLG team was given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the Typhoon operation. In this second episode you can hear Rob flying the Typhoon sim under the expert instruction of our host Flt Lt Nick Callinswood who went above and beyond in making sure we got more from our visit than we could ever have hoped for. We had so much fun that we thought it deserved two episodes, so make sure you...

Welcome to our FULL FLAPS Eurofighter Typhoon episode. During our trip to RAF Coningsby the TLG team was given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the Typhoon operation. Coningsby is one of two RAF stations in the UK which operates the Typhoon in the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) role, safeguarding UK airspace. We toured the hangars, sat in cockpit of an operational Typhoon, and were given a highly detailed explanation of everything that makes this spectacular aircraft such a potent...

We’re continuing with our trip to Lincolnshire, Bomber County, where we’ve been focussing on the Avro Lancaster. But in this episode we move right up to date with our visit to RAF Coningsby, one of the RAF’s Typhoon bases where our host for the day, Flt Lt Nick Callinswood, gave us incredible access as we explored and sat in an operational Typhoon, and gave all four of us instruction in the Typhoon flight simulator. So we’ve divided the full flaps episode into two parts as there’s so much...

On our recent visit to Bomber County, Lincolnshire, the TLG team visited RAF Scampton, home to 617 Squadron and from where, in May 1943, 19 specially converted Lancasters set out on that historic raid.  This is our FULL FLAPS tour around the Scampton Heritage Centre, which included sitting at the desk of Wing Cdr Guy Gibson in the very office from where he planned and ran Operation Chastise, and touring the original hangars where those Lancaster's were prepared.   Huge thanks to our...

After Roy and James tried to go it alone in the previous pod, Top Landing Gear is back at full strength for this one. Throughout this series we’ve been focussing on the Avro Lancaster which this year celebrates its 80th anniversary. And this episode features the Lanc’s most famous mission of all, Operation Chastise, ‘The Dam Busters Raid’.  On our recent visit to Bomber County, Lincolnshire, the TLG team visited RAF Scampton, home to 617 Squadron and from where, in May 1943, 19 specially...

With the Curling Brothers unavailable, Roy And James got together to mark the 85th anniversary of the first public display of the Supermarine Spitfire prototype K5054. We catch up on the latest aviation news, answer a superb 'Ask James' question and conduct arguably the best Top Landing Gear quiz ever!  It is also the perfect excuse to repeat our interview with the Spitfire pilot Jim Schofield. Chief pilot at the Boultbee Academy Where YOU can fly in a Spitfire! Jim has flown over 100...

Welcome to our full length interview with Emma Brealey, director of the magnificent Petwood Hotel in Lincolnshire. During the Second World War it served as the officers' mess for a number of RAF squadrons including 617 Squadron - The Dambusters. Petwood's ties with the RAF are particularly strong and it continues to host squadron reunions and gatherings. The hotel also boasts a wealth of memorabilia, and as you'll hear from Emma some wonderful stories.  WARNING! This interview was...