MAVGEEKS: A Military Aircraft Obsession

This week, we celebrate spooky season! First, Gini catches up with Richard Craig, keen aviator and ghost tour guide at the UK's most haunted castle, Chillingham. Richard shares all manner of hair-raising aviation tales, as does Rachel Parsons of the Retford Ghost Hunters. When they spoke last year, Rachel told Gini all about a recent encounter with RAF Metheringham's resident apparition, the Metheringham Lass. Gini gets an update on that spookiest of aviators, and much, much more. Happy Halloween!

We’re feeling smug this week as Gini Carlin blasts off for an out-of-this-world chat with Britain’s first “official” astronaut Tim Peake! The pair touched on everything from common misconceptions around spacewalking, to deceptively huge characters in the otherwise serious world of space exploration, to Tim’s brand new book: Space: The Human Story.

It’s back to basics this week for a nuts-and-bolts Mavs classic. Our Jamie was lucky enough to be offered a guided tour of the iconic Avro Shackleton by none other than Squadron Leader Retired Brian Withers MBE; the very one he flew on, in fact! Jamie learned all about this giant of the sky and the curious foibles that come with it. 

Gini and Jamie celebrate World Space Week 2023 by catching up with some of the most pioneering space figures on - and off - Earth. Jamie’s mind is blown by Delian Asparouhov of Varda Space Industries, Melissa Quinn tells Gini all about her time running Spaceport Cornwall and her current role keeping space clean at Seradata, and Jamie pins down none other than Dr. Paul Bate, the CEO of the UK Space Agency.

Gini takes us back to this year's Duxford Air Show, where she saw the Vampire, the Bristol Blenheim and the fully electric Pipistrel Velis. Listen in as she chats to Master Sergeant Jeremy Hall of the 351st Air Refuelling Squadron, pilot Sam Whatmough, Bristol Blenheim restorer John "Smudge" Smith and Wing Commander Martin "Tin Tin" Tesli of the Norwegian Air Force. Meanwhile, Jamie reminisces about a flight he once took with a popstar!

MavGeeks is back! This time we talk the F-4 Phantom, BAE Hawk and Boeing 747 with British Airways' Director of Flight Operations Allister Bridger.

With a career spanning both military and civil aviation, Al’s one of the most experienced and enthusiastic guests we’ve ever had. Equally generous with his wisdom and time, he even took Gini for a flying lesson in the British Airways’ Boeing 777 simulator (strap in for a bumpy landing!). Al shares some brilliant insights into flying RAF fast jets and explains why civil aviation still leaves him feeling like a giddy little kid. 

We want to hear your aviation tale! Get in touch via [email protected]. 

Got an obsession with aircraft that’s impossible to contain? So maniacal about military aviation your friends are concerned for your wellbeing? Stop searching, you’re home! MavGeeks: A Military Aircraft Obsession is back and bigger then ever for series 4! Join Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon as they get familiar with the most iconic planes in the sky and meet the superheroes who fly them. Listen to MavGeeks on bfbs.com/podcasts, and subscribe on your favourite podcast platform.

We want to hear your aviation tale! Reach out at [email protected]. 

Yes! It's the time of the year when our MavGeeks set their eyes on the skies to follow the Big Man himself. Gini and Jamie learn all about what it takes to track the world's most famous aviator and his reindeer as they navigate the globe.

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

Join us on a road trip to maybe the coolest RAF station ever, RAF Fylingdales. It's 30 years since those iconic golf balls gave way to the pyramid that sees into space, but the mission remains the same: Vigilamus (Latin for “We Are Watching”). These people are dedicated to keeping the UK safe from ballistic missiles and space junk. Space analyst Lacey Harrison and Flight Lieutenant Richie Weeks talk us through what it truly means to have your eyes on the skies 24/7, and how RAF Fylingdales plays its part in protecting those who live and work up there from some seriously heavy-duty space clutter.

Get in touch. Email us via mavgeeks@bfbs.com

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

This week's MiniMavs sees Gini and her old mav man Alex Gill stick their toes into the civil aviation world to become CavGeeks! They speak to RAFAC Officer and Airline First Officer Katy Lee MBE all about her work as a human factors specialist, flying instructor, charity trustee and of course, flying the Boeing 737 Max for a living.

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

You may be cool, but are you "a teenager going for a ride in a Harrier flown by your Dad cool?” Nah, thought not. Our guest this week IS that cool! Ian Black is a former Pilot and Navigator on the Phantom and Lightning, and is now an author and photographer. In fact, Ian liked the Lightning so much, he actually bought one. After hearing this, we MavGeeks needed a lie down in a darkened room...

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

This week's MiniMav sees our Gini with her old Mav man Alex Gill talking to Former Royal Navy pilot Andrew Neofytou. Andrew now flies the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and has his own business (flightdeckwingman.com), but there was a time when Andrew flew the mighty Sea Harrier, a plane which, to be honest, could be as stroppy as a teenager with no WiFi. Join our Mavs as they listen like two dweeby kids at summer camp to stories of smashed canopies at 30,000 feet, engine malfunctions, and of course, being flung off the side of an aircraft carrier. You won't want to miss this...

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

This week, Gini and Jamie chat with Tom Cruise's bff. No, it's not Maverick, but Jo Salter MBE! Not only is she rubbing shoulders with Hollywood's elite but she's also Britain's first female fast jet pilot, a motivational speaker and Director of Global Transformative Leadership at a massive UK corporation. Join our MavGeeks as they fangirl/fanboy a true British aviation icon.

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

Gini's flying solo this week as she brings you a brand new “MiniMav" episode! Speaking to Sqn Ldr Al Spence from 30 Squadron, Gini learns all about the A400 Atlas, how it flies, and how it compares to Al's previous career with fast jets. Then, on the first midair refuelling of an A400, by the RAF, what it's like to when a big old Voyager gets up close and personal and the sky seems a whole lot smaller...

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

Our MavGeeks liftoff Series 3 with something a little out there… that’s right, it’s time for 2022’s MavGeeks Halloween Special! In what’s now an annual tradition, Gini Carlin and her new co-pilot Jamie Gordon welcome brilliant guests for the lowdown on some terrifying tales that defy aviation explanation.

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon.

Here at MavGeeks towers, we’re preparing for take off on Series 3 of our weekly aviation geek-out. But, this Friday, we're bringing you tales of haunted hangars and freaky flights - that’s right, we launch Series 3 with MavGeeks’ Halloween Special! From then on, we stick to the fly pro as usual, as we chat with the pilots, air crew and ground crew who flew, fixed, loved and sometimes even loathed our favourite flying machines.

Attracting weird looks because you're totally nerdy about planes? Come and join your tribe! MavGeeks: A Military Aircraft Obsession is back for a third series. Join Gini Carlin and new boy Jamie Gordon as they get ready to geek out over some iconic military aircraft with some of the people who fly them. Hit follow to join them in the jump seat!

Our Mavgeeks bring you a very special festive episode, as they track the World’s greatest aviator with NORAD and RAF Fylingdales. Join Gini and Alex as they find out about the F-18 escort that Santa gets over North America, How the heat signature of a ballistic missile is the same heat signature that’s in Rudolph’s nose and just how the big man uses OSA (Official Santa Act) technology to get across the globe. So grab a mince pie, a glass of cheer and wrap yourself up in gawdy 1980s foil decorations as the Mavgeeks Track Santa.

Get in touch. Email us via [email protected]

This is an original podcast series from BFBS. 

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Alex Gill

This week our Mavgeeks are taking it right back to the old school, speaking to Flight Lieutenant Andy Bell of 70 Sqn at RAF Brize Norton about his time on arguably the RAF’s most well-known Maritime patrol aircraft, The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod. The Mavgeeks hear how it was developed from the world’s first commercial jet airliner, the need for a cast iron stomach when the Nimrod was low level cresting the waves, and just casually popping a window open to take a selfie mid-flight - no filter needed.

Written, presented and produced by Gini Carlin and Alex Gill. Email us [email protected].

Our MavGeeks are out of aviation hibernation and ready to be “navgeeked” as aviation and travel vlogger Noel Phillips joins Gini and Alex to kick off series two. Noel spills the beans about landing on the side of a mountain, travelling in a 40 year old Russian airliner around the Soviet block and recreating the Dambusters iconic practice flight over a Derbyshire dam. 

SPOILER ALERT: There’s even talk of train spotting, or as we like to call it.. travgeeks.