Podcasts & Specials

Known affectionately as the Aardvark for its reputation as a terrain-hugger with a big nose, the General Dynamics F-111 was one of the United States Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force’s go-to combat aircraft. Mike Crain spent years in its cockpit for the latter, starting at the hilariously young age of 21! Our Jamie Gordon caught up with Mike for the lowdown on this striking and unique machine, its rare side-by-side co-piloting configuration, its spaceship-style ejection method, and even one or two epic dogfight stories along the way.

We want to hear your aviation tale! Get in touch via [email protected]. Also, feel free to leave us a glowing review on your favourite podcast platform. It really helps us out!

You can join Gini and Jamie for more MavGeeks fun with a heavyweight pilots’ playlist soundtrack every Tuesday from 18:00 - 19:00 (GMT) on BFBS on DAB in the UK, or online at https://radio.bfbs.com/stations/bfbs-uk. 

We’re back, baby! To all MavGeeks old and new: welcome! Man, it feels good to be home. Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon are absolutely buzzing to begin a bumper new sequence of excuses to natter about their military aircraft obsession and bring you along for the ride. To kick things off, Gini shares some interviews she conducted with an assortment of heroic pilots at this year’s Royal International Air Tattoo. She caught up with crews from the F-35, KC-10, C-17 Globemaster, Grypen, even an F-16 test pilot. Coolest job ever? We think so!

We want to hear your aviation tale! Get in touch via [email protected]. Also, feel free to leave us a glowing review on your favourite podcast platform. It really helps us out!

You can join Gini and Jamie for more MavGeeks fun with a heavyweight pilots’ playlist soundtrack every Tuesday from 18:00 - 19:00 (GMT) on BFBS on DAB in the UK, or online at https://radio.bfbs.com/stations/bfbs-uk. 

Got an obsession with aircraft that’s impossible to contain? Worried you might be as maniacal about big metal birds as that bloke that sat on a car park by Heathrow Airport filming everything during that storm? Power down your radar, you’ve arrived! MavGeeks: A Military Aircraft Obsession is back and bigger then ever for series 5! Join Gini Carlin, Jamie Gordon and another load of their aviation mates for the lowdown on history’s most iconic flying machines with the real-life superheroes who fly them.

Follow now so you never miss an episode!

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

This International Women's Day, our Gini takes to the skies with none other than the decorated Colonel Kim Campbell. The pair trace Kim's extensive career, from a storied 24-year stint in the American Air Force flying the A-10 Thunderbolt (AKA the Warthog) to her success as a keynote speaker and author in the present day. Happy International Women's Day!

To tie a knot on this fourth series of MavGeeks, Gini and Jamie come good on a promise they made way back in one of its earliest episodes. That's right, they've tracked down Llewis Ingamells, Chief Pilot of the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance! Llewis was incredibly generous with his time and wisdom, imparting reams of insider knowledge on this fascinating, daring and ultimately unsung world of heroic work.

Lincs and Notts, like your local Air Ambulance service, exists thanks to generous donations! To donate, head to https://www.ambucopter.org.uk/.

We want to hear your aviation tale, what you made of our fourth series, and the flying machines you want us to cover in our fifth! Get in touch via [email protected], and feel free to leave us a glowing review.

This week, Gini joins Jamie from her new Canadian digs for an otherwise classic slice of MavGeeks. Earlier this year, the pair managed to pin down ex-Harrier pilot turned author Chris Burwell for a three-person natter about fast jet flight, Chris' excellent book "Nine Lives: The Compelling Memoir of a Cold War Harrier Pilot", and that fabled awkward moment in which one's required to exit an aircraft a little early...

As winter hits hard and we weather enough storms with names to crew an Avro Lancaster, Gini and Jamie take a look back on (marginally) sunnier times and climes in this RIAT retrospective. Gini was at the Royal International Air Tattoo in July with a microphone and a mission: chat to as many pilots as possible. She caught up with aircrew of the B52, the F15, the “Weatherbird” WC130-J, and loads more; even the elusive Lockheed U-2.

Jamie’s in the cockpit today for a long-overdue natter with Mandy Hickson. Rightly described by Gini as a “Queen of the skies”, Mandy’s a decorated Tornado GR-4 pilot with over 30 years of aviation experience, three tours of duty and 45 missions over Iraq to her name. After leaving the RAF, she authored the 2020 bestseller “An Officer, Not A Gentleman”. Jamie got the scoop on her fascinating, varied career.

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.