Top Landing Gear

Full Flaps - Rear Admiral Chris Parry CBE

Hello and welcome to TLG and our Full Flaps interview with Chris Parry, a RN Observer on HMS Antrim’s Wessex 3, known as Humphrey. Chris is a fascinating character, and some of the stories he tells us here about what went on down south during the Falklands Conflict 40 years ago, defy belief, not least the insertion and rescue of an SAS party on the Fortuna Glacier on South Georgia in the most unbelievably treacherous conditions. The fact that Chris also fired the first shots of the war to disable the Argentine submarine the Santa Fe is almost a footnote. The interview is full of the most incredible anecdotes, and it’s also fascinating to hear Chris’s thoughts on the current state of the British military 40 years on, and his views on the developing situation in Russia. We recorded Chris’s interview on April 20^th 2022, 40 years to the day since he and the crew of Humphrey were briefed for that extraordinary operation involving the SAS which would take place just hours later. Hold onto your hats and settle in for an utterly riveting ride.

Falklands 40th – The Westland Wessex & Chris Parry

In this edition of Top Landing Gear we continue to mark the 40^th anniversary of the Falklands Conflict, focussing on one of the workhorses of the British Task Force’s airborne operation, the venerable Westland Wessex. Now of course our aviation ‘expert’ James Cartner was an RAF Wessex pilot, so we thought we’d let him compile the quiz, and be the quiz master. This is unlikely ever to happen again. Our guest was a Royal Navy observer on HMS Antrim’s Wessex 3, famously known as Humphrey. The man is Chris Parry, who regales us with some of the most extraordinary stories to have come out of the South Atlantic back in 1982. From firing the first shots of the war, to inserting and rescuing an SAS party in unimaginable conditions from the Fortuna Glacier in South Georgia, Chris’s stories are jaw-dropping. You’ll hear a clip of his interview in this podcast, the full interview will of course be in our Full Flaps edition.  

'Down South : A Falklands War Diary by Chris Parry is available to buy and download HERE

Interview with Squadron Leader Martin Withers, DFC - Display pilot for Vulcan XH558

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 Display Flight, which lasted until 1992. 558 then had a new lease of life with the Vulcan To The Sky Trust, giving countless enthusiasts many more years of breathtaking displays, many of them flown by our guest, the legendary Martin Withers. 

Interview with Squadron Leader Martin Withers, DFC - Vulcan XM607 pilot during the Falklands Black Buck raid

In this 40^th 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 the mission, training for in-flight refuelling which was to be an integral part of the mission, the mission itself and the aftermath. It is a story of legend told by a legendary figure who made aviation history. 

The Vulcan & the 40th Anniversary of Falklands War Operation Black Buck

This week’s podcast drops in a very timely manner as we release the first of our episodes  marking the 40^th 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 30^th April 1982, dropping its 21 1,000lb bombs on Stanley Airfield in the early hours of the 1^st May. It is one of the most extraordinary stories in modern aerial warfare, not least because of the massive distances involved. In fact at the time Black Buck 1 was the longest bombing raid ever undertaken.

We hear a clip of Martin in this episode, but his full interview will become available in a ‘2-stage’ Full Flaps edition: in Pt 1 Martin talks at length about the raid; in Pt 2 he shares the joy of displaying Vulcan XH558. As usual we’ll have the usual TLG stuff: Ask James, Jez’s Quick Facts all about his favourite aircraft of all time, (the Vulcan), and the TLG Quiz. What more could you want? (Don’t answer that!)  

The Best of Top Landing Gear and Series Four Preview

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 interviews with Alan Pollock of Tower Bridge Hawker Hunter fame, Amy Johnson re-creator Amanda J Harrison, David Williams’s heroic landing of a damaged fully-laden Virgin Boeing 747, and Andrew Panton, the man behind the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre and Lancaster ‘Just Jane’. We’ve also done a retro quiz where the team was asked questions they’ve all heard before. Do you think it made any difference…? 

And next week we’ll have the first of our Falklands guests in this 40^th anniversary year of the conflict, with Vulcan 607 pilot Martin Withers. Following that, Chris Parry joins us to talk about his extraordinary experiences with ‘Humphrey’ the Wessex 3 which operated off HMS Antrim.  And there’ll be more to come, including the son of Sir Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine, about both his and his father’s remarkable lives in aviation. So please do look out for us @TopLadingGear and on our website www.TopLandingGear.com.   

Top Landing Gear returns...

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! 

 

 

BBMF Bomber Leader - Flight Lieutenant Neil ‘Faz‘ Farrell - Lancaster Pilot

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 and help in allowing us such incredible access. We heartily recommend a trip to the BBMF visitor centre - access by guided tour only - Book your trip now!

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) & Lancaster PA474

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 snippet from our interview with ex Wessex pilot and current BBMF Bomber Lead Flt Lt Neil 'Faz' Farrell.

*Triumphant in Rob's view - no one else was impressed -  nor will you be!

RAF Chinook Display Team - Flt Lt Matt Smyth

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 has long been a crowd favourite. We managed to persuade Chinook Display Captain Matt Smyth, or Smitty, to talk to us, despite James’s grudging hostility. I jest of course, and in fact during our 4 days in Bournemouth we became  great friends with the whole Chinook display team .. well, we like to think we did…