The Damcasters - The Aviation History Podcast

As we were at Duxford for last week's ace chat with Rebecca Greenwood Hard about the hurricane: Unsung Hero exhibition, historian Matt Willis and I decided to have a wander around and celebrate what we feel are some of Duxford's unsung heroes. As the museum was closing, we had to rush about a bit. Despite the time slipping away from us, we did get to have a look at the restoration hanger and the huge effort going into the Avro Shackleton. In the American Air Museum, Matt couldn't stop me, despite his very best efforts, from getting on my hobby horse about what was the best North American Aviation aircraft of the Second World War. Spoiler - it ain't the Mustang. This is my hill. I'm going to fight you for it.

Buy James Hamilton-Paterson's Blackbird at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781786691200

Buy Matt's Fleet Air Arm Legends: Fairey Swordfish at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781911658498

Buy Matt's Fleet Air Arm Legends: Supermarine Seafire at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781911658290

Check out Matt's website at: https://navalairhistory.com/

Follow Matt on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/NavalAirHistory

Hurricane: Unsung Hero runs until the 19th February at IWM Duxford. Click here to learn more: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/Hurricane-unsung-hero

You can follow the IWM at: https://twitter.com/I_W_M, and IWM Duxford here: https://twitter.com/IWMDuxford

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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In 1919, the forerunner to the United States Air Force, the Air Service, staged an audacious transcontinental air race. While flying coast to coast had never really been done before, the head of the Training and Operations Group, Brigadier-General Billy Mitchell. Decided that making it a round-trip race would be even better than just going one way. So in October 1919, using war surplus aircraft, including British and German single-seat Scouts, the great air race began.

Former Washington Post Foreign Correspondent and pilot John Lancaster has retraced the roots of men like Tooey Spaatz and the 'Flying Parson', Belvin Maynard, back and forth across the United States and his new book. The Great Air Race.

To learn more and John, visit his website at: https://www.johnlancasterauthor.com/
Follow John on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/JohnKLancaster
Follow John on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/JohnLancasterAuthor/

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com
Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

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Catch-22 is one of my favourite books. My battered paperback copy lives on my bedside table. I have the fancy Folio Society edition on the shelf too. As an unashamed B-25 nut, I do bang on about how the Mike Nichols adaptation, written by Buck Henry, basically saved all the flying B-25s we still have. But, how much of it is true? Heller certainly always maintained he had made it up. Author, historian and screenwriter Thomas McKelvey Cleaver took a look into Heller's war and the 57th Bomb Wing for his book The Bridgebusters, which is finally getting a UK release. Tom found that fact and fiction are a lot closer than Joe Heller ever admitted to.

You can buy Thomas McKelvey Thomas' The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing at our Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781684513635

Tom's book on the USAAF's attacks on the Gothic Line, Gothic Line 1944-45: The USAAF starves out the German Army, part of Osprey's Air Campaign series can be found here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781472853417

Check out all our social media channels at: https://www.damcasterspod.com

Join the fun on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Check out the link below for more info.

The Damcasters © 2022 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bob Reierson joined the USAAF at age 18 and would find himself flying the Douglas A-20G Havoc in the Pacific. On my last visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum, director of collections Andrew Boehly arranged for Bob and I to sit down and discuss flying the A-20. In Part 1 of this 2-part interview, we discuss Bob joining up, learning to fly the PT-19, the BT-13, the UC-78, the B-25, and finally getting his hands on the A-20.

To get early access to part 2 to hear about Bob flying the A-20 in combat and climbing back in the cockpit of an A-20 for the first time in 80 years, become a Damcasteer today!

Get the latest from the Pima Air and Space Museum through the links below:

★Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/

★Learn more about the Titan Missile Museum here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/

★Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/

★Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

★Become a Damcasteer today on Patreon! Join from just £3+VAT a month to get ad-free episodes, chat with Matt and grab some merch. Click here for more info: https://www.patreon.com/thedamcasters

The Damcasters © 2024 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

00:00 Introduction

02:30 Meet Bob Reierson

02:55 Bob Introduces Boney to the Douglas A-20 Havoc

10:33 Bob's Dream of Flying

11:46 Bob Applies to the Aviation Cadet Program

13:00 Bob is Called Up to the US Army Air Force

16:47 Bob's Primary Flight Training

21:23 Bob Transitions to Twin Engine Aircraft - UC-78 and B-25

29:47 Training on the A-20 Begins

39:10 The Importance of Formation Flying

44:31 Bob's Journey to the Pacific

53:04 End of Part 1 - Become a Damcasteer!

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The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor was a savage airliner. Kurt Tank's elegant design evolved from a luxurious civil aircraft into a feared maritime reconnaissance bomber and transport aircraft. Naval air historian Matthew Willis joins us to look at the operational life and legacy of the Condor.

★Buy Matt's book, Eagles of the Luftwaffe: Focke-Wulf Fw 200, at The Damcasters Bookshop. 10% of each sale goes to supporting the podcast: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11015/9781911658658

★Follow Matt on BlueSky here: https://bsky.app/profile/navalairhistory.bsky.social

★Visit Matt's website at: https://navalairhistory.com/

★Check out 909 Apparel's full range of great aviation-themed t-shirts, hoodies and more here: https://linktr.ee/909apparelco

★Join us for all things aviation-y on The Damcasters Discord server! https://discord.gg/fmrVKjpDVj

Please check out the latest from our partner, the Pima Air and Space Museum, through the links below:

★Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/

★Learn more about the Titan Missle Museum here: https://titanmissilemuseum.org/

★Find out who is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame here: https://pimaair.org/about-us/arizona-aviation-hall-of-fame/

★Want to know how the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is progressing? Find out more here: https://www.tucsonmilitaryvehicle.org/

The Damcasters © 2024 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

00:01 Introduction

00:31 Sponsorship and Partnerships

01:43 Interview with Matt Willis: The Story Behind the Book

04:49 The Birth of the Focke Wulf FW 200

08:34 The Role of Deutsche Lufthansa in the Development of the FW 200

14:10 A Modern Airliner

21:35 Reception and Use by Lufthansa

29:56 The FW 200's Transition to Military Use

40:48 Exploring the PB4Y Privateer at the Pima Airspace Museum

43:28 The Condor's Role in the War

44:47 The Condor's Effectiveness and Limitations

55:04 A Fragile Bird?

01:05:29 The Condor's Impact on Allied Forces

01:09:52 The Legacy and Conclusion

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