RTB - the podcast for aviation geeks made by aviation geeks
Fernando Barbella
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S1E12 The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk: a story of simplicity and effectiveness
With numerous variations of the aircraft, there’s an A-4 Skyhawk to suit everyone’s needs. It’s versatility, speed, and maneuverability made it a popular aircraft at a very reasonable price across…
S1E11 Flying and fighting in the Tornados based in West Germany
Back in the 80s, in the event of war, RAF Tornados based in West Germany would have had to penetrate the formidable air defence system of the Warsaw Pact. Their pilots were among the best in the…
S1E10 That epic SR-71 Blackbird speed check story
There were a lot of things the pilots couldn't do in an SR-71, but they were the fastest guys on the block, and they really loved reminding their fellow aviators of this fact...
S1E9 The man who attacked the British Fleet alone, in a training jet
As the British forces were landing on the Falkland Islands, Argentine Navy Lieutenant Owen Crippa was ordered to carry out a reconnaissance flight over the San Carlos Strait, but then...
S1E8 The unexpected story of how the stealth F-35 fighter was born
In 1991, Lockheed acquired three Yak-141s and valuable test data from the Russian company for around $400 million. In 1996, the Pentagon awarded Boeing and Lockheed each $750 million to produce two…
S1E7 NF-104, the Starfighter used to train astronauts
The idea to modify several F-104As to serve as “manned spacecraft transition trainers” is credited to astronaut Frank Borman who was both a student and an instructor at Edwards Air Force Base,…
S1E6 The A-10 Warthog that landed with no canopy and the gear up
Capt. Brett DeVries, who was flying his A-10 Thunderbolt II, landed on the runway with his aircraft whose canopy had blown off the aircraft 25 minutes before, with no main radio, and with the landing…
S1E5 The pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet
In September 1976, an aircraft appeared out of the clouds near the Japanese city of Hakodate, on the northern island of Hokkaido... It was a MiG-25, and no one in the West had ever seen one before.
S1E4 F-16XL, the insane fighter the US Air Force said no to
In March 1981, the US Air Force announced that it was looking to develop a new advanced tactical fighter to replace the F-111 Aardvark, and General Dynamics entered the F-16XL in the competition...
S1E3 The first westerner pilot to fly the MiG-29 Fulcrum
Back in 1989, at the Abbotsford International Airshow, Canadian Air Force Major Bob Wade got his hands on a MiG-29 Fulcrum, only months before the fall of the Iron Curtain...
S1E2 Dogfighting in the F-14 against America’s secret MiG squadron
Back in the '80s, the USAF created a special unit to expose the tactical air forces to the flight characteristics of fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
S1E1 That time an Israeli F-15 landed without a wing
The recommended airspeed for landing an F-15 was around 150 mph. Back in 1983, this pilot brought it down to around 300 mph, and with only one wing!
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RTB - the podcast for aviation geeks made by aviation geeks has published 12 episodes since March 2025, covering topics in Technology.
RTB - the podcast for aviation geeks made by aviation geeks is currently dormant with new episodes hourly. Average episode length is 5m.
