Not A Pound For Air To Ground
As a kid I wanted to be a fighter pilot. Poor eyesight, risible spatial awareness and an inability to understand even basic instructions knocked that idea on the head. But even as my career went down a different path, I retained an analyst's interest in aviation. In particular I like to try and understand the military-industrial systems in which aircraft were developed and the doctrines and concepts that governed their employment.
This channel is a way of getting ideas and research from my head into some kind of organised form. I really hope you enjoy watching them as much as I enjoy making them. But please remember that this is my passion and my hobby. I am not a professional documentary maker and I am at best an amateur historian. Please forgive the inevitable mistakes!
Not A Pound For Air To Ground
Hey all, just a quick notice that I'm posting two videos this week.
This isn't a regular occurence - you may remember that I had to take a video on the Parnall Peto down shortly after posting because of an altercation with the AP. It is back up tomorrow.
On Friday I have 45 minutes or so on the MiG-31 Foxhound, complete with rather too much information about Soviet radars and electronics... Hope you enjoy!
1 month ago | [YT] | 1,850
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
UPDATE: I just got a notification from YouTube that having reviewed the case the channel is no longer going to be suspended. I imagine seeing well over 1,000 comments saying that they were wrong helped them make such an atypically fast decision!
And on that note, thank you so much for all the support you all give me, not just in the last couple of days but over the years the channel has been going. The strength of the aviation community on YouTube is remarkable. It's amazing to be part of it.
Amongst all the support, I want to mention Rex from Rex's Hangar for reaching out and giving me good advice about how to respond to YouTube, and Aviation Republic for raising awareness of the situation on his channel. As I said, it's an amazing community.
Normal service resumes on Friday. It's the 40th anniversary of the operation to intercept and apprehend the Achille Lauro hijackers. A remarkable tactical achievement and I hope a good story. The rest of the month is broadly animal themed...
1 month ago | [YT] | 6,173
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
Some news for you all. YouTube has decided that Not A Pound For Air To Ground is "reused content" and have informed me that they intend to suspend me and the channel. I have the opportunity for appeal and will do so, but as it stands I'll go dark on October 13th. Since I'm unclear how they've come to this conclusion, I will side with Marko Ramius and give myself one chance in three. I'll keep you updated.
1 month ago | [YT] | 5,280
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
8 months since my last post. Time has flown. Sadly this isn't an exciting update, just a quick one to say that I've taken down the Parnall Peto video. It apparently contained an AP clip from 1927 that YouTube didn't pick up when I uploaded. I will remake it and re-upload at a later point.
On a lighter note, Friday's video will cover the little known French SN.4000 'heavy bomber'. The Friday after is one I've been waiting to release for a while: 40 minutes on airpower on Cyprus from WW1 to the Gulf War. There will be Vulcans.
2 months ago | [YT] | 1,016
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
2025 is fast approaching, but fortunately there's just time to squeeze in some more aircraft. I've been atypically efficient so tomorrow I've got an off-topic interwar bonus video for you. There'll be one more of those on Christmas Eve.
This week's main Friday video is on a topic that I've promised for well over a year. It is finally time for the Ultimate (US) Interceptor: the F-106 Delta Dart. I span my wheels on this one as there's a lot to talk about and I didn't want to make something too obvious or too boring. Only you can judge whether I've threaded that line.
Going back to 2025, it'd be great to hear about any topics you'd find interesting for next year. Amongst other things I've got numerous videos on Korea, Soviet interceptor and AAM development, more on US Navy fighters... other suggestions gratefully received!
11 months ago | [YT] | 989
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
Time flies when you're having fun. Friday's video is the last for November and also the last of the 'trailer' videos that I promised in January. It covers one of my favourite aircraft: the F-100 Super Sabre. I hope you enjoy it!
After that we're into December. I'm excited about December. Not only do I love Christmas, but I also have four cracking videos to release on four iconic interceptors and a couple of little extra Christmas surprises in between them.
If you can't wait, then perhaps consider watching one of the least loved videos I've ever made - An Interception At Christmas. I thought it was pretty good, but the algorithm gods disagreed. See what you make of it here: https://youtu.be/vM31B5hMsaY
11 months ago | [YT] | 642
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
Friday's video covers the AIM-4 Falcon family. I find the Falcon fascinating as is generally regarded as being useless, but actual in-depth analysis of it is quite hard to find. As it happens, I've been lucky with the timing of this one. The Falcon featured in my first videos 18 months ago and as the channel has just hit 50,000 subscribers I think it's a good subject to return to now.
After Falcon, I've got Mainstay, Flagon and Hun for you in November, with diversions into a very rare Hustler interceptor project and World War 1 aerial battleships. I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I've enjoyed making them!
1 year ago | [YT] | 1,267
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
This Friday's video will be a change of scene from the last few. It goes into some depth on Lavochkin's last fighter: the LA-250 Anakonda. The 250 was a fascinating aircraft designed in the early years of guided missile development and its story thus reveals many of the challenges even the greatest designers faced with finicky new technology.
As it happens, finicky new technology will be the order of the day on the channel in the next month or so. I'll also finally be releasing the outstanding episodes promised in the trailer way back in January... which I'm excited about because there's some really interesting ones!
A final update: tomorrow I'm going to release an extra video covering three attempts by the US and Great Britain to produce an effective seaplane fighter during the Second World War. I just can't get enough of those floats right now...
1 year ago | [YT] | 688
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
50 years ago this month the iconic F-14 Tomcat went to sea for the first time in an operational capacity. This Friday's video will therefore be a deep dive into the US Navy's ultimate Cold War fighter. The research process was quite a long one... and so is the video!
On a different note, this month's Tuesday video covers the Arado AR-231: an ingenious submarine-deployable floatplane. I can't promise that this will be the last floatplane on the channel. I have developed a taste for them.
1 year ago | [YT] | 741
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Not A Pound For Air To Ground
Since it's summer time where I am, it's a great time to get out on the water and cool off. So this month's Tuesday video will feature the most successful seaplane fighter of the Second World War - the A6M2-N Rufe.
Although it wasn't particularly effective, the Rufe had quite an impact on post-war planners worried about their airfields being obliterated. Friday's video is an in-depth look at the jet-powered seaplane fighters of the Cold War that resulted from their concerns. There were more than you might think!
Hope you enjoy these two and are having good summers/ winters wherever you happen to be!
1 year ago | [YT] | 420
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