Black Cats - Lieutenant’s Michael Vivian and Scott Sunderland

In this episode we welcome Lieutenant’s Michael Vivian and Scott Sunderland to the For Flying Out Loud podcast. They are two serving members of the Royal Navy, both serving as Fleet Air Arm pilots on the Wildcat helicopter. In 2024, these two pilots embarked upon a challenging but as you’ll learn, extremely rewarding journey to re-launch the display of the Wildcat Helicopter in an exhilarating pairs display season. Unlike most other display teams,  the job of these isn’t to display for the public. It’s to teach the next generation of aviators to fly and fight the Wildcat Helicopter. 2024 saw the team awarded the Steedman Sword at RIAT for best British Display Team, beating the Red Arrows, Typhoon and Chinook Display teams of the RAF. The first time this had been won since the predecessors to the Black Cats, the Lynx pair in 2003.Support the show