Plane Crazy Down Under

It’s day 5 of the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and it’s the first whole day open to the general public. The PCDU team have had one of the most amazing days of their lives with time in the venerable B52, getting up close & personal with the Wedgetail, checking out the GA8 Airvan and relaxing on the wing of the CA27 Sabre. The content we selected for this Quick Cast includes:

• Our chat with Squadron Leader Matt Harper, an RAAF pilot on exchange with the USAF who’s flying the F22 Raptor
• Steve’s in-cockpit discussion with David Wheatland, the chief pilot for the GippsAero GA-8 Airvan
• Talking with Flight Lieutenant Skye Smith about RAAF Public Affairs, her career to date & where it may lead in the future
• Today’s tarmac updates from Timbo with the warbirds & Taffy reluctantly agrees to cover for Papa Smurf at the Keyhole

These Avalon Quick Cast episodes are being sponsored by Aviation Advertiser and supported by Red Baron and Temby Automotive.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

We’re up to day 4 of the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and the general public are arriving as of today. The PCDU team are pushing through more interviews, catching up with old friends and meeting listeners. The content we selected for this Quick Cast includes:

• An interview with a B1B pilot & systems operator
• A chat Grant recorded with Squadron Leader Phil O’Donnell, the RAAF’s only permanent hot air balloon pilot
• Catching up with Owen Zupp
• Talking with Squadron Leader Louise Burr about base construction, administration & juggling family life with RAAF life
• Today’s updates from Timbo & Papa Smurf on movements at the Warbird and Keyhole tarmacs

These Avalon Quick Cast episodes are being sponsored by Aviation Advertiser and supported by Red Baron and Temby Automotive.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

It’s time once again for the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and Team PCDU are there to arrange interviews with people & organisations that catch our eye. On the third day of the show we have been particularly busy interviewing aircrew, maintainers and other folks on site, frequently while sitting in their aircraft. The content we selected for this Quick Cast includes:

• Catching up with Matt Hall to discuss the new show he’s performing at Avalon in his MXS-R (it’s choreographed to music) and how he’s filling his days without the Red Bull Air Race being around
• An interview with a USAF F22 Raptor pilot and maintainer while standing on the tarmac as close as we were allowed to get to their aircraft
• Today’s updates from Timbo & Papa Smurf on movements at the Warbird and Keyhole tarmacs

These Avalon Quick Cast episodes are being sponsored by Aviation Advertiser and supported by Red Baron and Temby Automotive.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

It’s time once again for the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and Team PCDU are there to arrange interviews with people & organisations that catch our eye. Today was our second day at the airshow and we spent lots of time recording new content and arranging more interviews for the next few days. The content we selected for this Quick Cast includes:

• A chat with RAAF staff operating & managing the Heron Remotely Piloted Vehicle, the RAAF’s first unmanned front-line aircraft
• A chat with Lockheed Martin’s team behind their ISR testbed aircraft
• Today’s update from Timbo on movements at the Warbird, Combat Jet and Keyhole tarmacs

These Avalon Quick Cast episodes are being sponsored by Aviation Advertiser and supported by Red Baron and Temby Automotive.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

It’s time once again for the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and Team PCDU are there to arrange interviews with people & organisations that catch our eye. Today was our first day at the airshow and while much of it was spent meeting people & setting up our schedule for the week, we still managed to:

• Interview Dr Brendan Nelson who was Australia’s Defence Minister during 2006-2007 and, in addition to scoring a couple of rides in F18 Super Hornets, also signed off the purchase of Super Hornets & C17s for the RAAF, the MRH-90 helicopters and many more new projects that are now reality
• Talk to Mark Robinson & Martin Hoffensetz from SAAB about the “Virtual Control Tower” systems they’re presenting to AirServices here in Australia. These systems will allow people to manage control towers from remote locations and could potentially be on trial here in Australia in the near future
• Discuss flight training options with Peter Dow from TVSA Pilot Training including the incredible effort he has put into establishing TVSA as Australia’s first ever VET FEE-HELP endorsed aviation school, allowing students to defer payment of part or all of their tuition fees until they obtain paying work
• Introduce our first “Timbo’s Tarmac” and “Through the Keyhole with Papa Smurf” segments. These will feature daily chats with tarmac operations staff covering newly arrived aircraft and issues that cropped up during the day

Not bad for a first day’s effort. There were a few more chats we recorded but they’ll be carried over to tomorrow’s Quick Cast or a post-Avalon episode we release after the dust has settled. Despite that, it’s still a 50 minute episode so we’re going to attempt a bit of trimming on tomorrow’s episode as our goal is to be about 30 minutes :)

These Avalon Quick Cast episodes are being sponsored by Aviation Advertiser and supported by Red Baron and Temby Automotive.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

Steve & Grant are joined once again by Bas Scheffers from Adelaide to discuss a few items, including:

• A follow up to the ADSB discussion we had with Bill Hamilton back in episode 48
• A discussion of the iPhone/iPad application Bas & a partner have been developing called OzRunways covering what it does & how it came to be
• The revelation that Grant actually doesn’t like the TV show “Ice Pilots” (oh, the shame! :)
• Parafield airshow is changing dates to March 25th, 2012 due to weather concerns and to help ensure more Australian Defence Force assets will be available
• Avalon is coming up soon
• Bas is going to Oshkosh and as we may not be able to make it, he may have to be the PCDU correspondent for us (not sure how we’ll get him a more Australian accent though!)
• Hassling Bas to provide a bio for the PCDU “About Us” page

We also have another great chat with our man “Across the Ditch,” Dan Morris from New Zealand, including:

• A review of the amazing Walsh Memorial Scout Flying School, an event that should definitely be set up here in Australia if it’s not already being done
• Some information about Palmerston North where Dan’s based (check it out on the map)
• Mention is made of the Ministry of Transport & Technology museum in Auckland
• We talk briefly about Air New Zealand and Air Nelson as Air Nelson will be flying new services into Paraparaumu (also called Paraparam :) ) – check out the map

As if all this wasn’t enough, we also have a chat with James Williams from the Podcaster’s Emporium about his recent Business Class trip with Emirates across the ditch to New Zealand & back.

Finally, we wrap up the show with some Listener Mail & Shout Outs, including:

• Bill Morelli from the USA who flies a Zenith Zodiac (nice plane!)
• Paul Bridges who supplied the photo of the Qantas DC3 that graces this episode’s notes
• Colin Sweetman from the UK who has started getting back into his flying and wants to do aerobatics (YES!!!! says Grant :) and also offered to be our tour guide to a number of aviation museums if we can get there (we’ll hold you to that, Colin! :)
• And finally, a big shout out to the people who decided to take part in the “$50 for Episode 50” concept – thanks folks!

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

Every two years Avalon Airport is the home to one of the biggest airshows & aviation expositions in the Southern Hemisphere (the biggest, according to many). One of Australia’s premier aviation events, Avalon Airshow (also known as the Australian International Airshow) draws aircraft from around the world and attracts scores of people from the general public through to aviation enthusiasts & professionals, especially for the Friday night airshow.

From the early days of the airshows produced by the Schofields Flying Club through to today, a consistent presence throughout it all has been Ian Honnery. CEO of Airshows Downunder. We were fortunate to spend some time with Ian to discuss the history of the Avalon Airshow and it makes for fascinating listening.

Sadly, our sound gear wasn’t configured correctly for the space we were in and so the audio quality is not up to our show’s (and especially Steve’s :) ) usual standards. The content itself is incredible so after doing as much work as could be done to correct the sound issues, we’re finally able to release this interview. Our thanks go to Domenic at Audio Visual Media for his help in massaging the raw audio.

We’re looking forward to attending the airshow in March this year as it will be the 90th anniversary of the RAAF. Look out for more content about Avalon, how it’s managed and what to expect this year as we get closer to March 1st.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

In November 2010 the PCDU team were invited to attend the Media Day at RAAF Amberley where members of 6 Squadron were gathered to give us one final look at the F-111 before it was retired from service. We have gathered the interviews we recorded during the Media Day and combined them with a couple of discussions to present our tribute to the F-111 and all those who helped to keep them in the air.

This is our longest episode to date so you may want to make use of the PAUSE button to get through it all. Like the PIG, it’s big, but we think the content is just too good to leave any of it out. The F-111 has been a major part of our lives over the last 30 years in Australia and New Zealand and anyone who has experienced the RAAF’s trademark “Dump & Burn” display will have some idea why we’re so sad to see them go.

From seeing an F-111 doing 4-point hesitation rolls, aileron rolls and a loop at Avalon to watching them racing past while sitting on the beach on a summer’s day, the F-111 became an icon of Australia’s military as they provided us with a long range projection of power. They leave a large gap in our force structure now that they have been retired and a hole in the hearts of many who kept them flying.

So long, pig and remember: That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do!

The contents of this episode include:

• The Media Day’s opening press conference (starts at 06:08)
• A discussion with David Vanderhoof about the history of the F-111 including its inception and service with the USAF & RAAF (starts at 32:06)
•  We talk to Wing Commander Terry Deeth about his time as a bombadier/navigator (or Weapons Systems Officer) with the F-111 while on rotation to the USAF (starts at 51:33)
• We visited the F111 simulator on the base and got to meet:
• Steve Clark, a former RAAF F-111 pilot who has more hours in an F-111 than almost anyone else in the world (starts at 1:05:40)
• Brett Denton, a computer technician who helps to keep the simulator operating (starts at 1:11:29)
• While everyone likes to focus on the guys in the cockpit, an F-111 needs a lot of maintenance between flights so we managed to catch up with a few of the techos:
• Flight Lieutenant Adam Firth & Sergeant Chris Walker (starts at 1:15:32)
• Corporal James Morton (starts at 1:30:19)
• Corporal David Bash, an American now living in Australia (starts at 1:35:50)
• We talk with Flight Lieutenant Vlad Bismark about flying the F-111 (starts at 1:47:25)
• We have a chat with Brendan Cowan from ADF Serials about the history of the RAAF’s F-111s and with Chris Daley from the Save the F-111 page on Facebook about how the page developed and where it’s going now (starts at 1:55:28)
• We interview Wing Commander Al Curr who ejected from an F111 on take off from RNZAF Ohakea in New Zealand (starts at 2:14:12)
• Our final chat is with Wing Commander Michael (Micka) Gray, officer commanding 6 Squadron and the world’s last F-111 unit commander (starts at 2:20:42)

We also have a couple of “Shout Outs” in this episode:

• Flight Lieutenant Skye Smith for her tireless efforts in making the Media Day run smoothly, not to mention herding us about the base and ensuring we didn’t wind up where we shouldn’t be (wonder if there’s a “Keeping media on track” medal in the ADF??? :)
• Listener Chris Whyte who we met at RAAF Amberley has produced an F-111 tribute video called “RAAF F-111 tribute feat. TV Rock – ‘In the Air'” – you can find it on YouTube and it’s well worth watching a few times

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

As the final hours of 2010 pass by and the year draws to a close, we release our 50th episode with a mix of annual review, Christmas greetings and a new experiment. In conjunction with a live video stream of the proceedings, we gathered Steve, Grant, Anthony and Ben in the recording studio to attempt the unthinkable: capturing a whole show in a single take.

We start with a look back at a few of the big stories from 2010 and an additional discussion on ADSB driven by Ben’s perspective from behind the controller’s console. Mixed in with the discussion are:

• A discussion we recorded with Matt Wardell from AirServices Australia about their Santa NOTAM, the Santa Tracker and various other efforts they make at Christmas
•  An interview with Michael & Roselyn from Downwind.com.au about the site and aviation in general
•  Various Christmas greetings from other aviation podcasters around the world

We then start to wrap it all up with some feedback from listeners:

• Ian Kershaw from Canada sent in recorded message
• Ahmet Hussein emailed us looking for information to help him track down episodes of the TV series “Big Sky” (which Ben recalled watching)
• Jay Swanepoel left us some positive feedback on our Facebook page

Finally we worked through some shout outs, including:

• The many guests we’ve had on PCDU during 2010
• Andrea Sammut from Scripts & Voicers for her great support this year
• Dane Golden for his support & promotion of our show on Hey.com
• James Williams & Dave Gray from the Podcasters Emporium on the Lifestyle Podnetwork for helping to promote our show (they’ve also been promoted recently on iTunes as a premium provider – awesome news!)
• To all the organisations that have advertised with us, providing both in-kind help and some actual funds
• Milford & Charlie from the FlightTime Radio Show for their faith in our product
• David Hook from PlaneHook Aviation Services for his sponsorship of our Flying Down Under segment
• Max, Dan, Rob & David at the Airplane Geeks Podcast for all the help & encouragement they’ve given us over the year

We’d also like to especially thank all of you, our audience who have given us your precious time to listen to our show. Your numbers are growing along with your feedback and it’s your support that helps us put in the effort to produce the show.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy

Rosemary Arnold learned to fly fixed wing in the early 60s then converted helicopters in the mid-60’s, becoming the first woman in Australia to receive a helicopter pilot’s license. From operating her own helicopter business in Australia to flying in locations around the world, Rosemary has had an extensive career in aviation. She has also written a number of books, lectures on aviation history and join the public speaking circuit. As a registered celebrant, she also runs “Chapel in the Sky” performing weddings in a helicopter above Sydney harbour. We chat with Rosemary about her career and her new book, First Females Above Australia, a presentation of the pioneering women involved in aviation in Australia.

We also chat with Dan Morris, a flight instructor in New Zealand who’s joined us previously in a few of our Australia Desk adventures. Dan joins us to discuss his aviation career to date and the flying scene in New Zealand. He also anticipates providing more New Zealand related content in the new year.

This episode is rounded out with another Controller’s Corner segment where ATC_Ben answers some of the many questions that have been raised in our forums and via email. We then move on to listener mail:

• Braham Sacks asks about careers in aviation
• Ian Kershaw from Canada has a blog & podcast page that’s worth checking out
• Luke Murphy writes in from China where he’s working as a pilot
• Ed Stubbs sent in a link to an interview with one of the pilots from QF32 (the Qantas A380 that had a massive uncontained engine failure)
• We mention that Anthony Simmons is looking for more feedback on his View from the Lounge segment

We also have some shout-outs:

• Damian Rose has completed his MECIR and is now working on his Caravan endorsement – congratulations (and yes we are jealous! :) You can follow his details on his blog.
• Robert E Coli from Thromby airlines has done another great cartoon showing Steve & Grant hard at work in the PCDU studio. You can see it in all it’s glory on our Facebook page.
• Thanks to Michael & Roselyn from Downwind and the team at Moorabbin Flying Services (MFS) for a great BBQ the other weekend and for making discount TIFs/Check flights available

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Blubrry - https://create.blubrry.com/resources/about-blubrry/privacy-policy