Plane Crazy Down Under

Dick Smith is an entrepreneur well known to most Australians, ranging from the country wide chain of Dick Smith Electronics stores he created to Dick Smith Foods and Australian Geographic.

Another very important aspect of Dick’s life has revolved around aviation. In addition to owning & flying his own aeroplanes & helicopters, he has also flown around the world multiple times, made the first helicopter landing at the North Pole, and flown balloons across Australia as well as from New Zealand back to Australia (against the prevailing winds). He was on the board of (and then director of) both the Civil Aviation Authority and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Dick is also a very vocal champion of air space reform in Australia and aviation safety in general.

We were very fortunate to have been given some of Dick’s valuable time to discuss his early days learning to fly, his adventuring around the world and his thoughts on a number of different aircraft he’s owned & flown. We also touch briefly on his time with the CAA/CASA and his thoughts on aviation safety & airspace reform, all of which will be covered in more detail in future interviews we hope to bring you as soon as Dick’s schedule permits.

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Air Venture: Oshkosh is the place to be if you’re into aviation. There’s something for everyone from home builts to military to warbirds to commercial to seaplanes to antiques to balloons and everything else imaginable. If you love aviation, you have to get to Oshkosh.

For the past four years a group of aviation podcasters have been gathering to produce the “Podapalooza” session. Imagine a room full of people and a table at one end packed with many of the people behind the voices in your head. All hanging out, talking about flying, aviation topics and social media. Pure podcasting fun :)

Since we started Plane Crazy Down Under, we’ve tried twice but never been able to make it to Oshkosh. Back in 2009, Stephen Force of the Airspeed podcast took a quick “Hello Oshkosh” piece we produced and had it played at the Podapalooza and on the EAA radio show during the event.

This year we couldn’t make it again (DOH!) so we put another promo together. It’s longer but encapsulates what we’ve been up to for the past year. They played part of it at the Podapalooza so we’re adding the original piece to our feed so you can hear how we tried to get there but couldn’t quite make it.

Maybe 2011 will be “third time’s the charm” and we’ll get there at last? :)

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It seems that Grant has always had troubles with the label “Flight Attendant” ever since his sister joined Australian Airlines and mistakenly told him she would be a “Trolley Dolly.” Ooops :)

In this episode we’re joined by Janene Murdoch, Tania Tracey and Amelia Kelly. Janene used to be a flight attendant with Ansett in the 70’s & 80’s, Tania was with Australian Airlines & Qantas in the 90’s and Amelia is currently working in the industry. We have a great chat with them comparing “then & now” in recruitment, work environments, passenger expectations and challenges.

It was a great chat and we hope to have the ladies back with us again in the future to continue exploring the “then & now” of being a flight attendant.

For those of you who want to keep up with Amelia’s latest news, you can follow her on Twitter (traytablestrvls) or through her blog (Tray Tables Travels).

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Most of you will have already seen Matt Hall’s splash on the river at Windsor back in June. Then he was denied a go at racing in New York, to which he responded very diplomatically, which in turn taught some of us how to “take our lumps.”

This episode we have a good chat with Matt Hall about exactly what happened during his splash in Windsor (including what was going through his mind at the time), the physics of a G-Stall, where the Red Bull Air Race folks dredged up the “two prior incidents” they mentioned, how the other pilots reacted to the news and what Matt’s learned from all of this.

Great listening and very educational, especially on the subject of how even a top-notch pilot like Matt can help make the holes in the swiss cheese align.

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These days it’s quite common to find ladies in command of commercial airliners, bizjets and combat aircraft. Thirty years ago, however, this was certainly not the case here in Australia and a female required a stubborn streak & thick skin to push through and gain acceptance in a very male dominated world.

While the situation for ladies in aviation is still not completely balanced it is significantly improved over the scene in the mid-70s. One reason for that improvement was thanks to the efforts of Deborah Lawrie (aka Deborah Wardley) who was the first female pilot with Ansett Airlines, one of Australia’s biggest airlines until it’s demise in 2001.

Deborah’s story is one of determination and a drive to achieve her goals, no matter what obstacles society and some organisations put in her path. We are fortunate enough in this episode to have had Deborah join us for a great chat about her interest in aviation, learning to fly, her early commercial days, getting into Ansett, the Australian Pilots’ Dispute of 1989 and her subsequent career working with KLM before returning to Australia where she is currently working with Jetstar as their manager of Safety Investigations (while still also flying their A320s).

It’s an incredible chat and we think that in addition to learning about Deborah’s life, you’ll also learn a lot about the Australian airline environment of the past & present.

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This episode we feature an interview with Hannes Arch, the Austrian Red Bull champion in 2008 who came second in 2009 and is currently second on points for 2010. We have a great chat with Hannes (starting at 0:05:38) about his involvement in extreme sports, his love of flying and his approach to the Red Bull racing world.

We were also fortunate to get some time with Gary Clark (starting at 1:01:30), the creator of the Swamp cartoon strip. Gary’s experiences in learning to fly and his on going adventures in the air have provided a solid source of inspiration for many of the characters & moments depicted in the Swamp series. It is not uncommon to find his cartoons on the walls in flying clubs & schools, hangars and aviation organisations.

This episode also includes the following:

• A discussion with Angie Morino from Aus Air Services (starting at 0:33:14) about the changes they’ve made at the Tooradin Flying School (YTDN).
• Grant’s quick chat with Richard Turnbull (starting at 0:45:31), a hot air balloon pilot from the UK
• Anthony Simmons’ latest View from the Lounge segment (starting at 0:54:12)
• Our listener mail, including:
• Stephen Silk points us at Ask the Pilot
• Steven Pam provides still more checklist examples
• Trent Donnovan from WA shows that Jandakot (YPJT) is only just behind Bankstown (YSBK) for total movements in February
• We give a few shout outs:
• The Airplane Geeks podcast reaches 100 episodes – well done guys!
• We’ve launched our PCDU Commentaries blog (UPDATE 2017-02-4: After years of inactivity, the blog has been shut down & its posts moved to Grant’s Fly Me Friendly blog)
• Kathy Mexted mentioned us in her article about the Melton Centenary Air Show that appeared in AOPA’s Australian Pilot magazine
• Milford & Charlie from the Flight Time Radio Show over in Florida
• Don’t forget to give PCDU a good comment (or two :) ) over at the iTunes store

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In this episode we join noted aviation journalist Ben Sandilands from Plane Talking to review the latest news & information. When we called Ben, he was experiencing a heat wave of 11 degrees Celsius at his home in the mountains near Canberra. Meanwhile, here in Melbourne we were thinking winter was upon us as the temperature dipped to 15 degrees Celsius. Four degrees of separation but a very different pair of perspectives on cold vs hot.

Fortunately, we were all spot on with our news analysis, including such topics as:

• Use of composites in airliners and the indications that it won’t really be effective for another 10 to 20 years
• QANTAS still claiming that they’re going to get their 787-9s on a date that would be before Air New Zealand (the launch customer) despite Boeing making a statement contradicting this
• The changes that are afoot with the Virgin Blue group being under new leadership:
• Brett Godfrey’s farewell bash
• John Borghetti not getting the top job at QANTAS but, perhaps, getting something better with running Virgin Blue
• Fleet choices and the possibility that they’ll get A330s or B767s, especially on high density routes like Sydney to Melbourne
• The likelihood that they’ll rebrand the group (Virgin Blue, V Australia, Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue) under a single name
• Singapore Airlines having veto rights over the name Virgin for any new international airline
• Tiger Airways recording a profit and becoming more of a stable, solid threat in the market
• Australia’s transport minister Anthony Albanese wanting to restrict cockpit access to only the two pilots flying and any check pilots or safety reviewers
• The F35 and how Australia seems to be one of the few countries NOT getting upset about all the delays and problems

After chatting with Ben, we have an interview with James Baldwin & Glen Somerville from EmptyJets, an organisation that gives you the chance to get rides in charter aircraft that would otherwise be flying empty on positioning flights. From helicopters to Gulfstream Vs, they’re all on the list and well worth checking out.

After that we dive into the mail bag where:

• Matt McCabe compares the cost of learning to fly here in Australia against the USA
• Errol Cavit enjoyed the Red Bull show and will be catching up with us when he comes over from New Zealand (for a Sci Fi convention, no less)
• Vince Bezzina who volunteers at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook was checking if we knew about the DC6 coming to Australia from South Africa. Oh yes, do we ever!

We also have a couple of shout outs to:

• Damien Rose who is now a private pilot and on his way to a commercial license (and speaking of the cost of learning – Damien sold his house to fund all this! He must have a VERY understanding wife, that’s for sure :)
• Steve Cooke from the Flying Podcast in the UK has released his latest episode on a topic that’s very important for Grant: ballooning

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This episode features a discussion with Peter Gibson, the manager of corporate communications at CASA. He’s joined us to explain the airspace changes that will come into effect on June 3rd, changes which will impact Class D, see the transition of GAAP to Class D and introduce the mandatory carriage of radios at all certified, registered or military non-towered aerodromes (plus any others as designated in the ERSA).

We also talk to Owen Zupp just before he departed on his There and Back trip around Australia as well as Tim Pryse and Ken Evers a few days prior to the start of their Millions Against Malaria trip around the world. We feature another “View from the Lounge” and introduce ATC_Ben‘s new “Controllers Corner” segment.

As we wind up the show, we discuss the Australian Capital Territory funding yet another feasibility study for a much needed secondary airport near Canberra. You can read more about it in an news entry from Australian Aviation and also follow up progress through the Canberra Region Aviators Association web site.

If you want to see a 737-200 land at Jandakot (Perth’s secondary airport), check out the video of the landing that Ed Stubbs pointed us at. Not bad.

Just in time to make our cut off for this episode, we had a quick chat with Owen as he was half way around his trip. A great update on his progress and how things have been going.

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The Red Bull Air Race came back to Perth this year and Steve was there, flexing his newly minted press credentials and discovering the amazing world of the Red Bull media centre. Sadly, Grant was working in Indonesia and so couldn’t be there to help hang out, rub shoulders with the stars and quaff a few cans of Red Bull.

Fortunately Steve was well & truly up to the task and managed to capture a few interviews while he was there. First up in this episode we have Steve’s summary of the race, including his interview with Hannes Arch, the press conference at the end of the race and a collection of content from the Red Bull Media Pool.

After the break we get to hear a great chat with Nigel Lamb recorded while he was in Rio getting ready for the third race. We learn about how he flies the race and just what benefit he is getting from those amazing winglets. Grant drops a clanger during the interview but fortunately Steve cut that bit out, putting it at the very end of the episode in the bloopers ‘cos hey, no one ever listens to them, right? Right? (“Please don’t!” says Grant) :)

The final pair of interviews are with Lenny Raulson, Matt Hall’s mechanic at the time of the Perth race. He finished up with Matt’s team just after the race and they’ve now transitioned to an Australian mechanic, Jack Moshovis. After Steve’s chat with Lenny, we have a chat with David Lyall, Matt’s team coordinator. He tells us what it’s like to work with Matt, why they changed from Lenny to Jack and much more.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Feel free to leave us feedback via email, comments on the site or on our forum on Downwind.com.au.

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The first aircraft to be used in Antarctica was Henry Mawson’s Vickers REP monoplane. Sadly, it had been damaged in Australia before arriving in Antarctica and was used as an “air tractor” to pull sleds. Even that didn’t work out and it was dumped, eventually being found again only recently.

Given that inauspicious start, it’s hard to believe that there are multiple ice & snow runways in Antarctica receiving visits from C130s, C17s and now an Australian A319 carries scientists on regular flights to the ice. It is also possible to go on one of the QANTAS sight seeing flights that are proving to be very popular with their great views of the ice & mountains.

With all this in mind, we decided to put together a special episode focusing on the land that’s even more “down under” than we are. To kick things off we have an interview with Captain Dan Colborne of Skytraders. Dan flies the Airbus A319/ACJ from Australia to the Wilkins Blue Ice runway in Australian Antarctic territory. He also flies the CASA 212-400 aircraft that are based in Antarctica for the summer, including the long ferry flights at the start & end of the season.

We chat with David Vanderhoof about Air New Zealand Flight 901, the DC-10 that tragically crashed on Mount Erebus during a sight seeing tour over Antarctica in the 70’s. We also discuss some of the other runways on Antarctica and the aircraft that visit them.

The final section in this episode has a discussion with Phil Asker from The Captain’s Choice Tours and Croydon Travel who has been arranging Antarctic sight seeing flights for many years. Working with QANTAS, the flights are in Boeing 747 or Airbus A380 aircraft and are very much in demand, especially the New Years Eve flight.

We talk with Phil about what’s involved in preparing the flights and what passengers can expect to encounter. We also talk with David Halls about what it was like as a passenger on the New Years Eve flight on Dec 31st, 2009. Finally, we prove that nepotism is alive & well in podcasting by bringing Grant’s sister Tania on the show to talk about her time working as a Trolley Dolly (sorry, Flight Attendant) on an Antarctic flight. She also gives Steve LOTS of material to use against Grant, much of it unfit for public consumption (even in the outtakes).

So, put your survival suit on and prepare to meet some penguins as we talk about Antarctica.

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