Plane Crazy Down Under

Steve’s out sick (he must have eaten the fish :) so Grant’s flying solo on this one and cheating madly by assembling a few interviews and a slightly modified version of the Australia Desk segment we recorded for the Airplane Geeks’ Thanksgiving episode. The interviews include:

• Matt Hall & Nigel Lamb
• Carlo Santoro from Flight Experience Melbourne
• Nick Brau on flying hot air balloons over Melbourne city

The news items we covered include:

• British Airways again discussing a merger with QANTAS
• The US FAA wil be conducting an Air Safety examination of Australia’s air operations
• 30th Anniversary of Air New Zealand’s DC10 crashing on the side of Mt Erebus in Antarctica
• Virgin Blue likely to have a profit in FY09/10
• QANTAS to purchase additional aircraft and will be assigning more of their 787s to Jetstar
• QANTAS introduces the airport of the future concept
• Airport capacity in Sydney and the need for a second airport
• Australian Transport Safety Bureau provides interim reports on the QANTAS A330 ADIRU issues and QANTAS 747 oxygen bottle incidents
• RAAF to purchase 14 F-35 fighters even though Lockheed has admitted the project is running late
• The first two Wedgetail AEW aircraft have been delivered
• Last flight of the Caribou in Australia & it’s potential replacement

We hope you enjoy the show and we will return to our usual levels of interviews, discussions & opinionated news reviews in a week or so.

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

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

If you’ve ever looked skyward in Sydney, there’s a high chance you’ve seen a bright red aircraft with old-style German crosses on the wings. Originally flying an old Tiger Moth, the Red Baron flew out of Bankstown and gave joy flights to members of the public, flying over Sydney’s beaches and occasionally doing aerobatics.

Roll forward to today and Red Baron scenic & aerobatic flights is now owned by Joel Haski (RedBaronSydney on Twitter) with a number of aircraft, including Pitts Specials, Robins/Alphas, an Extra and a new Airvan. Some are painted in Red Baron colours while others fly under the Red Bull logos.

We were fortunate enough to get some of Joel’s time for a chat about his flying history, running the Red Baron operation, being involved with Red Bull and the recent New South Wales Aerobatic competition.

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

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How many of you folks have wanted to be Air Traffic Controllers? Do you dream of Pushing Tin around the skies? Think you can keep The Flick in your head? Want to tell pilots in aircraft of all sizes where to go? (ahem! :) Steve & Grant both applied for ATC and were both knocked back for a number of reasons. Fortunately, we know a couple of guys who weren’t.

Join us as we chat with Ben Ippolito (the Ipanator) and Jeremy Peck, discussing being selected for ATC, the long hard slog of learning & practicing in the simulator and the terrors (ummm, joys) of taking their first few steps in the real world outside of the academy.

We also discuss GAAP changes, oceanic control, airspace classes, working with the RAAF and much more.

You can find out more about becoming an Air Traffic Controller on the Air Services ATC page. Recruitment for the 2010 class closes by January 3rd.

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

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

Steve & Grant discuss all the latest news items that were of interest over the past couple of weeks. Steve also gets to have a few “c’est la vent” moments on some topics that were annoying him.

As if all that wasn’t enough, we also have a chat with Owen Zupp and reveal the winner of our first ever give away competition. Sorry, you’ll have to listen to the episode to discover who were the close runners up and who was the winner :)

So, sit back, relax and enjoy episode 16, in which we discuss:

• Jetstar engine fire forces evacuation at Newcastle airport (ABC News)
• Victoria launches bid for Red Bull Air Race (Australian Aviation)
• We both express displeasure that the Red Bull Air Race was not available online via web-streaming for Australians despite Channel 10 not showing it live
• V Australia to get 777-200LRs?
• We discuss Air New Zealand replacing its 737-300’s with A320’s
• Air NZ opts for Airbus (Australian Aviation)
• Air New Zealand to replace Boeing fleet with Airbus A320 (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Airbus knocks 50 per cent off New Zealand deal (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Air New Zealand’s Chris Nassenstein Tapped For Qantas Post (Aero-News Net)
• We discuss the political turn-around associated Victoria trialling heavy jet fire bombers
• Victoria to trial fire-fighting jet (The Age)
• Victoria commissions fire fighting jet (SBS)
• Giant water bomber to soak Victorian bushfires (ABC news)
• Water bomber could have saved lives (ABC News)
• Victoria looks to bigger fire bombers (Australian Aviation)
• It seems that it’s not just in the USA that airline pilots make silly mistakes
• Qantas pilots forgot to lower landing gear (ABC News)
• Qantas pilots forgot to lower wheels (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Pilots stood down over landing gear incident (Australian Aviation)
• We chat with Owen Zupp about our recent competition, the runners up and the big winner
• David Vanderhoof provides a look at “this week in aviation”
• Qantas will not be ‘Jetstarised’: Joyce (The Age)
• We discuss the expansion of Tiger Airways as they open new routes
• Tiger spreads wings to five biggest cities (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Tiger’s eyes on Avalon (Herald Sun)
• Tiger ups Melbourne & Sydney services, stalking Avalon? (Australian Aviation)
• Tiger to fly Melbourne-Brisbane (Australian Aviation)
• Tiger launches Adelaide-Brisbane (Australian Aviation)
• Steve has a major “What Cheese Me Off!” session about the advertising for Melbourne Airport (you can see the adverts as a banner on the Melbourne Airport website)
• We discuss JAL’s new premium economy class seating on the Sydney to Narita route (thanks to Dan Web for the lead)
• Final F-111 exits deep maintenance (Australia Aviation)
• Boeing completes Wedgetail counter-measures testing (Australian Aviation) (plus a ‘heads up’ by David Vanderhoof)
• We review some listener mail

As usual, our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is "YouNameIt5" by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

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

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

We’re back to being our opiniated selves with a backlog of news stories to work through and discuss. Once again Bas Scheffers joins us for some of the news and to discuss a number of RA-Aus items. From Beavers to Tigers and even Kiwi Skyhawks doing battle with bureaucracy, we cover a diverse range of topics including:

• QANTAS shareholders fail to block Dixon’s $3m payment
• Shareholders blast Qantas over Dixon payout (ABC News)
• Qantas shareholders slam Dixon payout (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Jetstar tight-lipped on Facebook ‘sacking’ (ABC News)
• RedBull AirRace returns to Perth in 2010 (see Tourism West Australia’s release)
• Rocket Lab Primed To Launch New Zealand’s First Rocket Into Space (Voxy.co.nz)
• Crash fears after 10 near misses a year in NSW (Sydney Morning Herald
• Qantas unveils Socceroos 747 (Australian Aviation)
• Jetstar plane evacuated after engine fire (ABC News)
• Virgin Blue 737’s nose wheel ‘disintegrates’ on landing
• Plane wheel ‘disintegrates’ on landing (ABC news)
• Virgin Blue hits back at ALAEA after wheel issue
• Virgin Blue denies plane wheel disintegrated
• Police guard staff after Tiger passengers left stranded (Mex Cooper @ Sydney Morning Herald)
• Qantas passengers stranded for 26 hours(Kate Schneider @ News.com.au)
• Next QANTAS A380s delayed due to technical issues
• Technical issues force delay to Qantas's next two A380s (Australian Aviation)
• Qantas talks straight on Airbus problem (ABC News)
• Qantas A380 project takes out award (Australian Aviation)
• Russian jets ‘refused’ on Black Saturday (Melissa Jenkins @ NineMSN)
• General Aviation & RA-Aus round-up
• Australia’s centenary of powered flight to be celebrated at Diggers Rest between March 18th & 21st, 2010 (see Victorian government’s release)
• RFDS enters jet age (Australian Aviation)
• The Last Super Beaver (Australian Aviation)
• Mayor calls for Jandakot curfew
• Bas reports on his experiences at the Jamestown airshow
• Discussion on changes coming up in RA-Aus (25nm over water, 600kg for non-ISA but no increase of weight to 760kg)
• Bas talks about the AeroScene flying group
• RNZAF A4 Skyhawks battle bureaucracy to get sold
• Update on RAAF Airbus KC-30 MRTT
• Third tanker enters conversion facility (Australian Aviation)
• Second RAAF tanker flies (Australian Aviation)
• $1bn industry package & early availability for a RAN Romeo buy

As usual, our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is "YouNameIt5" by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

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

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

We were fortunate to attend a lecture recently presented by Lang Kidby at the Australian National Aviation Museum (Moorabbin Air Museum). Lang has flown a Vickers Vimy replica aircraft from England to Australia to re-enact the 1919 flight by Keith & Ross Macpherson Smith. He has also flown an Avro Avian from England to Australia to re-enact Bert Hinkler’s completion of the first solo flight from England to Australia in 1928.

In this recording, Lang discusses his experiences from building the Vimy replica & transporting it to the UK through to the actual flight itself. This is an amazing presentation that we could have happily listened to for longer had time permitted.

We are most greatful to Lang for permitting us to publish his lecture and to Mark Pilkington at the Moorabbin Air Museum for allowing us to join in the fun.

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

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Of all the times for the technical gremlins to strike, it had to be for our “Lucky” 13th episode. We recorded a great discussion with Owen Zupp and, despite a fault in the call recorder that made us repeat a part, we thought we had it in the bag. We even feature our first ever give away in this episode and it’s a beauty (see the notes below for details).

However, it seems that it’s not just the Apollo missions that have problems at 13 as, sadly, the sound quality in this episode is not at all up to our usual levels of quality. Poor Steve has been tearing what’s left of his hair out but has managed to work his magic once again and produce an episode that preserves most important part of all, our guest’s great content.

We start off discussing Owen’s early work with the Ambulance Service of New South Wales and how that provided a foundation for dealing with flying’s more “interesting” moments. Moving into flying, Owen talks about learning to fly with his father, an ex-RAAF instructor, then moving on to instructing others with the Royal Aero Club of NSW (sadly no longer in existence) and eventually shifting to his times flying with Ansett Airlines.

During this discussion we review the pros & cons of the Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) and various aircraft, including the Skycraft Scout. Owen also discusses Bert Hinkler, the town of Bundaberg, Hinkler House and the Hinkler Hall of Aviation.

With the collapse of Ansett, Owen moved into flight instruction and also started writing articles. A regular contributor to Australian Aviation (our favourite flying magazine, thank you :) and other publications, Owen has also written a book called “Down to Earth,” the story of Squadron Leader McGlashan, a pilot during WWII.

There And Back, a charity flight for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Next year (2010) will mark the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Australia so Owen is flying a light aircraft around Australia, visiting various historic landmarks and promoting aviation in Australia as well as raising funds for the RFDS. His sponsors include:

• Jabiru aircraft
• Spidertracks tracking & monitoring systems
• Champagne PC Services flight planning software
• Australian Aviation magazine
• Global Aviator magazine

Our First Ever Give Away

Owen has graciously donated a signed copy of his book, Down to Earth, for one of our lucky listeners to win. All you have to do is go to the There and Back website and see where Owen’s journey is taking him (check out The Route for details). Then, suggest a location you think Owen should go to during his journey and say why he should go there.

Send your recommendation to us at [email protected]” and we’ll review them with Owen. He will then select a winner and we’ll contact them to send them the book.

Easy, isn’t it? So, what are you waiting for? It doesn’t matter where you live, come up with a suggestion and send it to us.

Please note that Owen’s decision is final and that all submissions become the property of Owen to use as he sees fit.

As usual, our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is "YouNameIt" by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

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

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

Despite his better judgement, Bas Scheffers comes back to hang out with us once again as we discuss some of the news items from the past week or so. Topics of discussion in this episode include:

• Jetstar flight attendant gets in trouble with Facebook:
• Jetstar attendant contacted 15yo passenger on Facebook (ABC News)
• Jetstar worker in strife over Facebook incident (ABC News)
• Mile-high matchmaking: social networking service (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Jetstar eyes growth in Asia, India (David McIntyre @ Brisbane Times)
• Mid-air dramas trigger action: Qantas (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Qantas criticised over foreign butter (ABC News)
• Air New Zealand says demand recovering, no capacity cuts (Reuters)
• Investigations into fatal plane crashes begin (ABC News)
• Regional Express (REX) flying into Northern Queensland again:
• New airline arrives in town (Bianca Clare @ the Daily Mercury)
• New routes launched during the last week (Saturday 26 September – Friday 2 October) (from Airline Network News & Analysis – scroll down to the end of the article)
• Landing scare at Wagga airport (ABC News)
• Smelly, fat, seat-kickers worst plane passengers (ABC News)
• Boeing Receives Australian Industry Award For F-111 Support (Aero-News.net)
• Defence told to clean up creek contamination (ABC News)
• New delay for RAAF KC-30s (Australian Aviation)
• More news of air traffic system improvements
• Qantas calls for air traffic overhaul (ABC News)
• Qantas has called for ‘smarter skies’ (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Airlines to save millions as defence flight paths open (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Virgin Blue and The Black Eyed Peas join music’s Mile High Club (Access All Areas)

Please note that our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5” by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

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

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

This episode we’re joined by Bas Scheffers, a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot (our version of the US Sport Pilot rules) who flies out of Parafield airport (YPPF) in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a great chat about flying RA-Aus aircraft, GAAP issues, the benefits of learning to fly under RA-Aus instead of the usual GA, the information available from the recreational flying community and even discuss the new AAAF Forum (Forum for free speech on industry: AAAF – Steve Creedy @ The Australian).

After our great chat with Bas, we move on to our usual opinionated regional news review which includes the following items:

• David Vanderhoof provides a “This week in Australian aviation history” segment for us
• In Dust we Trust
• Flight delays remain as dust settles in Sydney (ABC News)
• Sydney flights get back to normal after dust storm (ABC News)
• Flight chaos as dust storm hits Sydney, Brisbane (Kate Schneider @ news.com.au)
• Havoc for airlines, passengers (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Tiger Airlines strands people at Mackay:
• Cancelled flight strands hundreds (Fallon Hudson @ The Daily Mercury)
• Tiger Airways causes chaos at Mackay (e-Travel Blackboard)
• Geoff Dixon’s golden parachute from QANTAS
• Dixon’s $11m parachute from Qantas nosedive (Michael Janda @ ABC News)
• Former Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon paid $11m in last year (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Qantas high-flyers must come down to earth: payouts (Stuart Wilson @ The Australian)
• High-speed thrills as Thunderbirds roll in: USAF (Mike Glynn @ The Australian)
• Boeing To Test Military Airplane Over Hood Canal (Q13 Fox News)
• Final boarding call: empty bladders only (Mark Willacy @ ABC News)

Please note that our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5” by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

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

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

Once again we get to interview Matt Hall, Australia's Top Gun RAAF pilot who's making a big hit in the RedBull AirRace as the first rookie to ever score a podium. We talk with Matt about his performance at Porto, his preparations for Barcelona, how visualisation plays a major role in his flying and flying his P51 Mustang.

As with our previous interview session with Matt, time blurs and we have a great time chatting and listening to his fascinating comments. We're looking forward to seeing how he goes in the final race at Barcelona and hopefully will get a chance to chat with him again afterwards.

You can find Matt on his home page, Wikipedia, FaceBook, Flickr and Twitter. Be sure to join up to follow his progress in the races and show your support.

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

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