Plane Crazy Down Under

With the recent release of the Defence Strategic Review by the Australian Federal Government, a major focus has been put on long range missiles for use by Army, Navy and Air Force to deter a potential adversary from approaching our island continent and/or blockading our ocean supply routes. With this in mind, we release an interview recorded at Avalon 2023 with John Fry, general manager of Kongsberg Defence Australia, covering their National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, their Naval Strike Missile, its Coastal Defence System variant, and the Joint Strike Missile for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Following Kongsberg, we present a discussion with Mark Robinson, head of Air Traffic Management at Frequentis Australasia. We cover their latest remote digital tower technology and its applications in civilian and military markets. It's certainly a technology that could be of great use to Airservices here in Australia as well as to the RAAF's 44WG who provide Air Traffic Control at military air fields and bases.

The two discussions can be found at the following points in the episode:

• 03:35 John Fry at Kongsberg
• 20:18 Mark Robinson at Frequentis Australasia

Cover image thanks to Stefan Kalm via AP

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Imagine a hoard of RV-6s & RV-7s flying in close formation and performing solo & pair aerobatics. Sounds intense? Well, wait for the Pacific Airshow at the Gold Coast to find out how it looks & sounds. Meanwhile, Mark Newton is one of the pilots in the Freedom Formation and he talks us through his aviation history, his aircraft and the genesis of the show. All this plus a flying car and our Maine Man Micah sends through some audio to include. Check out how it unwinds below :)

• 02:10 Mark Newton talks about his flying background, his RV-6 and the Freedom Formation.
• 16:50 We continue our chat with Mark and discuss the Pacific Airshow being held in August on the Gold Cost.
• 25:55 Lets talk flying cars with Jacky Yang about the Pegasus which blends the needs of road rules with CASA's rules for the air.
• 37:36 Micah Engber has sent through a piece welcoming PCDU back to the airwaves with references to the great land down under.

Cover image thanks to the Freedom Formation

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The Australian International Airshow in 2023 (aka Avalon 2023) saw not only huge crowds and amazing displays in the air, but also the end of an era as Peter Meehan performed his last show as "The Voice of Avalon," handing over the reigns to Tony Moclair. It also saw Grant join Angela Stevenson as part of the commentary team for the show.

• 05:11 We chat with Peter Meehan about his experience with Avalon commentary and Tony Moclair about taking over as commentary team anchor.
• 21:18 Angela Stevenson talks about her experiences in aviation, as a pilot, as an author and as an air show commentator.
• 30:53 We capture the official announcement of the AMDA Foundation taking over the Wings Over Illawarra airshow from Bright Events, renaming it to Airshows Down Under: Shell Harbour and making it a biennial event that will alternate with the Avalon event. We also chat with Justin Giddings, CEO of AMDA Foundation, and Mark Bright of Bright Events.

Cover image credit: Steven Pam

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We recently caught up with our friend Owen Zupp to talk with him about the many ups and downs he's experienced in his career and, most importantly, his current grounding for medical reasons (starts at 1:20 into the episode). We touch on the importance of resilience and how many of the traits that make a good pilot can also help a person get through adversity.

In the second half of the show, we also chat with Owen about the final flight of Qantas' last 747-400 that drew a flying kangaroo as it departed Australian skies (from 22:16 into the episode). The discussion covers the flight path, the planning, how it was loaded into the flight management system and what it was like being in California during the height of COVID lockdowns.

Cover image credit: Kirrily Zupp

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The new series has officially launched with the release of this episode and, what better way to come back to the world than at the Australian International Airshow (aka Avalon 2023) where we caught up with plenty of old friends and made lots of new contacts. It seems only fitting that our first released content should be chats with Matt Hall, Bas Scheffers and Bob Carlton so lets get into the show.

• 04:56 Matt Hall talks about getting through COVID, the potential for something like the Red Bull Air Race to return, the Gold Coast Air Show, flying the Avanti II and his plans for the future.
• 16:45 Bas Scheffers talks about developments in OzRunways, their new clients and features, upgrading VH-EFB to a Cirrus SR-22, and flying an RV-4.
• 27:46 Bob Carlton steps us through his day and night show routines, his aircraft testing work plus with his rocket scientist work in retirement.

Cover image credit : Wayne Nugent - Australian Motorsport Images

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Rumours of our demise have, sadly, been accurate ... well, until now that is!

We're back and looking to give PCDU another whirl with a new series coming out shortly, but we thought a good way to get back in the groove would be to do that "Farewell" episode we'd planned to do *way* back in 2018. We are indebted to those who sent in the amazing farewell messages you're going to hear in this episode, but don't forget to stick around to the end and hear what's coming up.

Meanwhile, here's how this episode's farewell messages unfold around our chatting:

• 06:00 Max Flight from the Airplane Geeks.
• 08:07 Pieter Johnson from Aviation Xtended.
• 11:57 Carlos, Matt & Neville from the Plane Talking UK show
• 15:56 Steven Pam.
• 17:24 Damien Rose.
• 23:17 Dave Homewood from the Wings Over the New Zealand show.
• 25:06 Martin Rottler.
• 28:01 Captain Jeff, Dr Steph, Captain Dana & Captain Nick from the Airline Pilot Guy show.
• 31:47 Ray Davis.
• 35:12 Glen Towler.

We wrap up the episode with a discussion of what's coming next. Stay tuned!

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Steve, Grant and Maikha were on-site at Avalon recording plenty of content and this episode is our first collection of audio content covering some of the companies, people and aircraft we encountered while there. Steve & Grant have already started editing the next batch of content for Episode 131 and Maikha’s starting to wade through all the video he collected so we can show you a few of the sights from the event (and there were many!).

For now, enjoy Episode 130 (Avalon 2017 – Alpha) which unfolds as:

• 0:03:18 – Grant meets with Kimberley Turner, CEO and founder of Aerosafe, and chats about her love of aviation, founding Aerosafe twenty years ago and the company’s operations in the aviation safety and risk management environment.
• 0:19:18 – Steve catches up with Patrick Coleman from Garmin to review a number of their products including the G1000 & glass cockpits, ADSB transponders, the G5 digital primary attitude indicator, the status of ADSB deployment in the USA and Australia and interfacing with their systems via tablets and cards.
• 0:26:14 – Maikha talks to Associate Professor Andrew Kornberg about his flying experiences, the Fly for the Kids charity that he runs and the month long circumnavigation of Australia flight he is about to start to raise funds for the charity.
• 0:40:02 – Steve chats with Matt Hall about the F-35A compared to the F/A-18A Classic Hornet then tells us about his new aircraft for this season’s Red Bull Air Race.
• 0:49:00 – Steve reminds you to leave us a review on iTunes or help support the show via our Patreon page.
• 0:50:22 – Grant walks through the Rocket Route fuel app with Kurt Lyall and then talks with Alan Wilson about AirBP‘s sponsorship of the app.
• 1:00:23 – During the show Steve was exercising his radio reporter voice and provided a number of F-35A related bulletins for Australian Independent Radio News, one of which we’ve included here.
• 1:00:52 – Steve tries to get Kreisha Ballentyne-Dickes’ awesome job with Cirrus Australia but she was too quick for that so instead they talk about Cirrus aircraft, training packages and the SF50 Vision jet.
• 1:07:22 – Grant once again gets to hang out with Heidi Fedak, Gulfstream‘s Director of Corporate Communications, as they chat inside a G650ER. It’s an amazing corporate jet and the perfect location to talk about Gulfstream’s biggest & fastest jet, their range and the current corporate market.
• 1:16:42 – It wouldn’t be PCDU’s Avalon coverage if we didn’t have a Timbo’s Tarmac section and this time Steve joins Grant to chat with Timbo and he braves the background noise of a BAE Hawk 127 flying past then an F-16 starting up to tell us what’s been happening air-side at the show.
• 1:20:24 – Steve wraps up the episode.

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Steve & Grant have both been back to school in the past week with Steve revisiting his old high school (Brentwood Secondary College and yes, it’s still standing) where they have a great aviation curriculum. Meanwhile, Grant’s been out to Bacchus Marsh airport to the TVSA flying school’s open day. This one’s a short episode as we’re trying to get some topical information out before Avalon Air Show 2017 starts this week.

The episode starts with Steve & Grant catching up on their adventures and unfolds as:

• 0:00:35 – Steve’s moved into a new house and set up a dedicated studio in the process.
• 0:02:35 – Grant’s finally had an official RAAF media ride: he was invited to fly on the RAAF’s new C-27J Spartan. Yay!
• 0:10:42 – Steve & Grant review the information being presented in this episode.
• 0:12:46 – Grant talks with Daniel Pearson about TVSA, their Open Day and the Bristel LSA aircraft. Be sure to also check out Dan’s interview with Adam Knight over on Episode 37 of the Go Flying Australia podcast.
• 0:24:33 – Steve interviews Chris Barry from the Brentwood Secondary College about their aviation sciences program, the simulators they have on site and the RAAF visiting with their F/A-18 simulator.
• 0:31:08 – Steve & Grant discuss the upcoming Avalon Air Show 2017 where Grant’s day job will have him attending meetings & seminars and also presenting a short summary of his recent Australian Defence Magazine article for a Plan Jericho workshop. Meanwhile, Steve will be doing video presentations with AOPA Australia at their tent in the GA area.
• 0:40:45 – Steve’s recently provided commentary at the Hunter Valley Air Show with Ando and Grant’s going to be providing commentary at the Barossa Air Show with Maikha.
• 0:43:08 – PCDU is in the Industry Overview segment of the Cast Away Podcast Awards. Vote for us in the “Peoples’ Choice” section – you don’t even have to be Australian to vote #Winning
• 0:45:14 – We’ve joined the trend and have a Patreon page. If you want to help give us incentive to produce more episodes, head on over to our Patreon page and start sponsoring us.

Remember, if you’re not listening to Adam Knight’s Go Flying Australia podcast, you’re missing out.

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From Grant's collection of ballooning interviews to a chat with Owen Zupp about his latest book and our tribute to Hannes Arch, this episode is our biggest yet (yes, even bigger than Episode 51, our tribute to the RAAF's F-111s!). We've even captured Anthony "The Infrequent Flyer" Simmons' first ever viewing of the movie TopGun (in IMAX 3D no less :) ).

The episode unfolds as:

• 00:00:00 - Our tribute to Hannes Arch, the Red Bull Air Race champion pilot who tragically died in a helicopter crash in September, 2016.
• 00:04:54 - Show start & introduction.
• 00:14:12 - We talk with Owen Zupp about his new book: Without Precedent. It's the biography of his father that covers his time as a commando in World War 2, flying Meteors during the Korean War, flying Constellations with QANTAS and later flying in General Aviation. It's a fantastic read and highly recommended.
• We started by discussing Steve's recent Tiger Moth flight with Vintage Airways at Lilydale and how much fun he had finally flying an aircraft he swore he'd never go in.
• 01:05:22 - Grant talked with Phil Kavanagh back in 2013 about the early days of sport ballooning in Australia in the 60's & 70's, manufacturing balloons in Australia, teaching themselves to fly, setting up Kavanagh Balloons, sourcing materials, new developments and the future of ballooning technology.
• 01:27:09 - After talking to Phil, Grant caught up with Sean Kavanagh about his career in aviation ranging from being an aircraft engineer with QANTAS through to flying & making hot air balloons. Sean has flown in competitions and also been a commercial pilot flying at various locations around Australia, including the challenging city of Melbourne. In 2013 Sean was designing new balloons and burners for the company, including producing the inevitable paperwork and dealing with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). We also discuss in some detail the effort that has gone into designing the new Series IV Crossfire burner.
• 01:52:50 - John Wallington is the Flight Director of the Canberra Balloon Spectacular, an annual event which has been running since the 80's. He talked with Grant in 2015 about the experience of flying over Canberra and keeping the flying side of the event running smoothly and safely.
• 01:55:37 - Don Whitford is the meteorologist of choice for ballooning events in Australia and he spoke with Grant about his career of more than 40 years in aviation weather forecasting. They also talk about the impacts of the changing weather patterns that are being experienced recently.
• 02:05:06 - Frank Wechter was at Canberra flying the Angry Birds special shape balloon.
• 02:06:53 - SQNLDR Damien Gilchrist used to be with the RNZAF flying Strikemasters, Macchi 339s and A-4 Skyhawks before transferring to the RAAF about fifteen years ago and in 2015 & 2016 was the primary pilot of the RAAF hot air balloon.
• 02:10:33 - Richard Turnbull is back from the UK flying for commercial operators around Australia and returns to the show to briefly talk about what he's been up to lately.
• 02:12:56 - Grant chats with Ruth Wilson, Australia's first female commercial hot air balloon pilot who has been flying balloons for over 40 years and also has a fixed wing license. She was also the first Australian hot air balloon champion and represented Australia at events around the world. They talk about flying over Canberra and being involved in the Women Fly It Forward event by taking young ladies for their first flights.
• 02:17:01 - Grant flew with Kevin Cooper in his Thunder & Colt Chariot balloon which is essentially a two seat chair lift hanging under a small balloon that is a LOT of fun to fly. They also talk about his career flying balloons around the world and the experience of flying over Canberra.
• 02:23:43 - Jeff Vella is an ex-RAAF pilot who currently flies airliners for Cathay Pacific and is based out of Hong Kong. He's also one of the pilots flying the RAAF hot air balloon as well as flying the Cathay Pacific hot air balloon.
• 02:32:58 - Nick Purvis is the Sales Director of Cameron Balloons and he talks with Grant about the "UP" balloon on its "Up Down Under" tour and the new 250kg RAAF special shape balloon. They also talk about building special shape balloons including printing graphics on envelope, the interior gusseting & supports that help to keep the shape and the "dead air" that doesn't contribute to lift but helps pressurise the shape of the balloon. Nick also gives us a quick history of the Cameron Balloon company.
• 02:46:05 - SQNLDR Damien Gilchrist returns to talk about flying the new RAAF special shape hot air balloon.
• 02:49:24 - Grant, Ms Kitt and Steven Pam took Anthony "the Infrequent Flyer" Simmons to see TopGun in 3D at the giant IMAX cinema in Melbourne. They chat about their expectations before going into the cinema and then perform a debrief after the movie. We've got the need, the need for speed! Oh my!
• 03:04:06 - Steve & Grant wrap up the episode and discuss Grant's recent commentary at the Wings Over Macleay air show at Kempsey in New South Wales plus the upcoming Angel Flight charity event at Lake Macquarie on November 6th with Matt Hall, OzRunways and AOPA. Steve will be MC for the event and Steven Pam will be there shooting stills and video.
• The boys also discuss how Steve's trying to get used to flying a Cessna with a glass cockpit along with how Steve recently dobbed Kathy Mexted in as a guest host for the Plane Talking UK show. Finally, Grant's getting his notes ready to do the commentary for OzKosh at Narromine. It's all go especially as Steve's getting ready to move into a new house that's almost finished being built and will include a cool new studio for future recording.

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We've gone back into our archives to pull out some great content that we never got around to releasing before. We have some more interviews from Avalon 2015 (yes, we recorded lots didn't we? :) ) and we also have WGCDR Tim Alsop (now a GPCAPT :) ) walking us through planning & implementing an F-18 Hornet handling display and doing a pre-flight walk-around.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of Maikha (the king of the aviation selfie stick), the collection of content has been edited and put together ready for Steve to finalise and Grant to make the show notes. Send your thanks his way for having the time & energy to get it put together :)

The episode unfolds as:

• 00:01:29 - Steve & Grant take a break from Steve's daughter's birthday to introduce the episode.
• Avalon Coverage:
• 00:06:54 - Grant talks to SQNLDR Adrian about flying the PC-9 in the Forward Air Control role.
• 00:16:48 - Maikha catches up with Dave Wheatland from Mahindra about the GA10.
• 00:27:29 - Mike Seers from Northrop Grumman describes how the Triton UAS is providing Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS).
• 00:32:42 - Maikha speaks to three dedicated Mission Aviation Fellowship volunteers, long serving MAF Pilot Ron Watts, State MAF Advocate and retired MAF Pilot Max Chapman and MAF Promotional volunteer Daniel Prowse.
• 00:48:14 - CMDR James Walker of the US Navy talks about the upgraded Fire Scout UAS which is produced using the Bell Long Ranger helicopter.
• 00:56:38 - FLGOFF Moles talks to Grant about being a load master on the RAAF C-17.
• 01:00:58 - Grant discusses flying the RAAF C-17 with FLTLT Marshall.
• 01:06:49 - Maikha speaks to members of the Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) during their visit to Avalon 2015, starting with JASDF Staff Sergeant Yoshi Uesugi (translated by Public Relations officer Major Shigenari Tomioka) regarding the JASDF's travelling Taiko Drums band, followed by an interview with Lieutenant Colonel Takahiro Seki, the Pilot In Command of the visiting JASDF KC-767 and also the Commander of 404th Squadron from Komaki Air Force Base in Japan.
• RAAF F18 Handling Display Interviews:
• 01:15:17 - WGCDR Tim 'Slops' Alsop discusses his flying career from learning to fly at Tyabb and Moorabbin to his current role as CO 3SQN.
• 01:38:21 - WGCDR Tim Alsop discusses the planning and performance of the RAAF F-18 Handling Display performed for the Tyabb Air Show 2014.
• 02:06:19 - Grant catches up with FLGOFF Michael ‘Newbs’ Newby to discuss his flying background and career to date the with RAAF.
• 02:14:47 - WGCDR Tim Alsop walks us through an F-18 Hornet preflight.
• 02:26:14 - Steve & Grant wrap up the episode.

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