Plane Crazy Down Under

We still have some Avalon 2013 coverage not yet released so we decided to produce a single episode dedicated to the C17 as there were multiple RAAF C17s and a USAF C17 present on the final day. In keeping with our previous Avalon 2013 episodes, this one is under an hour and gathers the following content together:

• 0:03:08 – RAAF C17 pilot FLTLT Dirk Taylor talks about flying the aircraft & his career
• 0:10:59 – RAAF C17 techo Sgt David Everett talks about maintaining the aircraft & his transition from the DHC-4 Caribou
• 0:22:09 – RAAF Loadmaster WOFF Paul Lemarshall walks us through the C17s cargo hold
• 0:33:29 – USAF Capt Brian Carron talks about interoperability between USAF & RAAF C17 aircraft & crew
• 0:39:22 – We wrap up the episode

Given the focus on the C17 in this episode, it was a given that we’d include a promotion for the Australian Defence Force Recruiting, right? You can call them on 13 19 01 :)

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We had contemplated a quiet final day at Avalon 2013 where the team could gather a few last interviews but it wasn’t to be. There were still so many people to see, content to capture and experiences to share with our audience. In fact, there’s so much content that we couldn’t fit it all into our daily episodes so we’re going to have to release more Avalon coverage in our later episodes.

Meanwhile, for this episode we’re presenting:

• Ryan Campbell from the Teen World Flight project
• Melissa & Rex Pemberton talk about flying aerobatic demonstrations & wingsuiting
• Mark Jefferies talks about his aerobatic career
• Dieter Ebeling introduces us to Awesome Aviation and their Extra 330LX
• Anton Meir from Aerosport Aviation in New Zealand
• Nelson Aviation College
• Kangan Institute provides aviation courses
• Captain Natassia Cherne from the USAF’s Pacific Air Force media team
• Timbo’s Tarmac
• In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf

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Day Five of the Avalon Airshow 2013 is the first full public day and they turned out in force to enjoy great aviation action under clear blue skies. Despite the crowds we still managed to get around the airport to complete a number of interviews & meet up with plenty of people.

This episode includes:

• Grant’s interviews with some RAAF AP-3C crew:
• Air Combat Officer (ACO) Flying Officer Tristan Hull
• Demonstration pilot Flight Lieutenant James Pears
• Steve talks to Jacqui Carlon from Piper about their latest Garmin equipped Seminole on display
• Grant & Ben Jones talk to Bob & Laurie Carlton about their jet powered Salto glider demonstration
• Steve & Grant talk to Owen & Kirrily Zupp
• ATC_Ben helps out with Timbo’s Tarmac and In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf

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The sun came out in force on Day 4 of Avalon 2013 and with mostly clear blue skies we finally felt like we’d arrived at a real airshow. With aircraft putting on some amazing performances, the F22 once again took to the skies and let us experience the “High Show” and what a fantastic show that was!

For today’s episode, we have the following content:

• Master Sergeant Bo Brewer talks about maintaining the F22 & its systems
• Major Henry Schantz is the current F22 demo pilot & he compares its handling with an F15C, walks us through the manoeuvres in the demo and talks about the experience of flying it
• Damien Rose chats with Stephen Buckle about the Carbon Cub
• Steve & Grant get to hang out & chat with the Breitling Wing Walker team
• Grant chats with Stewart Wilson from Aero Australia magazine
• We corner listener Ben Wickham & ask how Avalon 2013 is going for him
• This time it’s ATC_Ben heading out to bring us Timbo’s Tarmac and In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf

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Day Three of Avalon 2013 brought us a busy schedule of interviews and aviation experiences. From a Gulfstream G650 to the RAAF’s C17 heavy transport, we’ve been running around shooting even more video and recording interviews, such as those that make up today’s episode:

• We talk to Flight Lieutenant Tony O’Neil & Flight Lieutenant Mathew Stade about being the crew who fly the RAAF’s F18F Super Hornet solo demonstration
• Grant chats with Mike Jarrett (Gulfstream’s Large Cabin demo pilot) while sitting in the cockpit of the G650
• Grant chats with Charles Cheesman from ECO 2000 about their Zi-400 aircraft cleaner
• ATC_Ben talks to Gerhard Jordaan (Company Development Pilot for GippsAero) about the experimental GA-10 prototype
• We talk to Flight Lieutenant Robert Cousland & Flying Officer Paolo Neri about being crew in the four-aircraft RAAF F18F Super Hornet formation display team
• Flight Lieutenant David “Dash” Lee & Flight Lieutenant Rhys Brown talk to us about the Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft’s entry into service and its recent appearance at Cope North in Guam
• Grant gives us a quick tarmac summary as the alignment of our schedules with those of Papa Smurf & Timbo didn’t give us any time to meet with them.

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Day Two of the Avalon 2013 Airshow has kept Team PCDU very busy shooting video & recording interviews. Here’s some of the content we recorded today:

• Captain Robin Pursey, Chief Pilot for Airbus Corporate Jets talks about flying the ACJ319
• David Velupillai, Marketing Director for Airbus Corporate Jets discusses interior fit outs & typical missions for ACJs
• Steve meets with one of the UAV Challenge teams
• Andrew Duggan, Managing Director of Insitu Pacific, discusses the Scan Eagle & Integrator drones
• Flying Officer Brent Jones, F-18 pilot with 77 Squadron, talks about aspects of air to air refuelling & the training involved
• In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf
• Timbo’s Tarmac

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It’s been a good start to the Avalon 2013 Airshow with Team PCDU recording a few interviews and setting up their schedule for the rest of the week. For our first day’s coverage we present:

• Grant talks with John McCormick (Director of Flight Safety at CASA) about his military & airline experience, flying his Yak50 and how that all links into managing CASA.
• Steven Pam talks to Mal Hurman about the Eclipse 500 at the Air Show, and to Heath Okely from Airflite about the new Eclipse 550 they are marketing.
• Matt Hall talks to Grant about his Avalon 2013 display routine
• Timbo’s Tarmac
• In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf

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When we began producing this show WAY back in July 2009, we had no idea that we’d make it to 100 episodes, have travelled to multiple events within Australia, been to Oshkosh and be just about to cover a second Avalon Airshow with a bigger team than ever before. We’ve learned so much about producing a quality & enjoyable aviation show, had aviation related experiences we never dreamed of, dabbled with video production and even spun off a few side-projects for other shows. We’re also very appreciative of you, our audience. The fact that you’re all still here with us, telling us what we’re getting right (& wrong :) ) and enjoying the results of our efforts makes the late nights all worth while.

For this episode we’ve resisted the temptation to do a retrospective or rehash earlier content (except for a bit at the start & the end of the episode :) ). Instead, we’ve put together some interviews with well known people about a couple of up-coming events and a discussion about the dreaded Biennial Flight Review (BFR), now known as an Aeroplane Flight Review (AFR).

Here’s how Episode 100 unfolds:

• 0:06:09 – Grant talks a little about his recent trip to Malaysia as a guest of Malaysia Airlines
• 0:11:54 – ATC Ben talks about the proposed new Australian ATC Management system called oneSky with Lockheed Martin being demonstrating their SkyLine Enterprise system as a contender
• 0:15:46 – We chat with Peter Meehan about his career as a RAAF Reserve media officer, doing air show commentary, being the “Voice of Avalon” and even learning to fly
• 0:35:48 – Damien Rose talks about his recent Aeroplane Flight Review (AFR) that was previously referred to as the Biennial Flight Review (BFR). He then interviews Paul McKeown, CFI with Recreational Flying Company in Gympie, QLD & his instructor for the AFR
• 1:19:14 – Matt Hall joins us once again to discuss a few things he’s working on including a day-long fly past of aircraft from Super Hornets to Tiger Moths as part of the Bicentennial celebrations for the first crossing of the Blue Mountains in Sydney. He also chats about his new book (The Sky is Not the Limit) and gives us an updated on whether the RedBull AirRace will ever return
• 1:58:19 – We return to summarise the episode and review a few of the key points
• 2:01:34 – Listener mail!
• David Neafsey sent us a letter and a 100th birthday card – all via snail mail! Yes, remember that? Good thing we have a snail mail address, eh?
• Ian Kershaw from Calgary sent in an audio message
• Steve at Warneet asks us to organise an interview with Judy Pay
• “Mick from the Frankston Line” has sent us a number of great emails that have been a LOT of fun to read. Awesome stuff, mate!
• Ryan Hothersall writes in to express his disdain of NIMBYS. No argument from us on that one!
• We give a Shout Out to Carl Valeri from the Stuck Mic Avcast for gaining his A320 type rating! Well done, mate! :)
• 2:10:57 – Steve’s wife Cathey finally joins us on the podcast and, of all events, it’s to help with the drawing of the winner of our “First to 750” competition. The lucky winner is Gary Murphy who has scored himself a free Trial Introductory Flight with Aus Air Services at Tooradin (YTDN). WOO HOO! :)

So there you go, our 100th episode! Thanks to all our supporters for keeping us motivated and lets see how many of you are able to make it to Avalon 2013 :)

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In November of 2012 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) decommissioned their C-130H fleet, transitioning to the C-130J and reaching the end of an era for flight engineers & navigators in the Air Lift Group (ALG). We were fortunate enough to be invited to partake in some of the decommissioning events including a final media flight over Sydney Harbour, watching a formation flyby practice from RAAF Base Richmond’s control tower and the delivery of C-130H A97-011 to the RAAF Museum at Point Cook.

In the course of these events we obtained a number of great interviews with past & present air crew which are gathered here in our tribute episode to the C-130H in RAAF service:

• 0:07:48 – Air Commodore Gary Martin’s (Commander Air Lift Group) press conference held on the ramp at RAAF Base Richmond before the Sydney Harbour media flight
• 0:11:39 – RAAF C-130H pre-flight safety briefing
• 0:17:25 – Onboard recording of C-130H engine startup & cruise sounds
• 0:17:50 – Flight Lieutenant Tony Charles, pilot of A97-005 on the media flight over Sydney, discusses the flight
• 0:19:54 – Flight Lieutenant Richard Aughie, C-130H flight simulator instructor, talks about C-130H performance specs, simulator training, his involvement in the C27J Spartan training program and Steve’s landings in the simulator
• 0:31:41 – Phil Brown, a former RAAF Warrant Officer C130H Flight Engineer & now an instructor with CAE, talks about his RAAF career and the role of the Flight Engineer on the C130H
• 0:54:37 – Squadron Leader Rob Sokol, pilot of the final flight of A97-011, talks about the flight to Point Cook, his time at 1FTS at Point Cook, his RAAF Reserve service and his “day job” as an A380 pilot
• 1:00:29 – Air Vice Marshall (ret) Greg Evans (DSC, AM) talks about his RAAF career as a C130H pilot from 1983 to 1992 including:
• His exchange posting to the USAF and Little Rock AFB with the 40th Tactical Airlift SQN between 1998-90 (which naturally leads to comparing notes with Steve about flying the skies of Arkansas :)
• Some “interesting” missions & training flights he flew with the USAF & RAAF
• Comparing the C130H to the older C130E
• The differences encountered with the C130J
• The advantages of the C27J Spartan
• Being Commander Joint Task Force 633 MEAO (Iraq) during 2004 & 2005

Thanks to Eamon Hamilton (ALG Public Affairs Officer) & Ben Wickham (ADF Regional Public Affairs Officer for NSW) for arranging our access to the events & people so we could gather the content used in this episode.

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As 2012 draws to a close come & spend a bit of time with Steve, Grant, Bas & ATC Ben as they wrap up the year with some new content, some discussions and a bit of fun. It’s another long episode but we think it’s a pretty good way to send out the year :)

The episode unfolds as:

• 0:03:30 – We discuss issues CASA are having with RA-Aus that has seen a number of LSA grounded due to administrative issues, one of which was Bas’ own aircraft
• 0:21:35 – An update on the fight to save Aldinga Aerodrome
• 0:29:10 – An interview Steve & Grant recorded with Brian & Rick from Commando Skydivers at the recent Tooradin Aviation Day
• 0:40:33 – a chat we recorded with Dan O’Donnell (RAAF F18 pilot who also flies with Matt Hall Racing) and Angie Morino (from Aus Air Services)
• 0:57:42 – Anthony Simmons returns at last with The View From The Lounge #13: The Phantom Dolmades Roller
• 1:03:14 – Steven Pam has sent us a Christmas Greeting
• 1:04:54 – Steve, Grant, Bas & ATC_Ben discuss the View from the Lounge and Top Gun
• 1:07:17 – Bas talks about the latest updates to the OzRunways app and gives us his response to the “OzRunways for Android” lobby on Facebook
• 1:16:51 – ATC_Ben talks about becoming an On Job Trainer Instructor in the ATC world
• 1:21:34 – CASA have introduced a Notice of Final Rule Making regarding the use of EFBs in Australian skies (PDF) – and the news is good, according to Bas
• 1:32:12 – Tech in the cockpit comes up along with the inevitable IOS vs Android vs Windows 8 with Bas in the Blue Corner and Grant in the Red Corner. DING!!!!
• 1:33:16 – Ben Jones sends us a Christmas greeting
• 1:33:39 – Damien Rose also sends us a Christmas greeting
• 1:25:12 – We spend some time reviewing the highlights of 2012, including:
• Grant got his balloon license
• ATC_Ben went to the USA and Oshkosh 2012
• Steve got a C130 ride over Sydney
• Bas changed his work and lifestyle to focus on OzRunways, allowing him to work for himself and move to a property where he’s setting up a runway on the front yard (now, where have we heard *that* phrase before? :) )
• 1:43:49 – We look forward to 2013 and talk a little about our Avalon 2013 plans and how we’re always up for new sponsors for our Avalon coverage
• 1:50:13 – We give shout-outs to those who have helped us over 2012, including:
• Sponsors & Advertisers: JetRide Australia, OzRunways, , AvSoft & Adventure Wings
• Those who helped make AusFly such a success: QBE Insurance, Aero Refuellers & Narromine Shire Council
• Courtney Miller & Max Flight for inspiring PCDU
• Cathey Visscher & Kitt Loughman for their on-going support behind the scenes and their endless roles as “podcast widows”
• Of course, a big thanks goes out to our audience for doing us the honour of listening to our programme, supporting it, interacting with us and much much more

With 2013 practically on top of us, we’re going to enjoy some New Year celebrations and then get back to work on completing Episode 99 which covers the C130H retirement & is due out in late January.

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