Plane Crazy Down Under

We have a variety of content for you in this episode including:

• 0:03:50 – A great chat we recorded with Andrew McLaughlin, previously co-owner and deputy editor of Australian Aviation and now a freelance aviation writer
• 1:00:59 – Kathy Mexted went flying with Anatole Mills from Warbird Air Adventures and got to experience some aerobatics in a Nanchang (NOTE: Kathy can also be found at kascribe & Kathy Mexted Photography)
• 1:33:48 – Grant had a chat with Mike Dunn, General Manager & Chief Pilot of Heli-Serv after being an air-to-air photo shoot with one of HeliServe’s aircraft
• 1:43:07 – We review some of our listener emails:
• Daniel Pearson asked about where to find a list of Australian air shows so we pointed him at Allan Van’t Padje’s “Australian Air Shows” page on Facebook
• Mick (aka Bom1) is jealous of Steve’s C130H ride
• Rob Lawrie pointed us to the SAAA’s Chapter 1 in Sydney and linked us to their Facebook page
• Grant gives a shout out to the gang at the Stuck Mic Avcast and the Hangar 49 podcast to say thanks for the birthday wishes
• Steve notes that Larry Beyer (USAF Retired), a friend of his from the USA when he was living in Arkansas, passed away recently & will be greatly missed

The music featured in Kathy Mexted’s segment is “Pool Party” by CC Martini.

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It takes a special breed to push an F18 out to the edge of the envelope, fly missions ranging from surface attack to dog fights and then blow off steam with your squadron mates. It’s certainly not Top Gun but it does make amazing fodder for a book that highlights the good, the bad and the crazy.

Just such a book has been written by ‘Mac “Serge” Tucker‘ and it’s called “Fighter Pilot: mis-adventures beyond the sound barrier with an Australian Top Gun”

Steve & Grant chat to “Serge” about being a fighter pilot, flying & partying hard, blowing off steam and dealing with bureaucrats. We also cover:

• The size of the fighter community in Australia and the camaraderie that has developed among them
• The mentoring that occurs within the community covering both technical & behavioural aspects of being a fighter pilot
• The interaction of fighter pilots with pilots from other parts of the RAAF
• Serge’s career progressing from high school through basic training in the CT4, progression to the Aermacchi MB 326H (the Macchi) and on to the F18 via a stint on the Nomad.
• Wing Commander Ross Fox’s influence as Serge’s mentor and the impact of his death in an F18 mid-air collision
• Serge’s thoughts on the Australian Army & Royal Australian Navy
• Working with the fighter pilots from the USA & comparing USA pilots with RAAF pilots
• Old timer stories and their influence on current procedures
• RAAF exchange pilots flying F15s & F22s with the USAF
• The F35 JSF and its issues with kinematics
• Drones and their use in the military environment
• How the military have missed out on changing their operations & equipment to deal better with the Middle East environment & the modern political power dynamics
• Serge’s love of hang gliding
• Transitioning from being a fighter pilot to being an airline pilot
• His final flight: a one-on-one dogfight with Matt Hall

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Steve & Grant go north of Melbourne thanks to the aid of some members of Team PCDU, both current & new. First up we tag along with ATC_Ben on his visit to Oshkosh 2012, discussing his journey there & listening to a few of the interviews he recorded (yes, we’re still jealous we couldn’t get there!). We then introduce long-time listener Damien Rose who’s joining us as our Queensland correspondent & lives about 2,000km north of PCDU HQ. Finally, we play a few of the interviews Steve & Grant recorded at Oshkosh 2011 to help us feel a bit better about not being there this year (nope, still jealous! :) )

The whole episode unfolds as:

• 0:02:05 – We chat with ATC_Ben about his US trip and being at Oshkosh 2012
• ATC_Ben’s Oshkosh interviews:
• 0:12:47 – Malcolm Savill at Classic Aviation Designs discusses their timber-construction Cubflyer CA18 kitset & Dick Sybrandy from Auroa Helicopters discusses their two seat turbine-powered microlight helicopter
• 0:22:46 – Peter Maloney from Composite Helicopters International talks about the ongoing development & flight testing of their kitset composite turbine-powered helicopter
• 0:26:20 – Shaun Mitchell from Kiwi Propellers talks about their high-performance propellers
• 0:32:16 – Glen Towler (@NZAircraftFan) is a listener from New Zealand has a quick chat about drinking from the Oshkosh firehose
• 0:35:11 – Matthew Hassall from GippsAero & Elizabeth from Groom Aviation talk about the increased recognition the GA8 is getting in the USA these days
• 0:42:39 – We wrap up the interviews with ATC_Ben
• 0:44:35 – Damien Rose (OzFlyBoy) joins us give us an update on his aviation activities since last we had him on the show and officially join us as our Queensland reporter
• We run a few recordings from our time at Oshkosh 2011:
• 1:14:37 – George Morgan, co-founder of GippsAero talks about the history of the company, the development of the GA8, Mahindra Corporation & future directions
• 1:23:26 – Karthik Krishnamurty of Mahindra Aerospace talks about Mahindra, why they purchased GippsAero & future directions
• 1:28:15 – Rod Rakic talks about flying the GA8 with the Civil Air Patrol
• 1:31:49 – We wrap up the Oshkosh 2011 interviews & talk some more about GippsAero
• 1:34:28 – Listener Mail:
• Steve Davis at Warneet tells us about his attempts at learning to fly & asks about how ultralights fit into the Australian airspace
• Brian Judd from Kentucky was wrapped when we read out his email previously and has come back with a new question: can we get RC Cola here?
• 1:42:17 – Shout Outs:
• Aus Air Services are hosting the Tooradin Open Day on December 1st
• Matt Hall Racing will be offering adventure flights at the Open Day
• Thromby Air‘s art department have done it again with more PCDU cartoons and have even spun off into apparel at Fighter Jox
• Caboolture Warplane Museum are having their Antique Day on November 18th
• 1:50:07 – We talk to ATC_Ben about the new Flightplan 2012 changes being introduced by AirServices
• More Shoutouts:
• ATC_Ben gives some Oshkosh 2012 shoutouts to David Vanderhoof (@dmvanderhoof), Rob Mark (@jetwhine), David Fill (@davidfill), Brandi LAX (@BrandiLAX) & Dave Allen (@DaveFlys) and the Camp Bacon crew
• Errol Cavit in NZ (@ErrolWi) for keeping us up to date on the Kiwi user fee hikes
• Charlie Willwerth from the FlightTime Radio Show has been battling cancer for some time & looks to be improving – *GO* Charlie!
• Sad news: Steve Ruffles of the Eagle School of Microlighting in Porepunkah passed away last month after an intense struggle with cancer. A family support fund has been set up by the Newcastle Hang Gliding Club

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The Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) held their inaugural AusFly event at Narromine, New South Wales on the 14th & 15th of September. As part of the show, Plane Crazy Down Under were invited to come & run the AusFly radio show and provide commentary for the air displays. From setting up the studio & PA system (thanks Allan & Kurt :) to interviewing live during the show and keeping the crowd informed during the air displays, it was a busy, exhausting, educational and, over-all, fun experience.

In this episode we have the first few of our AusFly content and we’ll be having more in future episodes as we arrange interviews with the exhibitors we missed out chatting to during the event. Everyone was kept busy by the steady stream of people so there wasn’t much time to stop & chat.

The full content of the show includes:

• 0:04:20 – Our post-show interview with David Brown from the SAAA where we discuss the successes and the lessons learned from running the event.
• 0:28:01 – An interview we recorded with Gordon Rich-Phillips, the Victorian minister for the Aviation Industry (among other portfolios). We discuss his background in aviation, the aircraft he’s been flying and his views on the aviation industry in Victoria.
• 0:47:27 – We play some of our AusFly Radio content
• 0:47:36 – Hunter Jones from AutoGyro Australia talks to us about autogyros, their presence at AusFly and their formation arrival.
• 0:58:30 – Matt Maude from Performance Metals lets us know about a whole lot of new metal they’ve got arriving shortly.
• 1:03:10 – Jenny Wickham joins us on “The Perch” at AusFly to provide commentary on her husband Jim’s flying.
• 1:08:55 – Grant has a quick chat with Chris Brown who was on the Elgas Balloon Trek that worked its way to Narromine during the week leading up to the 14th
• 1:11:42 – We chat with Ben Jones about his experiences at AusFly (including flying a Zenith CH650), at WestFly and at the Sport Aircraft Builders Club Annual Fly In
• 1:22:24 – We review some Listener Mail:
• Brian from Kentucky is wading through our archives & has almost listened to all of them (yes, he’s very brave! :)
• Mick (aka “Bom1”) relates a few of his aviation passenger experiences and is wondering what to do next in aviation (yes, he should get his license for a start! :)
• 1:29:16 – We give a few Shout Outs:
• Thanks to Analogue Al (aka Allan Van’t Padje) and his brother Kurt for all their efforts to setup & tear down the PA system used at Narromine as well as Allan’s great work running the sound gear through out the event
• Well done to Chris Visscher for being the PCDU Camp Cook and general errand boy
• Thanks to everyone who came & said HI at AusFly, especially our mate The Air Stig who visited AusFly as part of a long journey he was undertaking

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After three years of lamenting the hassles involved in getting to the West Coast of Australia to report on aviation happenings wwwaaayyy over there on the other side of the big empty, we’ve finally done something about it: we’ve set up a PCDU-WestCoast office and found someone just as aviation-crazy as we are to run it :)

In this episode we introduce Ben Jones who is based in West Australia and has a long and fascinating history of aviation. Clearly it’s in his blood as most of his family are into aviation while Ben himself is a pilot, home builder, member of the RAAF reserve and much much more. He’s even started a blog called WA Aviator to record his aviation activities ‘over there.’

There’s more to the episode than introducing Ben, however, and here’s what you’ll find in it:

• 0:02:29 – We bring Ben in & start chatting about his background in aviation, the aviation scene in West Australia and his current projects.
• 0:26:58 – We chat with Sussan Ley, Federal Member for Farrer, Commercial Pilot and one of the two people responsible for starting the “Friends of Aviation” group in Federal Parliament. With only a half hour window to chat with Sussan, we had to jump through a number of subjects in only a short time. Hopefully we can return to chat again with Sussan in the near future as it sounds like there are plenty of additional stories for us to listen to as well as updates on progress with Friends of Aviation group :)
• 0:53:02 – Mark Pracy from JetRide Australia and Pracy Racing joins us to talk about their preparation for the Reno Air Races this year. We discuss the Galloping Ghost crash, the changes made to address the issues it raised and Mark’s training & preparation techniques.
• 1:11:04 – David Brown from the Sport Aviation Association of Australia chats with Steve about the AusFly event being held at Narromine over September 14th to 16th.

We also have a very special announcement about AusFly: We’ve been invited to attend and provide commentary, narration and general radio services during the show. We’ll be there with a PA system, low powered FM transmitter and a live-stream to the Internet via LiveATC and our MyRadioStream link.

Finally, at 1:24:13 we have a few shout outs to cover:

• Richard Pollard (the voice of the JetRide ads) is heading back to New Zealand to start a new chapter in his life.
• Andrea Crook (our awesome voice-over lady) is launching her own podcast network: the Waffle Network
• Steve gives HUGE thanks to Gary Mac for helping him with some voice-over training during the past couple of months. Check out Steve’s even more dulcet tones, folks! :)
• Well done to the Airplane Geeks for getting sponsorship from AOPA
• If you’re in West Australia, check out the Sport Builders Club of WA who are holding their annual fly-in on September 30th at Serpentine Airfield, which also happens to be right about the same time as the WestFly event
• Thanks to JetRide Australia and OzRunways for renewing their sponsorship of our show!

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Kathy Mexted joins Steve & Grant to interview Helene Young, a Dash-8 pilot who’s written three great books based around pilots flying for Australia’s border patrol in the far north of Queensland. In addition to being a captain with the regionals, Helene has managed to juggle her home & social life with work and writing, producing three great books in a relatively short period of time.Her first book (Wings of Fear) was released in 2011 and throws two female pilots & their crew against a bunch of terrorists attempting to infiltrate the country through the vast, empty stretches of coastline and baked earth in Australia’s north. The second book (Shattered Sky) was released earlier this year and takes one of the pilots into a whole new adventure deep in the Australian outback while Helene’s third book (Burning Lies) has just been released, bringing closure to the trilogy.

We chat with Helene about her career in aviation, what it’s like flying the Dash 8, where she gets her inspiration & ideas for her stories and much more. You can find additional information about Helene & her books via her website and follow her on Twitter via @HeleneYoung.

The whole episode unfolds as:

• 0:02:44 – Our chat with Helene.
• 0:42:58 – Steve’s interview with Peter Sobey, the Director and Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) at Sharp Airlines.
• 0:54:11 – Grant’s chat with Chris Dewhirst, the first person to fly a hot air balloon over Mt Everest and also the person who started commercial hot air balloon flights over the city of Melbourne way back in 1986.
• 1:01:54 – Anthony Simmons returns with another “View from the Lounge” segment that takes us Up, Up & Away in a continuation of the ballooning theme.
• 1:06:51 – Our shout-outs this episode include:
• Kathy says “Hi” to Mike Williamson (her newest online follower).
• Gary Clarkson let us know about the Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre‘s project to restore an Avro Anson plus their fly-in event coming up on October 20th.
• The great New Zealand De Havilland Mosquito restoration project is coming along very nicely with first flight planned for September 29th at Ardmore in Auckland.
• The “Will It Fly” project is almost ready to fly their Pearse replica (check them out on Facebook).
• If you’re not already aware of it, you should be listening to the Wings Over New Zealand podcast, a great effort by Dave Homewood with awesome content that’s well worth listening to.

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After a number of years and the inevitable stumbling blocks that life throws at us, Grant has finally become a balloon pilot having completed his check flight up at Mildura just the other day. From how the final stages of solos & check flight unfolded to a comparison of “first solo” moments, Steve & Grant talk briefly about the realisation that a new license & $5 can now buy you a beer…

While Grant would no doubt like the entire episode to be about the new horizons he’s just opened up, there’s a lot more to this episode so we really should get into telling you about it:

• 0:09:07 – Anthony Crichton-Browne & Bas Scheffers join Steve to discuss iPad aviation apps & their increased useage in cockpits (both small ones & large ones)
• 0:36:10 – Having discussed apps in general, Bas then spends some time answering a number of OzRunways questions that Anthony had for him
• 0:43:50 – Pieter Johnson presents From Up Here to Down There #4 with his interviews with Mark McNamara from GippsAero and Mark Shearer from Ferra Engineering on the Team Australia stand at Farnborough 2012
• Remember, if you’ve not checked out Pieter’s own podcast (Aviation Xtended) then you really should do so!
• 0:55:04 – Steve & Bas chat with Peter Gibson from CASA about the new, easier to obtain (& cheaper) Class 2 fixed wing pilot medical that allows you to use a General Practitioner & be assessed like a standard drivers’ license (with a few extra checks). Of course, there are some restrictions such as: single engine piston, < 1,500kg MTOW, only 1 passenger, below 10,000' & no aerobatics
• 1:10:13 – Andrew Rankin, Steve McCann & Jennifer Palmer join us from Aviation Australia to discuss their aviation training courses (Flight Attendants and Engineers) and their Aviation Careers Expo
• 1:30:20 – Grant interviews Alan Joyce (no, really!!!!) about the Qantas experience, areas the company should focus on and flying hot air balloons
• 1:34:15 – Steve & Grant review the show’s content, including the Class 2 Medical changes coming out just ONE DAY after Grant completed his expensive “old school” Class 2 assessment. DOH!
• 1:39:00 – We’re going to AusFly in mid-September with the mobile studio and some new gear (watch this space :)
• 1:40:32 – We got an email from Greg Leversher who shares his views on & experiences with aircraft ownership
• 1:44:24 – Steven Pam sent in his thoughts on Episode 90 in a voice mail via our new Speakpipe system. You can access our Speakpipe system from our home page & our Facebook page.

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Steve’s been considering buying an aircraft so he got together with Anthony Crichton-Browne and Ben Morgan to discuss the costs of owning an aircraft. After that we’re joined by Kathy Mexted to interview Justin Sheedy about his book “Nor the years condemn” before heading off into a discussion of various items (including Grant getting on his soapbox about ‘aircraft snobs’). It’s worth sticking around to the very end for a huge, 5 minute mega-blooper reel at the end :)

The whole show comes together as:

• 0:03:36 – Aircraft ownership discussion between Steve, Anthony Crichton-Browne and Ben Morgan, recorded at Wollongong during the “Wings Over the Illawarra” airshow
• 0:30:55 – Steve & Kathy Mexted talk with Justin Sheedy about his new book “Nor the years condemn” (here’s a link to Kathy’s article about Justin’s book)
• 0:56:51 – Steve, Grant & Kathy further discuss aircraft ownership & the joys of flying Piper Cubs. They also give a shout out to Steve Tupper for his recent glider training efforts and Grant gets on his soap box for a rant about aviation snobs
• 1:03:46 – Kathy gives us an update on the council meeting about fate of the Kyneton Aerodrome (an overwhelming flood of support for the aerodrome was received)
• 1:12:11 – Kathy is looking for more stories for her book so contact her via her website
• 1:14:47 – Shout Outs:
• Congratulations to Evan Schoo for getting his navigation endorsement (read more about it at Evan’s blog)
• The 12th Annual Aviation Careers Expo is running in Brisbane on August 25th and PCDU is an official media partner for the event
• We then sign off & mention that ATC_Ben will be representing PCDU at Oshkosh 2012 while Pieter Johnson will be at Farnborough 2012 representing his own Aviation Xtended podcast as well as the Airplane Geeks & PCDU

Don’t forget to stick around to the end for the mega-blooper reel :)

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Way back in April, Steve & ATC Ben flew “Ben Air” from Lilydale (YLIL) to Temora (YTEM) for the RA-Aus NatFly 2012 event, leaving Grant behind in Melbourne attempting to recover from bronchitis. While not as vibrant as 2011, there was still plenty of activity to keep Steve & Ben busy recording the following items:

• 0:02:46 – Introduction to NatFly 2012
• 0:03:25 – RA-Aus directors Steve Runcleman & Steve Tizzard discuss the event
• 0:10:55 – Rohan Wittington talks about the amazing Petrel Amphibian
• 0:18:28 – Chris Cabot from Wagga Air Centre discusses the Tecnam P2006T
• 0:28:07 – Peter Wezenbeek walks us through the Wingmate Data Recorder
• 0:33:02 – Andrew Tricket & his team will be releasing Sport Pilot TV in the very near future
• 0:39:22 – Graeme from Stawell Aviation steps us through the Air Safaris they run
• 0:45:51 – Chris Brandon at AirCreation Australia has some very cool trikes available (you know Grant wants to fly them, right? :)
• 0:54:07 – Greg Robertson from Best Off Aircraft Australia had the Nynja on site for people to examine
• 0:59:15 – Bas & Rowan from OzRunways talk about their presence at NatFly, the workshops they were running and their future plans for the software
• 1:09:57 – Steve & Ben wrap up their NatFly 2012 experiences

At 1:17:12 Steve, Ben & Grant have a chat about NatFly then we launch into an ATC Q&A where Ben answers questions about runway incursions plus aircraft callsigns and how ICAO handles them.

At 1:29:12 we then move into Listener Mail:

• Lavan Ruben is a 14 year old aviation enthusiast who got to visit the 787 ZA003 at Melbourne (YMML), posting some videos on his YouTube channel: My Travels and Spotting
• Jack Miller wrote in to say Hi and talk about his Aussie aviation blog General Aviation Australia
• Andrew Brown writes in from the UK to say he really enjoyed the Geoff Whitty interview
• Howard McClernon writes in to say he’s been sifting through the archives and enjoyed Lang Kidby’s talk about his flight re-enactments wwaaayyyy back in Episode 14

We then wrap up the episode (1:34:46) with a chat about helping to keep councillors from contemplating the closure of Kyneton airfield near Melbourne then a great shout out (at 1:36:50) to GippsAero for the first flight of their GA10 turboprop aircraft.

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Boeing have been taking their 787 Dreamliners on the DreamTour, a series of 7 multi-stop flights, or segments, that take one of the 787 test aircraft around the world. Each segment visits multiple countries, allowing airlines & invited guests to get up close to the advanced new airliner. Perhaps saving the best for last, the DreamTour came to the Dreamtime during it’s 7th segment. As part of this segment, the aircraft visited Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Auckland (yes, that’s New Zealand, we know) and then on to Cairns before heading north of the equator once again.

Team PCDU were invited to tour the 787 while it was in Melbourne as guests of Qantas & Jetstar. Despite the cold, grey weather & occasional rain, our spirits were high & we were excited to once again encounter the Dreamliner. We’d met ZA001 at Oshkosh 2011 but been too busy to go through the interior so with ZA003 parked on the BAe Systems ramp, this was our chance to finally check out the cockpit.

After chatting with Reid Templin, one of Boeing’s flight test engineers, we recorded an interview with Captain Todd Abraham, one of the Boeing 787 technical pilots flying the aircraft on segment #7. Todd answered our questions about the training program, the electric brakes, the engines, the fly-by-wire system, adherence to the Boeing philosophy and the tactile feedback provided by the control yoke & throttles. Like the other Boeing airliners, the computer systems on the 787 supplement & assist the pilot but do not override, despite being fully computerised.

Our interview with Todd starts at 02:11.

Following this interview we climbed on board and checked out the cockpit (cool!!!!!) before heading back through the demonstration interior which featured example seating arrangements, galleys, toilets, large dimmable windows, high ceilings (with the new storage bins) & crew rest areas. All very impressive but the chance to hang out & chat with some more Boeing flight test engineers at the rear of the aircraft & talk about systems, structures & designs was fascinating.

Eventually we left & went back down to the tarmac to get some more photos of engines, landing gear, vents, inlets & more. From there we returned to the bus & went back to our vehicles, coming back to the reality of a cold, grey Melbourne day.

Team PCDU would like to thank Qantas & Jetstar for inviting us to join the 787 DreamTour here in Melbourne. We’d also like to thank Boeing for bringing the 787 down under and for allowing us to interview Captain Todd Abraham as well as spend so much time chatting with their flight test engineers.

Naturally, we’ve loaded our photos from the day as a 787 set on our Flickr stream for you to check out. We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and that you can appreciate the need to balance a short-length ‘quick-cast’ episode against getting our interview published while the DreamTour is still underway.

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