How could the boys not crash a milestone 500th episode? With a nod to the bulk of their past reports, they present a standard Oz Desk episode with news reviews, discussion and fewer sound effects (mostly :) ). The topics covered today are:

• The RAAF receives their 10th and final C-27J Spartan, throwing a welcome party that included a demonstration grass field landing.
• Air New Zealand are sending their two 787-9s for maintenance to have their Rolls Royce Trent 1000 “Package C” engines upgraded. Fortunately their other 787-9s have the Trent 1000 TEN engines which do not have the same issue with their fan blades.
• Steve’s being kept very busy helping to prepare for the Wings Over Illawarra air show coming up in May where he’ll be helping to run the show, including doing the official opening before handing over commentary to the WOI team of Ando, Grant and Tony Moclair.

Max managed to get the boys back into the studio to record an Australia Desk segment for the end-of-2017 “Bits n Pieces” episode. By the time they’d cleared out the dust, fired up the generators and caught up on what they’d each been doing since the last Oz Desk (way back in March), there was only time to talk about the Australian Government relaxing 457 Visa requirements for foreign pilots to help address the shortage of qualified pilots within Australia.

After that they have a chat about the future of the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast and admit that, perhaps it’s run its course and needs to be closed down as Steve’s working in aviation (including producing the Australian Aviation magazine’s podcast) and Grant’s being kept very busy working in Defence in addition to his Australian Ballooning Federation work.

That’s it from us for 2017. Hopefully we’ll have another Oz Desk before the end of 2018 :)

We’re back, babies (well, at least for this year :) ).

Steve and Grant are at the Avalon Air Show 2017 and they interview Ben Morgan, CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Australia who is working hard to increase membership and champion improvements to the General, Recreation and Sport aviation environments in Australia.

They also talk about the arrival of Australia’s first two F-35A aircraft (A35-001 and A35-002) that made their public debut at the show. Yes, they’re loud. Yay! :)

Meanwhile, this show Steve and Grant are working at the air show on tasks other than Plane Crazy Down Under:

• Grant’s attending workshops, having business development meetings and presenting to senior RAAF staff.
• Steve’s hosting video interviews for AOPA Australia, including:
• Aminta Hennessy OAM talks about what GA today are facing
• AOPA Australia chats to Craig Morrison from Benalla Aviation Museum in the Studio
• AOPA Australia speaks to Garmin

That’s about it for this year’s episode. We’ll be back next year … maybe :)

Once again it's Qantas all the way but this time our friend Richard Muirden was on board the first Qantas flight to San Francisco since 2011 :)

CASA goes for awareness rather than registration for drones.

To wrap things up, we have sad news: It's taken some thinking and some angst but Steve & Grant have decided it's time to pull back from the Australia Desk and take a break. While the regular weekly (or at least, mostly weekly :) ) episodes are going on hold, they'll no doubt be back here & there if super important news from down under needs to be mentioned.

For now it's so long and thanks for all the laughs as the boys sign out & take a well earned break. It's Summer, it's Christmas so it's time to fire up the barbie and go hang out at the beach. Thanks to everyone for all the fun and who knows, we may be back before you know it :)

Steve's back in the studio so the sound quality is up and so is the number of stories:

• AirNZ operates first ETOPS 330 flight to Buenos Aires
• ATSB & CASA investigating Jetstar after 2 separate weight & balance incidents
• Airscope Industries run their drones like an airline

Steve’s relaxing in Fiji but still takes a moment to chat with Grant & record some content for the OzDesk before going back to his strenuous relaxation program.

Virgin Australia were the most punctual airline in October but Steve’s aborted take off in one of their aircraft heading to Fiji won’t be helping them achieve the same result in November’s results. Ooops.

Meanwhile, following on from our story last month about Alliance Airlines getting their Fokkers serviced in Austria, it seems that Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines (that’s AUSTRIAN not AUSTRALIAN :) ) are taking a 12% stake in Alliance in return for giving them Austrian’s old Fokkers. Let the “Old Fokker” jokes commence!

Big news this week as the RAAF lands one of their C17s on the Wilkins ice runway in Antarctica.

The RAAF may also be looking at a new, bigger VIP aircraft as our Prime Minister needs a bigger executive jet to take his entourage with him on longer summit missions.

Despite the PM considering a bigger jet, mining magnate & politician Clive Palmer is trying to offload his lovely Citation X as well as his MD80s that have been sitting around for a while. Ooops, guess the mining boom is indeed coming to an end.

Meanwhile, shifting over to Steve’s favourite airline: TigerAir's first 737 has been seen in the wild (as opposed to their usual A320s). These aircraft will be operated to Bali by Virgin Australia tech crew (TigerAir’s owner) but with TigerAir cabin crew & a 1-class seating layout (some might say “no class” but we digress…).

Grant’s not letting his birthday get in the way of recording an OzDesk but Steve’s been loading up the articles so this could be a long one!

• Qantas loses its bet with Air New Zealand and celebrates the recent All Blacks win
• If it's not one volcano blocking Bali, it's the other
• QF & VA say credit card surcharges don't cover the costs
• Virgin Australia on track for profit in the first quarter of 2015/2016
• The RAAF’s eighth & final C17 arrives
• RAAF Sponsors two Female Pilot Scholarships with the Australian Women Pilots Association

Steve’s had a good time being Em-Cee at the OzRunways fundraiser for Angel Flight with Matt Hall in the Regal Air hangar at Bankstown in Sydney but now it's back to work and producing the OzDesk.

In the news today, CASA says it'll listen to industry yet also says that it’s losing money which is rather odd for a government department.

Over in the Military world, a RAAF KC30A has refuelled a RAAF E7A Wedgetail during operations over the Middle East Region. This is the same E7A that has been given some rather interesting WW2 style nose art with Simpsons references.

Finally, Tracey Curtis-Taylor is on her way from the UK to Sydney, Australia in a Boeing Stearman. She’s currently transiting the Middle East and you can track her progress on her Bird in a Biplane website.

The boys are back and the comedy flows as they report on Tiger Airways apparently improving their customer experience and even getting a new call center. Steve is less than enthused!

He is, however, rather excited about the next Retro Roo colour scheme from Qantas. As we record an existing 737-800 is in the paintshop at Townsville getting one of the old Qantas paint schemes applied. We're hoping for the V-Jet look.

Meanwhile, Grant gets to run his Big Motor Fokker vs Little Motor Fokker joke as Virgin are selling off all their Fokker 50s.

Finally, Steve's going to be Em-Cee for the Angel Flight charity dinner at Bankstown in Sydney on Saturday 31st. Get on down & support the cause if you're in the area!