Plane Crazy Down Under » 787 http://www.planecrazydownunder.com Looking at the world of aviation from an Australia / Pacific point of view Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:35:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 2009-2010 planecrazydownunder@gmail.com (Plane Crazy Down Under) planecrazydownunder@gmail.com (Plane Crazy Down Under) Aviation 1440 http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/images/PCDU_RSS_Feed_Logo.jpg Plane Crazy Down Under » 787 http://www.planecrazydownunder.com 144 144 An aviation based podcast with a focus on the Asia/Pacific area aviation, australia, new zealand, asia, pacific Plane Crazy Down Under Plane Crazy Down Under planecrazydownunder@gmail.com no no Episode 33: Four Degrees of Separation from Ben Sandilands http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/05/28/episode-33-four-degrees-of-separation-from-ben-sandilands/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/05/28/episode-33-four-degrees-of-separation-from-ben-sandilands/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 06:02:43 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=542 In this episode we join noted aviation journalist Ben Sandilands from Plane Talking to review the latest news & information. When we called Ben, he was experiencing a heat wave of 11 degrees Celsius at his home in the mountains near Canberra. Meanwhile, here in Melbourne we were thinking winter was upon us as the temperature . . . → Read More: Episode 33: Four Degrees of Separation from Ben Sandilands]]> In this episode we join noted aviation journalist Ben Sandilands from Plane Talking to review the latest news & information. When we called Ben, he was experiencing a heat wave of 11 degrees Celsius at his home in the mountains near Canberra. Meanwhile, here in Melbourne we were thinking winter was upon us as the temperature dipped to 15 degrees Celsius. Four degrees of separation but a very different pair of perspectives on cold vs hot.

Fortunately, we were all spot on with our news analysis, including such topics as:

  • Use of composites in airliners and the indications that it won’t really be effective for another 10 to 20 years
  • QANTAS still claiming that they’re going to get their 787-9s on a date that would be before Air New Zealand (the launch customer) despite Boeing making a statement contradicting this
  • The changes that are afoot with the Virgin Blue group being under new leadership:
    • Brett Godfrey’s farewell bash
    • John Borghetti not getting the top job at QANTAS but, perhaps, getting something better with running Virgin Blue
    • Fleet choices and the possibility that they’ll get A330s or B767s, especially on high density routes like Sydney to Melbourne
    • The likelihood that they’ll rebrand the group (Virgin Blue, V Australia, Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue) under a single name
  • Singapore Airlines having veto rights over the name Virgin for any new international airline
  • Tiger Airways recording a profit and becoming more of a stable, solid threat in the market
  • Australia’s transport minister Anthony Albanese wanting to restrict cockpit access to only the two pilots flying and any check pilots or safety reviewers
  • The F35 and how Australia seems to be one of the few countries NOT getting upset about all the delays and problems

After chatting with Ben, we have an interview with James Baldwin & Glen Somerville from EmptyJets, an organisation that gives you the chance to get rides in charter aircraft that would otherwise be flying empty on positioning flights. From helicopters to Gulfstream Vs, they’re all on the list and well worth checking out.

After that we dive into the mail bag where:

  • Matt McCabe compares the cost of learning to fly here in Australia against the USA
  • Errol Cavit enjoyed the Red Bull show and will be catching up with us when he comes over from New Zealand (for a Sci Fi convention, no less)
  • Vince Bezzina who volunteers at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook was checking if we knew about the DC6 coming to Australia from South Africa. Oh yes, do we ever!

We also have a couple of shout outs to:

  • Damien Rose who is now a private pilot and on his way to a commercial license (and speaking of the cost of learning – Damien sold his house to fund all this! He must have a VERY understanding wife, that’s for sure :)
  • Steve Cooke from the Flying Podcast in the UK has released his latest episode on a topic that’s very important for Grant: ballooning
]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/05/28/episode-33-four-degrees-of-separation-from-ben-sandilands/feed/ 2 113:04 Plane Crazy Down Under Episode #33 Four Degrees of Separation from Ben Sandilands aviation, australia, new zealand, asia, pacific www.planecrazydownunder.com no no The Jetstarisation of QANTAS is not over yet http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/02/22/the-jetstarisation-of-qantas-is-not-over-yet/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/02/22/the-jetstarisation-of-qantas-is-not-over-yet/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:00:49 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=369 Thanks to an opportunity presented by Shashank Nigam, Grant’s just had an article about the ongoing Jetstarisation of QANTAS published on Shashank’s Simpliflying site.

It provides a background on the birth of Jetstar, its growth to date and how it is destined to consume more of QANTAS’ mainline routes & aircraft. Head on over to Simpliflying and . . . → Read More: The Jetstarisation of QANTAS is not over yet]]> Thanks to an opportunity presented by Shashank Nigam, Grant’s just had an article about the ongoing Jetstarisation of QANTAS published on Shashank’s Simpliflying site.

It provides a background on the birth of Jetstar, its growth to date and how it is destined to consume more of QANTAS’ mainline routes & aircraft. Head on over to Simpliflying and check out the article.

Thanks to Shashank for giving us the opportunity to gain further exposure to the global aviation world, it’s very much appreciated :)

]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/02/22/the-jetstarisation-of-qantas-is-not-over-yet/feed/ 2 Episode 25: Fan Boys http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/02/13/episode-25-fan-boys/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/02/13/episode-25-fan-boys/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:14:09 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=351 Yes, Steve & Grant are Fan Boys (big Fan Boys, in fact :) and this episode we demonstrate it once again by interviewing Matt Hall and hanging out with some more fans at the Flight Experience Melbourne Facebook fan page open night in their 737 flight simulator. Seems we’re not the only ones who think a . . . → Read More: Episode 25: Fan Boys]]> Yes, Steve & Grant are Fan Boys (big Fan Boys, in fact :) and this episode we demonstrate it once again by interviewing Matt Hall and hanging out with some more fans at the Flight Experience Melbourne Facebook fan page open night in their 737 flight simulator. Seems we’re not the only ones who think a publically accessible 737 simulator is a great thing :)

Here’s how this episode flows:

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

]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2010/02/13/episode-25-fan-boys/feed/ 1 88:15 Fan Boys Yes, Steve & Grant are Fan Boys (big Fan Boys, in fact :) and this episode we demonstrate it once again by interviewing Matt Hall and hanging out with some more fans at the Flight Experience Melbourne Facebook fan page open night in their 737 flight simulator. Seems we're not the only ones who think a publically accessible 737 simulator is a great thing :) Here's how this episode flows: First class to be stripped from Qantas 747s? (Australian Aviation) QANTAS 767 involved in a tail strike at Sydney Qantas 767 returns to Sydney after tailstrike (Australian Aviation) Qantas plane in tail strike drama (Kate Schneider @ Herald Sun) Air New Zealand has a couple of emergency situations Full-scale emergency response as Air NZ jet aborts take-off (Sydney Morning Herald) Air NZ 777 involved in emergency at Narita (Australian Aviation) Jetstar are rolling out self-service & SMS based check in Jetstar jettisons check-in desks for self-service kiosks (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Jetstar to roll out SMS boarding passes from February (Australian Aviation) Jetstar expect big results from their expansion into Asia Jetstar chooses Singapore for Asian hub (Australian Aviation) Jetstar expects payoff from expansion in Asia (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Garuda are preparing for an IPO PT Garuda, Indonesia's state-owned carrier, planning a $340 million IPO (P R Venkat & Tom Wright @ The Wall St Journal / The Australian) Garuda to list this year, cancels 787s (Australian Aviation)  We have another interview with Matt Hall Matt Hall announces his supporter's tour for Perth AVTours set up Matt's supporter's tour  We attended the Flight Experience Melbourne Facebook fan open night and recorded some interviews with the instructors & guests who were there at the 737 simulator.  Shout outs Congratulations to Jack Seymour in Wangaratta for doing his trial introductory flight in a Eurofox. You can read about his adventures in flight at his blog: StudentFlight. Thanks to Brendan from Essendon (YMEN) for letting Grant tag along when he went flying out to Tooradin (YTDN). While he didn't get atthe controls, being in the backseat of a C172 is still flying :) We have a discussion on our forum about where to find the best coffee at airports. As usual, our theme music track is "YouNameIt5" by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5) and our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com. aviation, australia, new zealand, asia, pacific www.planecrazydownunder.com no no Episode 22: Farewell 2009 http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/12/31/episode-22-farewell-2009/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/12/31/episode-22-farewell-2009/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:05:34 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=304 It’s the Christmas & New Year holiday period, plus down here it’s Summer so we’re totally into listening to long aviation podcasts when we’re not distracted by having fun. So, for all of our listeners who have long drives or lots of chores to do around home, we give you our longest episode yet. With a . . . → Read More: Episode 22: Farewell 2009]]> It’s the Christmas & New Year holiday period, plus down here it’s Summer so we’re totally into listening to long aviation podcasts when we’re not distracted by having fun. So, for all of our listeners who have long drives or lots of chores to do around home, we give you our longest episode yet. With a bit of Christmas cheer, we produce just over two hours of PCDU goodness including an interview with Michael Gilmour from Downwind.com.au, our usual opinionated review of the news and listener mail. We also wrap up the year with a tip of the wing to the podcasts that inspire us and the guests who have helped give us some great content.

Here’s how the episode came together this time: