This is our longest episode to date so you may want to make use of the PAUSE button to get through it all. Like the PIG, it’s big, but we think the content is just too good to leave any of it out. The F111 has been a major part of our lives over the last 30 years in Australia and New Zealand and anyone who has experienced the RAAF’s trademark “Dump & Burn” display will have some idea why we’re so sad to see them go.

From seeing an F111 doing 4-point hesitation rolls, aileron rolls and a loop at Avalon to watching them racing past while sitting on the beach on a summer’s day, the F111 became an icon of Australia’s military as they provided us with a long range projection of power. They leave a large gap in our force structure now that they have been retired and a hole in the hearts of many who kept them flying.

So long, pig and remember: That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do!

The contents of this episode include:

• The Media Day’s opening press conference (starts at 06:08)
   
• A discussion with David Vanderhoof about the history of the F111 including its inception and service with the USAF & RAAF (starts at 32:06)
   
• We talk to Wing Commander Terry Deeth about his time as a bombadier/navigator (or Weapons Systems Officer) with the F111 while on rotation to the USAF (starts at 51:33)
   
• We visited the F111 simulator on the base and got to meet:
  • Steve Clark, an ex-RAAF F111 pilot who has more hours in an F111 than almost anyone else in the world (starts at 1:05:40)
  • Brett Denton, a computer technician who helps to keep the simulator operating (starts at 1:11:29)
     
• While everyone likes to focus on the guys in the cockpit, an F111 needs a lot of maintenance between flights so we managed to catch up with a few of the techos:
  • Flight Lieutenant Adam Firth & Sergeant Chris Walker (starts at 1:15:32)
  • Corporal James Morton (starts at 1:30:19)
  • Corporal David Bash, an American now living in Australia (starts at 1:35:50)
     
• We talk with Flight Lieutenant Vlad Bismark about flying the F111 (starts at 1:47:25)
   
• We have a chat with Brendan Cowan from ADF Serials about the history of the RAAF’s F111s and with Chris Daley from the Save the F111 page on Facebook about how the page developed and where it’s going now (starts at 1:55:28)
   
• We interview Wing Commander Al Curr who ejected from an F111 on take off from RNZAF Ohakea in New Zealand (starts at 2:14:12)
   
• Our final chat is with Wing Commander Michael (Micka) Gray, officer commanding 6 Squadron and the world’s last F111 unit commander (starts at 2:20:42)

We also have a couple of “Shout Outs” in this episode:

• Flight Lieutenant Skye Smith for her tireless efforts in making the Media Day run smoothly, not to mention herding us about the base and ensuring we didn’t wind up where we shouldn’t be (wonder if there’s a “Keeping media on track” medal in the ADF??? :)
• Listener Chris Whyte who we met at RAAF Amberley has produced an F111 tribute video called “RAAF F-111 tribute feat. TV Rock – ‘In the Air’” – you can find it on YouTube and it’s well worth watching a few times

• Jetstar flight attendant gets in trouble with Facebook:
  • Jetstar attendant contacted 15yo passenger on Facebook (ABC News)
  • Jetstar worker in strife over Facebook incident (ABC News)
• Mile-high matchmaking: social networking service (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Jetstar eyes growth in Asia, India (David McIntyre @ Brisbane Times)
• Mid-air dramas trigger action: Qantas (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Qantas criticised over foreign butter (ABC News)
• Air New Zealand says demand recovering, no capacity cuts (Reuters)
• Investigations into fatal plane crashes begin (ABC News)
• Regional Express (REX) flying into Northern Queensland again:
  • New airline arrives in town (Bianca Clare @ the Daily Mercury)
  • New routes launched during the last week (Saturday 26 September – Friday 2 October) (from Airline Network News & Analysis – scroll down to the end of the article)
  • Landing scare at Wagga airport (ABC News)
• Smelly, fat, seat-kickers worst plane passengers (ABC News)
• Boeing Receives Australian Industry Award For F-111 Support (Aero-News.net)
• Defence told to clean up creek contamination (ABC News)
• New delay for RAAF KC-30s (Australian Aviation)
• More news of air traffic system improvements
  • Qantas calls for air traffic overhaul (ABC News)
  • Qantas has called for ‘smarter skies’ (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • 
    Airlines to save millions as defence flight paths open (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Virgin Blue and The Black Eyed Peas join music’s Mile High Club (Access All Areas)

Please note that our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

Andrew Temby

While Max Flight from the Airplane Geeks couldn’t be with us, having the other guys from the show record with us was a hoot and certainly generated a LOT of content for a future “Bloopers Only” episode. We’re definitely looking forward to recording with them again once our sanity recovers.

Dr Bruce Searle

The topics discussed in this episode include:

• A general discussion of airline issues down under with the Airplane Geeks
  • Emirates and V Australia to codeshare on Tasman routes (Leithen Francis @ FlightGlobal)
  • V Australia to Codeshare with…Emirates? (Dan Webb @ Things in the Sky)
  • High fuel prices may clip recovery (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Premium passengers slowly return to flights (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Qantas CEO: See No Further Room For Capacity Cuts In This FY (Wall St Journal)
  • INTERVIEW: Qantas CEO: Passenger Demand Higher Than Expected (Wall St Journal)
  • Qantas jettisons JAL merger rumour (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Virgin in talks to buy $4b planes (Matt O’Sullivan @ The Age)
  • Virgin Blue to buy 30 to 50 737s? (Australian Aviation magazine)
  • Virgin Blue’s plan to seat more passengers (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Brett Godfrey true believer in 50pc Virgin share (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Talking about Air Traffic Control issues with Rob & David
  • Staff shortage sparks national flight delays (ABC News)
  • Flights delayed or cancelled as air controllers “unavailable” (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Sydney’s flight schedule ‘to return to normal’ (ABC News)
  • Airservices, staff on collision course (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Virgin Blue to pursue AirServices Australia for compensation for its air traffic failures (Ben Sandilands @ Crikey)
  • Military to lose airspace in $300m savings push (Cameron Stewart & Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• David Vanderhoof presents “This week in Australian aviation history” covering the official approval for the establishment of the Central Flying School at Point Cook (now referred to as RAAF Williams)
• Grant went to the Mission Aviation Fellowship airshow at Coldstream Airport (YCEM) and recorded these interviews
  • Dr Bruce Searle, Dean of the Australian Centre for Mission Aviation
  • Andrew Temby, aerobatics pilot and owner of a Yak-52TW
• Matt Hall came 3rd at the Porto RedBull AirRace in Portugal – YAY!
• We discuss some military news
  • Questions over F-35′s stealth capability (ABC News)
  • Air Marshall Mark Binskin wants more fighters (Mark Dodd @ The Australian)
  • F-111 maintenance blamed for creek contamination (ABC News)
• We review some of the “Traffic” entries from the latest Australian Aviation magazine
  • OzJet 737-200s
  • V Australia’s latest 777
  • RAAF KC30 MRTT
  • Air New Zealand’s 767 with blended winglets

Please note that our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5) and our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com.

• Emirates EK407 tailstrike – the Captain tells his story and we comment on fatigue issues
• The RAAF’s first F/A-18F Super Hornet rolls off the production line plus comments on the pending F-111 & DH4C Caribou retirements
• Tiger Airways adds a 7th aircraft to get an incredible increase in capacity out of Melbourne and their reality TV show launches
• QANTAS has bad customer service (and associated PR) in Perth following a lightning strike on an A330, cops freight fines in Canada and has an A380 go around at LHR
• Jetstar apologises for their bad service in New Zealand
• Virgin Blue’s V Australia is experiencing low yields so far
• Delta operates their first flight into SYD
]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/07/16/episode-1-and-so-it-begins/feed/ 4 0:27:19 Weighing in at a whole 27 minutes and 18 seconds, here’s the first episode of the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast. During this episode, we discuss the following news items: Emirates EK407 tailstrike – the Captain tells his story and we c[...] Weighing in at a whole 27 minutes and 18 seconds, here’s the first episode of the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast. During this episode, we discuss the following news items: Emirates EK407 tailstrike – the Captain tells his story and we comment on fatigue issues The RAAF’s first F/A-18F Super Hornet rolls off the production line plus comments on the pending F-111 & DH4C Caribou retirements Tiger Airways adds a 7th aircraft to get an incredible increase in capacity out of Melbourne and their reality TV show launches QANTAS has bad customer service (and associated PR) in Perth following a lightning strike on an A330, cops freight fines in Canada and has an A380 go around at LHR Jetstar apologises for their bad service in New Zealand Virgin Blue’s V Australia is experiencing low yields so far Delta operates their first flight into SYD Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no