• Steve &  David Vanderhoof discuss the Royal Australian Navy  (RAN)  Sea King helicopters at the time of their decommissioning, developments with the C130 Hercules and a special Christmas greeting from David
• We chat with Mo Ferrando from High Alpha Media about the Hexacopter and Octocopter units he was displaying for us at Tooradin
• David Pilkington talks with us about his career in aeronautical engineering and aerobatics
• David &  Grant go up in David’s Decathlon to fly an aerobatic routine above Tooradin (YTDN) and broadcast the manoeuvres and sensations during the flight
• Adam Wooley from JoeyGlide chats with us about the National Junior Gliding Championships recently held in Queensland

As usual we have some great listener mail, including:

• Ryan Hothersall sent us a link to the 2011 STOL competitions – amazing stuff!
• Congrats to the AirStig who is celebrating the arrival of a new Stigette
• Thanks to Keane Bourke for his Merry Christmas wishes
• Thanks also to Garry Collins for his train jargon & congrats for Steve
• Big shout out to Owen Zupp for his Owen Zupp Author page on Facebook and his new OwenZupp.com.au blog

Given it’s our end of year episode, we have a list of people & groups to thank:

• Our sponsors over the course of the year:
  • Aviation Advertiser
  • GippsAero
  • Andrew Temby from Temby Automotive
  • Jetride Australia &  Pracy Racing
  • Joel Haski at Red Baron Adventures
  • Thromby Air &  Robert E Coli
• All the listeners who donated to help us cover the costs of being at Oshkosh &  producing the show all year
• The contributors who have helped us create content for the show:
  • Bas Scheffers
  • Anthony Crichton Browne
  • Kathy Mexted
  • ATC Ben (aka Ben Ippolito)
  • David Vanderhoof
  • Dan Morris
  • Pieter Johnson
  • Anthony Simmons, the Infrequent Flyer
  • Adam Visscher
  • Steven Pam
  • Allan Van’t Padje
  • Mike Wilson who helped us at Oshkosh

We’d also like to say thanks to:

• AusAir Services
• Ian Kershaw for his help with the survey
• James Williams &  Dave Gray from LPN
• Milford &  Charlie from Flight Time Radio
• Max Flight & Courtney Miller for making this happen
• Rob Mark for his hospitality at Camp Jetwhine
• Mike Miley &  Rod Rakic from MyTransponder for the help at Oshkosh
• Stu Stevenson for his hospitality post Oshkosh
• Special thanks to Kitt &  Cathey for their continuing status as podcast widows!

So thanks again to our growing audience who have been with us as we’ve expanded PCDU over the course of 2011. Happy holidays and here’s to a whole new year of bringing you the most amazing aviation experiences & information from Australia &  New Zealand that we can.

The three unions represented the pilots, engineers and baggage handlers working for Qantas’ “mainline” operations. The Jetstar, QantasLink and JetConnect operations were not involved in the grounding.

We have assembled a collection of discussions with a number of people involved in the disputes or monitoring it from the outside. It is our intention that we provide you with an overview of what has happened, why it happened and where things might go from here. Unlike the commercial broadcast media, our time is not rigidly controlled so our guests are able to take their time to explain their views & concerns without being restricted to sound bites.

While we also express our own views during this episode, we have tried to present enough information for you to get a better understanding of the situation & form your own decisions.

The discussions in this episode include:

• Captain Richard Woodward, Vice President of the Australian & International Pilots Association (AIPA)
• Warren Truss, leader of the National Party and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
• Steve Purvinas, Federal Secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA)
• Independent Senator Nick Xenophon from South Australia
• Dick Smith, an entrepreneur, pilot and past chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Civil Aviation & Safety Authority (CASA)
• Shashank Nigam from Simpliflying, a consultancy specialising in aviation branding & social media
• Ben Sandilands from the Plane Talking blog & Will Horton from the Centre for Aviation, both aviation journalists focusing on the Australasian market

We’d also like to thank Colin Lipiatt, the Manager of Coporate Communications at Virgin Australia, for taking the time to chat with us about their ability to quickly respond with extra capacity to help affected travellers. While we couldn’t include him in the show, he provided plenty of useful information for us.

While putting this episode together we did attempt to contact Qantas’ media department to arrange a representative who could talk to us about the items raised during the discussions listed above. Unfortunately we did not hear back from them and can only assume that, like Anthony Albanese (Minister for Infrastructure & Transport), they were too busy dealing with the big issues and the mainstream media to spare any time for us.

We trust that you’ll enjoy this special episode of content specifically covering the Qantas Grounding situation. It’s been a marathon effort to arrange & record the interviews then put it all together for you. It has certainly been educational & eye opening for us as we discussed the issues with our guests, and that’s got to be a good thing :)

The Aus Air Services advert is provided courtesy of Star FM 94.3

PCDU Episode 77: Qantas Crisis: After the Grounding.

In addition to producing this episode, Grant was invited to appear on Al Jazeera’s English channel to briefly discuss the current Qantas grounding.

Here’s the video of the discussion recorded with Grant in the Southern Skies Online Media studio.

Our thanks go to Al Jazeera for providing us with this copy of the discussion and allowing us to display it.

There’s also a “behind the scenes” video that Steve took of Grant in the studio being interviewed:

From here Bas & Grant got to join the Bonanzas to Oshkosh group and fly from Rockford up to Oshkosh on the Saturday, landing on RWY 36 where even two days before the official opening, the aircraft parking spaces were filling up and the airport was a hive of activity. On the Sunday Rob, David Vanderhoof, Dan Web, Steve and his friend Mike all arrived having driven up from Chicago. Joining our friends at Firebase MyTransponder / Camp Bacon we set up the tent and settled into life in Camp Scholler, which is definitely something to be experienced at least once (& perhaps only once :)

Until we left on the Sunday at the end of the show, we were flat out experiencing the amazing sights, sounds & people that make up Oshkosh. We discuss the highlights and talk about trying to take it all in before winding up by reviewing our departure, our returns to Australia (including Steve’s flight with Milford from the FlightTime Radio show) and then our post-Oshkosh thoughts.

Following this we have a recording Steve & Grant made with Rob Mark (also from CommAvia as well as JetWhine and the Airplane Geeks) before Steve presents an interview he recorded with Bill & Earlene Hankins about Bill’s time in Strategic Air Command. Towards the end of Bill’s time with SAC he was a commander of a Titan Missile complex. While some of the chat can be like watching the movies Strategic Air Command or Gathering of Eagles, his descriptions of the Titan’s launch environment are very much like those shown at the start of the movie WarGames.

It also turns out that Bill and Earlene hosted Steve when he was an exchange student and then again when he returned to the USA to complete his US pilot’s licenses and instrument ratings. The interview includes some discussion about N4223Q, a C172L Bill used to own and Steve got to fly a lot.

After all this we have a chat with Bas about the OzRunways app then mention Ryan Hothersall’s photos of the 787 and Rob Noonan’s heads up about the Australian aerobatic pilots who are getting ready for the World Aerobatic Championships in Italy later this year.

• The joys of ash clouds (Thanks Chile!)
• Virgin Australia taking on Qantas & Jetstar with their new pricing structures & business class, including just what kind of passenger they were targeting at the front of the cabin
• Qantas & JetStar’s industrial issues with their unions
• Tiger regrouping & focusing on routes where it can do the most damage to the others (watch out Melbourne <-> Sydney and maybe even the Golden Triangle of Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane)
• Strategic’s foray into the Pacific

In this episode we also include an interview with Kathy Mexted, a freelance writer who we met *way* back at the Centenary of Flight airshow in 2010. Flying is in Kathy’s blood by birth & by marriage and she’s been writing articles for a variety of aviation magazines as well as working on a book about being the spouse of an airline pilot. We’re very happy to announce that Kathy’s also going to be producing some content for us in the near future mostly covering Recreational & General Aviation areas.

Finally, we’re including some new music in our show as Steve’s found out about the royalty free production music by JewelBeat. Watch out for whole new background tracks & cross-over music in this & future episodes :)

• A follow up to the ADSB discussion we had with Bill Hamilton back in episode 48
• A discussion of the iPhone/iPad application Bas & a partner have been developing called OzRunways covering what it does & how it came to be
• The revelation that Grant actually doesn’t like the TV show “Ice Pilots” (oh, the shame! :)
• Parafield airshow is changing dates to March 25th, 2012 due to weather concerns and to help ensure more Australian Defence Force assets will be available
• Avalon is coming up soon
• Bas is going to Oshkosh and as we may not be able to make it, he may have to be the PCDU correspondent for us (not sure how we’ll get him a more Australian accent though!)
• Hassling Bas to provide a bio for the PCDU “About Us” page

We also have another great chat with our man “Across the Ditch,” Dan Morris from New Zealand, including:

• A review of the amazing Walsh Memorial Scout Flying School, an event that should definitely be set up here in Australia if it’s not already being done
• Some information about Palmerston North where Dan’s based (check it out on the map)
• Mention is made of the Ministry of Transport & Technology museum in Auckland
• We talk briefly about Air New Zealand and Air Nelson as Air Nelson will be flying new services into Paraparaumu (also called Paraparam :) – check out the map

As if all this wasn’t enough, we also have a chat with James Williams from the Podcaster’s Emporium about his recent Business Class trip with Emirates across the ditch to New Zealand & back.

Finally, we wrap up the show with some Listener Mail & Shout Outs, including:

• Bill Morelli from the USA who flies a Zenith Zodiac (nice plane!)
• Paul Bridges who supplied the photo of the Qantas DC3 that graces this episode’s notes
• Colin Sweetman from the UK who has started getting back into his flying and wants to do aerobatics (YES!!!! says Grant :) and also offered to be our tour guide to a number of aviation museums if we can get there (we’ll hold you to that, Colin! :)
• And finally, a big shout out to the people who decided to take part in the “$50 for Episode 50″ concept – thanks folks!

We also chat with Dan Morris, a flight instructor in New Zealand who’s joined us previously in a few of our Australia Desk adventures. Dan joins us to discuss his aviation career to date and the flying scene in New Zealand. He also anticipates providing more New Zealand related content in the new year.

This episode is rounded out with another Controller’s Corner segment where ATC_Ben answers some of the many questions that have been raised in our forums and via email. We then move on to listener mail:

• Braham Sacks asks about careers in aviation
• Ian Kershaw from Canada has a blog & podcast page that’s worth checking out
• Luke Murphy writes in from China where he’s working as a pilot
• Ed Stubbs sent in a link to an interview with one of the pilots from QF32 (the Qantas A380 that had a massive uncontained engine failure)
• We mention that Anthony Simmons is looking for more feedback on his View from the Lounge segment

We also have some shout-outs:

• Damian Rose has completed his MECIR and is now working on his Caravan endorsement – congratulations (and yes we are jealous! :) You can follow his details on his blog.
• Robert E Coli from Thromby airlines has done another great cartoon showing Steve & Grant hard at work in the PCDU studio. You can see it in all it’s glory on our Facebook page.
• Thanks to Michael & Roselyn from Downwind and the team at Moorabbin Flying Services (MFS) for a great BBQ the other weekend and for making discount TIFs/Check flights available

We have already presented our “End of Season” chats with Hannes Arch and Matt Hall in previous episodes so in this one, we present our chats with Nigel Lamb and Pete McLeod.

We also officially announce the winners of our Flight City Simulator Centre B777 sim session prize (Graham Neal) and two runners up (Greg Spencer & David Mitchell), both of whom win PCDU T-Shirts.

We talk briefly about Qantas’ recent 90th Birthday event at Melbourne airport and play the quick chat we recorded with Juan Serrano, John Travolta’s chief pilot.

After another View from the Lounge segment, this time paying tribute to those serving in the military, we dive into our mailbag:

• Steve Horton form Perth is worried that the RedBull AirRace will never return to Perth and lets us know about his great photo site
• Peter Baxter wrote in asking about jet engine technology and again to share a great story about an Air New Zealand DC10 that helped a ferry flight in trouble over the Pacific
• “brettkp” has some great feedback about episode 46 in our forums on Downwind

We give a shout-out to Pieter Johnson (@NascotHornet) in the UK who has just become a very proud father: welcome Beatrice :)

This incident, in conjunction with some other recent engine failures on Qantas 747s, has overshadowed Qantas’ 90th birthday celebrations. While the story is still unfolding and it will be some weeks before the ATSB’s preliminary investigations are completed, we have decided to quickly produce an episode dedicated to the incident.

To begin with, we talk to Captain Richard Woodward, Vice President of the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA). He discusses what the crew would have experienced on board as the incident unfolded, including the systems alerts & alarms, the processes to be followed and the roles over the various people on board. He also discusses the A380′s systems & redundancies and the options available to the crew when flying & landing a crippled aircraft.

We then chat with Steve Purvinas of the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) about the changes that have occurred in Qantas as they have moved from an exclusively in-house engineering operation to one that relies more on outsourced maintenance performed overseas. We discuss the implications of the changes and other paths Qantas could have followed.

This episode was conceived, implemented and released within the week of the incident occurring as we felt it important to present our listeners with good background information about the aircraft, the crew’s likely experience and some of the changes at Qantas that have seen their engineering force reduced significantly compared to their heyday of the 70′s & 80′s.

The list of topics we discussed with Will Horton include:

• A review of the recent Asia/Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit in Sydney
• The Asia/Pacific outlook for airlines includes a prediction for strong growth
• “Buy local” for Russia (Sukhoi) & China (Comac) plus India building up its local aeronautics capabilities along with Mahindra & Mahindra buying into Australian aviation companies such as Gippsland Aeronautics
• Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300 and Airbus A350-900 order
• V Australia’s 777 useage in Fiji & Bali plus the use of wide bodies (eg: 767/A330) on domestic routes due to slot restrictions
• Qantas wanting to fly 787s into China & on to Europe
• Jetstar being boosted over Qantas (if it’s new it’s JQ) and using Singapore as a hub into Europe
• Qantas’s new smart card system for check-in that relies on elite frequent flyers who are with Qantas, not Jetstar
• AirAsia setting up a Frequent Flyer program
• Crawford Rix @ Tiger Airways is against frequent flyer programs as they’re anticompetitive and is hinting that Tiger could go down the RyanAir path (standing seats, pay loos, etc) – at least for the publicity :)
• Customers in Australia and Asia/Pacific wanting a higher level of standards
• Tiger setting up a franchise in Thailand (51% Thai owned but still Tiger Thailand)
• China more likely to have standing seats as the Chinese can lay down the law for their own operations – no need to align with FAA/EASA standards although they’re investing in highspeed trains)
• AirAsia wants to enter the Australian domestic & trans-tasman market
• The high quality of the AirAsia experience (a discount carrier that doesn’t nickle & dime their passengers) will hit Jetstar hard
• Pacific Blue is pulling out of the New Zealand domestic market
• Repurposing of V Australia’s 777s off the Fiji route
• United is not worried about Delta-V
• Qantas’ financial results

Steve & Grant also talk afterwards about Virgin Blue’s financial results which came out after we spoke with Will, along with their news about adding A330s, dropping the E170s (while keeping the E190s) and linking up with Etihad.

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

Given we couldn’t do a whole episode around the concept of “gas” in different countries, we also discuss recent aviation news items (so many to chose from lately) and have a collection of interviews we recorded at the RAAF’s Air Pageant at Point Cook.

Here’s how the episode hangs together this time:

• We have yet another opinionated discussion on recent news items:
  • QANTAS are very much in the news due to an engineering dispute and maintenance woes
    • Qantas jumbo with damaged engine lands safely at Sydney airport (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Tyres burst on Qantas A380 (Australian Aviation)
    • Qantas denies industrial action could delay flights (ABC News)
    • Engineer strike compounds Qantas woe (ABC News)
    • Qantas engineers in overtime bans for Easter (Australian Aviation)
    • Qantas bosses accused of breaches on safety (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Engineers demand watchdog investigate Qantas (ABC News)

  
  

  • Virgin Blue has signed up with Boeing for new 737s
    • Virgin Blue signs order for 50 new Boeing 737 jets (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian)
    • The Blue’s big Boeing buy (Australian Aviation)

  
  

  • New boss to aim for bigger Tiger (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
     
  • Tower, ILS upgrades for Melbourne (Australian Aviation)
     
  • Sydney Airport flags huge rise for plane berths (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
     
  • Last boarding calls for Sydney’s tarmac tours (Ben Sandilands @ Crikey)
     
  • Brindabella closes flying school (Australian Aviation)
     
  • Rhinos arrive (Australian Aviation) (First 5 RAAF Super Hornets land in Australia)
     
  • CASA are converting our GAAP airports to Class D in June. Have you booked in to attend one of their workshop seminars on the transition? You’d better. Check out the CASA web page about the transition.
     
  • We shamelessly rip off UCAP’s “Off field landing of the week” segment
    • Plane lands on Hobart highway (Yahoo! 7 News)
    • Pilot praised over highway crash landing (ABC News)




• We recorded a few interviews with pilots at the RAAF’s Air Pageant at Point Cook airbase
  • Jim & Jenny Wickham (Yak9 & Robinson R22)
  • Jim Whalley (CA-13 Boomerang)
  • Murray Colquhoun (chief experimental test pilot with Pilatus & the PC21)




• Anthony Simmons returns with his “View from the Lounge” segment




• What’s in our mailbag for this episode?
  • Luke Harris raises the issue of laser pointers being used to tag aircraft
  • Bob Livingstone makes some comments about the B24
  • Damien Rose provides some in-cockpit audio (we play his intro but the cockpit audio is at the end of the episode)




• We definitely have some shout outs this episode
  • Marty at Flight.org has been of great assistance to us, helping to promote the podcast & much more
  • Thanks to those folks mentioning @pcdu in their Follow Friday tweets
  • Check out errolwi on Twitter for his tweets while at the Warbirds over Wanaka air show in New Zealand (and yes, you’re welcome for the F18s :)
  • Good luck to Zyola from the Mile High Flyers podcast as she’s going through the “joys” of losing her job recently. We also want to know if our photos on our About us page scared off her friends who thought our accents were cool/hot/sexy :)
  • Thanks to Stuart Stevenson of the Pilots Journey podcast for setting up the Aviation Podcasts Network aggregator site

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

Here’s how the show proceeds:

• Prosecutors want Garuda pilot back in jail (ABC News)
• Farmer’s flight path message for charity (ABC News)
• The first aircraft taken to Antarctica has been found again:
  • Remains of Antarctica’s first plane found (ABC News)
  • Future of Antarctic plane undecided (ABC News)

  
  

• David Vanderhoof gives us an Aviation History segment
  • Guy Menzies with his crashed Avian (image)
  • Image of an Avian in a pprune.org story
  • QANTAS Super Constellation

  
  

• Air NZ’s new cabin crew outfits like ‘drag queens’ (Greer McDonald & Kiran Chug @ Sydney Morning Herald)
• Phrase “elephant in the room” is most popular cliche of 2009 (The Mirror) (AirNZ’s use of the phrase “disestablished”)
• Tiger Airways carries 3 millionth passenger (Travel Daily News)
• Tiger’s flight delayed 10-hours (The Morning Bulletin)
• Tiger Airways advances aircraft delivery (Yahoo! Singapore)
• Discussion about Tiger’s callsign on our forum @ Downwind
• Jetstar and AirAsia form a Joint Venture:
  • http://au.biz.yahoo.com/100105/2/2am5y.html (Yahoo! FInance)
  • Analyst tips fruitful Jetstar-AirAsia alliance (ABC News)
  • Two-for-one budget airlines (Stephen Bartholomeusz @ Business Spectator)
  • Jetstar maintenance stays onshore (Geoff Easdown @ HeraldSun)
• Australian executives at Jetstar Pacific not allowed to leave Vietnam:
  • Jetstar Pacific executives questioned in Vietnam (ABC News)
  • Jetstar Pacific probe set to last months (ABC News)
• QANTAS are impacted by another Amadeus crash:
  • Flights delayed after Qantas glitches (ABC News)
  • Another computer glitch for Qantas (Australian Aviation)
  • Qantas may be just another eyes wide victim of IT ‘lies’ (Ben Sandilands @ Plane Talking on Crikey)
  • Passengers suffer as Qantas check-in fails (Lanai Vasek @ The Australian)

  
  

• We chat with Shashank Nigam from SimpliFlying
   
• We have a c’est la vie moment about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
   
• Technical glitch strands Qantas passengers (ABC News)
   
• Listener Mail:
  • Jack Seymour’s got a blog up about his learning to fly (Student Flight
  • Mark mentions Coronal Mass Ejections and their potential impacts on GPS systems

  
  

• Shout Outs:
  • The new Mile High Flyers podcast is well worth listening to (and they refer to our show in their second episode – w00t :)
  • Will & Dave at The Pilot’s Flight Podlog podcast have provided us with a promo piece and are joining in the fun of cross-promoting other podcasts

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

Here’s how the episode came together this time:

• Indian company buys Gippsland Aeronautics and Aerostaff (Australian Aviation)
• CASA ups GAAP circuit limit, to use FAA Class D (Australian Aviation)
• Satellite-based navigation system to allow air-traffic controllers to pinpoint aircraft (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Air N.Z. More Affected by 787 Delay Than Slump, Airlines Says (Tracy Withers @ Bloomberg.com) plus interview with Rob Fyfe on IATA.org
• Qantas to launch A380 Melbourne-London services (Australian Aviation) and Qantas to operate A380 on Melbourne-London route
• Defence Dept to fix Amberley base creek pollution
• Tiger Airways IPO reduced following luke-warm reactions and may be withdrawn
  • Tiger confirms IPO (Australian Aviation)
  • Tiger Air cuts IPO size (Kevin Lim @ AsiaOne)
  • Investors Cool Toward Tiger Airways IPO (Shares Investment)
  • Two major shareholders may jettison Tiger stake (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• QANTAS 747-400 has an engine failure not long after take off at Changi (Singapore)
  • Qantas flight turns back after ‘flames from engine’ (Thomas Hunter @ SMH.com.au)
  • Qantas denies engine fire forced return (ABC News)
  • Qantas engine failure terrifies passengers (ABC News)
• QANTAS pilots union upset over JetConnect pilots
  • Pilots union to launch legal action to fight for Kiwi pay equality (Ewin Hannan @ The Australian)
  • Qantas ‘underpaying NZ pilots’ (ABC News)
  • Australian union seeks more for Qantas’ Kiwi pilots (Kathy Marks @ NZ Herald)
  • NZ-based pilots paid ‘half of Aussie counterparts’ (Stuff.co.nz)
  • APIA takes action on Jetconnect pilot pay (Australian Aviation)>
• Interview with Michael Gilmour from Downwind.com.au
• We review our Listener Mail
• It’s Christmas, so of course everyone’s going on strike
  • Qantas faces more strike action (ABC News)
  • Qantas engineers to begin 5-day strike from tomorrow (Cynthia Koons @ The Australian)
  • Christmas strikes looming on two fronts for Qantas (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Qantas, Jetstar engineers ‘overworked’ (Nine News)
  • Work bans threaten air travel (Ben Schneiders @ The Age)
  • Qantas engineers set for more industrial action (Australian Aviation)
• Here’s our end of year wrap
  • Special thanks to the podcasts that inspired us to start PCDU
    • Uncontrolled Airspace
    • Airspeed
    • Pilot’s Flight Podlog
    • Podcast Answerman
    • Airplane Geeks
  • Our great guests in 2009 were
    • Matt Hall
    • Nigel Lamb
    • Owen Zupp
    • Bas Scheffers
    • Saj Ahmad
    • Ben Ipolito & Jeremy Peck
    • Michael Gilmour
    • David Vanderhoof
    • Lang Kidby
    • Joel Haski
    • Shashank Nigram
    • Karla Courtney
    • Carlo Santoro
    • Nick Brau
  • Special thanks also to
    • Dane Golden & Leo Laporte
    • Adam Visscher (about to be our photographer)

  As from now, we have a forum. Yes, that’s right, a place where you can come and chat about our episodes and anything else related to PCDU. Thanks to Michael @ Downwind for making a space available to us.

  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/2009/12/31/episode-22-farewell-2009/feed/ 13 2:01:41 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 drive[...] 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: Indian company buys Gippsland Aeronautics and Aerostaff (Australian Aviation) CASA ups GAAP circuit limit, to use FAA Class D (Australian Aviation) Satellite-based navigation system to allow air-traffic controllers to pinpoint aircraft (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Air N.Z. More Affected by 787 Delay Than Slump, Airlines Says (Tracy Withers @ Bloomberg.com) plus interview with Rob Fyfe on IATA.org Qantas to launch A380 Melbourne-London services (Australian Aviation) and Qantas to operate A380 on Melbourne-London route Defence Dept to fix Amberley base creek pollution Tiger Airways IPO reduced following luke-warm reactions and may be withdrawn Tiger confirms IPO (Australian Aviation) Tiger Air cuts IPO size (Kevin Lim @ AsiaOne) Investors Cool Toward Tiger Airways IPO (Shares Investment) Two major shareholders may jettison Tiger stake (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) QANTAS 747-400 has an engine failure not long after take off at Changi (Singapore) Qantas flight turns back after ‘flames from engine’ (Thomas Hunter @ SMH.com.au) Qantas denies engine fire forced return (ABC News) Qantas engine failure terrifies passengers (ABC News) QANTAS pilots union upset over JetConnect pilots Pilots union to launch legal action to fight for Kiwi pay equality (Ewin Hannan @ The Australian) Qantas ‘underpaying NZ pilots’ (ABC News) Australian union seeks more for Qantas’ Kiwi pilots (Kathy Marks @ NZ Herald) NZ-based pilots paid ‘half of Aussie counterparts’ (Stuff.co.nz) APIA takes action on Jetconnect pilot pay (Australian Aviation)> Interview with Michael Gilmour from Downwind.com.au We review our Listener Mail It’s Christmas, so of course everyone’s going on strike Qantas faces more strike action (ABC News) Qantas engineers to begin 5-day strike from tomorrow (Cynthia Koons @ The Australian) Christmas strikes looming on two fronts for Qantas (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Qantas, Jetstar engineers ‘overworked’ (Nine News) Work bans threaten air travel (Ben Schneiders @ The Age) Qantas engineers set for more industrial action (Australian Aviation) Here’s our end of year wrap Special thanks to the podcasts that inspired us to start PCDU Uncontrolled Airspace Airspeed Pilot’s Flight Podlog Podcast Answerman Airplane Geeks Our great guests in 2009 were Matt Hall Nigel Lamb Owen Zupp Bas Scheffers Saj Ahmad Ben Ipolito & Jeremy Peck Michael Gilmour David Vanderhoof Lang Kidby Joel Haski Shashank Nigram Karla Courtney Carlo Santoro Nick Brau Special thanks also to Dane Golden & Leo Laporte Adam Visscher (about to be our photographer) As from now, we have a forum. Yes, that’s right, a place where you can come and chat about our episodes and anything else related to PCDU. Thanks to Michael @ Downwind for making a space available to us. As usual, our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5) and our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com. Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/12/05/episode-19-interview-with-a-vampire-pilot-other-stories/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/12/05/episode-19-interview-with-a-vampire-pilot-other-stories/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:27:37 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=264 Steve’s out sick (he must have eaten the fish :) so Grant’s flying solo on this one and cheating madly by assembling a few interviews and a slightly modified version of the Australia Desk segment we recorded for the Airplane Geeks’ Thanksgiving episode. The interviews include:
  Matt Hall & Nigel Lamb Carlo Santoro from Flight . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 19: Interview with a Vampire … Pilot (& Other Stories)]]> Steve’s out sick (he must have eaten the fish :) so Grant’s flying solo on this one and cheating madly by assembling a few interviews and a slightly modified version of the Australia Desk segment we recorded for the Airplane Geeks’ Thanksgiving episode. The interviews include:
  • Matt Hall & Nigel Lamb
  • Carlo Santoro from Flight Experience Melbourne
  • Nick Brau on flying hot air balloons over Melbourne city

  The news items we covered include:

  • British Airways again discussing a merger with QANTAS
  • The US FAA wil be conducting an Air Safety examination of Australia’s air operations
  • 30th Anniversary of Air New Zealand’s DC10 crashing on the side of Mt Erebus in Antarctica
  • Virgin Blue likely to have a profit in FY09/10
  • QANTAS to purchase additional aircraft and will be assigning more of their 787s to Jetstar
  • QANTAS introduces the airport of the future concept
  • Airport capacity in Sydney and the need for a second airport
  • Australian Transport Safety Bureau provides interim reports on the QANTAS A330 ADIRU issues and QANTAS 747 oxygen bottle incidents
  • RAAF to purchase 14 F35 fighters even though Lockheed has admitted the project is running late
  • The first two Wedgetail AEW aircraft have been delivered
  • Last flight of the Caribou in Australia & it’s potential replacement

  We hope you enjoy the show and we will return to our usual levels of interviews, discussions & opinionated news reviews in a week or so.

  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/12/05/episode-19-interview-with-a-vampire-pilot-other-stories/feed/ 0 0:58:22 Steve’s out sick (he must have eaten the fish :) so Grant’s flying solo on this one and cheating madly by assembling a few interviews and a slightly modified version of the Australia Desk segment we recorded for the Airplane Geeks’[...] Steve’s out sick (he must have eaten the fish :) so Grant’s flying solo on this one and cheating madly by assembling a few interviews and a slightly modified version of the Australia Desk segment we recorded for the Airplane Geeks’ Thanksgiving episode. The interviews include: Matt Hall & Nigel Lamb Carlo Santoro from Flight Experience Melbourne Nick Brau on flying hot air balloons over Melbourne city The news items we covered include: British Airways again discussing a merger with QANTAS The US FAA wil be conducting an Air Safety examination of Australia’s air operations 30th Anniversary of Air New Zealand’s DC10 crashing on the side of Mt Erebus in Antarctica Virgin Blue likely to have a profit in FY09/10 QANTAS to purchase additional aircraft and will be assigning more of their 787s to Jetstar QANTAS introduces the airport of the future concept Airport capacity in Sydney and the need for a second airport Australian Transport Safety Bureau provides interim reports on the QANTAS A330 ADIRU issues and QANTAS 747 oxygen bottle incidents RAAF to purchase 14 F35 fighters even though Lockheed has admitted the project is running late The first two Wedgetail AEW aircraft have been delivered Last flight of the Caribou in Australia & it’s potential replacement We hope you enjoy the show and we will return to our usual levels of interviews, discussions & opinionated news reviews in a week or so. Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/11/15/episode-16-rant-on-steve-rant-on/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/11/15/episode-16-rant-on-steve-rant-on/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:08:59 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=227 Steve & Grant discuss all the latest news items that were of interest over the past couple of weeks. Steve also gets to have a few “c’est la vent” moments on some topics that were annoying him.

  As if all that wasn’t enough, we also have a chat with Owen Zupp and reveal the winner . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 16: Rant on Steve, Rant on]]> Steve & Grant discuss all the latest news items that were of interest over the past couple of weeks. Steve also gets to have a few “c’est la vent” moments on some topics that were annoying him.

  As if all that wasn’t enough, we also have a chat with Owen Zupp and reveal the winner of our first ever give away competition. Sorry, you’ll have to listen to the episode to discover who were the close runners up and who was the winner :)

  So, sit back, relax and enjoy episode 16, in which we discuss:

  • Jetstar engine fire forces evacuation at Newcastle airport (ABC News)
  • Victoria launches bid for Red Bull Air Race (Australian Aviation)
  • We both express displeasure that the Red Bull Air Race was not available online via web-streaming for Australians despite Channel 10 not showing it live
  • V Australia to get 777-200LRs?
  • We discuss Air New Zealand replacing its 737-300′s with A320′s
    • Air NZ opts for Airbus (Australian Aviation)
    • Air New Zealand to replace Boeing fleet with Airbus A320 (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Airbus knocks 50 per cent off New Zealand deal (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Air New Zealand’s Chris Nassenstein Tapped For Qantas Post (Aero-News Net)
  • We discuss the political turn-around associated Victoria trialling heavy jet fire bombers
    • Victoria to trial fire-fighting jet (The Age)
    • Victoria commissions fire fighting jet (SBS)
    • Giant water bomber to soak Victorian bushfires (ABC news)
    • Water bomber could have saved lives (ABC News)
    • Victoria looks to bigger fire bombers (Australian Aviation)
  • It seems that it’s not just in the USA that airline pilots make silly mistakes
    • Qantas pilots forgot to lower landing gear (ABC News)
    • Qantas pilots forgot to lower wheels (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Pilots stood down over landing gear incident (Australian Aviation)
  • We chat with Owen Zupp about our recent competition, the runners up and the big winner
  • David Vanderhoof provides a look at “this week in aviation”
  • Qantas will not be ‘Jetstarised’: Joyce (The Age)
  • We discuss the expansion of Tiger Airways as they open new routes
    • Tiger spreads wings to five biggest cities (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Tiger’s eyes on Avalon (Herald Sun)
    • Tiger ups Melbourne & Sydney services, stalking Avalon? (Australian Aviation)
    • Tiger to fly Melbourne-Brisbane (Australian Aviation)
    • Tiger launches Adelaide-Brisbane (Australian Aviation)
  • Steve has a major “What Cheese Me Off!” session about the advertising for Melbourne Airport (you can see the adverts as a banner on the Melbourne Airport website
  • We discuss JAL’s new premium economy class seating on the Sydney to Narita route (thanks to Dan Web for the lead)
  • Final F-111 exits deep maintenance (Australia Aviation)
  • Boeing completes Wedgetail counter-measures testing (Australian Aviation) (plus a ‘heads up’ by David Vanderhoof)
  • We review some listener mail

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

  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/11/15/episode-16-rant-on-steve-rant-on/feed/ 16 1:29:50 Steve & Grant discuss all the latest news items that were of interest over the past couple of weeks. Steve also gets to have a few “c’est la vent” moments on some topics that were annoying him. As if all that wasn’t enou[...] Steve & Grant discuss all the latest news items that were of interest over the past couple of weeks. Steve also gets to have a few “c’est la vent” moments on some topics that were annoying him. As if all that wasn’t enough, we also have a chat with Owen Zupp and reveal the winner of our first ever give away competition. Sorry, you’ll have to listen to the episode to discover who were the close runners up and who was the winner :) So, sit back, relax and enjoy episode 16, in which we discuss: Jetstar engine fire forces evacuation at Newcastle airport (ABC News) Victoria launches bid for Red Bull Air Race (Australian Aviation) We both express displeasure that the Red Bull Air Race was not available online via web-streaming for Australians despite Channel 10 not showing it live V Australia to get 777-200LRs? We discuss Air New Zealand replacing its 737-300′s with A320′s Air NZ opts for Airbus (Australian Aviation) Air New Zealand to replace Boeing fleet with Airbus A320 (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Airbus knocks 50 per cent off New Zealand deal (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Air New Zealand’s Chris Nassenstein Tapped For Qantas Post (Aero-News Net) We discuss the political turn-around associated Victoria trialling heavy jet fire bombers Victoria to trial fire-fighting jet (The Age) Victoria commissions fire fighting jet (SBS) Giant water bomber to soak Victorian bushfires (ABC news) Water bomber could have saved lives (ABC News) Victoria looks to bigger fire bombers (Australian Aviation) It seems that it’s not just in the USA that airline pilots make silly mistakes Qantas pilots forgot to lower landing gear (ABC News) Qantas pilots forgot to lower wheels (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Pilots stood down over landing gear incident (Australian Aviation) We chat with Owen Zupp about our recent competition, the runners up and the big winner David Vanderhoof provides a look at “this week in aviation” Qantas will not be ‘Jetstarised’: Joyce (The Age) We discuss the expansion of Tiger Airways as they open new routes Tiger spreads wings to five biggest cities (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Tiger’s eyes on Avalon (Herald Sun) Tiger ups Melbourne & Sydney services, stalking Avalon? (Australian Aviation) Tiger to fly Melbourne-Brisbane (Australian Aviation) Tiger launches Adelaide-Brisbane (Australian Aviation) Steve has a major “What Cheese Me Off!” session about the advertising for Melbourne Airport (you can see the adverts as a banner on the Melbourne Airport website We discuss JAL’s new premium economy class seating on the Sydney to Narita route (thanks to Dan Web for the lead) Final F-111 exits deep maintenance (Australia Aviation) Boeing completes Wedgetail counter-measures testing (Australian Aviation) (plus a ‘heads up’ by David Vanderhoof) We review some listener mail As usual, our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5). Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/11/01/episode-15-and-now-for-something-completely-different-here-is-the-news/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/11/01/episode-15-and-now-for-something-completely-different-here-is-the-news/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:37:51 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=192 We’re back to being our opiniated selves with a backlog of news stories to work through and discuss. Once again Bas Scheffers joins us for some of the news and to discuss a number of RA-Aus items. From Beavers to Tigers and even Kiwi Skyhawks doing battle with bureaucracy, we cover a diverse range of . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 15: And now for something completely different, here is the news]]> We’re back to being our opiniated selves with a backlog of news stories to work through and discuss. Once again Bas Scheffers joins us for some of the news and to discuss a number of RA-Aus items. From Beavers to Tigers and even Kiwi Skyhawks doing battle with bureaucracy, we cover a diverse range of topics including:
  • QANTAS shareholders fail to block Dixon’s $3m payment
    • Shareholders blast Qantas over Dixon payout (ABC News)
    • Qantas shareholders slam Dixon payout (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Jetstar tight-lipped on Facebook ‘sacking’ (ABC News)
  • RedBull AirRace returns to Perth in 2010 (see Tourism West Australia’s release)
  • Rocket Lab Primed To Launch New Zealand’s First Rocket Into Space (Voxy.co.nz)
  • Crash fears after 10 near misses a year in NSW (Sydney Morning Herald
  • Qantas unveils Socceroos 747 (Australian Aviation)
  • Jetstar plane evacuated after engine fire (ABC News)
  • Virgin Blue 737′s nose wheel ‘disintegrates’ on landing
    • Plane wheel ‘disintegrates’ on landing (ABC news)
    • Virgin Blue hits back at ALAEA after wheel issue
    • Virgin Blue denies plane wheel disintegrated
  • Police guard staff after Tiger passengers left stranded (Mex Cooper @ Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Qantas passengers stranded for 26 hours(Kate Schneider @ News.com.au)
  • Next QANTAS A380s delayed due to technical issues
    • Technical issues force delay to Qantas’s next two A380s (Australian Aviation)
    • Qantas talks straight on Airbus problem (ABC News)
  • Qantas A380 project takes out award (Australian Aviation)
  • Russian jets ‘refused’ on Black Saturday (Melissa Jenkins @ NineMSN)
  • General Aviation & RA-Aus round-up
    • Australia’s centenary of powered flight to be celebrated at Diggers Rest between March 18th & 21st, 2010 (see Victorian government’s release
    • RFDS enters jet age (Australian Aviation)
    • The Last Super Beaver (Australian Aviation)
    • Mayor calls for Jandakot curfew
    • Bas reports on his experiences at the Jamestown airshow
    • Discussion on changes coming up in RA-Aus (25nm over water, 600kg for non-ISA but no increase of weight to 760kg)
    • Bas talks about the AeroScene flying group
  • RNZAF A4 Skyhawks battle bureaucracy to get sold
  • Update on RAAF Airbus KC-30 MRTT
    • Third tanker enters conversion facility (Australian Aviation)
    • Second RAAF tanker flies (Australian Aviation)
  • $1bn industry package & early availability for a RAN Romeo buy

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

  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/11/01/episode-15-and-now-for-something-completely-different-here-is-the-news/feed/ 15 1:33:07 We’re back to being our opiniated selves with a backlog of news stories to work through and discuss. Once again Bas Scheffers joins us for some of the news and to discuss a number of RA-Aus items. From Beavers to Tigers and even Kiwi Skyhawks [...] We’re back to being our opiniated selves with a backlog of news stories to work through and discuss. Once again Bas Scheffers joins us for some of the news and to discuss a number of RA-Aus items. From Beavers to Tigers and even Kiwi Skyhawks doing battle with bureaucracy, we cover a diverse range of topics including: QANTAS shareholders fail to block Dixon’s $3m payment Shareholders blast Qantas over Dixon payout (ABC News) Qantas shareholders slam Dixon payout (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Jetstar tight-lipped on Facebook ‘sacking’ (ABC News) RedBull AirRace returns to Perth in 2010 (see Tourism West Australia’s release) Rocket Lab Primed To Launch New Zealand’s First Rocket Into Space (Voxy.co.nz) Crash fears after 10 near misses a year in NSW (Sydney Morning Herald Qantas unveils Socceroos 747 (Australian Aviation) Jetstar plane evacuated after engine fire (ABC News) Virgin Blue 737′s nose wheel ‘disintegrates’ on landing Plane wheel ‘disintegrates’ on landing (ABC news) Virgin Blue hits back at ALAEA after wheel issue Virgin Blue denies plane wheel disintegrated Police guard staff after Tiger passengers left stranded (Mex Cooper @ Sydney Morning Herald) Qantas passengers stranded for 26 hours(Kate Schneider @ News.com.au) Next QANTAS A380s delayed due to technical issues Technical issues force delay to Qantas’s next two A380s (Australian Aviation) Qantas talks straight on Airbus problem (ABC News) Qantas A380 project takes out award (Australian Aviation) Russian jets ‘refused’ on Black Saturday (Melissa Jenkins @ NineMSN) General Aviation & RA-Aus round-up Australia’s centenary of powered flight to be celebrated at Diggers Rest between March 18th & 21st, 2010 (see Victorian government’s release RFDS enters jet age (Australian Aviation) The Last Super Beaver (Australian Aviation) Mayor calls for Jandakot curfew Bas reports on his experiences at the Jamestown airshow Discussion on changes coming up in RA-Aus (25nm over water, 600kg for non-ISA but no increase of weight to 760kg) Bas talks about the AeroScene flying group RNZAF A4 Skyhawks battle bureaucracy to get sold Update on RAAF Airbus KC-30 MRTT Third tanker enters conversion facility (Australian Aviation) Second RAAF tanker flies (Australian Aviation) $1bn industry package & early availability for a RAN Romeo buy As usual, our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5). Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/12/episode-12-its-not-that-late-in-adelaide/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/12/episode-12-its-not-that-late-in-adelaide/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:39:02 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=169 Despite his better judgement, Bas Scheffers comes back to hang out with us once again as we discuss some of the news items from the past week or so. Topics of discussion in this episode include:
  Jetstar flight attendant gets in trouble with Facebook:
  Jetstar attendant contacted 15yo passenger on Facebook (ABC News) Jetstar worker . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 12: It’s not that late in Adelaide…]]> Despite his better judgement, Bas Scheffers comes back to hang out with us once again as we discuss some of the news items from the past week or so. Topics of discussion in this episode include:
  • 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).

  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/12/episode-12-its-not-that-late-in-adelaide/feed/ 4 1:08:10 Despite his better judgement, Bas Scheffers comes back to hang out with us once again as we discuss some of the news items from the past week or so. Topics of discussion in this episode include: Jetstar flight attendant gets in trouble with Faceboo[...] Despite his better judgement, Bas Scheffers comes back to hang out with us once again as we discuss some of the news items from the past week or so. Topics of discussion in this episode include: 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). Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/03/episode-11-recreationally-yours/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/03/episode-11-recreationally-yours/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:15:18 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=162 This episode we’re joined by Bas Scheffers, a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot (our version of the US Sport Pilot rules) who flies out of Parafield airport (YPPF) in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a great chat about flying RA-Aus aircraft, GAAP issues, the benefits of learning to fly under RA-Aus instead of the usual GA, . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 11: Recreationally Yours]]> This episode we’re joined by Bas Scheffers, a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot (our version of the US Sport Pilot rules) who flies out of Parafield airport (YPPF) in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a great chat about flying RA-Aus aircraft, GAAP issues, the benefits of learning to fly under RA-Aus instead of the usual GA, the information available from the recreational flying community and even discuss the new AAAF Forum (Forum for free speech on industry: AAAF – Steve Creedy @ The Australian).

  After our great chat with Bas, we move on to our usual opinionated regional news review which includes the following items:

  • David Vanderhoof provides a “This week in Australian aviation history” segment for us
  • In Dust we Trust
    • Flight delays remain as dust settles in Sydney (ABC News)
    • Sydney flights get back to normal after dust storm (ABC News)
    • Flight chaos as dust storm hits Sydney, Brisbane (Kate Schneider @ news.com.au)
    • Havoc for airlines, passengers (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Tiger Airlines strands people at Mackay:
    • Cancelled flight strands hundreds (Fallon Hudson @ The Daily Mercury)
    • Tiger Airways causes chaos at Mackay (e-Travel Blackboard)
  • Geoff Dixon’s golden parachute from QANTAS
    • Dixon’s $11m parachute from Qantas nosedive (Michael Janda @ ABC News)
    • Former Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon paid $11m in last year (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Qantas high-flyers must come down to earth: payouts (Stuart Wilson @ The Australian)
  • High-speed thrills as Thunderbirds roll in: USAF (Mike Glynn @ The Australian)
  • Boeing To Test Military Airplane Over Hood Canal (Q13 Fox News)
  • Final boarding call: empty bladders only (Mark Willacy @ ABC News)

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

  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/03/episode-11-recreationally-yours/feed/ 6 1:32:35 This episode we’re joined by Bas Scheffers, a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot (our version of the US Sport Pilot rules) who flies out of Parafield airport (YPPF) in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a great chat about flying RA-Aus airc[...] This episode we’re joined by Bas Scheffers, a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot (our version of the US Sport Pilot rules) who flies out of Parafield airport (YPPF) in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a great chat about flying RA-Aus aircraft, GAAP issues, the benefits of learning to fly under RA-Aus instead of the usual GA, the information available from the recreational flying community and even discuss the new AAAF Forum (Forum for free speech on industry: AAAF – Steve Creedy @ The Australian). After our great chat with Bas, we move on to our usual opinionated regional news review which includes the following items: David Vanderhoof provides a “This week in Australian aviation history” segment for us In Dust we Trust Flight delays remain as dust settles in Sydney (ABC News) Sydney flights get back to normal after dust storm (ABC News) Flight chaos as dust storm hits Sydney, Brisbane (Kate Schneider @ news.com.au) Havoc for airlines, passengers (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Tiger Airlines strands people at Mackay: Cancelled flight strands hundreds (Fallon Hudson @ The Daily Mercury) Tiger Airways causes chaos at Mackay (e-Travel Blackboard) Geoff Dixon’s golden parachute from QANTAS Dixon’s $11m parachute from Qantas nosedive (Michael Janda @ ABC News) Former Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon paid $11m in last year (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Qantas high-flyers must come down to earth: payouts (Stuart Wilson @ The Australian) High-speed thrills as Thunderbirds roll in: USAF (Mike Glynn @ The Australian) Boeing To Test Military Airplane Over Hood Canal (Q13 Fox News) Final boarding call: empty bladders only (Mark Willacy @ ABC News) Please note that our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5). Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/09/22/episode-9-airplane-geeks-down-under/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/09/22/episode-9-airplane-geeks-down-under/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:17:38 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=128 Andrew Temby
  This episode we’re joined by Dan, David & Rob from the Airplane Geeks podcast to discuss airline news and have a great discussion about air traffic control issues here & in the USA. We also have interviews with Dr Bruce Searle, dean of the Australian Centre for Mission Aviation, and Andrew Temby, . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 9: Airplane Geeks Down Under]]>

  Andrew Temby

  This episode we’re joined by Dan, David & Rob from the Airplane Geeks podcast to discuss airline news and have a great discussion about air traffic control issues here & in the USA. We also have interviews with Dr Bruce Searle, dean of the Australian Centre for Mission Aviation, and Andrew Temby, aerobatic pilot & owner of a YAK-52TW. Both were recorded at the Mission Aviation Fellowship airshow held at Coldstream Airport (YCEM) a few weeks back.

  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.

  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/09/22/episode-9-airplane-geeks-down-under/feed/ 4 1:30:06 Andrew Temby This episode we’re joined by Dan, David & Rob from the Airplane Geeks podcast to discuss airline news and have a great discussion about air traffic control issues here & in the USA. We also have interviews with Dr Bruce [...] Andrew Temby This episode we’re joined by Dan, David & Rob from the Airplane Geeks podcast to discuss airline news and have a great discussion about air traffic control issues here & in the USA. We also have interviews with Dr Bruce Searle, dean of the Australian Centre for Mission Aviation, and Andrew Temby, aerobatic pilot & owner of a YAK-52TW. Both were recorded at the Mission Aviation Fellowship airshow held at Coldstream Airport (YCEM) a few weeks back. 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. Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/09/11/episode-8-riding-our-segways/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/09/11/episode-8-riding-our-segways/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:48:27 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=114 We thought we’d have this episode out within a few days of our previous one, but there was so many news items to review, so much to discuss and so many bits to splice together that it took a whole week to bring it to you. Weighing in at almost 2 hours, this episode has . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 8: Riding Our Segways]]> We thought we’d have this episode out within a few days of our previous one, but there was so many news items to review, so much to discuss and so many bits to splice together that it took a whole week to bring it to you. Weighing in at almost 2 hours, this episode has interviews, GA, follow ups and much much more.

  With some brilliant segways between topics (and a few clangers), this episode includes the following items:

  • Changes after the Kokoda accident
    • Australia pledges $2m for Kokoda airstrip upgrade (ABC News)
  • Virgin Blue and Delta rebuttal against Air New Zealand
    • Virgin and Delta slam Air NZ attacks (Ari Sharp @ The Age)
  • As we predicted, JetStar are going to Fiji
    • Qantas and Virgin Blue in Fiji fight (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Jetstar to spoil V Australia’s Fiji flights? (Alex @ AusAviation)
  • Webjet pressured by competition to drop fees
    • Pressure On Webjet As Zuji and Expedia Drop Fees (Martin Kelly @ Travel Trends)
  • Listener comments about laser pointers and aircraft
  • @DanWebbage from the Airplane Geeks provides feedback on United Airlines and their 747-400s on the Pacific route
  • @DanWebbage also gives us a report on a recent conference where he got to try different aircraft seats
  • Some QANTAS stories from mechanical to financial
    • 
      Qantas makes emergency landing in Perth (Geoffrey @ The West Australian)
    • Qantas yields remain under pressure (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian)
    • Qantas feels the heat from the east (Geoff Easdown @ the Herald Sun)
    • Qantas braces for long haul in red: IATA figures (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Qantas yield contractions continue, but appear to have stabilised; SIA downgraded on yield squeeze (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation)
    • Discounted tickets lure more to Qantas in July (news.com.au)
    • It’s a Jetstar a rising at Qantas (Ben Sandilands @ Crikey)
  • The Australian Government is putting its travel management up to tender
    • Federal air travel tender to hit Qantas (Scott Rochfort @ the Sydney Morning Herald)
    • More bad news for Qantas – Federal air travel tender up for grabs (eTravel Blackboard)
    • Virgin hails move to tighten airfare policy (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Interview with Karla Courtney from the QANTAS Travel Insider
  • Tiger Airlines aircraft hits a flock of birds
    • Bird strike grounds Tiger plane at Adelaide Airport (Sam Rodrigues @ Adelaide Now)
    • Airplane hits flock of birds in Australia, take off rejected (AvioNews)
  • Airline review results are in
    • Australians reveal their worst airline (Angela Saurine @ news.com.au)
  • Jetstar Pacific in Vietnam may have breached the law
    • Jetstar Pacific told to quit using the orange star and ‘Jet’ logo (Look At Vietnam)
  • Interview with Shashank Nigam” from SimpliFlying
  • Final missing RAAF aircrew from the Vietnam conflict found and returned for burial
    • Diggers’ bodies to return from Vietnam (news.com.au)
    • Vietnam airmen’s remains flown home (Max Blenkin @ The Courier Mail)
    • 39yr wait over as Toowoomba farewells Vietnam pilot (Sam Burgess @ ABC News)
    • State funeral for Vietnam War airman (ABC News)
    • http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series2/A84.htm
    • About #2 Squadron in Vietname and more about #2 squadron
    • History of Canberras with the RAAF
    • Images of the Canberra that crashed
    • Thanks to David Vanderhoof for the research

  Student pilot makes emergency landing after engine fails (same pilot as the runway overrun reported a few weeks ago)

  • Plane makes emergency landing in paddock (ABC News)
  • Man survives plane crash in Abbotsbury (Michael Chammas & Stacey Vanoska @ the Fairfield City Champion)
  • Student pilot crash lands in paddock in Prospect (Vikki Campion @ the Daily Telegraph)
  • NOTE: Thanks to @DavidOptimal for the info
  • Observer has to fly King Air until pilot recovers (thanks to @DavidOptiimal and others for the inside story)
    • Passenger flies plane after pilot passes out (ABC News)
  • Government is taking steps to halt inappropriate development on airports
    • Airport building hopes reined in: Bankstown (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • We mention some web sites:
    • Owen Zupp’s website about his trip around Australia to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (There and Back)
    • Noel Kruse has released some free flight training books online (Fly Better)
  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/09/11/episode-8-riding-our-segways/feed/ 0 1:49:06 We thought we’d have this episode out within a few days of our previous one, but there was so many news items to review, so much to discuss and so many bits to splice together that it took a whole week to bring it to you. Weighing in at almost[...] We thought we’d have this episode out within a few days of our previous one, but there was so many news items to review, so much to discuss and so many bits to splice together that it took a whole week to bring it to you. Weighing in at almost 2 hours, this episode has interviews, GA, follow ups and much much more. With some brilliant segways between topics (and a few clangers), this episode includes the following items: Changes after the Kokoda accident Australia pledges $2m for Kokoda airstrip upgrade (ABC News) Virgin Blue and Delta rebuttal against Air New Zealand Virgin and Delta slam Air NZ attacks (Ari Sharp @ The Age) As we predicted, JetStar are going to Fiji Qantas and Virgin Blue in Fiji fight (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Jetstar to spoil V Australia’s Fiji flights? (Alex @ AusAviation) Webjet pressured by competition to drop fees Pressure On Webjet As Zuji and Expedia Drop Fees (Martin Kelly @ Travel Trends) Listener comments about laser pointers and aircraft @DanWebbage from the Airplane Geeks provides feedback on United Airlines and their 747-400s on the Pacific route @DanWebbage also gives us a report on a recent conference where he got to try different aircraft seats Some QANTAS stories from mechanical to financial Qantas makes emergency landing in Perth (Geoffrey @ The West Australian) Qantas yields remain under pressure (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian) Qantas feels the heat from the east (Geoff Easdown @ the Herald Sun) Qantas braces for long haul in red: IATA figures (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Qantas yield contractions continue, but appear to have stabilised; SIA downgraded on yield squeeze (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation) Discounted tickets lure more to Qantas in July (news.com.au) It’s a Jetstar a rising at Qantas (Ben Sandilands @ Crikey) The Australian Government is putting its travel management up to tender Federal air travel tender to hit Qantas (Scott Rochfort @ the Sydney Morning Herald) More bad news for Qantas – Federal air travel tender up for grabs (eTravel Blackboard) Virgin hails move to tighten airfare policy (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Interview with Karla Courtney from the QANTAS Travel Insider Tiger Airlines aircraft hits a flock of birds Bird strike grounds Tiger plane at Adelaide Airport (Sam Rodrigues @ Adelaide Now) Airplane hits flock of birds in Australia, take off rejected (AvioNews) Airline review results are in Australians reveal their worst airline (Angela Saurine @ news.com.au) Jetstar Pacific in Vietnam may have breached the law Jetstar Pacific told to quit using the orange star and ‘Jet’ logo (Look At Vietnam) Interview with Shashank Nigam” from SimpliFlying Final missing RAAF aircrew from the Vietnam conflict found and returned for burial Diggers’ bodies to return from Vietnam (news.com.au) Vietnam airmen’s remains flown home (Max Blenkin @ The Courier Mail) 39yr wait over as Toowoomba farewells Vietnam pilot (Sam Burgess @ ABC News) State funeral for Vietnam War airman (ABC News) http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series2/A84.htm About #2 Squadron in Vietname and more about #2 squadron History of Canberras with the RAAF Images of the Canberra that crashed Thanks to David Vanderhoof for the research Student pilot makes emergency landing after engine fails (same pilot as the runway overrun reported a few weeks ago) Plane makes emergency landing in paddock (ABC News) Man survives plane crash in Abbotsbury (Michael Chammas & Stacey Vanoska @ the Fairfield City Champion) Student pilot crash lands in paddock in Prospect (Vikki Campion @ the Daily Telegraph) NOTE: Thanks to @DavidOptimal for the info Observer has to fly King Air until pilot recovers (thanks to @DavidOptiimal and others for the inside story) Passenger flies plane after pilot passes out (ABC News) Government is taking steps to halt inappropriate development on airports Airport building hopes reined in: Ba[...] Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/30/episode-6-plugcast/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/30/episode-6-plugcast/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:38:35 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=86 After almost two weeks we finally get another episode out, but this one should be worth the wait. We have our first guest discussion session (@MaxFlight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast) and we have our first interview (Carlo Santoro from the Flight Experience Melbourne 737 simulator). In addition to all this, we also discuss the . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 6: Plugcast]]> After almost two weeks we finally get another episode out, but this one should be worth the wait. We have our first guest discussion session (@MaxFlight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast) and we have our first interview (Carlo Santoro from the Flight Experience Melbourne 737 simulator). In addition to all this, we also discuss the following topics:
  • Bodies of the passengers on the Airlines PNG Twin Otter crash at Kokoda are returned
    • Kokoda crash victims arrive home (Paul Millar @ The Age)
    • ‘Bubbly’ pilot broke down barriers (Michael McKenna and Natasha Bita @ The Australian)
    • Fellow pilots remember Kokoda crash victims (Sarah Elks and Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Virgin Blue to drop their code share with United (thanks to @DanWebbage for the lead)
    • Virgin Blue to end codeshare partnership with United (Brendan Sobie @ FlightGlobal)
  • QANTAS profits drop dramatically
    • Qantas profit plunges 88pc, misses market forecasts (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian)
    • Qantas shares defy profit plunge (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian)
    • Qantas says LA and London routes behind profit nosedive (The Australian)
    • Boeing Tells Qantas 787 Will Fly This Year (Aero News Network)
    • Qantas targets costs as profit tumbles (Matt O’Sullivan @ The Age)
  • Flight Centre also has a dramatic drop in their profit
    • Flight Centre hits financial crisis turbulence (Michael Janda @ ABC News)
    • Flight Centre optimistic on travel sector recovery in fiscal 2010 (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian)
  • We talk briefly about travel agents vs online travel planning and Grant shamelessly plugs Cloud 9 Travel in Melbourne, his favourite boutique travel agency
  • Falling profits are the norm at the moment with Macquarie Airports and Air New Zealand also earning less than expected
    • Macquarie Airports hit by fall in asset values, air traffic (Iain MacDonald @ The Australian)
    • Air New Zealand posts 90pc profit slump (ABC News)
    • Air NZ rejects cartel charges (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • We discuss military flying in New Zealand, including the RNZAF 757, selling their A4 Skyhawks, their success with the Kaman Seasprites, buying the RAN’s A4s and the RNZAF’s A4 formation aerobatic team
  • Australia and New Zealand getting closer to having open borders between them
    • Cheap NZ flights as Tasman union looms (Josh Gordon @ The Age)
  • @MaxFlight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast bravely agrees to chat with us and be recorded
  • Do you think you have what it takes to save the day when your flight crew “eat the fish” but want to be sure in advance? Flight Experience Melbourne provide a 737 simulator and instructors to help you find out. Grant interviews Carlo while sitting in the sim
  • Regional Express tries to expand into Queensland again
    • Rex’s second tilt at Queensland: Regional Express (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Optus launch a 3rd satellite
    • Ariane 5 Rocket Launches Satellite Duo for Japan, Australia (Justin Ray @ SpaceFlightNow)
  • QANTAS passenger tries to open door in flight
    • Midair drama: man restrained on Qantas flight (ABC News)
    • Man tries to open door on Qantas flight (Yahoo!7 News)
  • Bomb scare on Singapore Airlines
    • Bomb scare: Passengers herded to back of plane (ABC News)
  • We hope the winds drop further (Wind causing flight delays: Qantas (ABC News))

  Our sounds come SoundSnap.com and our title track is “Younameit5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/30/episode-6-plugcast/feed/ 2 1:14:11 After almost two weeks we finally get another episode out, but this one should be worth the wait. We have our first guest discussion session (@MaxFlight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast) and we have our first interview (Carlo Santoro from the Flight [...] After almost two weeks we finally get another episode out, but this one should be worth the wait. We have our first guest discussion session (@MaxFlight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast) and we have our first interview (Carlo Santoro from the Flight Experience Melbourne 737 simulator). In addition to all this, we also discuss the following topics: Bodies of the passengers on the Airlines PNG Twin Otter crash at Kokoda are returned Kokoda crash victims arrive home (Paul Millar @ The Age) ‘Bubbly’ pilot broke down barriers (Michael McKenna and Natasha Bita @ The Australian) Fellow pilots remember Kokoda crash victims (Sarah Elks and Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Virgin Blue to drop their code share with United (thanks to @DanWebbage for the lead) Virgin Blue to end codeshare partnership with United (Brendan Sobie @ FlightGlobal) QANTAS profits drop dramatically Qantas profit plunges 88pc, misses market forecasts (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian) Qantas shares defy profit plunge (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian) Qantas says LA and London routes behind profit nosedive (The Australian) Boeing Tells Qantas 787 Will Fly This Year (Aero News Network) Qantas targets costs as profit tumbles (Matt O’Sullivan @ The Age) Flight Centre also has a dramatic drop in their profit Flight Centre hits financial crisis turbulence (Michael Janda @ ABC News) Flight Centre optimistic on travel sector recovery in fiscal 2010 (Bill Lindsay @ The Australian) We talk briefly about travel agents vs online travel planning and Grant shamelessly plugs Cloud 9 Travel in Melbourne, his favourite boutique travel agency Falling profits are the norm at the moment with Macquarie Airports and Air New Zealand also earning less than expected Macquarie Airports hit by fall in asset values, air traffic (Iain MacDonald @ The Australian) Air New Zealand posts 90pc profit slump (ABC News) Air NZ rejects cartel charges (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) We discuss military flying in New Zealand, including the RNZAF 757, selling their A4 Skyhawks, their success with the Kaman Seasprites, buying the RAN’s A4s and the RNZAF’s A4 formation aerobatic team Australia and New Zealand getting closer to having open borders between them Cheap NZ flights as Tasman union looms (Josh Gordon @ The Age) @MaxFlight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast bravely agrees to chat with us and be recorded Do you think you have what it takes to save the day when your flight crew “eat the fish” but want to be sure in advance? Flight Experience Melbourne provide a 737 simulator and instructors to help you find out. Grant interviews Carlo while sitting in the sim Regional Express tries to expand into Queensland again Rex’s second tilt at Queensland: Regional Express (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Optus launch a 3rd satellite Ariane 5 Rocket Launches Satellite Duo for Japan, Australia (Justin Ray @ SpaceFlightNow) QANTAS passenger tries to open door in flight Midair drama: man restrained on Qantas flight (ABC News) Man tries to open door on Qantas flight (Yahoo!7 News) Bomb scare on Singapore Airlines Bomb scare: Passengers herded to back of plane (ABC News) We hope the winds drop further (Wind causing flight delays: Qantas (ABC News)) Our sounds come SoundSnap.com and our title track is “Younameit5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5). Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/16/episode-5-jet-lag-recovery/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/16/episode-5-jet-lag-recovery/#comments Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:41:05 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=69 Steve’s back from his trip to the USA and, despite some jet lag woes, he’s in the recording studio and the banter is flowing in our longest episode yet. Sadly, the first 15 minutes sound like Grant’s testing NASA’s new Interplanetary Internet and experiencing a really crappy connection. Not to worry, it soon clears up . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 5: Jet Lag Recovery]]> Steve’s back from his trip to the USA and, despite some jet lag woes, he’s in the recording studio and the banter is flowing in our longest episode yet. Sadly, the first 15 minutes sound like Grant’s testing NASA’s new Interplanetary Internet and experiencing a really crappy connection. Not to worry, it soon clears up and the rest of the episode quite clearly reveals our usual commentary on this week’s local aviation news stories, including the following topics:
  • Airlines PNG Twin Otter crash at Kokoda
    • Pilot in PNG crash had six months’ experience (Michael McKenna and Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Flyers may have lost their bearings (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Landing gear incidents @ Bankstown (YSBK)
    • Planes Lose Wheels (The Torch newspaper)
  • Regional airlines worrying about aircraft
    • Regional airlines face plane shortage (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Flying Doctor losing a contract
    • Flying doctor service loses $70m contract (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Royal Flying Doctor Service – history
    • Royal Flying Doctor Service – Wikipedia
  • Steve discusses his visit to the TWiT Cottage and meeting Leo Laporte (go on gang, you *know* you’re jealous :)
  • Steve clarifies that he went to Eaker AFB while in the USA but named it incorrectly during his update on the previous episode
  • Steve talks about his flights with V Australia
    • Tainted Virgin Blue chicken wraps induced births (Jamie Walker @ The Australian)
    • Virgin-Delta joint venture to get a clear run (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • We discuss an article by Andrew McLaughlin in the July issue of Australian Aviation magazine about United Airlines fighting to retain share on the Pacific route
  • Tiger is taking steps to improve its image
    • Airline complaints head sky-high (Clive Dorman @ The Age)
  • V Australia wants to fly to Fiji
    • V Australia applies for Fiji route (Greg Waldron @ Flight Global)
  • Grant talks about his experiences going to Sydney for the SimpliFlying/PCDU Tweet Up along side the Asia Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit 2009 conference
  • QANTAS links its frequent flyer program to the Woolworths loyalty program
    • Qantas loyalty deal with Woolies a big seller (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • AirAsiaX news
    • Capital city rivals out to land Asia (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • AirAsiaX will boost its Gold Coast route
  • Malaysia Airlines getting stung by low cost carriers
    • Discount rivals hit MAS results (Geoff Easdown @ The HeraldSun)
  • Laser taggers arrested
    • Laser pointer accused faces court (ABC News)
  ]]> http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/16/episode-5-jet-lag-recovery/feed/ 3 1:15:48 Steve’s back from his trip to the USA and, despite some jet lag woes, he’s in the recording studio and the banter is flowing in our longest episode yet. Sadly, the first 15 minutes sound like Grant’s testing NASA’s new Interp[...] Steve’s back from his trip to the USA and, despite some jet lag woes, he’s in the recording studio and the banter is flowing in our longest episode yet. Sadly, the first 15 minutes sound like Grant’s testing NASA’s new Interplanetary Internet and experiencing a really crappy connection. Not to worry, it soon clears up and the rest of the episode quite clearly reveals our usual commentary on this week’s local aviation news stories, including the following topics: Airlines PNG Twin Otter crash at Kokoda Pilot in PNG crash had six months’ experience (Michael McKenna and Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Flyers may have lost their bearings (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Landing gear incidents @ Bankstown (YSBK) Planes Lose Wheels (The Torch newspaper) Regional airlines worrying about aircraft Regional airlines face plane shortage (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Flying Doctor losing a contract Flying doctor service loses $70m contract (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) Royal Flying Doctor Service – history Royal Flying Doctor Service – Wikipedia Steve discusses his visit to the TWiT Cottage and meeting Leo Laporte (go on gang, you *know* you’re jealous :) Steve clarifies that he went to Eaker AFB while in the USA but named it incorrectly during his update on the previous episode Steve talks about his flights with V Australia Tainted Virgin Blue chicken wraps induced births (Jamie Walker @ The Australian) Virgin-Delta joint venture to get a clear run (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) We discuss an article by Andrew McLaughlin in the July issue of Australian Aviation magazine about United Airlines fighting to retain share on the Pacific route Tiger is taking steps to improve its image Airline complaints head sky-high (Clive Dorman @ The Age) V Australia wants to fly to Fiji V Australia applies for Fiji route (Greg Waldron @ Flight Global) Grant talks about his experiences going to Sydney for the SimpliFlying/PCDU Tweet Up along side the Asia Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit 2009 conference QANTAS links its frequent flyer program to the Woolworths loyalty program Qantas loyalty deal with Woolies a big seller (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) AirAsiaX news Capital city rivals out to land Asia (Steve Creedy @ The Australian) AirAsiaX will boost its Gold Coast route Malaysia Airlines getting stung by low cost carriers Discount rivals hit MAS results (Geoff Easdown @ The HeraldSun) Laser taggers arrested Laser pointer accused faces court (ABC News) Podcasts Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) no no http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/07/episode-4-hand-propped/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/08/07/episode-4-hand-propped/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:47:41 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=58 This week’s episode comes out a little late as Steve’s still in the USA and Grant was up in Sydney for the PCDU / SimpliFlying TweetUp that happened along side the Asia / Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit 2009. A great time was had by all who attended the event but now it’s back to work . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 4: Hand Propped]]> This week’s episode comes out a little late as Steve’s still in the USA and Grant was up in Sydney for the PCDU / SimpliFlying TweetUp that happened along side the Asia / Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit 2009. A great time was had by all who attended the event but now it’s back to work as there’s news to read, interviews to arrange and a podcast to produce.

  This week’s episode includes the following topics:

  • Jetstar launches world first SMS based boarding pass
    • Jetstar’s SMS boarding passes (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Comparing Geoff Dixon with Alan Joyce at QANTAS
    • Qantas boss a cautious optimist (Matt O’Sullivan @ The Age)
    • Global aviation faces slow return to profits: Dixon (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Joyce rules out Qantas merger (Matt O’Sullivan @ The Age)
    • Alan Joyce kills off IPO plans amid Pacific rationalisation forecast (Ross Kelly @ The Australian)
  • QANTAS fights back
    • Qantas vows to slug out fare ware (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Qantas relaunches branded website (The Age)
    • Qantas business blitz to hit Virgin (Steve Creedy @The Australian)
  • Swine Flu impacts air travel and Cathay Pacific struggles
    • Asia-Pacific travel recovery falls foul of flu (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
    • Times are turbulent for Cathay as it faces storm (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Virgin fights back, raises money and has a health scare
  • V Australia Launches New One Way Fares to USA
  • Virgin share offer takes flight (Matt O’Sullivan @ WA Today)
  • Food poisoning scare on Virgin flights (ABC News)
• Tiger Improves its Act
  • Complaints drop as Tiger Airways listens to customers (John Wright @ The Courier Mail)
• Remains of last missing RAAF airmen returned from Vietnam
  • Missing Vietnam airmen’s remains found (ABC News)
• Merpati Twin Otter crashes
  • Plane wreckage found in Papua (ABC News)
• Bangkok Airways ATR72 crashes at Koh Samui
  • Pilot killed as plane skids off runway (ABC News)
• RNZAF Upgrades Tech Training Fleet
  • NZAF to Upgrade Aircraft for Training (Aviation Today)
• Hand Propping Accident
  • Cessna takes off without pilot (ABC News)
• Steve Visscher presents an update from the USA including flying an old tail dragger, seeing more C130s than the RAAF could ever own and starting the long flights back home

This week’s episode includes the following topics:

• Air New Zealand joins Tiger to say that Delta teaming up with V Australia (Delta V) is bad, but QANTAS stays out of it
  • Qantas aloof as Air NZ joins Delta V opponents (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• QANTAS 737 de-pressurises during flight
  • Engineers probe Qantas midair mishap (ABC News)
• Jetstar upsetting Kiwi pax with baggage charges
  • Bags cost shocks traveller (Rebecca Lewis @ the New Zealand Herald)
• It’s official, Regional Express (REX) is the world’s best regional carrier
  • Rex ruled the world’s best regional carrier (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Virgin Blue 737 loses a nose wheel
  • Safety fears raised after plane wheel falls off (ABC News)
• Brett Godfrey announces he’ll retire from Virgin Blue
  • Brett Godfrey to retire from Virgin Blue (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Virgin Blue to raise capital
  • Godfrey to quit as Virgin raises capital (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• John Holland Group wins Virgin Blue’s Embraer maintenance work
  • John Holland in 10-year deal to maintain Virgin Blue’s Embraer jets (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Macquarie Airports to separate from the Macquarie Group
  • Macquarie Airports takes over management from Macquarie Group (Allison Jackson @ The Australian)
  • Sydney airport traffic declines; Melbourne rises (Business Day)
  • Airports fly against economic downturn (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• PelAir chosen for Ambulance Victoria contract
  • Pel-Air Chosen As Preferred Contractor By Ambulance Victoria (Aero-News)
• Steve Visscher presents an update from the USA, including flight comparisons and the TSA

• Singapore Airlines to fly A380 to Melbourne
  • Superjumbo threat to Qantas stepped up (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• British Airways cutting flights to Australia
  • British Airways to cut flights to Australia (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Garuda ends their only flight to Darwin
  • Plea for Garuda to retain Darwin flights (Daniel Bourchier @ the Northern Territory News)
• Tiger Airlines protests V Australia’s agreement with Delta
  • Tiger Airlines out to disrupt Delta Airways deal (Geoff Easdown @ the Courier Mail)
  • Virgin’s joint venture deal with Delta has upset Tiger (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Steve says Tiger Airways’ reality show is terrible but he’s going to keep watching it (Airways)
• Virgin Blue halts shares and appears to be seeking more money
  • Virgin defers on call for funds (Matt O’Sullivan @ WA Today)
  • Virgin goes to Gulf for cash (Adele Ferguson @ The Australian)
• Push for second Sydney area airport to be at the Richmond RAAF base
  • Airlines push for second airport at RAAF base (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
  • Wikipedia information on RAAF Richmond airbase
• RAAF Sabre jet flies again
  • Temora Aviation Museum
  • Australian RAAF Sabre Flies Again (AVweb)
• We comment on Robyn Riley of the Sunday Herald Sun panning Air New Zealand’s Nothing To Hide campaign
• QANTAS ground staff in Perth are upset with management leaving them to deal with angry passengers
  • Perth ground staff lash Qantas inaction (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
• Jockeys smuggle beer onto REX flight and drink them while returning from a responsible drinking course
  • Drunken flight lands jockeys in hot water (ABC News)

• 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