Plane Crazy Down Under » Royal Flying Doctor Service http://www.planecrazydownunder.com Looking at the world of aviation from an Australia / Pacific point of view Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:34:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 CreativeCommons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ planecrazydownunder@gmail.com (Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com)) planecrazydownunder@gmail.com (Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com)) Aviation 1440 http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/images/PCDU_RSS_Feed_Logo.jpg Plane Crazy Down Under http://www.planecrazydownunder.com 144 144 An aviation based podcast with a focus on the Australia/Pacific area aviation, australia, new, zealand, asia, pacific, flying, aircraft Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) Steve Visscher & Grant McHerron (www.planecrazydownunder.com) planecrazydownunder@gmail.com no no PCDU 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/ 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:

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 PCDU Episode 13: The Only Way is Zupp http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/20/episode-13-the-only-way-is-zupp/ http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/2009/10/20/episode-13-the-only-way-is-zupp/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:15:07 +0000 Grant (Falcon124) http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/?p=180 Of all the times for the technical gremlins to strike, it had to be for our “Lucky” 13th episode. We recorded a great discussion with Owen Zupp and, despite a fault in the call recorder that made us repeat a part, we thought we had it in the bag. We even feature our first ever . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 13: The Only Way is Zupp]]> Of all the times for the technical gremlins to strike, it had to be for our “Lucky” 13th episode. We recorded a great discussion with Owen Zupp and, despite a fault in the call recorder that made us repeat a part, we thought we had it in the bag. We even feature our first ever give away in this episode and it’s a beauty (see the notes below for details).

However, it seems that it’s not just the Apollo missions that have problems at 13 as, sadly, the sound quality in this episode is not at all up to our usual levels of quality. Poor Steve has been tearing what’s left of his hair out but has managed to work his magic once again and produce an episode that preserves most important part of all, our guest’s great content.

We start off discussing Owen’s early work with the Ambulance Service of New South Wales and how that provided a foundation for dealing with flying’s more “interesting” moments. Moving into flying, Owen talks about learning to fly with his father, an ex-RAAF instructor, then moving on to instructing others with the Royal Aero Club of NSW (sadly no longer in existence) and eventually shifting to his times flying with Ansett Airlines.

During this discussion we review the pros & cons of the Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) and various aircraft, including the Skycraft Scout. Owen also discusses Bert Hinkler, the town of Bundaberg, Hinkler House and the Hinkler Hall of Aviation.

With the collapse of Ansett, Owen moved into flight instruction and also started writing articles. A regular contributor to Australian Aviation (our favourite flying magazine, thank you :) and other publications, Owen has also written a book called “Down to Earth,” the story of Squadron Leader McGlashan, a pilot during WWII.

There And Back, a charity flight for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Next year (2010) will mark the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Australia so Owen is flying a light aircraft around Australia, visiting various historic landmarks and promoting aviation in Australia as well as raising funds for the RFDS. His sponsors include:

Our First Ever Give Away

Owen has graciously donated a signed copy of his book, Down to Earth, for one of our lucky listeners to win. All you have to do is go to the There and Back website and see where Owen’s journey is taking him (check out The Route for details). Then, suggest a location you think Owen should go to during his journey and say why he should go there.

Send your recommendation to us at PlaneCrazyDownUnder@gmail.com” and we’ll review them with Owen. He will then select a winner and we’ll contact them to send them the book.

Easy, isn’t it? So, what are you waiting for? It doesn’t matter where you live, come up with a suggestion and send it to us.

Please note that Owen’s decision is final and that all submissions become the property of Owen to use as he sees fit.

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/2009/10/20/episode-13-the-only-way-is-zupp/feed/ 3 1:27:34 Of all the times for the technical gremlins to strike, it had to be for our “Lucky” 13th episode. We recorded a great discussion with Owen Zupp and, despite a fault in the call recorder that made us repeat a part, we thought we had it in[...] Of all the times for the technical gremlins to strike, it had to be for our “Lucky” 13th episode. We recorded a great discussion with Owen Zupp and, despite a fault in the call recorder that made us repeat a part, we thought we had it in the bag. We even feature our first ever give away in this episode and it’s a beauty (see the notes below for details). However, it seems that it’s not just the Apollo missions that have problems at 13 as, sadly, the sound quality in this episode is not at all up to our usual levels of quality. Poor Steve has been tearing what’s left of his hair out but has managed to work his magic once again and produce an episode that preserves most important part of all, our guest’s great content. We start off discussing Owen’s early work with the Ambulance Service of New South Wales and how that provided a foundation for dealing with flying’s more “interesting” moments. Moving into flying, Owen talks about learning to fly with his father, an ex-RAAF instructor, then moving on to instructing others with the Royal Aero Club of NSW (sadly no longer in existence) and eventually shifting to his times flying with Ansett Airlines. During this discussion we review the pros & cons of the Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) and various aircraft, including the Skycraft Scout. Owen also discusses Bert Hinkler, the town of Bundaberg, Hinkler House and the Hinkler Hall of Aviation. With the collapse of Ansett, Owen moved into flight instruction and also started writing articles. A regular contributor to Australian Aviation (our favourite flying magazine, thank you :) and other publications, Owen has also written a book called “Down to Earth,” the story of Squadron Leader McGlashan, a pilot during WWII. There And Back, a charity flight for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Next year (2010) will mark the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Australia so Owen is flying a light aircraft around Australia, visiting various historic landmarks and promoting aviation in Australia as well as raising funds for the RFDS. His sponsors include: Jabiru aircraft Spidertracks tracking & monitoring systems Champagne PC Services flight planning software Australian Aviation magazine Global Aviator magazine Our First Ever Give Away Owen has graciously donated a signed copy of his book, Down to Earth, for one of our lucky listeners to win. All you have to do is go to the There and Back website and see where Owen’s journey is taking him (check out The Route for details). Then, suggest a location you think Owen should go to during his journey and say why he should go there. Send your recommendation to us at PlaneCrazyDownUnder@gmail.com” and we’ll review them with Owen. He will then select a winner and we’ll contact them to send them the book. Easy, isn’t it? So, what are you waiting for? It doesn’t matter where you live, come up with a suggestion and send it to us. Please note that Owen’s decision is final and that all submissions become the property of Owen to use as he sees fit. 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 PCDU Episode 8: Riding Our Segways 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:

]]> 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 PCDU Episode 5: Jet Lag Recovery 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:

]]> 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