Plane Crazy Down Under » Saj Ahmad

PCDU Episode 27: Trans World Adventures

Grant (Falcon124) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:09:34 +0000

The common theme in this episode is about going around the world, first by bringing Saj Ahmad (Fleetbuzz Editorial) in the UK and Ben Sandilands (Plane Talking) in Australia together to talk about financial reports from QANTAS, Virgin & Tiger plus general discussions about airlines in Australia, past, present & future.

We then chat with Ken Evers & Tim Pryse, a couple of local lads who are going to fly a Gippsland Aeronautics GA-8 Airvan around the world to raise funds to help fight against malaria. You can read more about their epic journey at Millions Against Malaria.

We also give a few shout outs & read some mail:

Tom for listening to all 25 episodes in less than a week – now *that’s* masochism :)
Steve Cooke in the UK and his Flying Podcast that gives a great perspective on flying in the UK and Europe.
Christie Walker who we’ll be chatting to soon and is interested in learning more about Australian airline cadet pilot programs
Grant’s sorry for being behind on all the emails that have come in

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

PCDU Episode 24: Misuse of Accents

Grant (Falcon124) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:06:19 +0000

Despite the annoying habit of our “day jobs” and families encroaching into our PCDU time, we’ve finally managed to get some time to record an episode. Steve even managed a marathon effort of post production to edit a coherent episode from our opinionated news discussion and an interview with Saj Ahmad. Go Steve! :)

Despite my best efforts to drone on endlessly, Steve’s also managed to keep the episode under 2 hours, but not by much. Hopefully this will give you heaps of fun listening as you travel to & from work, mow the lawns or do your household chores :)

Here’s how the show came together this time:

Robinson R44 crashes on a mountain beside a massive drop
Tiger’s IPO closes over subscribed – oh wow!
Australia’s “self-serve” passport gates not working well
- Self-serve passport gates ‘easy to cheat’ (Monique Ross @ ABCNews)
- SmartGate passport hits 1m milestone (Sydney Morning Herald)
Lie down all the way to LA: Air NZ (Thanks to Mike for pointing out the article)
RNZAF aerobatic team lose a pilot in a training crash
Scathing report released on the F35 JSF project
- JSF faces another scathing report (Australian Aviation)
- Some notes concerning Australia’s exposure to the risk that the Joint Strike Fighter is a failed project (Ben Sandilands @ Plane Talking on Crikey)
We review a recent “Traffic Report” from the Australian Aviation magazine (our favourite aviation magazine :)
- VH-EBK (A330) withdrawn from QF domestic and repainted in JetStar colours in Manilla
- VH-OGA (a 767-300ER) withdrawn from service
- JetConnect withdrew it’s last 300 series 737 (ZK-JNC) which has gone to storage in Tucson – entered service with Australian Airlines on Dec 31, 1988 as VH-TJB “Fortitude” – transferred to JetConnect on Jul 29th 2004
- Some new aircraft with funky names have arrived for Virgin Blue
  - E-190 VH-ZPO = “Portia Macquarie”
  - 737-800 VH-VUT = “Yabba Dabba Blue”
  - 737-800 VH-VUR = “Star City”
  - 737-800 VH-VUS = “Chitty Chitty Broome Broome”
- VB’s 737-800 VUA that was previously used for mile-high karaoke with the Black Eyed Peas as they toured Australia has been returned to normal configuration & colour scheme.
We have a chat with Saj Ahmad about 737/A320 re-engining and lots more
Instead of reading some listener mail, we review a recent discussion on our forum about Podcasting Beer between Turb, Grand Vizier, Scofreyjet and ourselves
We have a stack of shout outs for this episode:
- Ms Dark Sarcasm (aka Jennifer Barry) had her first solo (YAY!). You can follow her flying adventures on her blog: A need for Airspeed
- David Optimal is now a Grade 3 instructor (YAY!). You can follow his news via his blog at DavidOptimal.com
- Robert Cigliano has started a new aviation podcast called The New Pilot Podlog
- Zyola from the Mile High Flyers podcast has been getting lots of her lady pilot friends in Hawaii’i to listen in to PCDU – go go Aussie accent power :)
- Also big thanks to our anonymous donor from Canberra

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

PCDU Episode 22: Farewell 2009

Grant (Falcon124) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:05:34 +0000

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
QANTAS 747-400 has an engine failure not long after take off at Changi (Singapore)
QANTAS pilots union upset over JetConnect pilots
Interview with Michael Gilmour from Downwind.com.au
We review our Listener Mail
It’s Christmas, so of course everyone’s going on strike
Here’s our end of year wrap
- Special thanks to the podcasts that inspired us to start PCDU
- 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.

PCDU Episode 21: London Calling

Grant (Falcon124) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:04:57 +0000

Regent Street in the snow (by Jon Curnow)

For the majority of our listeners it’s warm and getting warmer down here in the Southern Summer with Christmas just around the corner. Not so in London where it’s bleak and somewhat miserable (and that’s the economy, let alone the weather). Saj Ahmad from FleetBuzz Editorial is based in London and recently returned from the scorching skies of Dubai where he’d been attending the Dubai Airshow 2009. Saj generously took some time away from his family to record with us last Sunday (morning his time, evening our time), trying not to look out the window at the winter weather while we discussed the warmth Melbourne was experiencing. The discussion covers the Dubai Airshow, Middle East airlines and their flights to Australia, aircraft orders and the (then) pending first flight of the 787. It’s an enlightening chat and we’ll be sure to have Saj on again early in the new year.

In addition to our chat with Saj, we also recorded some news items to round out the episode. We actually recorded these on the same day the 787 flew and, thanks to the miracle of modern technology, have spliced it all together into a single show. Neat, hey! :)

Topics in this episode include:

The 787 finally flew – you can check out Boeing’s ‘first flight’ site for all the videos
Jet star’s check-in system goes down and then a few days later, so does Virgin Blue’s:
Former doctor Geoffrey Edelsten crashes his helicopter on his first solo
- Lucky escape as Edelsten’s chopper crashes (ABC News)
- Geoffrey Edelsten in helicopter crash landing at Moorabbin Airport (Wayne Flower @ The Herald Sun)
Delta & V Australia tighten their alliance in steps towards the full Delta-V marriage
- Virgin’s V Australia agrees key deal with Delta Air Lines (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
- V Australia and Delta sign lounge and loyalty agreements (Australian Aviation)
Discussion with Saj Ahmad
Air New Zealand opens direct Sydney to Rotorua flights
- Rotorua: International Air Service Begins (Scoop NZ)
- Trouble on first Rotorua trans-Tasman flight (Stuff.co.nz)
The Garuda pilot who was convicted for negligence in the cause of a fatal crash ha his conviction quashed
The Australian Federal Government releases their eagerly awaited aviation white paper
- A National Aviation Policy Statement – the Aviation White Paper (download it from the federal government)
- Albanese releases Aviation White Paper (Australian Aviation)
Sydney Flight Training Centre collapses leaving many students with debts (Pilot pupils left grounded after flight school collapse (Andrew Carswell @ the Daily Telegraph))
A DC-10 fire bomber arrives for the Victorian forest fire season
- DC-10 firebomber arrives at Avalon (Australian Aviation)
- Giant water bomber ready for fire season (ABC News)
First use of a SkyCrane fire bomber this season (Air crane used on Blue Mountains blaze (ABC News))
David Vanderhoof’s aviation history down under segment (at last – Grant forgot to include it in episode 19 – ooops)
Listener mail, including George from New Zealand with his super sexy Falco aircraft
There’s a chartered Air New Zealand 747 flying to Oshkosh 2010 (details with Avtours Australia) and we’re dreaming of being on it (it’s only AUS$4k each including accommodation – anyone want to help donate to get us there? :)

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