Plane Crazy Down Under » Tiger Airways

PCDU Episode 74: Kiwi User Fees … and other issues

Grant (Falcon124) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:53:02 +0000

We’re joined by our mate Dan Morris from New Zealand to discuss some news from the Land of the Long White Cloud. Topics include:

Air Traffic Control in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake, especially the problems they encountered due to centralising all area controllers in one location
How user fees in New Zealand have lead funding being removed for weather briefing service: pilots must now pay an annual fee to access the weather service
What the Air NZ Aviation Academy and student loan funding by the New Zealand government (which remains interest free if you stay in NZ) mean for flight training in NZ
Air New Zealand’s latest earnings report
The rapidly approaching Flair 2011 industry innovation showcase & airshow
The Will it Fly project that is working to produce a replica of the Pearse Flyer from 1903 with updates on the Will It Fly Facebook page

Next up, Steve travels back to his old high school to discover that it’s a lot better than when he was there (and NOT just because his class photo has been hidden :) Thanks to Chris Barry at Brentwood Secondary College and our friends at Aus Air Services, kids at the school have the opportunity to learn to fly as part of their studies. Steve chats with Chris, Angelina from Aus Air Services and some of the kids about this fantastic project.

Our final interview in this episode is a quick chat with Mark Pracy Sr from JetRide Australia and Pracy Racing as he gets ready to head to the 2011 Reno Air Races to fly his L39 low, fast & turning left. We discuss what it’s like to fly the course and how he’s going about keeping himself ready for it.

We wrap up the episode with a quick chat about Dale Watson’s Tiger Airways song on YouTube (thanks to Chris Fenlon for pointing us at it) and the fact that Tiger Airways are back flying, albeit at a reduced level. We also discuss how Crawford Rix was replaced by Tony Davis who is, in turn, leaving the airline shortly after working hard to bring it back from the brink.

Finally, we have some shoutouts, including:

Charlie Willwerth from the FlightTime Radio show is currently in the Mayo clinic under going chemotherapy to fight Leukemia – good luck & get well quick, mate!
Zyola T Mix from the Mile High Flyers has spun off her own project, a podcast about women pilots called The BoXXoffice
The Uncontrolled Airspace podcast has just celebrated its five year anniversary on August 23rd! Woo hoo! Go guys! Congrats to Jack, Jeb & Dave!
There’s a new aviation podcast with us from Canada called Cleared Enroute with hosts Danny Vacar & Chris Johnson (on Twitter as clearedenroute)
Jamie Dodson who writes the Nick Grant Adventures novels and sent us a couple of copies

NOTE: You can find Dan Morris on Twitter as TheGrandVizier, on Facebook and at his blog which mixes aviation & coffee in copious quantities.

PCDU Episode 69: Carbonated

Grant (Falcon124) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:16:11 +0000

Ben Morgan from Aviation Advertiser returns to join us in a discussion of current events in the Australian aviation scene. Following a quick intro, the first topic we discuss is the Carbon Tax our government is proposing to implement. We do try to keep the discussion coming back to the impacts this tax is likely to have on aviation but it’s a very hot topic and is certainly bringing out concerns for a number of people.

Once we get through the Carbon Tax and calm down a little, we move onto the sad state of affairs with Tiger Airways, currently grounded for failure to meet the requirements of their Air Operators Certificate (AOC) and a number of safety related issues. This is the first time CASA have grounded an all-jet airline and its timing was certainly drastic (right on the eve of the school holidays). We discuss the implications, some potential results and whether the Australian public will ever trust the airline again (very likely if there are cheap fares to be had).

Finally we discuss Aviation Advertiser’s sponsoring the PCDU Team in their “Up & Over to Oshkosh 2011″ tour and the updates we’ll be providing on their website while we’re at Oshkosh.

After wrapping up our chat with Ben, we present another View From the Lounge segment, this time comparing public transport access to airports at Melbourne and various cities around the world. We then point listeners at Steve Price from Melbourne Talk Radio (MTR) having a great chat with astronaut Andy Thomas as well as similar coverage from the ABC StarStuff podcast.

Finally, we’d like to thank all the listeners who have donated to our “Up & Over to Oshkosh 2011″ tour. We’ve had lots of suggestions for coverage and lots of donations that all help round out the support of our sponsors. Thanks to you we’ll be able to provide a more comprehensive coverage of Oshkosh 2011 than we could have if it were just Steve & Grant on site. Once again, we are amazed at the level of support we’ve received from our audience. You folks definitely make it all the hard work & late nights worthwhile :)

PCDU Episode 33: Four Degrees of Separation from Ben Sandilands

Grant (Falcon124) — Fri, 28 May 2010 06:02:43 +0000

In this episode we join noted aviation journalist Ben Sandilands from Plane Talking to review the latest news & information. When we called Ben, he was experiencing a heat wave of 11 degrees Celsius at his home in the mountains near Canberra. Meanwhile, here in Melbourne we were thinking winter was upon us as the temperature dipped to 15 degrees Celsius. Four degrees of separation but a very different pair of perspectives on cold vs hot.

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

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

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

After that we dive into the mail bag where:

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

We also have a couple of shout outs to:

Damien Rose who is now a private pilot and on his way to a commercial license (and speaking of the cost of learning – Damien sold his house to fund all this! He must have a VERY understanding wife, that’s for sure :)
Steve Cooke from the Flying Podcast in the UK has released his latest episode on a topic that’s very important for Grant: ballooning

PCDU Episode 29: What’s in a Checklist?

Grant (Falcon124) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:21:35 +0000

Some in-cockpit audio provided by a listener triggered a discussion on the differences in pre-landing checklists (GUMPS vs BUMFTH vs BUMFOH vs whatever). All of Grant’s aviation books & manuals are still in boxes after moving house so he had to rely on his memory with predictable results. Talk about incentive to go out and get current again…

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
- 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.

The Jetstarisation of QANTAS is not over yet

Grant (Falcon124) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:00:49 +0000

Thanks to an opportunity presented by Shashank Nigam, Grant’s just had an article about the ongoing Jetstarisation of QANTAS published on Shashank’s Simpliflying site.

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

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

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 23: Australia: A TSA free zone (for now)

Grant (Falcon124) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:53:35 +0000

Even down here in Australia we’re being impacted by the out-of-control antics of the TSA, so what the heck, we’ll have a bit of a c’est la vent moment about it. We also have our usual opinionated discussion on some other news items and chat with Shashank Nigam from SimpliFlying.

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
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:
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:
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.

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 15: And now for something completely different, here is the news

Grant (Falcon124) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:37:51 +0000

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
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).

PCDU Episode 11: Recreationally Yours

Grant (Falcon124) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:15:18 +0000

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
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
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).

PCDU Episode 8: Riding Our Segways

Grant (Falcon124) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:48:27 +0000

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
The Australian Government is putting its travel management up to tender
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

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

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)

PCDU Episode 5: Jet Lag Recovery

Grant (Falcon124) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:41:05 +0000

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
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)

PCDU Episode 4: Hand Propped

Grant (Falcon124) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:47:41 +0000

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 fights back
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

PCDU Episode 3: Flying Solo

Grant (Falcon124) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:23:28 +0000

We were a little delayed because Grant was trying to do it all this week, but better late than never. With Steve in the USA, Grant was flying solo and discovering that he missed having someone to put the gear up on take off.

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
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

PCDU Episode 2: Aero Neuro What???

Grant (Falcon124) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:12:42 +0000

Surprisingly less than one week after our first episode was released, we’re releasing our second episode. During this one, we discuss the following items:

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)

PCDU Episode 1: And so it begins…

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:54:35 +0000

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