Many in Australia will have flown the Embraer E190 as there are a few flying here with Airnorth, Alliance Airlines (as QantasLink) and National Jet, plus the ones Virgin Australia used to operate back prior to COVID. The E190 and E195 include such wonderful features as large, well positioned windows (no bending down to look […]
It was a baking hot 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) under the scorching Australian sun when the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia held its AusFly 2025 event at Wentworth, New South Wales, during the middle of March. Grant was on the commentary team but Steve couldn’t make it due to a scheduling conflict, so Grant recorded […]
It’s our first episode for 2025 so we’re allowed to say Happy New Year, right? Even though it’s February, right? We may be Australia’s longest running aviation podcast but we’re taking a very long time to get to episode 200 :) This episode we follow our dreams into the stratosphere and beyond, featuring a great […]
We’ve been a little busy lately and it’s been a while since our last episode, so to make up for it we’ve released this rather chunky episode of aviation goodness covering the Pacific Airshow Gold Coast 2024 event. It’s just like the old days when our episodes were long and the pause button was […]
Would you let these guys run a radio station? AusFly did! September 2013 rolled around and it was time for the second AusFly event at Narromine in New South Wales. Team PCDU squeezed into a bus that was loaded with Analog Al’s airshow PA system, our gear and a certain trade stand then drove over 800km in a day to get there. Whew!
Once there we cleared out the studio, set up the sound system & got ready to run AusFly Radio & do the air display commentary. We applied the lessons we learned from AusFly 2012 and, over the course of the event, wound up learning all new lessons so AusFly 2014 will be even better. We also recorded a stack of content and have packaged some of it up into this first AusFly 2013 episode. Even though it’s over 2 hours long, there’s still more yet to come but we’ll save that for later episodes.
For now, here’s the AusFly 2013 content we have for you in this episode:
0:02:13 – Ben Jones joins us for a recap of AusFly 2013 with David Brown from the SAAA.
0:09:32 – Rob Fisher from Superior Air Parts covers the aviation components & parts they’re able to supply
0:15:01 – Anton Meier from Aerosport Aviation in New Zealand talks about the Triton Sport, a derivation of the Sport Cruiser
0:26:22 – Stephen Gale talks us through learning to fly the SIA Marchetti S211 jet with input from Willie “Godfather” Chew (ex-RSAF instructor). We’re also joined by Jodie Davis from SkyThrills who went flying with Stephen in the jet.
0:34:13 – Allan Barton from Zenair Australia tells us about the Zenith aircraft they’re importing from the USA
0:51:36 – David Baddams runs Snow Goose International and ferries aircraft around the world. He also flew David Brown’s RV10 in an RV formation at AusFly
1:00:31 – Grant & Ben chat with Dick Smith and Ryan Campbell about flying solo around the world
1:13:45 – Steve & Ben talk to Paul Holler & Norm Edmunds from the SAAA about home building aircraft
1:38:17 – Bas Scheffers went up with Jeremy from SkyThrills to do some aerobatics in their Super Decathalon. He also tells us a bit about the latest OzRunways news
1:46:14 – Steve, Grant, Ben & David Brown wrap up their AusFly 2013 review
Don’t forget to go & support Steven Pam’s Airheads documentary, a movie that desperately needs to be made.
JQ’s new 787 arrives at Melbourne The past month has included a number of events related to the Royal Australian Navy’s International Fleet Review 2013 as well as the arrival of Jetstar’s new 787-8. Grant’s been visiting a few ships & interviewing their aircrew while Kathy’s had a flight on Australia’s brand new MRH-90 Taipan transport helicopters. Not long after that, Grant was in Sydney to watch the mass-flypast of aircraft as the fleet steamed into Sydney harbour then both Steve & Grant were on the tarmac in Melbourne for the new Jetstar 787 arrival celebrations.
HMS Daring’s LynxNaturally this generated lots of great new content and we’ve packaged it all up as follows:
0:06:43 – LT Hamish Walker, Lynx Pilot on HMS Daring
0:13:37 – LT CDR Teilo Elliot-Smith, Air Warefare Officer on HMS Daring
0:27:15 – CDR Angus Essenhigh, Commanding Officer of HMS Daring
0:34:37 – LT David Roderick, Seasprite Pilot on HMNZS Te Mana
0:46:17 – LT Hamish Liddy, Seasprite Observer on HMNZS Te Mana
0:57:22 – Leading Hand Zach Taylor, Seasprite crew on HMNZS Te Mana
6 SQN is combined RNZAF & RNZN1:06:29 – David presents Grant with their 6 Squadron patch & explains its symbolism
1:07:43 – Grant chats with listener “Mick from the Frankston line”
1:14:45 – Kathy Mexted chats with Steve about flying in the MRH-90
1:17:45 – LT Jack Wadey, MRH-90 Taipan Pilot
1:31:40 – CPT Brett Chandler, Commanding Officer of HMAS Creswell
1:38:27 – Kathy chats about how she knew Brett Chandler from some time ago
1:43:20 – David Hall, CEO of Jetstar Australia & New Zealand
1:48:53 – Captain Jeremy Schmidt, lead pilot on Jetstar’s 787 programme
1:55:19 – Gordon Rich-Phillips, Victoria’s Minister for Aviation Industry
1:59:23 – We wrap it up and sign off
Kathy’s aircraft for her media flightBen Wickham & Kathy Mexted getting ready to board the MRH-90
It’s time to vote!It’s time for Australians to vote for their favourite (or least disliked :) ) politicians and, once again, we’ve gone into bat for our audience to present information about the transportation policies of the main parties.
Unfortunately, our cunning plan to wait for the parties to have revealed their policies has not been as successful as we’d like as a) some parties are still holding their cards close to their chest and b) all the candidates are running around frantically to shore up support & win voters to their side.
Oh well, on with the show :)
At 0:03:40, we start with Anthony Albanese from the Australian Labor Party. Anthony is the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure & Transport, Minister for Broadband, Communications & the Digital Economy and the Leader of the House. While unable to come on the show, Anthony was able to provide written answers to our questions (which we’ve listed below) so we provide some commentary on his answers:
1. How important do you consider aviation to be to Australia’s economic growth, especially with respect to foreign earnings through training and the production & export of aircraft & components? If so, how will your policies help aviation boost economic growth? (eg: Carbon Tax subsidies as per other forms of transport, easier access to VET FEE Help for pilot training, employment legislation changes, boosts for trainee/apprentice programs, reduced user fee costs, etc)
Last year was another record year for aviation in Australia with more than 86 million passengers flying domestically and internationally. This is a 4.5 per cent increase on 2011.
Passenger growth in Australia was more than three times the rate of the United States, which registered a 1.3 per cent increase in passenger numbers in 2012.
We’re committed to working with the sector to build Australia’s aviation industry. Over $120 million in assistance has been provided for students undertaking aviation-related studies. This assistance has provided more than 12,000 places for students to gain the qualifications necessary to build Australia’s aviation industry.
Federal Labor has announced we’re abolishing the carbon tax and moving to an Emissions Trading Scheme next year, which will reduce the cost for the sector further.
2. Do you consider aviation to be important to the development & prosperity of country Australia? If so, how will your policies help boost aviation for rural areas? (eg: route subsidies, rural airport development, etc)
Absolutely. That’s why Federal Labor has injected more than $261 million of assistance into regional and remote aviation – more than five times that spent by the former Coalition Government in the preceding six years.
We are upgrading:
47 regional airports in every state
237 remote airstrips, making them safer and guaranteeing medical services
There is more money and support going into regional aviation than ever before. Growth in total passenger movements at regional airports continues to be higher than at airports in major cities, growing at 4.6 per cent versus 3.5 per cent respectively.
In addition, the number of regional airports receiving services increased by 31 airports to 171 last year – the highest in almost a decade
3. Will Aviation have its own minister? Or even a dedicated full-time Transport minister? If aviation (& transport in general) are important factors in the economic growth of Australia, does it not make sense to have a dedicated portfolio managed by a single minister?
I’m not pre-empting future decisions about portfolios – my focus is on securing another term for the Rudd Labor Government.
4. Will the issues relating to CASA & the ATSB that were raised by the recent Senate inquiry into the PelAir accident be addressed? If the two months between the report being produced & parliament going into caretaker mode was insufficient for a response to be generated it would indicate significant issues have been raised & need to be addressed. What priority will this have after the election?
A re-elected Labor Government will provide a response to the Inquiry once the findings have been given full consideration. In the meantime, the ATSB has invited the Canadian Transportation Safety Bureau to undertake an independent review of the ATSB investigation methodologies and processes.
5. Will a decision on Sydney’s second airport be made in the first year of the new government or will still more studies & delays be incurred?
I have consistently said Sydney needs a second airport sooner rather than later.
6. What steps will be taken to reduce the impact of residential encroachment on airports, eg: Bankstown, Archerfield, Moorabbin, etc.
The Federal Labor Government has championed the National Airports Safeguarding Framework to guide land use planning reform around Australian airports. The Framework will help ensure that in the future both airports and residents of suburbs around airports are safeguarded from inappropriate off-airport development. Airports are important transport, economic and employment hubs, significantly contributing to our social connections and economic productivity.
The framework was adopted by the Standing Committee on Transport and Infrastructure (SCOTI) and each state and territory government will now apply the framework in a manner appropriate to their own planning rules.
The Government wants to see more sensible planning decisions are made around airports – that is why we established the Planning Coordination Forums (PCFs) at each federally leased airport. These forums enable the airport and the federal Government agencies to engage the state government and local councils in regard to planning decisions around the airport.
Then, at 0:23:40 we have a chat with Senator Lee Rhiannon, the Transport spokesperson for The Greens. We asked her the same set of questions as those above but (as you might expect), her answers were quite different to those from Anthony Albanese.
Finally, at 0:41:38 we review the Coalition’s aviation policy document. We had tried to arrange a chat with Warren Truss from the Liberal National Party as we did during the last Federal Election in 2010 but, unfortunately, at the times he was available to chat with us, we were stuck away from the studio :(
Warren is the Leader of the Nationals and the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and it was his department that released the Coalition’s aviation policy document. If you want to get all the details the Coalition have released about this policy, you should read their PDF format document.
Of interest, the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) have issued a media release stating that the Coalition’s aviation policies are a “good start and show that the Coalition has at least been listening to industry concerns, concerns that have been shared with the Shadow Minister over a number of years.”
So there you go. While we didn’t get to chat with all the politicians we were chasing, we did at least get sufficient information from them to review and discuss for this episode. Perhaps next election we’ll be able to arrange our times more in advance to ensure we can bring you their commentary. Hopefully by then, we won’t also still be wondering if there’ll ever be a second airport in Sydney :)
As the F111 was late & delayed by all sorts of issues, so too has our Episode 111 been late in arriving. Our big excuse has been discovering that the PCDU Radio Show has taken a LOT more effort than we expected. All this plus our day jobs, families AND our PCDU Commentary & Announcing gigs have, in turn, made it almost impossible to get an episode out. Suffice to say, we’re parking the radio show production for a while as we try to find a new way of working that lets us produce radio shows AND episodes. It’s very much a learning experience!
Meanwhile, we have managed to get this episode out and it’s packed with lots of great content, including:
0:01:55 – Grant recently took a holiday in Bali & flew with Virgin Australia. He provides a review of their short-haul international business class service & the GA scene on Bali.
0:12:50 – We chat with Mark Pracy from Pracy Racing about his preparations for Reno 2013 and the “feel” of the event now that it’s coming up on two years since the big crash back in 2011.
0:34:46 – We present a summary of the chats Steve recorded with Dave Jacka as he made his solo-flight around Australia to become the first quadriplegic person to do so as part of his On A Wing & A Chair charity. These chats were recorded during Dave’s journey and after his return to Tooradin airport (YTDN), giving a great overview of the many issues & experiences he encountered.
1:03:46 – During Exercise Talisman Saber, Damien Rose interviewed Jake Press a pilot with the KC135. He then went on to enjoy a great ride in a USAF C17 doing a low-level airdrop. You can watch his summary video posted to the PCDU YouTube channel:
1:08:20 – Back in 2012, Grant had a great chat with David Cottee, the curator of the Qantas Heritage Collection
1:29:28 – Also back in 2012, Grant had a fantastic chat with Paul Gianniotis, an ex-Cathay Pacific Flight Engineer who learned to fly in a Piper at Kai Tak in Hong Kong (no, really :) ) and even started flying hot air balloons in Hong Kong. As you could imagine, he’s got some amazing stories to tell!
1:47:23 – We give some shoutouts:
The Stuck Mic AvCast has not only passed their 50th episode, they’re about to release their 55th! Awesome!
Dave Homewood is about to release his 50th Wings Over New Zealand podcast episode and it’s going to be a fantastic one!
Bevan Anderson from AvSoft has seen his AvPlan application turn 2 years old
Steve’s daughter Rachel turned 18 and his wife now has her Yellow Belt in Karate
Australia’s Federal Election is coming up & once again we’re going to do some Election Quick Cast episodes to give you an insite to the aviation policies (if any) of the major parties
Grant about to take Kathy flying in a hot air balloonAll good things take time & so do our episodes, with this one taking perhaps the longest to produce of any of them. It’s also packed full of great content covering magazine editors, wing walkers, AOPA, another give-away competition, antique aircraft, solo trips around the world & even hot air balloons. Make use of the pause button where you need to but be sure to listen right through to the very end of the episode for another set of classic “Kathy Mexted Bloopers” :)
This episode is indeed a basket full of flight & it unfolds as:
0:03:30 – We chat with Kathy Mexted about her father, Pat Whitty, who passed away recently. She mentions his influence on her flying and their flights in VH-MAU, a 1978 Piper Warrior
0:11:35 – Kathy joins with us to chat with Kreisha Ballantyne-Dickes, the Publications Editor at AOPA Australia and their Australian Pilot magazine. She also has her own blog (Girl with a Stick) and we chatted about a number of topics including:
Pat Whitty with VH-MAUHow Kreisha got into flying, especially her first solo
Her love of Bonanzas
Avalon 2013 & why people don’t fly
Kreisha’s career in writing and becoming editor of the Australian Pilot magazine
Wingwalking with the Breitling team on the top of their Stearman
0:50:32 – Maikha Ly went to the Antique Aircraft Association of Australia’s annual fly-in at Echuca and recorded some great content for us. You can find the photos he took on his Echuca Flickr collection
1:34:48 – Steve chats with Ryan Campbell two days prior to starting his TeenWorldFlight adventure
Kreisha after her flight in an Extra 3301:45:52 – Grant recently took Kathy for a balloon flight over Bacchus Marsh while listener Evan Schoo tagged along with the ground crew & got some great photos of the flight. During the flight, Grant & Kathy recorded a quick in-flight chat that we listen to here, after which, Steve asks Kathy just how the flight really went!
Kreisha being prepared for her wing walking2:15:34 – We have another give-away this episode with Owen Zupp‘s second (& trickier!) question about famous Australian aviators. The first five (5) people to email us the correct answer at contact@planecrazydownunder.com will win a copy of Owen’s “50 Tales of Flight” eBook.
2:17:47 – Listener Mail:
SoapyHB noted that the Concorde prototype was in Melbourne in 1972 while British Airways ran some proving flights in 1975 with a production aircraft. He also really enjoyed our Avalon 2013 coverage and admits to being a real fan of Anthony’s The View from the Lounge segments. Finally, he wonders how we manage to do all this and yet still stay married … yup, so do we! :)
Mick (aka Bom1) sent through some great comments on lap belts in aircraft having the potential to cause severe abdominal & spinal injuries in a crash (note: rather topical given the reports of similar injuries in survivors of the Asiana crash at San Francisco)
Brian Grinter sent through a link to photos of Peter Jackson’s Lancaster that will be used for his remake of The Dam Busters. As Brian says: “It’s not your average Airfix kit!” :) :)
Maikha consults his notes while interviewing Maurie Evans2:22:49 – Kathy mentioned that Col Griffin (ex RAAF Mosquito pilot) recently passed away. We interviewed Col back in Episode 61 (The Great Pilgrimage) and you can read more about him in Kathy’s articles in Australian Flying and Outback Mag
2:24:07 – Shout Outs:
Ryan Campbell’s TeenWorldFlight is under way & he’s flying a Cirrus SR22 solo around the world
Maikha interviewing Murray & Andrea Wallace2:26:39 – We’ve been hearing from many people about issues at RA-Aus and are considering producing a show dedicated to the topic. Do you have any recommendations for people & issues you’d like to have covered in such an episode?
2:29:09 – We’re now producing a weekly 1 hour radio show for Kinglake Ranges Radio, a local community radio station. You can tune in at 9am on Saturday’s (Melbourne time) via 94.5FM or via their livestream feed
As noted, the Kathy Mexted driven bloopers can be found at 2:34:25 – definitely worth checking out :)
We’re joined by Dave Homewood from the Wings Over New Zealand forum & podcast who talks to us about his career with the RNZAF, the Kiwi warbird scene and his excellent forum & podcast. We also feature more Avalon content including our KC-30A interview, the Herron RPV and Charles Cheeseman from Eco 2000. Finally, we introduce new team member Maikha Ly, announce another competition and work through a stack of listener mail.
Flying solo around Australia is a challenging & amazing experience, even today (just ask Owen Zupp :) ). It’s even more mind-blowing when you’re a quadriplegic! This episode Steve & Grant talk to Dave Jacka who is setting out to be the first quadriplegic person to fly solo around Australia! We also include a chat Steve recorded with Laurie Jones from Adventure Wings about his role as a fire-bomber and the Nanchang adventure flights they operate from Tooradin (YTDN), a new View from the Lounge and even a competition!
One of the many RAAF C17s at Avalon 2013We still have some Avalon 2013 coverage not yet released so we decided to produce a single episode dedicated to the C17 as there were multiple RAAF C17s and a USAF C17 present on the final day. In keeping with our previous Avalon 2013 episodes, this one is under an hour and gathers the following content together:
0:03:08 – RAAF C17 pilot FLTLT Dirk Taylor talks about flying the aircraft & his career
0:10:59 – RAAF C17 techo Sgt David Everett talks about maintaining the aircraft & his transition from the DHC-4 Caribou
0:22:09 – RAAF Loadmaster WOFF Paul Lemarshall walks us through the C17s cargo hold
0:33:29 – USAF Capt Brian Carron talks about interoperability between USAF & RAAF C17 aircraft & crew
0:39:22 – We wrap up the episode
Given the focus on the C17 in this episode, it was a given that we’d include a promotion for the Australian Defence Force Recruiting, right? You can call them on 13 19 01 :)
We had contemplated a quiet final day at Avalon 2013 where the team could gather a few last interviews but it wasn’t to be. There were still so many people to see, content to capture and experiences to share with our audience. In fact, there’s so much content that we couldn’t fit it all into our daily episodes so we’re going to have to release more Avalon coverage in our later episodes.
Day Five of the Avalon Airshow 2013 is the first full public day and they turned out in force to enjoy great aviation action under clear blue skies. Despite the crowds we still managed to get around the airport to complete a number of interviews & meet up with plenty of people.
This episode includes:
Grant’s interviews with some RAAF AP-3C crew:
Air Combat Officer (ACO) Flying Officer Tristan Hull
Demonstration pilot Flight Lieutenant James Pears
Steve talks to Jacqui Carlon from Piper about their latest Garmin equipped Seminole on display
Grant & Ben Jones talk to Bob & Laurie Carlton about their jet powered Salto glider demonstration
Steve & Grant talk to Owen & Kirrily Zupp
ATC_Ben helps out with Timbo’s Tarmac and In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf
