Just to be different, this episode Steve joins ATC Ben on a BenAir flight from Essendon (YMEN) to Temora (YTEM) to attend the NatFly 2014 event. With the Cirrus SR20’s autopilot keeping them on track, Captain Ben & FO Steve introduce the show before opening up their packed lunches. Sadly, Sierra Juliette Alpha (VH-SJA) did not include a flight attendant so they had to arrange their own drinks.
BenAir’s VH-SJA after arriving at Temora (YTEM)Meanwhile, as you may have heard on a recent Australia Desk Segment, Grant was flying hot air balloons in Leeton, about 60 nautical miles south west of Temora. While Steve & Ben were at NatFly & recording a few interviews, Grant managed to corner a pilot for a chat in Leeton.
This episode unfolds with the following content:
0:03:54 – Paul Goard from Brumby Aircraft Australia (based in Cowra, New South Wales) talks about their high-wing aircraft, the change to the Rotax engine and their production schedule.
0:08:49 – Robin Lowe from Lowe Flight (based at Kilcunda, Victoria) talks about the Fresh Breeze XCitor Paratrike which subsequently won the “Best Powered Parachute” award at NatFly 2014.
It also turns out that Robin is looking for an instructor to join his team so if you’re interested, his contact details are on the website :)
0:14:54 – Bob & Marya Phillips at AvTours Australia have been in the aviation tours business since 1989. They talk about the tours they’ve previously run to Oshkosh and their plans for this year’s tour.
0:24:57 – Matt Hall from Matt Hall Racing talks about pylon hits, assessing the other competitors, the removal of the knife-edge pass pylons from the Red Bull Air Race‘s track design and his schedule for the next month or two.
0:31:31 –Grant firing the burners during inflation (Photo by Greg Maunder Sports Photography) Grant catches up with Niall Higgins after another fun morning flying hot air balloons over Leeton. Niall talks about his background in aviation and why he flies fixed wing AND hot air balloons. In addition to flying a Yak52 with the Russian Roolettes, Niall also flies Tiger Moths and he talks about a very special gig on ANZAC Day this year: as part of the lead up to the Great Tiger Moth Air Race, Niall flew one of 4 Tigermoths up Sydney Harbour with WWII veterans on board.
0:38:17 – As ATC Ben flies the Sierra Juliet Alpha back to Essendon, he records a NatFly 2014 wrap up with Steve while they were somewhere over Mt Kosciuszko.
VH-SJA parked back at Essendon (YMEN) after the flightBalloons flying over Leeton (Grant’s in there somewhere :) )
With the RAAF’s Centenary of Military Aviation air show only a couple of days away, we thought we’d mix up some content that promotes the event as well as some chats Grant recorded with a number of past & present members of the RAAF at the Temora Aviation Museum’s “Warbirds Down Under” event back in November. To round the whole thing off, we’ve also got Steve’s chat with Tammy Augostin about the Women of Aviation Worldwide Week event that will be running from March 3rd to 9th around the world.
From top to bottom: AVM (ret) Skidmore, AIRMSHL Binskin & AVM Davies (and, of course, a P40 :) )
The episode’s content run is:
Steve & Grant give an overview of what to expect in the episode
0:09:42 – Grant catches up with Air Marshal Mark Binskin at the Temora Aviation Museum to discuss his career, the role of Vice Chief of the Defence Force and flying his Cessna O-1 Birddog
0:15:57 – Air Vice Marshal (retired) Mark Skidmore talks to us about flying the Bristol Boxkite replica
0:20:33 – Air Vice Marshal Leo Davies (Deputy Chief of Air Force) tells us about the Centenary of Military Aviation air show, his career and the type of work he does in his role
0:28:17 – Keith Webb explains the Temora Aviation Museum‘s “Unsung Heroes” project and the work involved in collecting the reminiscences of veterans
0:43:01 –F/A-18 flying over the Bristol Boxkite replica at Pt Cook (Photo by James Kightly)Dick Simms talks about being an Officer Cadet in the RAAF & flying Mustangs, Vampires & Meteors then his career selling aircraft and his restoration of a 1930’s Ryan STM that can now be found at the Temora Aviation Museum
0:58:10 –Mick Haxel (DFC) chats with Grant about his career in the military and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) at the time that it became the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) before winding up with his current position with Flight Safety Pty Ltd. He also talks about how he was awarded DFC for his flying in Vietnam (Audio courtesy of the Australian War Memorial)
GPCAPT (ret) Ron Gretton AM & WGCDR (ret) Geoff Matthews talk with AVM (ret) Mark Skidmore in front of the Bristol Boxkite replica they built (Photo by James Kightly)
With the Tyabb Airshow 2014 only just around the corner, you might want to know that the airshow DVD is being marketed for pre-purchase. You can beat the rush & reserve your copy so you get it as soon as they’re produced.
For only AUS$25 (plus postage & handling) you can reserve your copy. Just call the folks at the Peninsula Aero Club or email them and they’ll process your order.
After a break due to injuries, surgery & a wedding, we’re back on deck and our first episode for 2014 is packed with Down Under aviation goodness :) From Matt Hall & the return of the Red Bull Air Race to flying in a pair of C130Js over MelbourneFrom Matt Hall and the long awaited return of the Red Bull Air Race to our media flight in a pair of C130Js over Melbourne to promote the RAAF’s Centenary of Military Aviation air show, this episode really got us exited for the year ahead.
Our first episode for 2014 unfolds as:
Steve & Grant chat about surgery, a wedding and some recent media publicity after a couple of unusual hot air balloon landings in Melbourne
0:12:35 – We chat with Matt Hall about the long awaited return of the Red Bull Air Race and get lots of great info about the changes to the race itself, his new team, how they’ve been preparing and the telemetry system he’s using.
Is ATC Ben excited or nervous to be on the C130J media flight? :)Steven Pam is clearly excited to be on the C130J media flight :)
0:46:20 – Steven Pam & ATC Ben got to represent PCDU at a recent RAAF C130J media flight over Melbourne to promote the Centenary of Military Aviation air show at Pt Cook on March 1st & 2nd. In the process they recorded the following content:
Air Commodore Phil Byrne (RAAF’s Head of Special Events) talking about the historical significance of Pt Cook and the RAAF’s preparations for their Centenary of Military Aviation air show
David Gardner (Director, RAAF Museum) talks about the Bristol Boxkite replica
Flight lieutenant Matt Fleet, an RAF C130J pilot on exchange with the RAAF
Sergeant Greg Milne, an RAAF C130J loadmaster
The view of Melbourne from a RAAF C130J’s ramp Even the RAAF are getting into the GoPro action for this flight :)
We have some announcements:
PCDU will be at the Tyabb Airshow 2014 (A Salute to Veterans) on Sunday, March 9th and are looking forward to catching up with any of you who can be there
We want your stories, especially “grass roots” content and, as Steve Riley wrote in about, more “stories about flying”
The view from the C130J’s cockpit is spectacular, even without another aircraft in close formationWe have some shout outs:
Thanks to Steve’s surgical staff for doing his knee reconstruction, including Mr Eden Raleigh, Dr Peter Larkins & Dr Joshua Hoppe from the Epworth Hospital
Thanks to Pieter Johnson & David Vanderhoof for the long-distance support from around the world to help Steve get through some difficult times
Steve wants to thank Grant & the rest of the PCDU team for helping out with the Australia Desk episodes while he was recovering
As part of the RAAF’s promotional events in the lead up to the Centenary of Military Aviation Air Show being held at Point Cook on March 1st & 2nd, we were invited to join them for a C130J media flight. As Steve was still recovering from his knee surgery and Grant was out of town, we sent Steven Pam & ATC Ben along to get video & stills plus record some interviews.
On Friday 7th of February, Steven & Ben were at Point Cook to record the arrival of two C130Js, capture the official announcements and then ride on the trailing aircraft as the two C130s flew around Melbourne’s CBD and the bay. After the flight they were able to record a couple of interviews with aircrew.
Steven then took the content they gathered & produced the video below. Full audio from the interviews can be found in PCDU Episode 116: High Performances.
We would like to extend our thanks to the RAAF for inviting us on the flight and giving us the opportunity to capture more great content for our audience. We’re very much looking forward to the air show which promises to be a major event and a great showcase of the RAAF’s aircraft from the past 100 years.
Steve’s been hooked up to one of these latelyUnfortunately Steve’s surgery & post-op recovery have left him rather worse for wear and unable to record let alone edit. Meanwhile, Grant’s even busier than normal with work and preparing for his pending wedding, so he’s got almost no time to record or edit.
All of which has added up to a complete failure to produce a single real episode of the PCDU Show. As an apology and to help explain why this is so, we’ve produced a little explanation story that you can listen to here.
Fear not though folks, we have lots of great content ready for editing and over February & March we’ll be working hard to get some episodes out (& record more content, of course :) )
Steve & AntCB chatting with Chris SperouIt’s been an amazing year but as 2013 draws to a close, we’re squeezing one more episode out for you. We’ve combined some content not yet published from Avalon & AusFly with some great reports supplied by other members of the PCDU team. We’ve also got a competition running to win one of five copies of Owen Zupp’s new book.
In keeping with our trend for 2013, this is yet another 2+ hour episode packed with great avation content, including:
0:09:06 – Steve & AntCB chat with Chris Sperou at Avalon 2013
0:18:30 – Grant talks with Bevan Anderson from AvPlan
0:25:11 – Peter Edwards from Cirrus talks about their latest aircraft
0:31:53 – Sue Woods talks with Grant about the latest Jabiru news
0:37:09 – Maikha Ly reports on a recent Free Flight model aircraft competition
0:49:21 – Dave Homewood talks with Peter Daniell, the CEO of Air Wakatipu at Queenstown in New Zealand
1:19:27 – Damien Rose reports on Caribou Cargo
1:46:14 – Listener Mail:
Ian Kershaw sent us an audio comment about Owen Zupp’s eBook “50 Tales” which leads into the news that Owen has released a new eBook called Solo Flight about his fund-raising flight around Australia in a Jabiru. We have a competition running where you can win one of five copies of the eBook but you’ll need to listen to the show to find out how to enter (it’s easy! :)
Evan Schoo sent us an audio comment about his perspective on Grant’s balloon flight with Kathy Mexted
Mick from Fankston (our good friend, source of many interesting emails & Shangri-La pal) has found that Virgin Australia’s 737-800’s don’t have a window at seat 9A … OUCH!
Rashidi Merrifeld sent us a link to a video he’s created about wanting become an airline pilot when he’s older
Paul O’Rourke told us about the Cobden Fly-in coming up on Feb 15th & 16th, 2014. You can arrive around 10 am and stay or pop in whenever and say hi. A BBQ lunch will be available. You can camp under your wing or check out accommodation on the Cobden Aeroclub Facebook page. Monitor their page for updates and ‘like’ it or call before departing for the fly-in. AVGAS will be available. Contact: Warren 0428-024-633 or Bill 0403-498-005 E: cobdenaeroclub@gmail.com
Melanie Salisbury from Travel Managers in NZ wrote to us about their Bomber Country tour of the UK happening in July 2014. It’s a 19 day escorted tour covering Duxford’s “Flying Legends,” Waddington & RIAT plus has options for Farnborough. If you can cover the price tag ($9,200 per person) then it looks like it’ll be a great tour
Steve Tupper from Airspeed has released a trilogy of great episodes about his entry into being an airshow performer
2:09:30 – We talk about a few of our favourite moments from 2013 and the things we’re looking forward to in 2014
2:19:21 – We give some shoutouts to some of those who have helped us during 2013
Just for the fun of it, here’s a few photos of the team during 2013
Grant & Steve in the main StudioTeam PCDU at Avalon 2013Anthony Simmons at the Media Room Work Desk during Avalon 2013 Ben Wickham & Kathy Mexted about to fly in the MRH-90 Taipan Steve & Grant with Ryan Campbell at AusFly 2013Steve & Grant chatting with the F18F Super Hornet Demo Crew Kathy Mexted after her Taipan RideMaikha Flying a Lightie
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
Jetstar 787-8 Arrives in MelbourneJetstar’s shiny new 787-8 arrived in Melbourne on October 9th and we were there to greet it. From being beside the runway to video the arrival, near the fire trucks for the water cannon salute and in the hangar for the celebrations, Team PCDU captured lots of content from the event.
We’ll be including the interviews we recorded in our next episode (in final production at the moment) and loading photos on our Flickr stream & videos on our YouTube channel (as soon as Grant gets them loaded :) ).
Our thanks to Jetstar Australia for inviting us to attend and helping coordinate our access to staff for interviews.
