Episode 96 has been released and it features a long chat we recorded with ‘Mac “Serge” Tucker’ about his career as an F18 pilot with the RAAF, his book “Fighter Pilot” and his views on drones & the future of air combat.
There’s lots of great content in this chat including some that’s funny, some that’s contentious and more than a few items that may make you stop & think. Check out the episode and then go out & pick up a copy of Serge’s book “Fighter Pilot”.
It takes a special breed to push an F18 out to the edge of the envelope, fly missions ranging from surface attack to dog fights and then blow off steam with your squadron mates. It’s certainly not Top Gun but it does make amazing fodder for a book that highlights the good, the bad and the crazy.
Steve & Grant chat to “Serge” about being a fighter pilot, flying & partying hard, blowing off steam and dealing with bureaucrats. We also cover:
The size of the fighter community in Australia and the camaraderie that has developed among them
The mentoring that occurs within the community covering both technical & behavioural aspects of being a fighter pilot
The interaction of fighter pilots with pilots from other parts of the RAAF
Serge’s career progressing from high school through basic training in the CT4, progression to the Aermacchi MB 326H (the Macchi) and on to the F18 via a stint on the Nomad.
Wing Commander Ross Fox’s influence as Serge’s mentor and the impact of his death in an F18 mid-air collision
Serge’s thoughts on the Australian Army & Royal Australian Navy
Working with the fighter pilots from the USA & comparing USA pilots with RAAF pilots
Old timer stories and their influence on current procedures
RAAF exchange pilots flying F15s & F22s with the USAF
The F35 JSF and its issues with kinematics
Drones and their use in the military environment
How the military have missed out on changing their operations & equipment to deal better with the Middle East environment & the modern political power dynamics
Serge’s love of hang gliding
Transitioning from being a fighter pilot to being an airline pilot
His final flight: a one-on-one dogfight with Matt Hall
Episode 95: Northern Exposure has been released at last! With so many chats & interviews from Oshkosh 2012 (& 2011 :) plus the introduction of a new Team PCDU member, it was a huge effort for Steve to edit it. Heck, even Grant had a lot to do when writing up the show notes.
In this episode, we tag along with ATC_Ben on his visit to Oshkosh 2012, discussing his journey there & listening to a few of the interviews he recorded (yes, we’re still jealous we couldn’t get there!). We then introduce long-time listener Damien Rose who’s joining us as our Queensland correspondent & lives about 2,000km north of PCDU HQ. Finally, we play a few of the interviews Steve & Grant recorded at Oshkosh 2011 to help us feel a bit better about not being there this year (nope, still jealous! :)
Steve & Grant go north of Melbourne thanks to the aid of some members of Team PCDU, both current & new. First up we tag along with ATC_Ben on his visit to Oshkosh 2012, discussing his journey there & listening to a few of the interviews he recorded (yes, we’re still jealous we couldn’t get there!). We then introduce long-time listener Damien Rose who’s joining us as our Queensland correspondent & lives about 2,000km north of PCDU HQ. Finally, we play a few of the interviews Steve & Grant recorded at Oshkosh 2011 to help us feel a bit better about not being there this year (nope, still jealous! :)
Episode 94: AusFly “Together Under One Sky” is out and it features our review of AusFly, some of our AusFly interviews and our interview with Gordon Rich-Phillips, the Victorian state minister for the Aviation Industry (among other portfolios :)
Hopefully it won’t be a month before we have our next episode out for you.
The Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) held their inaugural AusFly event at Narromine, New South Wales on the 14th & 15th of September. As part of the show, Plane Crazy Down Under were invited to come & run the AusFly radio show and provide commentary for the air displays. From setting up the studio & PA system (thanks Allan & Kurt :) to interviewing live during the show and keeping the crowd informed during the air displays, it was a busy, exhausting, educational and, over-all, fun experience.
In this episode we have the first few of our AusFly content and we’ll be having more in future episodes as we arranging interviews with the exhibitors we missed out chatting to during the event. Everyone was kept busy by the steady stream of people so there wasn’t much time to stop & chat.
The full content of the show includes:
0:04:20 – Our post-show interview with David Brown from the SAAA where we discuss the successes and the lessons learned from running the event.
0:28:01 – An interview we recorded with Gordon Rich-Phillips, the Victorian minister for the Aviation Industry (among other portfolios). We discuss his background in aviation, the aircraft he’s been flying and his views on the aviation industry in Victoria.
0:47:27 – We play some of our AusFly Radio content
0:47:36 – Hunter Jones from AutoGyro Australia talks to us about autogyros, their presence at AusFly and their formation arrival.
0:58:30 – Matt Maude from Performance Metals lets us know about a whole lot of new metal they’ve got arriving shortly.
1:03:10 – Jenny Wickham joins us on “The Perch” at AusFly to provide commentary on her husband Jim’s flying.
1:08:55 – Grant has a quick chat with Chris Brown who was on the Elgas Balloon Trek that worked its way to Narromine during the week leading up to the 14th
1:11:42 – We chat with Ben Jones about his experiences at AusFly (including flying a Zenith CH650), at WestFly and at the Sport Aircraft Builders Club Annual Fly In
1:22:24 – We review some Listener Mail:
Brian from Kentucky is wading through our archives & has almost listened to all of them (yes, he’s very brave! :)
Mick (aka “Bom1”) relates a few of his aviation passenger experiences and is wondering what to do next in aviation (yes, he should get his license for a start! :)
1:29:16 – We give a few Shout Outs:
Thanks to Analogue Al (aka Allan Van’t Padje) and his brother Kurt for all their efforts to setup & tear down the PA system used at Narromine as well as Allan’s great work running the sound gear through out the event
Well done to Chris Visscher for being the PCDU Camp Cook and general errand boy
Thanks to everyone who came & said HI at AusFly, especially our mate The Air Stig who visited AusFly as part of a long journey he was undertaking
All photos in these show notes (including the episode title image) were taken by Phil Buckley. Thanks mate :)
We had a fantastic time at AusFly over the 14th to 16th of September at Narromine Airport. Our AusFly Radio was played live over the PA system and livestreamed to the Internet thanks to LiveATC.net and our Shoutcast feed.
Congratulations to all the organisers & volunteers from the SAAA who helped make it happen, along with the sponsors, exhibitors & display pilots plus all the people who showed up to attend the event. With over 300 aircraft pre-registered it was estimated that over 400 aircraft flew in. The aero club produced over 500 meals on the Friday night in addition to the pizza guy selling out & the burger n chips cart doing a roaring trade. Fantastic!
Now the planning starts for next year’s event. Bring it on!
After three years of lamenting the hassles involved in getting to the West Coast of Australia to report on aviation happenings wwwaaayyy over there on the other side of the big empty, we’ve finally done something about it: we’ve set up a PCDU-WestCoast office and found someone just as aviation-crazy as we are to run it :)
In this episode we introduce Ben Jones who is based in West Australia and has a long and fascinating history of aviation. Clearly it’s in his blood as most of his family are into aviation while Ben himself is a pilot, home builder, member of the RAAF reserve and much much more. He’s even started a blog called WA Aviator to record his aviation activities ‘over there.’
There’s more to the episode than introducing Ben, however, and here’s what you’ll find in it:
0:02:29 – We bring Ben in & start chatting about his background in aviation, the aviation scene in West Australia and his current projects.
0:26:58 – We chat with Sussan Ley, Federal Member for Farrer, Commercial Pilot and one of the two people responsible for starting the “Friends of Aviation” group in Federal Parliament. With only a half hour window to chat with Sussan, we had to jump through a number of subjects in only a short time. Hopefully we can return to chat again with Sussan in the near future as it sounds like there are plenty of additional stories for us to listen to as well as updates on progress with Friends of Aviation group :)
0:53:02 – Mark Pracy from JetRide Australia and Pracy Racing joins us to talk about their preparation for the Reno Air Races this year. We discuss the Galloping Ghost crash, the changes made to address the issues it raised and Mark’s training & preparation techniques.
We also have a very special announcement about AusFly: We’ve been invited to attend and provide commentary, narration and general radio services during the show. We’ll be there with a PA system, low powered FM transmitter and a live-stream to the Internet via LiveATC and our MyRadioStream link. Check it out at:
Finally, at 1:24:13 we have a few shout outs to cover:
Richard Pollard (the voice of the JetRide ads) is heading back to New Zealand to start a new chapter in his life.
Andrea Crook (our awesome voice-over lady) is launching her own podcast network: the Waffle Network
Steve gives HUGE thanks to Gary Mac for helping him with some voice-over training during the past couple of months. Check out Steve’s even more dulcet tones, folks! :)
If you’re in West Australia, check out the Sport Builders Club of WA who are holding their annual fly-in on September 30th at Serpentine Airfield, which also happens to be right about the same time as the WestFly event
It’s taken a while but we’ve finally managed to release our interview with Helene Young, a Dash-8 captain with the regionals who has also written three novels following the adventures of two female pilots with the Australian border patrol in the far north of Queensland.
In addition to Helene’s chat, we also have Steve’s interview with Peter Sobey from Sharp Airlines, Grant’s chat with Chris Dewhirst (the first man to fly a hot air balloon over Mt Everest) and a new View from the Lounge.
[Kathy Mexted joins Steve & Grant to interview Helene Young, a Dash-8 pilot who’s written three great books based around pilots flying for Australia’s border patrol in the far north of Queensland. In addition to being a captain with the regionals, Helene has managed to juggle her home & social life with work and writing, producing three great books in a relatively short period of time.
We also have interviews with Peter Sobey (Chief Flying Instructor at Sharp Airlines) and Chris Dewhirst (first man to fly a balloon over Mt Everest) along with a brand new View From the Lounge segment (also about balloons).