PCDU Episodes: Here is a full list of all PCDU Episodes since #1 back in 2009. Click on a title to visit the episode page & download or listen to the episode from there.
- PCDU Episode 130: Avalon 2017 – Alpha April 15th, 2017
- PCDU Episode 129: Going Back to School February 28th, 2017
- PCDU Episode 128: Unprecedented October 30th, 2016
- PCDU Episode 127: From the Vault July 17th, 2016
- PCDU Episode 126: Emirates Wants You! March 11th, 2016
- PCDU Episode 125: Avalon Charlie (The Avalon Airshow Goodness Continues) August 2nd, 2015
- PCDU Episode 124: Avalon15 Bravo (Yet more Avalon Airshow Goodness) March 12th, 2015
- PCDU Episode 123: Avalon15 Alpha (It’s Avalon Airshow Time :) ) February 28th, 2015
- PCDU Episode 122: Farewell 2014 December 31st, 2014
- PCDU Episode 121: Exercise Pitch Black 2014 October 1st, 2014
- PCDU Episode 120: History & Records August 1st, 2014
- PCDU Episode 119: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: The RAAF Approach June 3rd, 2014
- PCDU Episode 118: Can you fly to NatFly 2014? April 27th, 2014
- PCDU Episode 117: Holler for a Marshall, an AIR Marshal February 26th, 2014
- PCDU Episode 116: High Performances February 16th, 2014
- PCDU Episode 115: Farewell 2013 December 31st, 2013
- PCDU Episode 114: AusFly 2013 – Back Together Under One Sky December 10th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 113: Fleeting Dreams October 21st, 2013
- PCDU Episode 112: Federal Election 2013 September 6th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 111: Radio Killed the Podcast Star (Almost :) ) August 25th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 110: A Basket Full of Flight July 8th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 109: Dave’s Cambridge Airforce May 26th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 108: On a Wing & a Chair April 27th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 107: Avalon 2013 – Globemaster Central March 31st, 2013
- PCDU Episode 106: Avalon 2013 – Day Six March 4th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 105: Avalon 2013 – Day Five March 2nd, 2013
- PCDU Episode 104: Avalon 2013 – Day Four March 1st, 2013
- PCDU Episode 103: Avalon 2013 – Day Three February 28th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 102: Avalon 2013 – Day Two February 27th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 101: Avalon 2013 – Day One February 26th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 100: The Ton February 21st, 2013
- PCDU Episode 99: RAAF C-130H – Into History January 29th, 2013
- PCDU Episode 98: Farewell 2012 December 30th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 97: Journos & Aeros December 9th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 96: “Serge” – An Australian Top Gun November 17th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 95: Northern Exposure November 3rd, 2012
- PCDU Episode 94: AusFly “Together Under One Sky” October 6th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 93: Positive Moves September 7th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 92: Helene Young – A Novel Approach to Flying August 16th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 91: New Horizons July 23rd, 2012
- PCDU Episode 90: Moments in Time July 3rd, 2012
- PCDU Episode 89: RA-Aus NatFly 2012 June 16th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 88: Dreamtime May 30th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 87: Wings Over Illawarra 2012 May 18th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 86: One Fine Day at Parafield April 26th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 85: Tyabb Air Show 2012 & ATC Ben Answers Your Questions March 31st, 2012
- PCDU Episode 84: Geoff Whitty: Pidgin Tales March 18th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 83: Replicate This! February 29th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 82: Keeping up with Owen Zupp February 16th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 81: An Infrequent Flyer goes to Europe January 29th, 2012
- PCDU Episode 80: Farewell 2011 (aka “Tom Cruise wraps my Dolmades” :) December 30th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 79: Flying Low December 10th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 78: Tim Smith: Flying Saved My Life November 16th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 77: Qantas Crisis: After the Grounding November 3rd, 2011
- PCDU Episode 76: Air Wilpena October 20th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 75: Talking Aerobatics with Anthony Crichton-Browne October 5th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 74: Kiwi User Fees … and other issues September 5th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 73: Oshkosh: The Greatest Show on Earth August 20th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 72: Oshcast #3 – Hugging your Roo July 31st, 2011
- PCDU Episode 71: AirVenture 2011 – Oshcast #2 July 29th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 70: AirVenture 2011 – Oshcast #1 July 27th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 69: Carbonated July 20th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 68: Flyabout to Memory Lane July 11th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 67: Team Pracy: Racing, JetRides & Aircraft Imports June 30th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 66: That Wasn’t in the Script! June 21st, 2011
- PCDU Episode 65: Innovative Ideas June 13th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 64: Dick Smith – Setting it Straight May 24th, 2011
- Video 001: Steve’s Flight in JetRide’s L39 May 18th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 63: RA-Aus NatFly 2011 April 30th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 62: Advertising Advocacy April 21st, 2011
- PCDU Episode 61: The Great Pilgrimage April 10th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 60: Now the Party’s Over March 26th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 59: Avalon Not-So Quick Cast #6 March 6th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 58: Avalon Quick Cast #5 March 5th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 57: Avalon Quick Cast #4 March 4th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 56: Avalon Quick Cast #3 March 3rd, 2011
- PCDU Episode 55: Avalon Quick Cast #2 March 2nd, 2011
- PCDU Episode 54: Avalon Quick Cast #1 March 1st, 2011
- PCDU Episode 53: A Ditch, Some Dutch & De-Icing February 20th, 2011
- PCDU Episode 52: The Misty Dawn of Avalon February 3rd, 2011
- PCDU Episode 51: Pig Out! January 21st, 2011
- PCDU Episode 50: Farewell 2010 December 31st, 2010
- PCDU Episode 49: Hovering Matilda December 15th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 48: ADS-B: C’est un pétard! – with Bill Hamilton November 28th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 47: Bull Me! November 23rd, 2010
- PCDU Episode 46: Qantas A380 incident – from the Ground Up November 10th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 45: Keeping it to Scale October 31st, 2010
- PCDU Episode 44: Hannes, Bas and the Rhino October 9th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 43: Back to the Air Show September 19th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 42: Wings Down Under September 4th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 41: Australian Federal Election QuickCast #3: Comments on the Greens & Labor’s White Paper August 20th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 40: Australian Federal Election QuickCast #2: Ken Hill & Tim Sheen August 19th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 39: Australian Federal Election QuickCast #1: Warren Truss August 18th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 38: Dick Smith: Around the World in Many Ways August 10th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 37: It’s “Flight Attendant,” Grant July 30th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 36: Incidentally, Matt… July 14th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 35: Perseverance & Persistence July 4th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 34: Arching over the Swamp June 17th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 33: Four Degrees of Separation from Ben Sandilands May 28th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 32: Switch to Plan Delta May 13th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 31: Red Bull all The Way May 8th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 30: Antarctica: The Last True Wilderness April 20th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 29: What’s in a Checklist? April 6th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 28: Save the Liberator March 28th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 27: Trans World Adventures March 10th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 26: Enjoying the Views February 25th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 25: Fan Boys February 13th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 24: Misuse of Accents February 4th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 23: Australia: A TSA free zone (for now) January 15th, 2010
- PCDU Episode 22: Farewell 2009 December 31st, 2009
- PCDU Episode 21: London Calling December 19th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 20: A Tribute to Pip Borman December 11th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 19: Interview with a Vampire … Pilot (& Other Stories) December 5th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 18: Tally Ho, it’s the Red Baron! November 26th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 17: The Ipanator says “Rivet Shower? Not on *my* Watch!” November 20th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 16: Rant on Steve, Rant on November 15th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 15: And now for something completely different, here is the news November 1st, 2009
- PCDU Episode 14: Lang’s Great Journeys October 29th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 13: The Only Way is Zupp October 20th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 12: It’s not that late in Adelaide… October 12th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 11: Recreationally Yours October 3rd, 2009
- PCDU Episode 10: On the Podium with Matt Hall September 27th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 9: Airplane Geeks Down Under September 22nd, 2009
- PCDU Episode 8: Riding Our Segways September 11th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 7: Matt Hall, we’re not worthy! September 5th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 6: Plugcast August 30th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 5: Jet Lag Recovery August 16th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 4: Hand Propped August 7th, 2009
- PCDU Episode 3: Flying Solo July 31st, 2009
- PCDU Episode 2: Aero Neuro What??? July 22nd, 2009
- PCDU Episode 1: And so it begins… July 16th, 2009
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By Grant (Falcon124), on March 11th, 2016% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:05:08 — 115.4MB) Subscribe: They say patience is a virtue and hopefully our audience has plenty of it because it’s been a while since our last episode was released. Fortunately we’ve been able to make some time available to record content, edit it and get this episode into the feed. For this one Steve & Grant are joined by Maikha Ly for interviews with guests on topics including Emirates recruiting, photography at Melbourne Airport, the inaugural Womens’ World Hot Air Balloon champion and breaking an ATC simulator (no, really, Maikha somehow managed to do it!).
 Want to fly for Emirates? (Image courtesy of Victor Pody – www.victorpodyphotography.com)
This episode unfolds as:
- 0:09:17 – Emirates are recruiting people from around the world to join their expanding crew ranks, both in the cockpit and the cabin. We speak with Andy Longley, Emirates’ Recruitment Manager (Flight Operations) about the airline, their selection criteria & process and career opportunities. With an expanding fleet of aircraft including a healthy collection of Airbus A380s & Boeing 777s, there are plenty of good reasons to consider flying with Emirates. If you’re interested in joining them, check out the Emirates Careers page for more information.
- 0:56:39 – Steve catches up with Anna Gillett from Melbourne Airport to clarify a few issues relating to aircraft spotting & photography options at the airport, especially with the recent introduction of the Terminal 4 car park.
- 1:06:45 – Back in 2014 Grant caught up with Nicola Scaife who had recently become the inaugural Womens’ World Hot Air Balloon Champion. They chat about how she got started in ballooning, her career as a commercial balloon pilot, developing her competition skills, winning the championship and what it’s like to compete alongside (and at times against) her husband.
- 1:42:32 – During the Avalon Airshow in 2015, Maikha traded his turboprop for the Control Tower as he had a try at Airservices Australia’s Air Traffic Control Tower simulator with Peter McMillan.
- 1:51:49 – Steve, Grant & Maikha wrap up the episode with the news that:
- PCDU will be at the Tyabb Air Show in March (we’re once again producing the official air show DVD)
- We’ll also be at Wings Over Illawarra on the 30th of April & 1st of May where, in addition to producing the official air show DVD, Steve & Grant will be joining Peter “Ando” Anderson on the commentary team.
- The Kyneton Air Show will be in October and although it’s a long way off it’s looking very promising.
Photo credit: Cover art image courtesy of Victor Pody
By Grant (Falcon124), on August 2nd, 2015% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:50 — 78.6MB) Subscribe: Welcome back to our coverage of the 2015 Australian International Air Show (aka Avalon Airshow) with our third release of content recorded at show. It’s been a while since the last episode and we’re sorry for that but as with many labours of love & fun, life gets in the way and paying the rent, keeping the family happy, doing airshow commentaries and producing the weekly Australia Desk for the Airplane Geeks often wind up taking priority over producing an episode.
For this episode, we have:
- 0:03:33 – Grant catches up once again with Heidi Fedak from Gulfstream and they sit on board the G650ER to discuss the bizjet market & how Gulfstream aircraft fill the various segments within it.
- 0:13:41 – Still on board the G650ER, Grant chats with Todd Baker who used to fly AV8B Harriers in the US Marines before transitioning to Gulfstreams to fly the top brass around.
- 0:21:41 – Maikha Ly spent a few minutes with Andrew Carter from The Australian Vintage Aviation Society to see how he was enjoying flying the Fokker Triplane in the gaggle of WW1 aircraft at the show. We had previously caught up with Andrew & Gordon to talk about TAVAS & the Fokker Triplane late last year at the Avalon media launch session.
- 0:26:06 – Maikha also recorded a chat with Gene De Marco from The Vintage Aviator Limited in New Zealand about the collection of fantastic WW1 replica aircraft they brought over for the show.
- 0:43:13 – Steve talks with Jeff from the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame
- 0:50:32 –
 WW1 Replicas from TAVAS & TVAL Grant gets to meet with Dr Graham Dorrington from RMIT about RMIT’s involvement with Airbus’ Fly Your Ideas competition and I get to talk with some of the students involved before wrapping up by chatting to Isabelle Floret, Snr Vice President, Airbus Pacific. Unfortunately the background sound was pretty high & we couldn’t filter it all out so it’s a bit noisy on this one :(
- 1:03:41 – Inside the Airbus chalet, Grant chatted with Mike Bausor, Airbus’ A350 XWB Marketing Director about the A350 going live with Qatar Airways
- 1:08:23 – Bringing us back to corporate jets, Grant once again caught up with David Vellupillai to talk about Airbus Corporate Jets including the newly available ACJ330. They also discussed the A380 and its market niche, Airbus’ view on passenger seating and the nuances of supporting ACJ owners.
 Grant in the G650ER wondering if they’ll accept his kidney as a deposit…
- 1:23:35 – Show wrap up
Thanks to everyone for your patience with our delays and thanks also to those who have been contacting us to check that we’re still alive and asking when the next episode would be out. We’ve not pod faded yet & there’s still a big backlog of content for us to edit & get into the feed. Meanwhile, you can usually hear us each week on the Airplane Geeks podcast and Grant is helping out Dave Homewood with the Wings Over New Zealand Live show that comes up monthly on Warbird Radio. He’s also recently appeared on Adam Knight’s great podcast called Go Flying Australia as well as turning up as a guest on the Plane Talking UK podcast.
We’ve also been mentioned on Global Pilot Life and Airport Spotting as both sites have included us in their lists of “Favourite Aviation Shows.” Thanks to both sites for including us despite the gaps between episodes of late :)
By Grant (Falcon124), on March 12th, 2015% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:40 — 65.7MB) Subscribe: The Australian International Airshow (aka Avalon Airshow) may well be over for 2015 but our collection of content recorded at the show is still being worked on. Here’s another hour of interviews & discussions and we suspect there may be another two episodes before we’re through with all of it. This is what happens when you let Steve, Grant & Maikha run loose with audio recorders at an airshow :)  Maikha & his Selfie Stick seemed to get almost everywhere at Avalon15
Steve kicks us off with an overview of the episode which unfolds as:
- 0:02:42 – Grant caught up with Richard Woodward but instead of chatting in his usual ride (an A380), they’re chatting about the new coaxial rotor helicopters he’s working on with Coax Helicopters. They’re amazing machines that are being targeted at those who like to ride sports bikes without fairings.
- 0:10:45 –
 Richard Woodward at the controls of a Coax Helicopter (it’s a tad smaller than his usual A380 :) ) Peta Denham Harvey is the vice president of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association (Victorian Branch) and she tells Maikha about the Round Australia Relay which features women pilots flying around australia to raise money for the Cancer Council. The relay started during the Avalon Airshow and will conclude in April at the AWPA conference in Launceston (Tasmania).
- 0:16:21 – Grant talks with GPCAPT Guy Adams regarding Unmanned Aerial Systems within the Australian Defence Force ranging from backpack units Army squads can use through to Global Hawk & Triton. The discussions also covers how the Heron UAV is operating with the RAAF after Afghanistan, the Scan Eagle platform trials, operations with Reapers in the USA and what was involved in getting a Global Hawk to land at Avalon Airport.
 GPCAPT Guy Adams in front of the Triton mockup
- 0:38:04 – Craig Duncan from the Airline Academy of Australia has come down from Queensland for the show and he talks with Steve about their training operations at Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport at Toowoomba.
- 0:49:03 – Maikha’s managed to get into the belly of an RJ85 Fire Fighting aircraft that’s been derived from a BAe146. He’s with Ray Horton from ConAir in Canada and they’re talking about Ray’s career, ConAir’s operations, the RJ85 and fire bombing in Australia.
- 1:01:06 – Grant got to take a break with Jodi Davis and review what she’s been up to over the last 18 months including her aerobatic flying and working as Matt Hall Racing’s domestic business development manager based at Belmont Airport in Pelican (New South Wales).
- 1:06:18 – With a live-to-the-mic intro from Allan Van’t Padje, Timbo joins Grant to give us yet another Timbo’s Tarmac with the inside word on the Avalon warbird tarmac, some fun with soft ground and storing aircraft in the now empty ex-Qantas hangars.
- 1:09:47 – Steve wraps up the episode
 ConAir Spotter, C130 & RJ85 parked in front of their hangar
By Grant (Falcon124), on December 31st, 2014% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:13:22 — 92.1MB) Subscribe: As the final hours of 2014 draw to a close, we’re getting our last episode for 2014 out the door. The boys have been kept pretty busy with their day jobs lately but, despite this, they’ve managed to do some flying:
- Grant’s been taking friends on their first balloon flights including Evan Schoo and Darren Craven
- Fred Samson took Steve for a fly over San Francisco while he was there a back in October
- Steve got to fly a 172 in Las Vegas thanks to Rod Rakic & AirWork Las Vegas, an OpenAirplane member
- The PCDU aeroplane fleet has expanded thanks to Jonesy picking up a 1974 model Cessna 172
After the hangar talk settles down, we get into the episode itself which includes the recent Avalon Airshow Media Launch, Steve’s time at the Red Bull Air Race in Las Vegas and Grant’s trip to Auckland in New Zealand for the Wings Over New Zealand Forum meet up. The episode stacks up in the following list:  Steve with the AirWork Cessna 172 he flew over Las Vegas
- Grant attended the media launch for the Avalon Airshow which was held in the old Qantas hangar where they used to park a 747 while doing heavy maintenance on it. There was wind on the hangar walls, doors opening, vehicles moving and people talking which all made it a rather “interesting” place to record the following chats:
- 0:16:29 – Jeff “Trappo” Trappett finally gets a chance to appear on PCDU (that or he couldn’t run away fast enough :) ) and talks to Grant about his P51, his C47 & his Sabre
- 0:22:34 – Paul Bennet talks about his new Wolf Pitts aircraft, the manoeuvres it’s letting him do and where things are at with Paul Bennet Airshows (sounds like he’s got a bit of an airforce happening :) )
- 0:26:36 – Darren Craven talks about owning & flying a Winjeel
- 0:33:30 – Gordon Robinson talks about flying Australia’s only Fokker Dr.1 triplane replica all the way down to Melbourne from Brisbane
- 0:39:38 – Andrew Carter owns & flies the Dr.1 replica that Gordon flew down. He talks to us about setting up the Australian Vintage Aviation Society to commemorate WW1 & bring to life aircraft of the era.
- 0:48:28 – Of course, there wouldn’t be aircraft at Avalon without a session on Timbo’s Tarmac and Grant made sure to record one at this event
- Back in October, Steve went to the USA to experience the Red Bull Air Race in Las Vegas (his family still thinks it was a family trip :) ). While at the event he recorded the following interviews:
 Steve chats with Matt Hall at the Red Bull Air Race in Las Vegas 0:54:27 – Matt Hall talks about his results in the Fort Worth race & the challenges he’s found this season
- 0:59:33 – Eric Cieslar & Peter Wezenbeek are Matt Hall’s race technician & race tactician and they talk about their roles in keeping Matt flying in top form during the races
- 1:05:30 – Hannes Arch talks about standardised engines and how they’ve highlighted the pilot’s skills as opposed to engine power
- 1:09:06 – Kirby Chambliss talks about the challenges he’s faced this season and the changes he’ll be making for the next season
- 1:13:42 – Mike Goulian talks about his involvement with Cirrus aircraft and the hassles he’s worked through this season
- 1:19:48 – Steve catches up with Matt once again just prior to the start of the second day to discuss qualifying
- 1:21:55 – Steve presents a wrap up of the race after the winds came up and they had to cancel the day’s flying (audio courtesy of the Red Bull Air Race content pool)
- 1:24:21 – Rod Rakic talks about OpenAirplane
- As Steve was on a Qantas A380 heading to the USA, Grant was on an Air New Zealand A320 heading to New Zealand to attend the Wings Over New Zealand Forum gathering at Ardmore Airport near Auckland. More than just a gathering, this event included plenty of presentations on great topics, all hosted within the New Zealand Warbirds hangar. While Dave Homewood is releasing much of the content from the event on his Wings Over New Zealand show, Grant recorded a few items of his own:
- 1:33:54 – Brett Nicholls talks about owning two ex-RNZAF BAC 167 Strikemasters and what it’s taken to get them running for publically available joy flights with Jetfighter Military Adventure Flights
 Graham Wood taxies the DH.83 Fox Moth 1:42:20 – Grant got the opportunity to take a ride in a DH.83 Fox Moth along with fellow passenger Grant Newman. In addition to recording some of the sounds from the flight, he also chatted with Graham Wood about his career and flying the DH.83
- While Grant didn’t get a chance to record with Melanie Salisbury from Aviation Tours NZ, she did pass on some information about their “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” tour of the UK in July 2015 which includes Duxford’s “Flying Legends” airshow. It looks like a great tour with plenty of aviation goodness packed into it :)
 Steve & Grant recommend you check out Spotters Mag 1:48:38 – Steve & Grant wrap up the year including a couple of items from the mailbag (including Luke Murphy, Andrew Brown & Shaun Dwyer) and a few shout outs for the end of the year:
- Steve & Grant have been enjoying the new Spotters Mag, an eMag for aviation spotters with a version just for Australia & New Zealand. Highly recommended!
- Carlos Stebbings from the Plane Talking UK show is doing his pilot’s license: onya, mate!
- Steve would like to thank Captain Harry Wubbin for his hospitality on board QF93
- Steve & Grant thank Paul Burfitt from 64 for his great help this year
- Don’t forget that the Avalon Airshow 2015 is coming up in a few months and we’re looking forward to seeing you there
- With tickets on sale already, it’s definitely time to start thinking about the Temora Aviation Museum‘s Warbirds Down Under event coming up in November
By Grant (Falcon124), on January 29th, 2013% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:01:42 — 83.8MB) Subscribe:  C-130H A97-005 with the ‘Farewell’ tail art In November of 2012 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) decommissioned their C-130H fleet, transitioning to the C-130J and reaching the end of an era for flight engineers & navigators in the Air Lift Group (ALG). We were fortunate enough to be invited to partake in some of the decommissioning events including a final media flight over Sydney Harbour, watching a formation flyby practice from RAAF Base Richmond’s control tower and the delivery of C-130H A97-011 to the RAAF Museum at Point Cook.
In the course of these events we obtained a number of great interviews with past & present air crew which are gathered here in our tribute episode to the C-130H in RAAF service:
- 0:07:48 – Air Commodore Gary Martin’s (Commander Air Lift Group) press conference held on the ramp at RAAF Base Richmond before the Sydney Harbour media flight
- 0:11:39 – RAAF C-130H pre-flight safety briefing
- 0:17:25 – Onboard recording of C-130H engine startup & cruise sounds
- 0:17:50 – Flight Lieutenant Tony Charles, pilot of A97-005 on the media flight over Sydney, discusses the flight
 Steve gets to fly the C130H simulator 0:19:54 – Flight Lieutenant Richard Aughie, C-130H flight simulator instructor, talks about C-130H performance specs, simulator training, his involvement in the C27J Spartan training program and Steve’s landings in the simulator
- 0:31:41 – Phil Brown, a former RAAF Warrant Officer C130H Flight Engineer & now an instructor with CAE, talks about his RAAF career and the role of the Flight Engineer on the C130H
- 0:54:37 – Squadron Leader Rob Sokol, pilot of the final flight of A97-011, talks about the flight to Point Cook, his time at 1FTS at Point Cook, his RAAF Reserve service and his “day job” as an A380 pilot
 Special tail art for the C130H farewell 1:00:29 – Air Vice Marshall (ret) Greg Evans (DSC, AM) talks about his RAAF career as a C130H pilot from 1983 to 1992 including:
- His exchange posting to the USAF and Little Rock AFB with the 40th Tactical Airlift SQN between 1998-90 (which naturally leads to comparing notes with Steve about flying the skies of Arkansas :)
- Some “interesting” missions & training flights he flew with the USAF & RAAF
- Comparing the C130H to the older C130E
- The differences encountered with the C130J
- The advantages of the C27J Spartan
- Being Commander Joint Task Force 633 MEAO (Iraq) during 2004 & 2005
Thanks to Eamon Hamilton (ALG Public Affairs Officer) & Ben Wickham (ADF Regional Public Affairs Officer for NSW) for arranging our access to the events & people so we could gather the content used in this episode.
By Grant (Falcon124), on July 23rd, 2012% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:48:18 — 74.4MB) Subscribe:  Always give way to Balloons :) After a number of years and the inevitable stumbling blocks that life throws at us, Grant has finally become a balloon pilot having completed his check flight up at Mildura just the other day. From how the final stages of solos & check flight unfolded to a comparison of “first solo” moments, Steve & Grant talk briefly about the realisation that a new license & $5 can now buy you a beer…
While Grant would no doubt like the entire episode to be about the new horizons he’s just opened up, there’s a lot more to this episode so we really should get into telling you about it:
Notes:
* Episode introduction by Andrea Crook from Scripts & Voices
By Grant (Falcon124), on August 20th, 2011% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (82.2MB) Subscribe: Today Steve & Grant are chatting with Bas Scheffers, reviewing their experiences at EAA‘s AirVenture Oshkosh 2011. We talk about the long haul across the Pacific via V Australia 777 and Qantas A380, arriving in Chicago on their hottest day in 10 years and then hanging out with Rob Mark, his family and his ever watchful guard dog Simba (aka Steve’s new friend & house cat :)
From here Bas & Grant got to join the Bonanzas to Oshkosh group and fly from Rockford up to Oshkosh on the Saturday, landing on RWY 36 where even two days before the official opening, the aircraft parking spaces were filling up and the airport was a hive of activity. On the Sunday Rob, David Vanderhoof, Dan Web, Steve and his friend Mike all arrived having driven up from Chicago. Joining our friends at Firebase MyTransponder / Camp Bacon we set up the tent and settled into life in Camp Scholler, which is definitely something to be experienced at least once (& perhaps only once :)
Until we left on the Sunday at the end of the show, we were flat out experiencing the amazing sights, sounds & people that make up Oshkosh. We discuss the highlights and talk about trying to take it all in before winding up by reviewing our departure, our returns to Australia (including Steve’s flight with Milford from the FlightTime Radio show) and then our post-Oshkosh thoughts.
Following this we have a recording Steve & Grant made with Rob Mark (also from CommAvia as well as JetWhine and the Airplane Geeks) before Steve presents an interview he recorded with Bill & Earlene Hankins about Bill’s time in Strategic Air Command. Towards the end of Bill’s time with SAC he was a commander of a Titan Missile complex. While some of the chat can be like watching the movies Strategic Air Command or Gathering of Eagles, his descriptions of the Titan’s launch environment are very much like those shown at the start of the movie WarGames.
It also turns out that Bill and Earlene hosted Steve when he was an exchange student and then again when he returned to the USA to complete his US pilot’s licenses and instrument ratings. The interview includes some discussion about N4223Q, a C172L Bill used to own and Steve got to fly a lot.
After all this we have a chat with Bas about the OzRunways app then mention Ryan Hothersall’s photos of the 787 and Rob Noonan’s heads up about the Australian aerobatic pilots who are getting ready for the World Aerobatic Championships in Italy later this year.
By Grant (Falcon124), on December 15th, 2010% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (75.9MB) Subscribe: Rosemary Arnold learned to fly fixed wing in the early 60s then converted helicopters in the mid-60’s, becoming the first woman in Australia to receive a helicopter pilot’s license. From operating her own helicopter business in Australia to flying in locations around the world, Rosemary has had an extensive career in aviation. She has also written a number of books, lectures on aviation history and join the public speaking circuit. As a registered celebrant, she also runs “Chapel in the Sky” performing weddings in a helicopter above Sydney harbour. We chat with Rosemary about her career and her new book, First Females Above Australia, a presentation of the pioneering women involved in aviation in Australia.
We also chat with Dan Morris, a flight instructor in New Zealand who’s joined us previously in a few of our Australia Desk adventures. Dan joins us to discuss his aviation career to date and the flying scene in New Zealand. He also anticipates providing more New Zealand related content in the new year.
This episode is rounded out with another Controller’s Corner segment where ATC_Ben answers some of the many questions that have been raised in our forums and via email. We then move on to listener mail:
- Braham Sacks asks about careers in aviation
- Ian Kershaw from Canada has a blog & podcast page that’s worth checking out
- Luke Murphy writes in from China where he’s working as a pilot
- Ed Stubbs sent in a link to an interview with one of the pilots from QF32 (the Qantas A380 that had a massive uncontained engine failure)
- We mention that Anthony Simmons is looking for more feedback on his View from the Lounge segment
We also have some shout-outs:
- Damian Rose has completed his MECIR and is now working on his Caravan endorsement – congratulations (and yes we are jealous! :) You can follow his details on his blog.
- Robert E Coli from Thromby airlines has done another great cartoon showing Steve & Grant hard at work in the PCDU studio. You can see it in all it’s glory on our Facebook page.
- Thanks to Michael & Roselyn from Downwind and the team at Moorabbin Flying Services (MFS) for a great BBQ the other weekend and for making discount TIFs/Check flights available
By Grant (Falcon124), on November 10th, 2010% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (80.1MB) Subscribe: On November 4th, 2010 Qantas A380 VH-OQA (“Nancy Bird Walton”) was operating flight QF32 from Singapore to Sydney. During the climb out from Singapore, the number 2 Rolls Royce Trent 900 engine’s Intermediate Pressure Turbine appears to have failed and flown apart, sending bits through the aircraft’s wing in multiple locations and raining debris down on Batam island, Indonesia. After assessing the problem, determining their options and burning off fuel, the crew were able to return the aircraft to Singapore for a safe landing.
This incident, in conjunction with some other recent engine failures on Qantas 747s, has overshadowed Qantas’ 90th birthday celebrations. While the story is still unfolding and it will be some weeks before the ATSB’s preliminary investigations are completed, we have decided to quickly produce an episode dedicated to the incident.
To begin with, we talk to Captain Richard Woodward, Vice President of the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA). He discusses what the crew would have experienced on board as the incident unfolded, including the systems alerts & alarms, the processes to be followed and the roles over the various people on board. He also discusses the A380’s systems & redundancies and the options available to the crew when flying & landing a crippled aircraft.
We then chat with Steve Purvinas of the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) about the changes that have occurred in Qantas as they have moved from an exclusively in-house engineering operation to one that relies more on outsourced maintenance performed overseas. We discuss the implications of the changes and other paths Qantas could have followed.
This episode was conceived, implemented and released within the week of the incident occurring as we felt it important to present our listeners with good background information about the aircraft, the crew’s likely experience and some of the changes at Qantas that have seen their engineering force reduced significantly compared to their heyday of the 70’s & 80’s.
By Grant (Falcon124), on April 20th, 2010% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (62.8MB) Subscribe: The first aircraft to be used in Antarctica was Henry Mawson’s Vickers REP monoplane. Sadly, it had been damaged in Australia before arriving in Antarctica and was used as an “air tractor” to pull sleds. Even that didn’t work out and it was dumped, eventually being found again only recently.
Given that inauspicious start, it’s hard to believe that there are multiple ice & snow runways in Antarctica receiving visits from C130s, C17s and now an Australian A319 carries scientists on regular flights to the ice. It is also possible to go on one of the QANTAS sight seeing flights that are proving to be very popular with their great views of the ice & mountains.
With all this in mind, we decided to put together a special episode focusing on the land that’s even more “down under” than we are. To kick things off we have an interview with Captain Dan Colborne of Skytraders. Dan flies the Airbus A319/ACJ from Australia to the Wilkins Blue Ice runway in Australian Antarctic territory. He also flies the CASA 212-400 aircraft that are based in Antarctica for the summer, including the long ferry flights at the start & end of the season.
We chat with David Vanderhoof about Air New Zealand Flight 901, the DC-10 that tragically crashed on Mount Erebus during a sight seeing tour over Antarctica in the 70’s. We also discuss some of the other runways on Antarctica and the aircraft that visit them.
The final section in this episode has a discussion with Phil Asker from The Captain’s Choice Tours and Croydon Travel who has been arranging Antarctic sight seeing flights for many years. Working with QANTAS, the flights are in Boeing 747 or Airbus A380 aircraft and are very much in demand, especially the New Years Eve flight.
We talk with Phil about what’s involved in preparing the flights and what passengers can expect to encounter. We also talk with David Halls about what it was like as a passenger on the New Years Eve flight on Dec 31st, 2009. Finally, we prove that nepotism is alive & well in podcasting by bringing Grant’s sister Tania on the show to talk about her time working as a Trolley Dolly (sorry, Flight Attendant) on an Antarctic flight. She also gives Steve LOTS of material to use against Grant, much of it unfit for public consumption (even in the outtakes).
So, put your survival suit on and prepare to meet some penguins as we talk about Antarctica.
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PCDU Episode 126: Emirates Wants You!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:05:08 — 115.4MB)
Subscribe: RSS
They say patience is a virtue and hopefully our audience has plenty of it because it’s been a while since our last episode was released. Fortunately we’ve been able to make some time available to record content, edit it and get this episode into the feed. For this one Steve & Grant are joined by Maikha Ly for interviews with guests on topics including Emirates recruiting, photography at Melbourne Airport, the inaugural Womens’ World Hot Air Balloon champion and breaking an ATC simulator (no, really, Maikha somehow managed to do it!).
Want to fly for Emirates?
(Image courtesy of Victor Pody – www.victorpodyphotography.com)
This episode unfolds as:
Photo credit: Cover art image courtesy of Victor Pody