Steve, Grant and Maikha were on-site at Avalon recording plenty of content and this episode is our first collection of audio content covering some of the companies, people and aircraft we encountered while there. Steve & Grant have already started editing the next batch of content for Episode 131 and Maikha’s starting to wade through . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 130: Avalon 2017 – Alpha
All good things must come to an end and so too must the year 2011. It has been an amazing year of growth for PCDU as we’ve covered Avalon 2011, NatFly 2011 and Oshkosh 2011 along with a number of major events (eg: Qantas grounding) and added some new voices to the team. So as the year draws to a close and 2012 is waiting in the wings,  Steve,  Grant and Anthony  “The Infrequent Flyer”  bring you our Farewell 2011 episode:
Steve &  David Vanderhoof discuss the Royal Australian Navy  (RAN)  Sea King helicopters at the time of their decommissioning, developments with the C130 Hercules and a special Christmas greeting from David
We chat with Mo Ferrando from High Alpha Media about the Hexacopter and Octocopter units he was displaying for us at Tooradin
David Pilkington talks with us about his career in aeronautical engineering and aerobatics
David & Â Grant go up in David’s Decathlon to fly an aerobatic routine above Tooradin (YTDN) and broadcast the manoeuvres and sensations during the flight
All the listeners who donated to help us cover the costs of being at Oshkosh & Â producing the show all year
The contributors who have helped us create content for the show:
Bas Scheffers
Anthony Crichton Browne
Kathy Mexted
ATC Ben (aka Ben Ippolito)
David Vanderhoof
Dan Morris
Pieter Johnson
Anthony Simmons, the Infrequent Flyer
Adam Visscher
Steven Pam
Allan Van’t Padje
Mike Wilson who helped us at Oshkosh
We’d also like to say thanks to:
AusAir Services
Ian Kershaw for his help with the survey
James Williams & Â Dave Gray from LPN
Milford & Â Charlie from Flight Time Radio
Max Flight & Courtney Miller for making this happen
Rob Mark for his hospitality at Camp Jetwhine
Mike Miley & Â Rod Rakic from MyTransponder for the help at Oshkosh
Stu Stevenson for his hospitality post Oshkosh
Special thanks to Kitt & Â Cathey for their continuing status as podcast widows!
So thanks again to our growing audience who have been with us as we’ve expanded PCDU over the course of 2011. Happy holidays and here’s to a whole new year of bringing you the most amazing aviation experiences & information from Australia & Â New Zealand that we can.
A few episodes ago we introduced Kathy Mexted as a new member our group of occasional PCDU contributors and this episode she’s back with some great content. She recently took a few friends in a Bonanza out to Wilpena Pound in South Australia, a trip that would usually take many days to achieve by road but, thanks to general aviation, only required two 90 minute flights to get there. Originally intended to be a trip to Ayers Rock, this adventure was trimmed down to something more manageable and a journey to just south of Lake Eyre was planned.
We spend a bit of time discussing the flight, the scenery, air sickness, some geology and what it was like loading four ladies into a high performance single then blasting off to out back of beyond. Kathy also discusses staying at Mungo Lodge, the Wilpena Pound Resort and Trevor Hancock, their tour guide while they were there.
While staying in outback South Australia, Kathy and her friends caught up with some of the pilots from Air Wilpena and recorded a discussion with them about their backgrounds, the flying they’re doing and what it’s like to be flying in outback Australia.
After this we play a few interviews from our recent visit to Coldstream Airport including:
A chat with Judy & Andrew Doak, the owners of Coldstream Airport (YCEM)
Dr Bruce Searle, CEO of ACMA
Andrew Temby, aerobatic display pilot flying his Yak-52TW
We then move into reading some listener emails and discussing some future events on the calendar, including:
Keane Bourke is 12 years old & wants to be an airline pilot
Ed Stubbs recently attended the SAAA fly-in at Langley Park in Perth
AusAirServices are having a Wings Night dinner on the 22nd October
Back in March we attended the Centenary Air Show at Melton airport near Diggers Rest (a short drive from Melbourne). In addition to being a great air show that celebrated 100 years of powered flight in Australia, this was also the first event where we had media passes. We recorded lots of great interviews, caught up with Owen Zupp and bumped into a few old friends.
It’s now 6 months on and we’re finally getting an episode out with these interviews plus a wrap-up chat we had with Owen Zupp after he finished his “There and Back” fund raising flight around Australia. We’ve been meaning to get this content out for a while but have had so many other things to do, it just kept getting put on the back burner.
Finally we’re able to present these interviews along with a more recent chat we had with Glyn Butchard, the organiser of the Centenary Air Show. We caught up with him this month and discussed how everything went once the dust settled and the people went home.
Here’s a list of the interviews & chats we present in this episode:
Chris Sperou and Warren Stewart are the “Skyblazers” formation team
Bernie Ferrie flew in a Citabria and we chatted with him while sitting under its wing
Clin Ashton-Martin flies a gorgeous Avro Cadet biplane
Grant’s friend Andrew Temby flew an aerobatics routine with his Yak-52TW so we had a quick chat while sitting on its wing
Phil, Mark & Shane who were providing unicom & air show coordination services
Grant had a quick chat with Glyn Butchard at the end of the day as everyone was leaving
Steve & Grant have a recent chat with Glyn Butchard and we look back at how it went in the months after the show
We chat with Owen Zupp about how things are going after his “There and Back” fundraising flight around Australia
We give a quick shout-out to Peter Johnson from the UK who is now producing the “Across the Pond” segment for the Airplane Geeks show
NOTE: Additional music in this show was from Glenne Petersen’s “Empty Cars”
This episode we’re joined by Dan, David & Rob from the Airplane Geeks podcast to discuss airline news and have a great discussion about air traffic control issues here & in the USA. We also have interviews with Dr Bruce Searle, dean of the Australian Centre for Mission Aviation, and Andrew Temby, aerobatic pilot & owner of a YAK-52TW. Both were recorded at the Mission Aviation Fellowship airshow held at Coldstream Airport (YCEM) a few weeks back.
While Max Flight from the Airplane Geeks couldn’t be with us, having the other guys from the show record with us was a hoot and certainly generated a LOT of content for a future “Bloopers Only” episode. We’re definitely looking forward to recording with them again once our sanity recovers.
Dr Bruce Searle
The topics discussed in this episode include:
A general discussion of airline issues down under with the Airplane Geeks
David Vanderhoof presents “This week in Australian aviation history” covering the official approval for the establishment of the Central Flying School at Point Cook (now referred to as RAAF Williams)
Grant went to the Mission Aviation Fellowship airshow at Coldstream Airport (YCEM) and recorded these interviews
Dr Bruce Searle, Dean of the Australian Centre for Mission Aviation
Andrew Temby, aerobatics pilot and owner of a Yak-52TW
Matt Hall came 3rd at the Porto RedBull AirRace in Portugal – YAY!
