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By Grant (Falcon124), on December 30th, 2011% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (68.0MB) Subscribe: 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
- Adam Wooley from JoeyGlide chats with us about the National Junior Gliding Championships recently held in Queensland
As usual we have some great listener mail, including:
- Ryan Hothersall sent us a link to the 2011 STOL competitions – amazing stuff!
- Congrats to the AirStig who is celebrating the arrival of a new Stigette
- Thanks to Keane Bourke for his Merry Christmas wishes
- Thanks also to Garry Collins for his train jargon & congrats for Steve
- Big shout out to Owen Zupp for his Owen Zupp Author page on Facebook and his new OwenZupp.com.au blog
Given it’s our end of year episode, we have a list of people & groups to thank:
- Our sponsors over the course of the year:
- 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.
By Grant (Falcon124), on July 20th, 2011% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (58.7MB) Subscribe:
Ben Morgan from Aviation Advertiser returns to join us in a discussion of current events in the Australian aviation scene. Following a quick intro, the first topic we discuss is the Carbon Tax our government is proposing to implement. We do try to keep the discussion coming back to the impacts this tax is likely to have on aviation but it’s a very hot topic and is certainly bringing out concerns for a number of people.
Once we get through the Carbon Tax and calm down a little, we move onto the sad state of affairs with Tiger Airways, currently grounded for failure to meet the requirements of their Air Operators Certificate (AOC) and a number of safety related issues. This is the first time CASA have grounded an all-jet airline and its timing was certainly drastic (right on the eve of the school holidays). We discuss the implications, some potential results and whether the Australian public will ever trust the airline again (very likely if there are cheap fares to be had).
Finally we discuss Aviation Advertiser’s sponsoring the PCDU Team in their “Up & Over to Oshkosh 2011” tour and the updates we’ll be providing on their website while we’re at Oshkosh.
After wrapping up our chat with Ben, we present another View From the Lounge segment, this time comparing public transport access to airports at Melbourne and various cities around the world. We then point listeners at Steve Price from Melbourne Talk Radio (MTR) having a great chat with astronaut Andy Thomas as well as similar coverage from the ABC StarStuff podcast.
Finally, we’d like to thank all the listeners who have donated to our “Up & Over to Oshkosh 2011” tour. We’ve had lots of suggestions for coverage and lots of donations that all help round out the support of our sponsors. Thanks to you we’ll be able to provide a more comprehensive coverage of Oshkosh 2011 than we could have if it were just Steve & Grant on site. Once again, we are amazed at the level of support we’ve received from our audience. You folks definitely make it all the hard work & late nights worthwhile :)
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By Grant (Falcon124), on June 30th, 2011% As announced in our latest episode (Episode 67: Team Pracy: Racing, JetRides & Aircraft Imports), Steve & Grant will be going to Oshkosh 2011. YAY!!!! :)
Thanks to a generous offer from Team Pracy (see JetRide Australia, Aircraft Imports and Pracy Racing), we’re going to be at Oshkosh 2011 for the whole week. We’re also picking up some additional sponsorship and assistance from other groups, including the fine folks at Aviation Advertiser, to help cover the costs of setting up camp on site (yes, we’ll be camping on the field in the midst of the action :)
In addition to Steve & Grant, Bas Scheffers will also be at Oshkosh 2011 as he’s had his tickets & plans locked in for a very long time. We’re also going to be joined by David Vanderhoof, our code-sharing historian who also appears on the Airplane Geeks podcast. In fact, for a while we thought Bas & David were going to be the sole PCDU representatives at the show.
Suffice to say we’re very excited to be going and so long as our heads don’t explode with the torrent of aviation joy surrounding us, you can expect to get heaps of Oshkosh content with a Down Under perspective as Plane Crazy Down Under embarks on the “Up & Over to Oshkosh” tour :)
By Grant (Falcon124), on June 30th, 2011% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (66.2MB) Subscribe:  We’re joined by Mark Pracy Sr and Mark Pracy Jr to talk about the many aviation endeavours they’re involved in, including JetRide Australia, Pracy Racing and Aircraft Imports. We also have Bas Scheffers sitting in from Adelaide for the interview as well as a fantastic announcement to make towards the end of the show :)
We start by talking with Mark Sr about his background in aviation including how he grew up in Scone seeing warbirds all the time, was taught aerobatics by Col Pay and then eventually became an aerobatics instructor. He’s also got a low-level aerobatics waiver and is an airshow pilot displaying a number of warbirds at events around the country.
 Eventually progressing to jets, the Pracys purchased a Czechoslovakian Aero L-39 Albatros two seat aircraft. We discuss with them it’s handling, speeds and the typical manoeuvres they’ll perform when taking passengers up as part of their JetRide Australia flights. We also discuss some of the more interesting folks they’ve had on board before moving into their other main operation: Aircraft Imports.
Mark Jr is a certified LAME & pilot who runs the Aircraft Imports business, working with his father to scout aircraft, flight test & inspect them and arrange their purchase for clients. With the AUS$ being so high compared to the US$, they’re being kept very busy arranging purchases for Australians at the moment (although we’re not sure using a container to bring a Cirrus into Australia is the best way of doing it :). Mark Jr is able to run the entire operation from the inspections to dismantling & packing then on to reassembly, test flights & certification back here in Australia.
 The work Team Pracy do in JetRide Australia and Aircraft Imports all helps support their latest endeavour which is racing their L39 at the Reno Air Races. They’ve recently completed their qualifications and are now certified to race this year in September. We talk to them about the qualification & selection process, dealing with emergencies and the mechanics of reducing weight to help compete. Fascinating stuff.
Team Pracy also note that they’re happy to take on sponsors of their L39 in Reno so if you or an organisation you represent are interested in getting space on a very sexy aircraft, contact Mark Sr via mark@jetride.com.au.
Finally, we have our big announcement for the show:
Thanks to the generous support of Team Pracy, we’re being sent to Oshkosh 2011. That’s right, after 2 years of having to miss Oshkosh because of insufficient funds and looking like we were going to miss this one as well, Mark Sr & Mark Jr have offered to get us over there (mostly, we think, so they can see our heads explode as we’re surrounded by aviation :)
We’d like to thank Team Pracy for their most wonderful offer as it’s thanks to them that we’re going to finally be able to meet up with our online friends and experience the wonder that is AirVenture Oshkosh. We’re also receiving additional sponsorship funding from other groups including the fine folks at Aviation Advertiser who are helping to chip in some additional funds to cover our camping gear while we’re on site.
Watch this space as we’ll have more news & updates about how our trip to Oshkosh is progressing over the next few weeks :)
As if all this wasn’t enough, we wrap up the episode with a quick chat with Bas about the latest news on the OzRunways application and he points us at a cool video of OzRunways being demonstrated.
Music supplied from the royalty free production music at JewelBeat.
By Grant (Falcon124), on April 30th, 2011% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (100.1MB) Subscribe: Every year at Easter, Recreational Aviation Australia holds its National Fly In (NatFly). This is an event where RA-Aus members, vendors & interested folks come to meet, attend workshops, review vendor offerings, undertake test flights and show off their aircraft. Aircraft range from powered parachutes & ultralights through to home builds and the latest sport & recreational aircraft. Importers and manufacturers are present to showcase their equipment, the circuit is filled with aircraft undertaking demo flights and the local hotels & bars are filled at night with tall tales and recollections.
 We were fortunate to be invited to attend along with the team from Aviation Advertiser, setting up our mobile recording studio in one of the Temora Aviation Museum’s hangars (along with their Mk VIII Spitfire and Cessna A37). We arrived on the Friday morning and departed on the Saturday evening, experiencing two very busy days packed with interviews, discussions, aircraft & equipment inspections and a couple of demo flights.
Suffice to say there was plenty of material captured and we’ve managed to squeeze the best of it into yet another very large episode. We considered splitting it over two but there’s more great content on the way on other topics so we felt it best to pack it all into one large package.
The content we present in this episode is:
We then wrap up the episode with a review of the show between Steve, Grant, Ben & Bas along with a quick chat about the OzRunways application that Bas has been developing.
By Grant (Falcon124), on April 21st, 2011% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (66.3MB) Subscribe: Aviation in Australia is experiencing a difficult time and General Aviation is especially being hit hard. User fees are continuing to increase, rules are being changed and airports are being shutdown or reduced in size due to encroachment by non-aviation construction. We’re joined in this episode by Ben Morgan from Aviation Advertiser to discuss these issues, highlight the need for people to take action and discuss what those actions might be. Ben’s certainly not holding back as the stakes are too high to be diplomatic.
We also have some other great chats in this show, including:
- Steve Ahrens talking about the upcoming Barossa Airshow (May 1st, 2011)
- A chat with the crew of an RAAF Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft that we recorded back at Avalon Airshow
- A collection of quick chats with some RA-Aus pilots at Avalon, including:
- Peter Harlow from Foxbat Australia
- John Callahan with his Typhoon Glider
- Peter Kane with his Kitfox
- Ben Morgan then rejoins us to discuss the state of the second hand aircraft market in Australia and a couple of the aircraft available for sale on Aviation Advertiser
By Grant (Falcon124), on April 10th, 2011% Podcast: Play in new window | Download (64.7MB) Subscribe: Most people interested or involved in aviation have a special love for warbirds and antique aircraft and we at PCDU are certainly no exception. This episode features a number of interviews with pilots of Warbirds & antique aircraft that were recorded at Avalon Airshow and at Point Cook when the RAAF Pilgrimage arrived.
The RAAF Pilgrimage was held to celebrate the 90th birthday of the RAAF & comprised a collection of more than 50 aircraft that flew from Temora to Tocumwal to Ballarat and finally to Point Cook. The Pilgrimage aicraft arrived at Point Cook (the birth place of the RAAF) and we were there to greet them.
This episode contains the following interviews from the RAAF Pilgrimage:
- Air Commodore Rodney Luke
- Steve Death
- Doug Hamilton
- Egon Mahr from the Russian Roolettes
- Col Griffin & Warren Canning
We also have some other warbird related discussions, including:
- Kenny Love, CEO of the Temora Aviation Museum
- Ben Morgan from Aviation Advertiser and the Macchi 326H restoration project he is a member of
- Darren “Buster” Crabb
- Gus Lerrard
We then round out the episode with:
- Listener Mail:
- Shout Outs:
- Ken & Tim get recognition for their Millions Against Malaria flight
- Matt from New St Films for the help with our photo shoots
- Listener Andrew Tsousis for putting us in touch with Ben Merkenhof
- Iat-Fai Leong for his support of the show
- Erk for his support & his new book
We also have some additional content that can be found in our Extras section. This time we have a recording of the post-flight debrief by the Yak Attack formation pilots.
Finally, we would like to offer our condolences to our friend Milford Shirley from the Flight Time Radio Show in Florida, USA, who’s wife Barbara passed away recently.
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