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 100: The Ton

By Grant (Falcon124), on February 21st, 2013%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:26:38 — 100.8MB)

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Our 100th Episode – a Ton of great content

When we began producing this show WAY back in July 2009, we had no idea that we’d make it to 100 episodes, have travelled to multiple events within Australia, been to Oshkosh and be just about to cover a second Avalon Airshow with a bigger team than ever before. We’ve learned so much about producing a quality & enjoyable aviation show, had aviation related experiences we never dreamed of, dabbled with video production and even spun off a few side-projects for other shows. We’re also very appreciative of you, our audience. The fact that you’re all still here with us, telling us what we’re getting right (& wrong :) ) and enjoying the results of our efforts makes the late nights all worth while.

For this episode we’ve resisted the temptation to do a retrospective or rehash earlier content (except for a bit at the start & the end of the episode :) ). Instead, we’ve put together some interviews with well known people about a couple of up-coming events and a discussion about the dreaded Biennial Flight Review (BFR), now known as an Aeroplane Flight Review (AFR).

Here’s how Episode 100 unfolds:

  • 0:06:09 – Grant talks a little about his recent trip to Malaysia as a guest of Malaysia Airlines
     
  • 0:11:54 – ATC Ben talks about the proposed new Australian ATC Management system called oneSky with Lockheed Martin being demonstrating their SkyLine Enterprise system as a contender
     
  • 0:15:46 – We chat with Peter Meehan about his career as a RAAF Reserve media officer, doing air show commentary, being the “Voice of Avalon” and even learning to fly
     

  • Paul McKeown is a CFI with Recreational Flying Company in Gympie, QLD

    0:35:48 – Damien Rose talks about his recent Aeroplane Flight Review (AFR) that was previously referred to as the Biennial Flight Review (BFR). He then interviews Paul McKeown, CFI with Recreational Flying Company in Gympie, QLD & his instructor for the AFR
     
  • 1:19:14 – Matt Hall joins us once again to discuss a few things he’s working on including a day-long fly past of aircraft from Super Hornets to Tiger Moths as part of the Bicentennial celebrations for the first crossing of the Blue Mountains in Sydney. He also chats about his new book (The Sky is Not the Limit) and gives us an updated on whether the RedBull AirRace will ever return
     
  • 1:58:19 – We return to summarise the episode and review a few of the key points
     
  • 2:01:34 – Listener mail!
    • David Neafsey sent us a letter and a 100th birthday card – all via snail mail! Yes, remember that? Good thing we have a snail mail address, eh? (PO Box 70, Cranbourne VIC 3977)
    • Ian Kershaw from Calgary sent in an audio message
    • Steve at Warneet asks us to organise an interview with Judy Pay
    • “Mick from the Frankston Line” has sent us a number of great emails that have been a LOT of fun to read. Awesome stuff, mate!
    • Ryan Hothersall writes in to express his disdain of NIMBYS. No argument from us on that one!
    • We give a Shout Out to Carl Valeri from the Stuck Mic Avcast for gaining his A320 type rating! Well done, mate! :)
       
  • 2:10:57 – Steve’s wife Cathey finally joins us on the podcast and, of all events, it’s to help with the drawing of the winner of our “First to 750” competition. The lucky winner is Gary Murphy who has scored himself a free Trial Introductory Flight with Aus Air Services at Tooradin (YTDN). WOO HOO! :)
     

So there you go, our 100th episode! Thanks to all our supporters for keeping us motivated and lets see how many of you are able to make it to Avalon 2013 :)

NOTE: Check out the blooper reel: It’s a quick montage of glitches from the past four years including our Australia Desk and Flying Down Under shows.

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PCDU Episode 90: Moments in Time

By Grant (Falcon124), on July 3rd, 2012%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:26:23 — 59.3MB)

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Steve’s been considering buying an aircraft so he got together with Anthony Crichton-Browne and Ben Morgan to discuss the costs of owning an aircraft. After that we’re joined by Kathy Mexted to interview Justin Sheedy about his book “Nor the years condemn” before heading off into a discussion of various items (including Grant getting on his soapbox about ‘aircraft snobs’). It’s worth sticking around to the very end for a huge, 5 minute mega-blooper reel at the end :)

The whole show comes together as:

  • 0:03:36 – Aircraft ownership discussion between Steve, Anthony Crichton-Browne and Ben Morgan, recorded at Wollongong during the “Wings Over the Illawarra” airshow
  • 0:30:55 – Steve & Kathy Mexted talk with Justin Sheedy about his new book “Nor the years condemn” (here’s a link to Kathy’s article about Justin’s book)
  • 0:56:51 – Steve, Grant & Kathy further discuss aircraft ownership & the joys of flying Piper Cubs. They also give a shout out to Steve Tupper for his recent glider training efforts and Grant gets on his soap box for a rant about aviation snobs
  • 1:03:46 – Kathy gives us an update on the council meeting about fate of the Kyneton Aerodrome (an overwhelming flood of support for the aerodrome was received)
  • 1:12:11 – Kathy is looking for more stories for her book so contact her via her website
  • 1:14:47 – Shout Outs:
    • Congratulations to Evan Schoo for getting his navigation endorsement (read more about it at Evan’s blog)
    • The 12th Annual Aviation Careers Expo is running in Brisbane on August 25th and PCDU is an official media partner for the event
  • We then sign off & mention that ATC_Ben will be representing PCDU at Oshkosh 2012 while Pieter Johnson will be at Farnborough 2012 representing his own Aviation Xtended podcast as well as the Airplane Geeks & PCDU

Don’t forget to stick around to the end for the mega-blooper reel :)

Notes:
* Episode introduction by Andrea Crook from Scripts & Voices

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PCDU Episode 79: Flying Low

By Grant (Falcon124), on December 10th, 2011%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (80.1MB)

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Steve’s finally picked up his instructor’s rating although it’s in trains, not aircraft, but don’t worry, we’re not switching the show over to Train Crazy Down Under :)

Once again we’re joined by Kathy Mexted and this time we’re discussing what’s involved in being an Ag Pilot and how the industry has developed here in Australia. We then switch to Kathy’s interview with Georgia Maxwell in Gunnedah. Georgia is the first female ag pilot in Australia qualified to fly the Air Tractor 802 with Pay’s Air Service. Georgia discusses what it’s like working in the Aerial Application world (aka being an Ag Pilot).

After the interview we talk about the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia and how the season is booming following the breaking of the drought. Anthony Crichton-Browne joins us to continue talking about Ag pilots & the nature of their work.

Anthony has recently been at Red Baron Australia’s open day chatting with Joel Haski and the guys from Combat Dragon who are now basing their A37 at Red Baron’s hangar. We get to sit in on a Combat Dragon briefing, then listen to the sound of the A37 starting its engines before discussing the A37’s typical departure from Bankstown (YSBK).

We then play Anthony’s chat with Joel Haski about the latest developments at Red Baron and their new hangar facility. Anthony talks briefly with Jeff from Combat Dragon about their missions and working with Red Baron. You can hear more about Combat Dragon from an interview Anthony had with them in episode 2 of his podcast, Flying Ant.

Next up, Pieter Johnson from XTP Media in the UK takes time out from his “Across the Pond” segment in the Airplane Geeks to bring us his first “From Up Here to Down There” report. In today’s report, he provides an interview with Matt Falcus about his Far East and Australasia airport spotting guide. If you’re spotting in the Asia/Pacific area, you should check out Matt’s book.

Having listened to Pieter’s chat with Matt, Anthony chats with us about a pilot’s view of the ‘plane spotters’ he sees at most of the major Australian airports.

After the break, we return to Grant’s chat with Geoff Morrison from GT Gyroplanes at Echuca. We talk about Geoff’s background in aviation in New Zealand hunting deer & working on warbirds before he came over to Australia to work on gyroplanes with his brother Alistair. After that we get into a discussion about gyroplanes in general, the Australian Sports Rotorcraft Association (ASRA) and their Kruza gyroplane in particular.

We then have a discussion about gyrocopters before bringing Pieter Johnson back onto the show to chat with us about his background in aviation, his goals for linking Australian/NZ flying with the UK and his interview with his father.

Moving onto Listener Mail, we have:

  • Andrew Brown from the UK talking about our Qantas Grounding episode
  • Voice mail from Ian Kershaw in Canada
  • Chris Howard-Bath who likes the C130 & works with ATC Ben
  • Peter Anderson talks about our website

If you want us to send you a CD copy of our content, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:

PO Box 70
Cranbourne VIC 3977
Australia

Don’t forget about our Aus Air Services + PCDU BBQ & Fly In on December 17th at Tooradin Airport (YTDN). Come on down and say HI, folks :)

The Aus Air Services advert is provided courtesy of Star FM 94.3

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Win a copy of Owen Zupp’s Book

By Grant (Falcon124), on October 29th, 2009%

As mentioned during our interview with Owen Zupp in episode 13, we’re doing our first ever give-away.

Owen has graciously donated a signed copy of his book, Down to Earth, for one of our lucky listeners to win. All you have to do is go to the There and Back website and see where Owen’s journey is taking him (check out The Route for details). Then, suggest a location you think Owen should go to during his journey and say why he should go there.

Send your recommendation to us at PlaneCrazyDownUnder@gmail.com” and we’ll review them with Owen. He will then select a winner and we’ll contact them to send them the book.

Easy, isn’t it? So, what are you waiting for? It doesn’t matter where you live, come up with a suggestion and send it to us.

Please note that Owen’s decision is final and that all submissions become the property of Owen to use as he sees fit.

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PCDU Episode 13: The Only Way is Zupp

By Grant (Falcon124), on October 20th, 2009%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (80.2MB)

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Of all the times for the technical gremlins to strike, it had to be for our “Lucky” 13th episode. We recorded a great discussion with Owen Zupp and, despite a fault in the call recorder that made us repeat a part, we thought we had it in the bag. We even feature our first ever give away in this episode and it’s a beauty (see the notes below for details).

However, it seems that it’s not just the Apollo missions that have problems at 13 as, sadly, the sound quality in this episode is not at all up to our usual levels of quality. Poor Steve has been tearing what’s left of his hair out but has managed to work his magic once again and produce an episode that preserves most important part of all, our guest’s great content.

We start off discussing Owen’s early work with the Ambulance Service of New South Wales and how that provided a foundation for dealing with flying’s more “interesting” moments. Moving into flying, Owen talks about learning to fly with his father, an ex-RAAF instructor, then moving on to instructing others with the Royal Aero Club of NSW (sadly no longer in existence) and eventually shifting to his times flying with Ansett Airlines.

During this discussion we review the pros & cons of the Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) and various aircraft, including the Skycraft Scout. Owen also discusses Bert Hinkler, the town of Bundaberg, Hinkler House and the Hinkler Hall of Aviation.

With the collapse of Ansett, Owen moved into flight instruction and also started writing articles. A regular contributor to Australian Aviation (our favourite flying magazine, thank you :) and other publications, Owen has also written a book called “Down to Earth,” the story of Squadron Leader McGlashan, a pilot during WWII.

There And Back, a charity flight for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Next year (2010) will mark the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Australia so Owen is flying a light aircraft around Australia, visiting various historic landmarks and promoting aviation in Australia as well as raising funds for the RFDS. His sponsors include:

Our First Ever Give Away

Owen has graciously donated a signed copy of his book, Down to Earth, for one of our lucky listeners to win. All you have to do is go to the There and Back website and see where Owen’s journey is taking him (check out The Route for details). Then, suggest a location you think Owen should go to during his journey and say why he should go there.

Send your recommendation to us at PlaneCrazyDownUnder@gmail.com” and we’ll review them with Owen. He will then select a winner and we’ll contact them to send them the book.

Easy, isn’t it? So, what are you waiting for? It doesn’t matter where you live, come up with a suggestion and send it to us.

Please note that Owen’s decision is final and that all submissions become the property of Owen to use as he sees fit.

As usual, our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

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