Mahindra – Plane Crazy Down Under

Pacific Airshow Vibes (S02E012)

It’s been a while between episodes but Steve’s been in hospital for a major operation plus Grant’s been travelling for airshows and also getting current in hot air balloons once again (yup, there’s a new danger area being declared for operations in the vicinity of YBLA, YWGT & YILA :) ). With Steve in […]

Test Flying the F-35 (S02E011)

Way back in June 2014 we released Series 1 Episode 119 about the RAAF bringing the F-35A into service, including the first two pilots selected to learn how to fly it, discussions with Lockheed Martin representatives (including test pilot Billie Flynn) and an hour long discussion with AVM Kym “Koz” Osley about the infrastructure work, […]

Gold Coast Dreaming (S02E010)

The team from the Pacific Airshow at Huntington Beach in California have come down under to stage the first Pacific Airshow Gold Coast event at Surfers Paradise in August, right around the corner as we release this episode. Steve and Grant will be attending the event to gather more content from the performers who will […]

Reaching Skyward (S02E009)

They say that if you can’t see it, you can’t be it and that certainly seems to be the case with getting more women into aviation. The recently released documentary Touch the Sky seeks to help encourage more women to consider flying for fun and/or employment, particularly looking at the “soft” (aka “human”) issues that […]

Episode 127 is Live featuring lots of great detailed content

We’ve released out latest episode at last and it’s got a stack of great content, including some very detailed information about planning & performing the F-18 Handling Display at the Tyabb Air Show in 2014 and doing an F-18’s preflight inspection. All that plus information about the Triton and Fire Scout unmanned aerial systems, managing the C-17 in the RAAF, the Japanese Air Self Defence Force KC-767, MAF and Mahindra’s GA-10.

Click here to access the episode.

PCDU Episode 127: From the Vault

We’ve gone back into our archives to pull out some great content that we never got around to releasing before. We have some more interviews from Avalon 2015 (yes, we recorded lots didn’t we? :) ) and we also have WGCDR Tim Alsop (now a GPCAPT :) ) walking us through planning & implementing an F-18 Hornet handling display and doing a pre-flight walk-around.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of Maikha (the king of the aviation selfie stick), the collection of content has been edited and put together ready for Steve to finalise and Grant to make the show notes. Send your thanks his way for having the time & energy to get it put together :)

The episode unfolds as:

00:01:29 – Steve & Grant take a break from Steve’s daughter’s birthday to introduce the episode.
Avalon Coverage:
- 00:06:54 – Grant talks to SQNLDR Adrian about flying the PC-9 in the Forward Air Control role.
- 00:16:48 – Maikha catches up with Dave Wheatland from Mahindra about the GA10.
- 00:27:29 – Mike Seers from Northrop Grumman describes how the Triton UAS is providing Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS).
- 00:32:42 – Maikha speaks to three dedicated Mission Aviation Fellowship volunteers, long serving MAF Pilot Ron Watts, State MAF Advocate and retired MAF Pilot Max Chapman and MAF Promotional volunteer Daniel Prowse.
- 00:48:14 – CMDR James Walker of the US Navy talks about the upgraded Fire Scout UAS which is produced using the Bell Long Ranger helicopter.
- 00:56:38 – FLGOFF Moles talks to Grant about being a load master on the RAAF C-17.
- 01:00:58 – Grant discusses flying the RAAF C-17 with FLTLT Marshall.
- 01:06:49 – Maikha speaks to members of the Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) during their visit to Avalon 2015, starting with JASDF Staff Sergeant Yoshi Uesugi (translated by Public Relations officer Major Shigenari Tomioka) regarding the JASDF’s travelling Taiko Drums band, followed by an interview with Lieutenant Colonel Takahiro Seki, the Pilot In Command of the visiting JASDF KC-767 and also the Commander of 404th Squadron from Komaki Air Force Base in Japan.
RAAF F18 Handling Display Interviews:
- 01:15:17 – WGCDR Tim ‘Slops’ Alsop discusses his flying career from learning to fly at Tyabb and Moorabbin to his current role as CO 3SQN.
- 01:38:21 – WGCDR Tim Alsop discusses the planning and performance of the RAAF F-18 Handling Display performed for the Tyabb Air Show 2014.
- 02:06:19 – Grant catches up with FLGOFF Michael “Newbs” Newby to discuss his flying background and career to date the with RAAF.
- 02:14:47 – WGCDR Tim Alsop walks us through an F-18 Hornet preflight.
02:26:14 – Steve & Grant wrap up the episode.

PCDU Episode 42: Wings Down Under

This episode we’re joined by Will Horton from the Wings Down Under blog to chat about recent aviation news items. We also have Anthony Simmons returning for another View from the Lounge segment and a chat with Damien Rose about his flight training up in Toowoomba. The episode wraps up with some listener mail and a shout out so it’s a little long but that should make up for the three Election QuickCast episodes we released recently :)

The list of topics we discussed with Will Horton include:

A review of the recent Asia/Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit in Sydney
The Asia/Pacific outlook for airlines includes a prediction for strong growth
“Buy local” for Russia (Sukhoi) & China (Comac) plus India building up its local aeronautics capabilities along with Mahindra & Mahindra buying into Australian aviation companies such as Gippsland Aeronautics
Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300 and Airbus A350-900 order
V Australia’s 777 useage in Fiji & Bali plus the use of wide bodies (eg: 767/A330) on domestic routes due to slot restrictions
Qantas wanting to fly 787s into China & on to Europe
Jetstar being boosted over Qantas (if it’s new it’s JQ) and using Singapore as a hub into Europe
Qantas’s new smart card system for check-in that relies on elite frequent flyers who are with Qantas, not Jetstar
AirAsia setting up a Frequent Flyer program
Crawford Rix @ Tiger Airways is against frequent flyer programs as they’re anticompetitive and is hinting that Tiger could go down the RyanAir path (standing seats, pay loos, etc) – at least for the publicity :)
Customers in Australia and Asia/Pacific wanting a higher level of standards
Tiger setting up a franchise in Thailand (51% Thai owned but still Tiger Thailand)
China more likely to have standing seats as the Chinese can lay down the law for their own operations – no need to align with FAA/EASA standards although they’re investing in highspeed trains)
AirAsia wants to enter the Australian domestic & trans-tasman market
The high quality of the AirAsia experience (a discount carrier that doesn’t nickle & dime their passengers) will hit Jetstar hard
Pacific Blue is pulling out of the New Zealand domestic market
Repurposing of V Australia’s 777s off the Fiji route
United is not worried about Delta-V
Qantas’ financial results

Steve & Grant also talk afterwards about Virgin Blue’s financial results which came out after we spoke with Will, along with their news about adding A330s, dropping the E170s (while keeping the E190s) and linking up with Etihad.