Royal Australian Air Force « Plane Crazy Down Under

PCDU Episode 130: Avalon 2017 – Alpha

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

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PCDU Episode 120: History & Records

By Grant (Falcon124), on August 1st, 2014%

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Steve’s very happy to have finally started converting currency into currency as he’s logging hours in a Flysynthesis Texan and progressing towards getting his RA-Aus license. Grant’s been too busy with work to get many hours but did finally get to log some “special shape” time in his balloon logbook. Naturally, both Steve & Grant are VERY happy to have finally released another episode.

Air Marshal Geoff Brown with Steve at Pt Cook

This episode the boys are joined by Kathy Mexted and Maikha Ly so you know the blooper reel at the end will be “interesting” to say the least. Kathy & her hubby have been flying their Piper Cub while Maikha’s been flying for work but, thanks to Adelaide’s weather lately and a recent house purchase, he’s not been able to do any personal flying.

For this episode we’re bringing you a mixed bag of content from the RAAF’s Pt Cook Centenary of Military Aviation airshow (including Steve’s chat with AIRMSHL Geoff Brown), Kathy’s chat with Kingsley Just about his new world record, catching up with John Fisher to talk L39s & USAF and Grant’s recent visit to the B24 restoration project in Werribee for their heritage recognition award ceremony

0:13:15 – Steve chats with Air Marshal Geoff Brown (Chief of Air Force) about the Royal Australian Air Force’s celebration of their centenary at Point Cook, his career with the RAAF, the RAAF’s fleet upgrades & current operations, the C-27J & F-35, flying gliders and transitioning from flying CH-47 Chinooks to flying fast jets.
0:30:34 –
Tony Maher demonstrates the electrically driven mid-upper turret
Grant visited the B24 restoration project at Werribee for their Heritage Recognition award ceremony and recorded a few chats with the following people:
- Doug Lindsay (President of the B24 Restoration project)
- Professor Alex Baitch (National President, Engineers Australia)
- Andrew Elsbury MLC (Member of State Parliament)
- Dan O’Connell (Volunteer)
- Before chatting with Tony Maher (volunteer), Grant also recorded the sound of Tony demonstrating the electrically driven mid-upper turret
0:50:41 – Kathy chats with Kinglsey Just about setting the Guinness World Record for the most continuous rolls performed in an aircraft (an amazing 987 in his Pitts Special!). They talk about the planning & preparation, the method, the reason and how it all worked out (complete with a dramatic ending). They also talk about his interest in aviation including his gliding & flying tow planes in Europe.
1:05:08 –
Kevin Bailey and his wife with their Stinson Reliant
Maikha was with us at the RAAF’s Pt Cook event and he spent most of his time with the antiques and warbirds where he recorded the following:
- Chris Shine with his Beech Staggerwing
- Kevin Bailey and his Stinson Reliant
- Allan Harding and his MkIII Auster
- Allan’s young assistant Lloyd Galloway talks about flying, the RA-Aus scholarship he was awarded and his involvement with the Auster
- Steve Death talks about the Southern Knights formation team
- Maureen Massey is the Vice President of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) and she talks about the C-47, DHC-4 Caribou and PBY Catalina
- Robert ‘Bob’ StJohn, a Vietnam veteran, volunteers with HARS to help keep the Caribou flying. He talks about what’s involved in keeping it going and his experiences in Vietnam with “Wallaby Airlines” (the RAAF’s Caribou operations)
- Warren Gengos flies the HARS PBY Catalina
1:42:55 – John “Viper” Fisher from Top Gun Australia talks about Top Gun Australia’s operations, flying the L-39, being a WSO on the F-4 & flying the A-10 with the USAF plus his exchange rotation with the French
1:59:04 – We come back for some shout outs:
- Thanks to Barry Moore for suggesting we chat with John Fisher
- Shane Simpson has recently completed his first solo in a Cessna 152 at Moorabbin (YMMB). Onya mate!
- Congratulations to Anthony Crichton-Browne and his wife Prudence for the recent arrival of their son Andrew
- Our friend Owen Zupp who is making the transition from Boeing 737s to a command position with Jetstar A320s as well as releasing his new book “50 More Tales of Flight” and his new site “The Pilots Blog“
- Maikha recommends that everyone should check out the South Australian Aviation Museum in Adelaide
- Grant’s ecstatic to hear that OzRunways are producing an Android version of their app (“Project Marvin” – awesome! :) ). With AvPlan also producing an Android version, Grant is very happy to not need to buy an iThing :)
- Congratulations to Steven Pam who has done a marathon effort producing the Tyabb Airshow DVD and also to Karl von Moller from the Broken Wings project who’s been helping out as well

Music for this episode was “Short Change Hero” by “The Heavy” (2009 on Counter Records)

PCDU Go In-Depth on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

By Grant (Falcon124), on June 3rd, 2014%

PCDU Episode 119 Cover Art:
F-35A, B & C models
(Image supplied by Lockheed Martin)

Australia has recently confirmed that it will purchase a total of 72 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for use in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) but how will these high-tech new aircraft be integrated with our current operations? Will someone just click their fingers and voila?

Naturally, there’s lots of items to consider ranging from staffing & training through to tarmac upgrades and there’s something about ALIS…

We’re joined by Andrew McLaughlin from COMINT to discuss the F-35 aircraft, the program and its potential operations within the RAAF. We also feature a number of interviews with Lockheed Martin staff and AVM Kym “Koz” Osley gives us an in-depth coverage of the huge project that will bring the F-35 to full operational status within the RAAF.

It’s a big topic and we’ve put together a big episode about it: Episode 119: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: The RAAF Approach.

Click here to go to the show notes & play the episode

PCDU Episode 119: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: The RAAF Approach

By Grant (Falcon124), on June 3rd, 2014%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:18:31 — 95.4MB)

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With Australia’s confirmed purchase of a total of 72 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, Steve & Grant are joined by Andrew McLaughlin from COMINT (Communications Intelligence) to discuss the F-35 and its operation within the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). We also feature a number of great interviews with Lockheed Martin staff and an in-depth discussion with Air Vice Marshall Kym “Koz” Osley regarding the work required to integrate the F35 into the RAAF.

F-35A, B & C models
(Image supplied by Lockheed Martin)

After an introductory discussion on the F35 between Andrew, Steve & Grant, this episode features:

0:09:49 – Excerpts from the press conference held at RAAF Base Pt Cook in March 2014 where AVM Kym Osley discussed the F35 purchase and Deputy Chief of Air Force (DCAF) AVM Leo Davies introduced the first two RAAF pilots to go to the USA for F35 training: SQN LDR David “Belly” Bell & SQN LDR Andrew “Jacko” Jackson.
0:13:19 – Lockheed Martin test pilot Billie Flynn talks to us about his career from a Canadian F18 pilot seeing combat in Kosovo to a test pilot on the Eurofighter Typhoon and on to the F35.

Australia’s first two F35 pilots:
SQN LDR Andrew ‘Jacko’ Jackson & SQN LDR David ‘Belly’ Bell
0:23:17 – Graham Bentley is ex-RAAF and the Lockheed Martin Business Development Manager in Australia. We talk to him about his career from flying P3 Orions to commanding the Australian Forces in the Middle East and on to his role as Air Attache in Washington, USA. He also discusses LockMart’s preparations to bring the F35 to Australia and the technologies it’ll bring with it.
0:32:42 – Steven L Over, Lockheed Martin’s Director of F-35 International Business Development, talks to us about component manufacturing being undertaken within Australia.
0:40:44 – Billie Flynn returns to talk with Grant in more detail regarding the F-35’s new high-tech helmet.

Billie Flynn running Steve through the cockpit of the F35
0:52:39 – Grant catches up with AVM Kym “Koz” Osley for an in-depth discussion on the work involved in bringing the F-35 into the RAAF, including infrastructure construction at airports, staffing & training, support equipment and perhaps the most complex part of the F-35’s support environment: Autonomic Logistics Information System (aka “ALIS”)
1:52:49 – We wrap up the episode with a further discussion between Andrew, Steve & Grant on the F-35 aircraft, the program and the potential for Australia to operate the F-35B on our new Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships (gotta use that ski-ramp, right?)

Grant gets to check out the F-35 cockpit. Fortunately it has burners, just like his hot air balloon :)

Grant gets to check out the F-35 cockpit. Fortunately it has burners, just like a hot air balloon :)

Cover image thanks to Lockheed Martin

PCDU Episode 117: Holler for a Marshall, an AIR Marshal

By Grant (Falcon124), on February 26th, 2014%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:54:34 — 78.8MB)

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With the RAAF’s Centenary of Military Aviation air show only a couple of days away, we thought we’d mix up some content that promotes the event as well as some chats Grant recorded with a number of past & present members of the RAAF at the Temora Aviation Museum’s “Warbirds Down Under” event back in November. To round the whole thing off, we’ve also got Steve’s chat with Tammy Augostin about the Women of Aviation Worldwide Week event that will be running from March 3rd to 9th around the world.

From top to bottom: AVM (ret) Skidmore, AIRMSHL Binskin & AVM Davies (and, of course, a P40 :) )

The episode’s content run is:

Steve & Grant give an overview of what to expect in the episode
0:09:42 – Grant catches up with Air Marshal Mark Binskin at the Temora Aviation Museum to discuss his career, the role of Vice Chief of the Defence Force and flying his Cessna O-1 Birddog
0:15:57 – Air Vice Marshal (retired) Mark Skidmore talks to us about flying the Bristol Boxkite replica
0:20:33 – Air Vice Marshal Leo Davies (Deputy Chief of Air Force) tells us about the Centenary of Military Aviation air show, his career and the type of work he does in his role
0:28:17 – Keith Webb explains the Temora Aviation Museum‘s “Unsung Heroes” project and the work involved in collecting the reminiscences of veterans
0:34:42 – Grant catches up with Captain Jack Curtis, DC3 pilot extraordinaire and perhaps the only pilot flying DC3s who’s actually older than the aircraft he’s flying :)
0:43:01 –
F/A-18 flying over the Bristol Boxkite replica at Pt Cook
(Photo by James Kightly)
Dick Simms talks about being an Officer Cadet in the RAAF & flying Mustangs, Vampires & Meteors then his career selling aircraft and his restoration of a 1930’s Ryan STM that can now be found at the Temora Aviation Museum
0:58:10 – Mick Haxel (DFC) chats with Grant about his career in the military and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) at the time that it became the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) before winding up with his current position with Flight Safety Pty Ltd. He also talks about how he was awarded DFC for his flying in Vietnam (Audio courtesy of the Australian War Memorial)
1:16:50 – Steve talks with Tammy Augostin about the Women of Aviation Worldwide Week event and her involvement with CCT Racing, one of the Australian jet racing teams at the Reno Air Races
1:47:44 – Steve & Grant wrap up the episode

GPCAPT (ret) Ron Gretton AM & WGCDR (ret) Geoff Matthews talk with AVM (ret) Mark Skidmore in front of the Bristol Boxkite replica they built
(Photo by James Kightly)

PCDU Episode 116: High Performances

By Grant (Falcon124), on February 16th, 2014%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:28:46 — 61.4MB)

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After a break due to injuries, surgery & a wedding, we’re back on deck and our first episode for 2014 is packed with Down Under aviation goodness :)

From Matt Hall & the return of the Red Bull Air Race to flying in a pair of C130Js over Melbourne

From Matt Hall and the long awaited return of the Red Bull Air Race to our media flight in a pair of C130Js over Melbourne to promote the RAAF’s Centenary of Military Aviation air show, this episode really got us exited for the year ahead.

Our first episode for 2014 unfolds as:

Steve & Grant chat about surgery, a wedding and some recent media publicity after a couple of unusual hot air balloon landings in Melbourne
0:12:35 – We chat with Matt Hall about the long awaited return of the Red Bull Air Race and get lots of great info about the changes to the race itself, his new team, how they’ve been preparing and the telemetry system he’s using.

Is ATC Ben excited or nervous to be on the C130J media flight? :)

Steven Pam is clearly excited to be on the C130J media flight :)
0:46:20 – Steven Pam & ATC Ben got to represent PCDU at a recent RAAF C130J media flight over Melbourne to promote the Centenary of Military Aviation air show at Pt Cook on March 1st & 2nd. In the process they recorded the following content:
- Air Commodore Phil Byrne (RAAF’s Head of Special Events) talking about the historical significance of Pt Cook and the RAAF’s preparations for their Centenary of Military Aviation air show
- David Gardner (Director, RAAF Museum) talks about the Bristol Boxkite replica
- Flight lieutenant Matt Fleet, an RAF C130J pilot on exchange with the RAAF
- Sergeant Greg Milne, an RAAF C130J loadmaster
  
  The view of Melbourne from a RAAF C130J’s ramp
  
  Even the RAAF are getting into the GoPro action for this flight :)
We have some announcements:
- PCDU will be at the Tyabb Airshow 2014 (A Salute to Veterans) on Sunday, March 9th and are looking forward to catching up with any of you who can be there
- We want your stories, especially “grass roots” content and, as Steve Riley wrote in about, more “stories about flying”
The view from the C130J’s cockpit is spectacular, even without another aircraft in close formation
We have some shout outs:
- Thanks to Steve’s surgical staff for doing his knee reconstruction, including Mr Eden Raleigh, Dr Peter Larkins & Dr Joshua Hoppe from the Epworth Hospital
- Thanks to Pieter Johnson & David Vanderhoof for the long-distance support from around the world to help Steve get through some difficult times
- Steve wants to thank Grant & the rest of the PCDU team for helping out with the Australia Desk episodes while he was recovering
- Thanks to the Hangar 49 & Aviation Xtended podcasts for being brave enough to let Grant join them when recording their latest episodes (Hangar 49’s “G’Day Mate” … Aviation Xtended’s “Plane Crazy”)
- Good luck to Dave Gray (formerly from the Lifestyle PodNetwork) who is currently battling melanoma
- Thanks to the RAAF for inviting us to attend the C130J media flight
- Twitter user 555UHZ is posting the movie Top Gun as a series of frames (with subtitles), one every half hour or so. Now that’s dedication! :)

Here’s the video Steven Pam put together following the C130J media flight:

RAAF C130J Flight Over Melbourne

By Grant (Falcon124), on February 14th, 2014%

As part of the RAAF’s promotional events in the lead up to the Centenary of Military Aviation Air Show being held at Point Cook on March 1st & 2nd, we were invited to join them for a C130J media flight. As Steve was still recovering from his knee surgery and Grant was out of town, we sent Steven Pam & ATC Ben along to get video & stills plus record some interviews.

On Friday 7th of February, Steven & Ben were at Point Cook to record the arrival of two C130Js, capture the official announcements and then ride on the trailing aircraft as the two C130s flew around Melbourne’s CBD and the bay. After the flight they were able to record a couple of interviews with aircrew.

Steven then took the content they gathered & produced the video below. Full audio from the interviews can be found in PCDU Episode 116: High Performances.

We would like to extend our thanks to the RAAF for inviting us on the flight and giving us the opportunity to capture more great content for our audience. We’re very much looking forward to the air show which promises to be a major event and a great showcase of the RAAF’s aircraft from the past 100 years.

PCDU Episode 109: Dave's Cambridge Airforce

By Grant (Falcon124), on May 26th, 2013%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:54:37 — 78.8MB)

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The beautifully restored De Havilland Mosquito

We’re joined by Dave Homewood from the Wings Over New Zealand forum & podcast to talk about his time with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), the warbird scene over there and the comprehensive forum he established. We also discuss his excellent Wings Over New Zealand podcast which has a large number of fascinating interviews & recordings covering the Kiwi scene. You can follow Dave’s latest updates on his Wings Over New Zealand Facebook page.

After our chat with Dave we feature more Avalon 2013 content including our KC-30A interview, a chat about the Heron Remotely Piloted Vehicle’s operations in Afghanistan and part two of Grant’s chat with Charles Cheeseman from Eco 2000. As if all that wasn’t enough, we introduce Maikha Ly who is joining the team as a roving reporter covering regional aviation events.

We’ve also got a new competition where the first 5 people who email us the correct answer to Owen Zupp’s question will win a copy of his “50 Tales of Flight” eBook. After that, it’s time for listener mail, shout outs and the wrap up.

Whew, no wonder it’s almost 2 hours long :)

The show unfolds as:

0:08:29 – We chat with Dave Homewood
0:42:11 – Interview with FLTLT Simon Press & WOFF David Bull on the flight deck of the RAAF KC-30A
0:55:33 – Interview with WGCDR Jonathan McMullan about the Heron Remotely Piloted Vehicle and its operations in Afghanistan
1:07:18 – Introducing Maikha Ly, our roving reporter covering regional events
1:17:21 – The second part of Grant’s chat with Charles Cheeseman from Eco 2000 (part 1 was back in Episode 103: Avalon 2013 – Day Three)
1:24:48 – We announce winners of our FlightPathTV commpetition:
- Errol Cavit from NZ
- Alex James from China
- Gary Clarkson from Melbourne
1:26:49 – Thanks to the donors from our audience who helped us exceed the $250 we needed to join Ryan Campbell’s “$500 Club” from his Teen World Flight project:
- Peter Gossner
- Doug & Kerri Worrall
- Brian Grinter
- Chris Fenelon
- Peter Baxter
- Gary Clarkson
- Ben Jones
- Andrew Van Der Saag
- Nick Christiansen
- Gareth Little-Hales
- Evan Schoo
1:29:29 – We announce a new competition, this time featuring a question from Owen Zupp. The first five people who email us with the correct answer will win a copy of his “50 Tales of Flight” eBook.
1:31:17 – Listener Mail:
The AirStig has set us a challenge – do you accept it?
- The AirStig has laid down a challenge for Doug Worrall’s LEO game & has completed all the missions & logged a score of 5641. Do you think you can beat his score?
- Roger Preston from Europe emailed us regarding Episode 79
- Michael Power enjoyed Avalon 2013 coverage but reckons Episode #51 (our F111 Tribute) is still our best so far
- Mick from the Frankston line has sent us some audio of a De Havilland Comet crew doing their checks (you can hear it just before the bloopers)
- Cade Jones has been enjoying the show & wants to get into radio/media
- Mike Butorac asked us about suitable music for a video of trans-continental flight in Australia
1:40:36 – Shout Outs:
- Peter Merwood in NZ who flies Thunderbird 6 (a beautiful RV6)
- The Airplane Geeks for reaching episode #250 which is their 200th episode since Steve & Grant started doing the Australia Desk together
- Pieter & the gang in the UK for their Xtended aviation podcast
- David Optimal for getting his Class 1 instructor rating :)

NOTE: Cover photo of the restored De Haviland Mosquito is by Errol Cavit

PCDU Episode 99: RAAF C-130H – Into History

By Grant (Falcon124), on January 29th, 2013%

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:01:42 — 83.8MB)

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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.

Plane Crazy Down Under

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PCDU Episode 130: Avalon 2017 – Alpha

PCDU Episodes:

PCDU Episode 120: History & Records

PCDU Go In-Depth on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

PCDU Episode 119: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: The RAAF Approach

PCDU Episode 117: Holler for a Marshall, an AIR Marshal

PCDU Episode 116: High Performances

RAAF C130J Flight Over Melbourne

PCDU Episode 109: Dave's Cambridge Airforce

PCDU Episode 99: RAAF C-130H – Into History

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