Plane Crazy Down Under

Day Two of the Avalon 2013 Airshow has kept Team PCDU very busy shooting video & recording interviews. Here's some of the content we recorded today: . Captain Robin Pursey, Chief Pilot for Airbus Corporate Jets talks about flying the ACJ319 . David Velupillai, Marketing Director for Airbus Corporate Jets discusses interior fit outs & typical missions for ACJs . Steve meets with one of the UAV Challenge teams . Andrew Duggan, Managing Director of Insitu Pacific, discusses the Scan Eagle & Integrator drones . Flying Officer Brent Jones, F-18 pilot with 77 Squadron, talks about aspects of air to air refuelling & the training involved . In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf . Timbo's Tarmac

It's been a good start to the Avalon 2013 Airshow with Team PCDU recording a few interviews and setting up their schedule for the rest of the week. For our first day's coverage we present: . Grant talks with John McCormick (Director of Flight Safety at CASA) about his military & airline experience, flying his Yak50 and how that all links into managing CASA. . Steven Pam talks to Mal Hurman about the Eclipse 500 at the Air Show, and to Heath Okely from Airflite about the new Eclipse 550 they are marketing. . Matt Hall talks to Grant about his Avalon 2013 display routine . Timbo's Tarmac . In the Keyhole with Papa Smurf

We've finally made it to our 100th episode and had some amazing experiences along the way. We've learned lots, had aviation experiences we've never dreamed of and even spun off a few side-projects for other shows. 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).

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.

As 2012 draws to a close come & spend a bit of time with Steve, Grant, Bas & ATC Ben as they wrap up the year with some new content, some discussions and a bit of fun. It's another long episode but we think it's a pretty good way to send out the year :)

We chat with a number of people in this episode including Andrew McLaughlin (ex Australian Aviation deputy editor), Kathy Mexted who did aerobatics with Anatole Mills, Mike Dunn from Heli-Serv and lots more.

It takes a special breed to push an F18 out to the edge of the envelope, fly missions ranging from surface attack to dog fights and then blow off steam with your squadron mates. It's certainly not Top Gun but it does make amazing fodder for a book that highlights the good, the bad and the crazy. Just such a book has been written by 'Mac "Serge" Tucker,' it's called "Fighter Pilot" and we get to chat with him about the book, his career and the future of air warfare.

Steve & Grant go north of Melbourne thanks to the aid of some members of Team PCDU, both current & new. First up we tag along with ATC_Ben on his visit to Oshkosh 2012, discussing his journey there & listening to a few of the interviews he recorded (yes, we're still jealous we couldn't get there!). We then introduce long-time listener Damien Rose who's joining us as our Queensland correspondent & lives about 2,000km north of PCDU HQ. Finally, we play a few of the interviews Steve & Grant recorded at Oshkosh 2011 to help us feel a bit better about not being there this year (nope, still jealous! :)

TheSport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) held their inaugural AusFly event at Narromine, New South Wales on the 14th & 15th of September. As part of the show, Plane Crazy Down Under were invited to come & run the AusFly radio show and provide commentary for the air displays. From setting up the studio & PA system (thanks Allan & Kurt :) to interviewing live during the show and keeping the crowd informed during the air displays, it was a busy, exhausting, educational and, over-all, fun experience. This episode includes an AusFly retrospective with David Brown, our interview with Gordon Rich-Phillips (Victorian minister for the Aviation Industry) and some content recorded at AusFly.

After three years of lamenting the hassles involved in getting to the West Coast of Australia to report on aviation happenings wwwaaayyy over there on the other side of the big empty, we've finally done something about it: set up a PCDU-WestCoast office and found someone just as aviation-crazy as we are to run it :) We also bring you a number of great 'good news' aviation stories including Sussan Ley, Mark Pracy & AusFly.

Kathy Mexted joins Steve & Grant to interview Helene Young, a Dash-8 pilot who's written three great books based around pilots flying for Australia's border patrol in the far north of Queensland. In addition to being a captain with the regionals, Helene has managed to juggle her home & social life with work and writing, producing three great books in a relatively short period of time. We also have interviews with Peter Sobey (Chief Flying Instructor at Sharp Airlines) and Chris Dewhirst (first man to fly a balloon over Mt Everest) along with a brand new View From the Lounge segment (also about balloons).

After a number of years and the inevitable stumbling blocks that life throws at us, Grant has finally become a balloon pilot having completed his check flight up at Mildura just the other day. From how the final stages of solos & check flight unfolded to a comparison of "first solo" moments, Steve & Grant talk briefly about the realisation that a new license & $5 can now buy you a beer... Meanwhile, Bas & AntCB join Steve to talk iPad aviation apps, Pieter Johnson interviews Australians at Farnborough 2012, Steve & Bas talk to Peter Gibson from CASA about the new Class 2 Medicals, we talk to Aviation Australia about their training courses & Aviation Careers Expo and Grant chats with Alan Joyce (no, really! :)

Steve's joined by Anthony Crichton-Browne and Ben Morgan to discuss the costs of owning an aircraft then he teams up with Kathy Mexted to interview Justin Sheedy about his book "Nor the years condemn." After that Grant joins in to discuss various items before wrapping it up with a 5 minute mega-blooper reel.

Way back in April, Steve & ATC Ben flew "Ben Air" from Lilydale (YLIL) to Temora (YTEM) for the RA-Aus NatFly 2012 event, leaving Grant behind in Melbourne attempting to recover from bronchitis. While not as vibrant as 2011, there was still plenty of activity to keep Steve & Ben busy recording lots of great content.

Boeing have been taking their 787 Dreamliners on the DreamTour, a series of 7 multi-stop flights, or segments, that take one of the 787 test aircraft around the world. Each segment visits multiple countries, allowing airlines & invited guests to get up close to the advanced new airliner. Perhaps saving the best for last, the DreamTour came to the Dreamtime during it's 7th segment. Team PCDU were invited by Qantas & Jetstar to join the DreamTour in Melbourne. This "quick cast" episode features our interview recorded in Melbourne with Captain Todd Abraham, a Boeing technical pilot flying the 787 on segment #7.