Plane Crazy Down Under » Podcast Feed

An aviation based podcast with a focus on the Australia/Pacific area

There’s been a few delays in getting our first episode for 2012 out but what can you expect with the Summer heat to enjoy and games of Cricket to watch (or avoid :). It is with Cricket in mind that our very own Infrequent Flyer, Anthony Simmons, took some time out of his European adventures . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 81: An Infrequent Flyer goes to Europe
Posted on 29 January 2012 | 1:18 am

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 80: Farewell 2011 (aka “Tom Cruise wraps my Dolmades” :)
Posted on 30 December 2011 | 2:49 am

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 79: Flying Low
Posted on 9 December 2011 | 5:50 am

Many people in Australia know of Tim Smith, a Melbourne comedian who’s worked on television and in radio for years. What many people don’t know is that Tim is a pilot who is working towards his goal of running charter operations taking people around Australia, visiting places many folks have never heard of let alone . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 78: Tim Smith: Flying Saved My Life
Posted on 16 November 2011 | 4:18 am

Almost one year after the QF32 incident, Qantas is again in the news around the world and for a short time again appeared to be on the brink of a major disaster. At 5pm on Saturday the 29th of October, Alan Joyce (CEO of Qantas) announced that he & the board of directors had decided . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 77: Qantas Crisis: After the Grounding
Posted on 2 November 2011 | 6:35 pm

A few episodes ago we introduced Kathy Mexted as a new member our group of occasional PCDU contributors and this episode she’s back with some great content. She recently took a few friends in a Bonanza out to Wilpena Pound in South Australia, a trip that would usually take many days to achieve by road . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 76: Air Wilpena
Posted on 20 October 2011 | 4:48 am

Today we’re joined by Anthony Crichton-Browne, a commercial airline pilot who also likes to take his Pitts Special out for a spin (and a few other fun manoeuvres :) In addition to chatting with Anthony, we also run a chat with Grant Piper (President of the Australian Aerobatic Club) about Australia’s recent involvement in the . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 75: Talking Aerobatics with Anthony Crichton-Browne
Posted on 5 October 2011 | 3:43 am

We’re joined by our mate Dan Morris from New Zealand to discuss some news from the Land of the Long White Cloud. Topics include:

Today Steve & Grant are chatting with Bas Scheffers, reviewing their experiences at EAA‘s AirVenture Oshkosh 2011. We talk about the long haul across the Pacific via V Australia 777 and Qantas A380, arriving in Chicago on their hottest day in 10 years and then hanging out with Rob Mark, his family and his ever . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 73: Oshkosh: The Greatest Show on Earth
Posted on 20 August 2011 | 6:12 am

As all good things must come to an end, so too must our time at Oshkosh 2011. It’s been an incredible event for us and an eye-opener to just how large this Mecca of all things aviation truly is. With our final day at the show, we’ve produced a chunky episode packed full of *some* . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 72: Oshcast #3 – Hugging your Roo
Posted on 30 July 2011 | 10:47 pm

We’re still here at Oshkosh and working hard despite heat, humidity, rain, storms and sore feet. There’s something about being at the greatest aviation event in the world & surrounded by over 10,000 aircraft that makes all those hassles fade away :)

While the only way to really appreciate & experience Oshkosh is to be . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 71: AirVenture 2011 – Oshcast #2
Posted on 28 July 2011 | 3:28 pm

Steve & Grant are at Oshkosh along with Bas Scheffers, David Vanderhoof and a large number of other aviation podcasters, swimming in the sea of aviation that is AirVenture Oshkosh 2011. Grant & Bas have been here since Saturday while Steve & David arrived on Sunday. We’ve recorded with the Airplane Geeks, producing an episode . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 70: AirVenture 2011 – Oshcast #1
Posted on 26 July 2011 | 1:01 pm

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 69: Carbonated
Posted on 20 July 2011 | 3:16 am

We open this episode having a chat with James Williams of the LifeStyle PodNetwork, Australia’s global podcast network. We are very happy to announce that we’ve been invited to join and we talk with James about the network, why they invited us to join and what it means to be a part of their community . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 68: Flyabout to Memory Lane
Posted on 11 July 2011 | 1:18 am

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 :)

It’s been a while since we got down & dirty with the Australian commercial airline scene so with that in mind, we called up Ben Sandlilands from the PlaneTalking blog on Crikey.com.au for a chat. There’s some amazing developments going on in the “big iron” side of people moving here in Australia and we went . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 66: That Wasn’t in the Script!
Posted on 21 June 2011 | 6:16 am

There’s no denying that aviation has been the home of many innovative ideas when it comes to aerodynamics, systems and so on. Sometimes we even get to hear about innovation in many of the business & training aspects of aviation and this episode is bringing us a few of them, from new ways to bring . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 65: Innovative Ideas
Posted on 12 June 2011 | 6:43 pm

We are fortunate to have Dick Smith return to PCDU, joining us to discuss his views on Australia’s aviation environment. We talk about his time as chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority and then his return as chairman of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. He mentions some of the initiatives he started that worked as . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 64: Dick Smith – Setting it Straight
Posted on 24 May 2011 | 1:04 am

Here’s a quick teaser video of Steve’s flight in JetRide’s L39 down at Tooradin airport recently. We’re still working on the full “Adventure Flights” video so this one’s a bit of a teaser and a test of putting videos in our feed.

Let us know how it works for you. Do you want videos in . . . → Read More: Video 001: Steve’s Flight in JetRide’s L39
Posted on 17 May 2011 | 5:45 pm

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 63: RA-Aus NatFly 2011
Posted on 29 April 2011 | 8:37 pm

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 62: Advertising Advocacy
Posted on 20 April 2011 | 6:48 pm

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 61: The Great Pilgrimage
Posted on 10 April 2011 | 2:19 am

The Australian International Airshow (aka Avalon 2011) is over but the show must go on. We have mountains of content from Avalon 2011 in addition to the interviews we released in each of our daily episodes.

Yes, that’s right: If you haven’t downloaded & listened to each of the daily episodes then you should stop . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 60: Now the Party’s Over
Posted on 25 March 2011 | 4:14 pm

We’ve made it to the end of day 6 of the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011). It’s the final day of the airshow and once again Team PCDU have been flat out interviewing, editing and generally having fun. We’ve spent some time chatting with the crew of a KC-135 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 59: Avalon Not-So Quick Cast #6
Posted on 6 March 2011 | 4:44 am

It’s day 5 of the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and it’s the first whole day open to the general public. The PCDU team have had one of the most amazing days of their lives with time in the venerable B52, getting up close & personal with the Wedgetail, . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 58: Avalon Quick Cast #5
Posted on 5 March 2011 | 4:56 am

We’re up to day 4 of the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and the general public are arriving as of today. The PCDU team are pushing through more interviews, catching up with old friends and meeting listeners. The content we selected for this Quick Cast includes:

It’s time once again for the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and Team PCDU are there to arrange interviews with people & organisations that catch our eye. On the third day of the show we have been particularly busy interviewing aircrew, maintainers and other folks on site, frequently while . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 56: Avalon Quick Cast #3
Posted on 3 March 2011 | 3:32 am

It’s time once again for the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and Team PCDU are there to arrange interviews with people & organisations that catch our eye. Today was our second day at the airshow and we spent lots of time recording new content and arranging more interviews for . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 55: Avalon Quick Cast #2
Posted on 2 March 2011 | 3:56 am

It’s time once again for the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition (aka Avalon 2011) and Team PCDU are there to arrange interviews with people & organisations that catch our eye. Today was our first day at the airshow and while much of it was spent meeting people & setting up our schedule . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 54: Avalon Quick Cast #1
Posted on 1 March 2011 | 4:47 am

Steve & Grant are joined once again by Bas Scheffers from Adelaide to discuss a few items, including:

Every two years Avalon Airport is the home to one of the biggest airshows & aviation expositions in the Southern Hemisphere (the biggest, according to many). One of Australia’s premier aviation events, Avalon Airshow (also known as the Australian International Airshow) draws aircraft from around the world and attracts scores of people from the general . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 52: The Misty Dawn of Avalon
Posted on 2 February 2011 | 6:29 am

In November 2010 the PCDU team were invited to attend the Media Day at RAAF Amberley where members of 6 Squadron were gathered to give us one final look at the F111 before it was retired from service. We have gathered the interviews we recorded during the Media Day and combined them with a couple . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 51: Pig Out!
Posted on 20 January 2011 | 1:27 pm

As the final hours of 2010 pass by and the year draws to a close, we release our 50th episode with a mix of annual review, Christmas greetings and a new experiment. In conjunction with a live video stream of the proceedings, we gathered Steve, Grant, Anthony and Ben in the recording studio to attempt . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 50: Farewell 2010
Posted on 31 December 2010 | 3:01 am

Rosemary Arnold learned to fly fixed wing in the early 60s then converted helicopters in the mid-60′s, becoming the first woman in Australia to receive a helicopter pilot’s license. From operating her own helicopter business in Australia to flying in locations around the world, Rosemary has had an extensive career in aviation. She has also . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 49: Hovering Matilda
Posted on 14 December 2010 | 5:30 pm

While the technology behind ADS-B is nothing new, it is becoming the centerpiece of modern Air Traffic Management systems around the world. Unfortunately, CASA is once again taking a global concept and creating an entirely unique Australian implementation of it.

According to CASA’s Discussion Paper (DP) 1006AS Proposed Strategy and Regulatory Plan in support of . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 48: ADS-B: C’est un pétard! – with Bill Hamilton
Posted on 27 November 2010 | 7:13 pm

The 2010 RedBull AirRace season was exciting, eventful and disappointing all at once. From Adilson Kindleman’s crash in Perth to Hannes Arch’s pylon hit and Matt Hall’s “walk on water” incident, G-Stalls were everywhere. Then came the news that the last two races were cancelled and, finally, that the whole 2011 season was cancelled. As . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 47: Bull Me!
Posted on 22 November 2010 | 9:15 am

On November 4th, 2010 Qantas A380 VH-OQA (“Nancy Bird Walton”) was operating flight QF32 from Singapore to Sydney. During the climb out from Singapore, the number 2 Rolls Royce Trent 900 engine’s Intermediate Pressure Turbine appears to have failed and flown apart, sending bits through the aircraft’s wing in multiple locations and raining debris down . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 46: Qantas A380 incident – from the Ground Up
Posted on 9 November 2010 | 9:02 pm

It’s been a while since our last episode but at last we’re able to present our latest update with some more great content. First up, Matt Hall joins us once again to look back on his 2010 RedBull AirRace season, discuss the lessons he’s learned and give us his thoughts about 2011 & beyond.

Next . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 45: Keeping it to Scale
Posted on 30 October 2010 | 7:29 pm

In an effort to reassure you that we’re not trying to cut any corners as we build towards our 50th episode, this episode comes in at over 2 hours in length (our longest ever, in fact). It’s jam packed with great content, including:

Back in March we attended the Centenary Air Show at Melton airport near Diggers Rest (a short drive from Melbourne). In addition to being a great air show that celebrated 100 years of powered flight in Australia, this was also the first event where we had media passes. We recorded lots of great interviews, caught . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 43: Back to the Air Show
Posted on 18 September 2010 | 10:48 am

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 42: Wings Down Under
Posted on 3 September 2010 | 2:35 pm

In our third & final Election QuickCast, we take a look at the published transportation policies from the The Greens and the Labor Party’s “Aviation White Paper.” Sadly, Christine Milne from the Greens and Anthony Albanese from Labor were unable to accommodate us in their busy schedules. Both groups have indicated that they’ll be happy . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 41: Australian Federal Election QuickCast #3: Comments on the Greens & Labor’s White Paper
Posted on 19 August 2010 | 3:46 pm

Australians are about to go to the election booths on Saturday 21st August so we’re working to bring our listeners information about the aviation policies of the various political parties. We’re not trying to tell you how to vote, just doing our bit to raise awareness of the importance of aviation within the political community . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 40: Australian Federal Election QuickCast #2: Ken Hill & Tim Sheen
Posted on 18 August 2010 | 11:52 pm

Australians are about to go to the election booths on Saturday 21st August so we’re working to bring our listeners information about the aviation policies of the various political parties. We’re not trying to tell you how to vote, just doing our bit to raise awareness of the importance of aviation within the political community . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 39: Australian Federal Election QuickCast #1: Warren Truss
Posted on 17 August 2010 | 8:59 am

Dick Smith is an entrepreneur well known to most Australians, ranging from the country wide chain of Dick Smith Electronics stores he created to Dick Smith Foods and Australian Geographic.

Another very important aspect of Dick’s life has revolved around aviation. In addition to owning & flying his own aeroplanes & helicopters, he has . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 38: Dick Smith: Around the World in Many Ways
Posted on 9 August 2010 | 3:24 pm

Air Venture: Oshkosh is the place to be if you’re into aviation. There’s something for everyone from home builts to military to warbirds to commercial to seaplanes to antiques to balloons and everything else imaginable. If you love aviation, you have to get to Oshkosh.

For the past four years a group of aviation podcasters . . . → Read More: We tried to get to Oshkosh 2010
Posted on 7 August 2010 | 7:37 pm

It seems that Grant has always had troubles with the label “Flight Attendant” ever since his sister joined Australian Airlines and mistakenly told him she would be a “Trolley Dolly.” Ooops :)

In this episode we’re joined by Janene Murdoch, Tania Tracey and Amelia Kelly. Janene used to be a flight attendant with Ansett in . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 37: It’s “Flight Attendant,” Grant
Posted on 30 July 2010 | 4:51 am

Most of you will have already seen Matt Hall’s splash on the river at Windsor back in June. Then he was denied a go at racing in New York, to which he responded very diplomatically, which in turn taught some of us how to “take our lumps.”

This episode we have a good chat with . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 36: Incidentally, Matt…
Posted on 14 July 2010 | 12:01 am

These days it’s quite common to find ladies in command of commercial airliners, bizjets and combat aircraft. Thirty years ago, however, this was certainly not the case here in Australia and a female required a stubborn streak & thick skin to push through and gain acceptance in a very male dominated world.

While the situation . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 35: Perseverance & Persistence
Posted on 3 July 2010 | 12:15 pm

This episode we feature an interview with Hannes Arch, the Austrian Red Bull champion in 2008 who came second in 2009 and is currently second on points for 2010. We have a great chat with Hannes about his involvement in extreme sports, his love of flying and his approach to the Red Bull racing world.

In this episode we join noted aviation journalist Ben Sandilands from Plane Talking to review the latest news & information. When we called Ben, he was experiencing a heat wave of 11 degrees Celsius at his home in the mountains near Canberra. Meanwhile, here in Melbourne we were thinking winter was upon us as the . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 33: Four Degrees of Separation from Ben Sandilands
Posted on 27 May 2010 | 11:02 pm

This episode features a discussion with Peter Gibson, the manager of corporate communications at CASA. He’s joined us to explain the airspace changes that will come into effect on June 3rd, changes which will impact Class D, see the transition of GAAP to Class D and introduce the mandatory carriage of radios at all certified, . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 32: Switch to Plan Delta
Posted on 12 May 2010 | 9:41 pm

The Red Bull Air Race came back to Perth this year and Steve was there, flexing his newly minted press credentials and discovering the amazing world of the Red Bull media centre. Sadly, Grant was working in Indonesia and so couldn’t be there to help hang out, rub shoulders with the stars and quaff a . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 31: Red Bull all The Way
Posted on 7 May 2010 | 1:01 pm

The first aircraft to be used in Antarctica was Henry Mawson’s Vickers REP monoplane. Sadly, it had been damaged in Australia before arriving in Antarctica and was used as an “air tractor” to pull sleds. Even that didn’t work out and it was dumped, eventually being found again only recently.

Given that inauspicious start, . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 30: Antarctica: The Last True Wilderness
Posted on 20 April 2010 | 2:55 am

Some in-cockpit audio provided by a listener triggered a discussion on the differences in pre-landing checklists (GUMPS vs BUMFTH vs BUMFOH vs whatever). All of Grant’s aviation books & manuals are still in boxes after moving house so he had to rely on his memory with predictable results. Talk about incentive to go out and . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 29: What’s in a Checklist?
Posted on 5 April 2010 | 4:21 pm

The B24 Liberator was the most produced heavy bomber of World War 2 and saw service in all theaters of the war. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) flew B24s along side those of the USAAF, based in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. These aircraft flew long range missions of many hours duration, typically . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 28: Save the Liberator
Posted on 27 March 2010 | 7:28 am

The common theme in this episode is about going around the world, first by bringing Saj Ahmad (Fleetbuzz Editorial) in the UK and Ben Sandilands (Plane Talking) in Australia together to talk about financial reports from QANTAS, Virgin & Tiger plus general discussions about airlines in Australia, past, present & future.

We then chat with . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 27: Trans World Adventures
Posted on 9 March 2010 | 5:09 am

You can always count on this podcast to have some interesting, opinionated and, occasionally, diverse points of view. This episode really brings them all and (bonus!) includes a whole new view as we introduce Anthony Simmons and the “View from the Lounge” segment for your listening pleasure.

We’ve also got another great discussion with Owen . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 26: Enjoying the Views
Posted on 24 February 2010 | 1:24 pm

Yes, Steve & Grant are Fan Boys (big Fan Boys, in fact :) and this episode we demonstrate it once again by interviewing Matt Hall and hanging out with some more fans at the Flight Experience Melbourne Facebook fan page open night in their 737 flight simulator. Seems we’re not the only ones who think . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 25: Fan Boys
Posted on 13 February 2010 | 2:14 am

Despite the annoying habit of our “day jobs” and families encroaching into our PCDU time, we’ve finally managed to get some time to record an episode. Steve even managed a marathon effort of post production to edit a coherent episode from our opinionated news discussion and an interview with Saj Ahmad. Go Steve! :)

Despite . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 24: Misuse of Accents
Posted on 3 February 2010 | 3:06 pm

Even down here in Australia we’re being impacted by the out-of-control antics of the TSA, so what the heck, we’ll have a bit of a c’est la vent moment about it. We also have our usual opinionated discussion on some other news items and chat with Shashank Nigam from SimpliFlying.

Here’s how the show proceeds:

It’s the Christmas & New Year holiday period, plus down here it’s Summer so we’re totally into listening to long aviation podcasts when we’re not distracted by having fun. So, for all of our listeners who have long drives or lots of chores to do around home, we give you our longest episode yet. With . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 22: Farewell 2009
Posted on 31 December 2009 | 4:05 am

Regent Street in the snow (by Jon Curnow)

(Image from JustLearn on Flickr)

Steve’s out sick (he must have eaten the fish :) so Grant’s flying solo on this one and cheating madly by assembling a few interviews and a slightly modified version of the Australia Desk segment we recorded for the Airplane Geeks’ Thanksgiving episode. The interviews include:

The Red Baron's Pitts Special

How many of you folks have wanted to be Air Traffic Controllers? Do you dream of Pushing Tin around the skies? Think you can keep The Flick in your head? Want to tell pilots in aircraft of all sizes where to go? (ahem! :) Steve & Grant both applied for ATC and were both knocked . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 17: The Ipanator says “Rivet Shower? Not on *my* Watch!”
Posted on 19 November 2009 | 11:46 am

Steve & Grant discuss all the latest news items that were of interest over the past couple of weeks. Steve also gets to have a few “c’est la vent” moments on some topics that were annoying him.

As if all that wasn’t enough, we also have a chat with Owen Zupp and reveal the winner . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 16: Rant on Steve, Rant on
Posted on 14 November 2009 | 3:08 pm

We’re back to being our opiniated selves with a backlog of news stories to work through and discuss. Once again Bas Scheffers joins us for some of the news and to discuss a number of RA-Aus items. From Beavers to Tigers and even Kiwi Skyhawks doing battle with bureaucracy, we cover a diverse range of . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 15: And now for something completely different, here is the news
Posted on 31 October 2009 | 9:37 pm

We were fortunate to attend a lecture recently presented by Lang Kidby at the Australian National Aviation Museum (Moorabbin Air Museum). Lang has flown a Vickers Vimy replica aircraft from England to Australia to re-enact the 1919 flight by Keith & Ross Macpherson Smith. He has also flown an Avro Avian from England to Australia . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 14: Lang’s Great Journeys
Posted on 29 October 2009 | 4:52 am

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 . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 13: The Only Way is Zupp
Posted on 20 October 2009 | 4:15 am

Despite his better judgement, Bas Scheffers comes back to hang out with us once again as we discuss some of the news items from the past week or so. Topics of discussion in this episode include:

This episode we’re joined by Bas Scheffers, a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot (our version of the US Sport Pilot rules) who flies out of Parafield airport (YPPF) in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a great chat about flying RA-Aus aircraft, GAAP issues, the benefits of learning to fly under RA-Aus instead of the usual GA, . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 11: Recreationally Yours
Posted on 3 October 2009 | 6:15 am

Matt Hall

Andrew Temby

We thought we’d have this episode out within a few days of our previous one, but there was so many news items to review, so much to discuss and so many bits to splice together that it took a whole week to bring it to you. Weighing in at almost 2 hours, this episode has . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 8: Riding Our Segways
Posted on 11 September 2009 | 6:48 am

This episode detours from our usual opinionated discussion of the news and instead features an interview we were fortunate enough to arrange with Matt Hall, an ex-RAAF F18 pilot who has flown the F15 on exchange with the USAF and is currently flying an MXS aerobatic aircraft in the RedBull AirRace. We were expecting to . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 7: Matt Hall, we’re not worthy!
Posted on 4 September 2009 | 8:37 am

After almost two weeks we finally get another episode out, but this one should be worth the wait. We have our first guest discussion session (@MaxFlight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast) and we have our first interview (Carlo Santoro from the Flight Experience Melbourne 737 simulator). In addition to all this, we also discuss the . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 6: Plugcast
Posted on 29 August 2009 | 7:38 am

Steve’s back from his trip to the USA and, despite some jet lag woes, he’s in the recording studio and the banter is flowing in our longest episode yet. Sadly, the first 15 minutes sound like Grant’s testing NASA’s new Interplanetary Internet and experiencing a really crappy connection. Not to worry, it soon clears up . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 5: Jet Lag Recovery
Posted on 15 August 2009 | 3:41 pm

This week’s episode comes out a little late as Steve’s still in the USA and Grant was up in Sydney for the PCDU / SimpliFlying TweetUp that happened along side the Asia / Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit 2009. A great time was had by all who attended the event but now it’s back to work . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 4: Hand Propped
Posted on 6 August 2009 | 1:47 pm

A recent event at Oshkosh has been the Podapalooza “gathering of aviation podcasters” where attendees get to meet some of the voices in their heads. Much as we would have loved to go to Oshkosh this year and attend Podapalooza, it’s a long long way to swim from down here so all we could do . . . → Read More: Greetings Oshkosh, 2009
Posted on 1 August 2009 | 12:58 am

We were a little delayed because Grant was trying to do it all this week, but better late than never. With Steve in the USA, Grant was flying solo and discovering that he missed having someone to put the gear up on take off.

This week’s episode includes the following topics:

Surprisingly less than one week after our first episode was released, we’re releasing our second episode. During this one, we discuss the following items:

Weighing in at a whole 27 minutes and 18 seconds, here’s the first episode of the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast. During this episode, we discuss the following news items: