Episode 329: Qantas Shuffling

Posted on December 17, 2014 by admin


Steve & Grant are back & trying to figure out how to make an AusDesk so, naturally, Qantas is in the news with reports of a shake-up in some senior positions.

After that, it’s time to re-visit the PelAir crash of 2009 as the ATSB is re-opening the case following a scathing review of the original report by the Transport Safety Board of Canada.

We also take a moment to thank Pieter for his efforts with Across the Pond and, sadly, announce the loss of our friend Charlie Willwerth from the FlightTime Radio Show in Florida.

PS: We also have bloopers for this episode which you can play via the player below:

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 329: Qantas Shuffling

Episode 328: Day Jobbed to Death

Posted on December 10, 2014 by admin

Sorry folks, once again our day jobs are keeping us away from recording an Australia Desk segment for this week :(

Posted in Skipped | Tagged , | Comments Off on Episode 328: Day Jobbed to Death

Episode 327: Wirraway Birthday

Posted on December 3, 2014 by admin


Museum staff prepare the Wirraway for its public engine run

Museum staff prepare the Wirraway for its public engine run

Back in September, the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin in Victoria, celebrated the 75th anniversary of the first flight of their CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation) Wirraway.

The museum’s Wirraway (A20-10) was built in 1939 and saw service as a trainer for the RAAF for nearly two decades. We sent Anthony “The Infrequent Flyer” Simmons (Max’s favourite Australian) out to chat with Ewan McArthur and James Kightly about the significance of this particular aircraft.

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 327: Wirraway Birthday

Episode 326: JetGo should go to Wellcamp

Posted on November 26, 2014 by admin


Aside from helping explain where Jabiru comes from, the boys also give an update on CASA’s “Jabiru Consultation Draft”, discuss JetGo’s decision to not fly Sydney to Roma (before it even starts), and enjoy the fact that Brisbane West Wellcamp airport in Toowoomba has gone from bare dirt to accepting its first commercial airline operation in less time than Brisbane Airport took to negotiate who’d pay for their third runway.

PS: We also have bloopers for this episode which you can play via the player below:

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 326: JetGo should go to Wellcamp

Episode 325: Jabiru Engine Issues

Posted on November 19, 2014 by admin


Steve & Grant bring you the Australia Sports Desk report … ooops, hang on, that’s the Australia Aviation News Desk report – sorry about that :)

CASA are all but grounding aircraft with Jabiru engines due to 40 engine failures in the past year (representing about 0.03% of all Jabiru movements)

The world’s longest serving commercial 747 pilot has been flying with Qantas since 1969 and will be commanding his final flight as we record. His son will be on board as his copilot

Spotters Mag have launched an Australia/New Zealand variant of their online magazine

Lots of aircraft in Brisbane for the G20 summit, including Air Force One which landed at RAAF Base Amberley bringing President Obama to the event (he ferried from Amberley to Brisbane in the Marine One helicopter)

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 325: Jabiru Engine Issues

Episode 324: Retro Roo

Posted on November 12, 2014 by admin


Grant’s birthday has aligned with Qantas releasing a retro livery that dates back to when he was born. He and Steve think it looks great on their latest brand new 737!

Meanwhile, Grant’s been off flying hot air balloons and passing his biennial flight review while Jonesy’s flying his “new” Cessna home and Steve’s started a new job with the railway. It’s all “GO” at the AusDesk!

PS: We also have bloopers for this episode which you can play via the player below:

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 324: Retro Roo

Episode 323: We were busy, honest!

Posted on November 5, 2014 by admin

After yet another busy week of day-job distractions, Steve & Grant had to skip yet another Australia Desk segment as they needed time to recover.

Posted in Skipped | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Episode 323: We were busy, honest!

Episode 322: OpenAirplane? Don’t you mean Open Aeroplane???

Posted on October 29, 2014 by admin


Steve talks with Rod Rakic and brings us an update on Open Airplane, a service that assists pilots who want to rent an airplane. The network now has 72 locations in the U.S. with over 250 aircraft available, now including light twins, LSA, and tail draggers. 8,000 pilots have signed up.

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Episode 322: OpenAirplane? Don’t you mean Open Aeroplane???

Episode 321: Steve’s Back from the USA

Posted on October 22, 2014 by admin


Steve’s back and he tells us about his trip to the USA, including the flights on Qantas A380s. During his three week trip, among tons of other fun activities, he managed to log two flights of his own in Cessna 172s.

A huge thanks goes to listener Fred Samson who contacted Steve and offered him the chance to fly a G1000 equipped 172 with him through the SFO class B airspace, taking in views of the airport, city and Golden Gate Bridge A couple of weeks later, thanks to Open Airplane and Airwork Las Vegas, he got the chance to fly a C172N (N738CY) out of North Las Vegas for an hour of manoeuvers and sight seeing in the local area. Once again, a huge thanks goes out to Rod Rakic and CFI Jackie Maas for making this possible.

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 321: Steve’s Back from the USA

Episode 320: Come fly with me

Posted on October 15, 2014 by admin


Grant’s been flying a balloon again and he’s taken Evan Schoo & Albert up with him. They take a moment from the flight to record an intro then Grant slots in the following news items:

1) Changes have started at CASA but the official response to the Aviation Safety Regulatory Review (aka The Forsyth Report) haven’t come out yet. That response is due by the end of 2014

2) The Qantas Founders Museum have purchased a Lockheed Super Constellation to join the aircraft on display at Longreach in outback Queensland

Posted in Australia Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 320: Come fly with me