Episode 339: What Happens in Vegas…

Posted on March 4, 2015 by admin


Avalon Airshow is over and the boys are recovering from the heat, the long distance walking and the aero-awesomeness. For this segment they chatted with Flying Officer “Guns” about the lessons learned when the RAAF took some C130Js to Exercise Red Flag at the start of this year.

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Episode 338: It’s Avalon time again

Posted on February 23, 2015 by admin


It’s almost time for the Avalon Airshow and the boys are getting excited about some of the new items that will be on display, including an Airbus A400M and an RQ-4 Global Hawk that has made its first landing at a civilian airport.

In other news, the date has been set for VH-OJA to make its final flight to the HARS museum at Wollongong: March 8th.

Also, Air New Zealand confirms they won’t be doing a “retrojet” livery on their next 787-9 despite rumours saying that they would.

Finally, Matt Hall comes 2nd in the first heat of the Red Bull Air Race, being kept from first place by less than a second! Clearly the new winglets are doing something good on the track :)

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

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Episode 337: Day Jobs got us, again, sorry :(

Posted on February 18, 2015 by admin

Sorry folks, our day jobs have struck again and we’ve no free time this week :(

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Episode 336: A Gong for OJA? Rock On, Boys!

Posted on February 11, 2015 by admin


Grant’s back (and so’s his car!) and the boys have a few aircraft stories to present, including:

Qantas’ first 747-400 VH-OJA is being donated to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at Wollongong where the arrival is likely to be rather spectacular.

Virgin Australia are closing off their New Zealand based Pacifc Blue operations.

The outback’s version of The Onion newspaper has run an amusingly false story of a pilot who tried to land on top of Ayres Rock (aka Uluru).

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

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Episode 335: Ben’s Flying but Grant’s Grounded

Posted on February 4, 2015 by admin


Grant’s broken yet another vehicle and is stuck in Albury, NSW while the vehicle is repaired so Steve brings Ben Jones on to join the fun from Perth in West Australia. Ben & his brother recently purchased a Cessna 172 from here in Melbourne and then flew it all the way across the country back to Perth.

Ben talks about buying the aircraft, the flight over, some mechanical issues and the Cessna Supplemental Inspection Documents (aka SIDs).

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Episode 334: Australia, Australia, we love you!

Posted on January 28, 2015 by admin


Happy Australia Day from Steve & Grant

Happy Australia Day from Steve & Grant

It’s Australia Day and the boys are taking a few minutes out from a BBQ to record a quick OzDesk with mentions of special Australia Day items, including:

The Royal Australian Navy had their new Landing Helicopter Dock HMAS Canberra on Sydney Harbour while Qantas flew an A380 over the harbour (imagine if the A380 had tried to land on it! :) )

Meanwhile, in the USA, SQNLDR Andrew “Jacko” Jackson starts his F35 training in Florida on Australia Day. That’s seems rather appropriate, doesn’t it? :)

Finally, Steve gives some information about Positive Train Control after Max asked for his input last week.

PS: Yes Rob, we were eating Kangaroo today! Kitt prepared some wonderfully marinated roo meat and it tasted GREAT! :)

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

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Episode 333: Boned, Pwned & Droned

Posted on January 21, 2015 by admin


Grant’s tired after completing his CASA panel interview process for aircraft maintenance management (links to PDF file) and Steve’s hungover after a few too many red wines with the “Infrequent Flyer” himself at the Members’ Reserve in the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Oh my!!!

Despite this, the boys still manage to report on:

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

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Episode 332: Vale Captain Jack

Posted on January 14, 2015 by admin


Captain Jack Curtis in his element

Captain Jack Curtis in his element
(Photo supplied by Aero Australia Magazine)

The boys received sad news this week with notification of the passing of Captain Jack Curtis, an icon in the aviation scene down under, particularly in relation to DC-3s.

In this week’s segment, they play Grant’s interview with Jack in November 2013 at the Warbirds Down Under event at the Temora Aviation Museum.

Our friends at Aero Australia Magazine gave a good summary of Jack’s life & character on their Facebook post about his passing:

We are very sad to report the passing of our friend Captain Jack Curtis, on 10 January 2015 aged 90.

Jack was well-known around Australia’s flying community, in recent years as ‘Mr DC-3’! Before that his career saw him flying Kittyhawks and Mustangs in Italy during WWII.

Post-war ‘Captain Jack’ had a long and successful career with TAA flying DC-3s, Viscounts, DC-6s, Bristol Freighters, Electras, DC-9s and 727s.

Always excellent company with his cheeky and chirpy demeanor, Jack will be very badly missed by many people, including us.

Our heartfelt condolences to Jack’s family and many friends.

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Episode 331: Final Flights Abounding

Posted on January 7, 2015 by admin


The boys are back for 2015 and wondering what happened to last week? Something about holidays and memos, it would appear :)

In this desk we cover the WA Police Air Wing being grounded due to pilots quitting, the last flights of Qantas 767s (well, sort of) and regional airline SkyTrans closing the doors but in the most controlled and well managed method we’ve ever seen!

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

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Episode 330: Vacation Time

Posted on December 31, 2014 by admin

No AusDesk this week as we’re in the middle of our Summer Holidays down here so Steve & Grant are still recovering from their Christmas celebrations (& getting ready for New Years Eve! :) )

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