From Grant's collection of ballooning interviews to a chat with Owen Zupp about his latest book and our tribute to Hannes Arch, this episode is our biggest yet (yes, even bigger than Episode 51, our tribute to the RAAF's F-111s!). We've even captured Anthony "The Infrequent Flyer" Simmons' first ever viewing of the movie TopGun (in IMAX 3D no less :) ).
The episode unfolds as:
- 00:00:00 - Our tribute to Hannes Arch, the Red Bull Air Race champion pilot who tragically died in a helicopter crash in September, 2016.
- 00:04:54 - Show start & introduction.
- 00:14:12 - We talk with Owen Zupp about his new book: Without Precedent. It's the biography of his father that covers his time as a commando in World War 2, flying Meteors during the Korean War, flying Constellations with QANTAS and later flying in General Aviation. It's a fantastic read and highly recommended.
- We started by discussing Steve's recent Tiger Moth flight with Vintage Airways at Lilydale and how much fun he had finally flying an aircraft he swore he'd never go in.
- 01:05:22 - Grant talked with Phil Kavanagh back in 2013 about the early days of sport ballooning in Australia in the 60's & 70's, manufacturing balloons in Australia, teaching themselves to fly, setting up Kavanagh Balloons, sourcing materials, new developments and the future of ballooning technology.
- 01:27:09 - After talking to Phil, Grant caught up with Sean Kavanagh about his career in aviation ranging from being an aircraft engineer with QANTAS through to flying & making hot air balloons. Sean has flown in competitions and also been a commercial pilot flying at various locations around Australia, including the challenging city of Melbourne. In 2013 Sean was designing new balloons and burners for the company, including producing the inevitable paperwork and dealing with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). We also discuss in some detail the effort that has gone into designing the new Series IV Crossfire burner.
- 01:52:50 - John Wallington is the Flight Director of the Canberra Balloon Spectacular, an annual event which has been running since the 80's. He talked with Grant in 2015 about the experience of flying over Canberra and keeping the flying side of the event running smoothly and safely.
- 01:55:37 - Don Whitford is the meteorologist of choice for ballooning events in Australia and he spoke with Grant about his career of more than 40 years in aviation weather forecasting. They also talk about the impacts of the changing weather patterns that are being experienced recently.
- 02:05:06 - Frank Wechter was at Canberra flying the Angry Birds special shape balloon.
- 02:06:53 - SQNLDR Damien Gilchrist used to be with the RNZAF flying Strikemasters, Macchi 339s and A-4 Skyhawks before transferring to the RAAF about fifteen years ago and in 2015 & 2016 was the primary pilot of the RAAF hot air balloon.
- 02:10:33 - Richard Turnbull is back from the UK flying for commercial operators around Australia and returns to the show to briefly talk about what he's been up to lately.
- 02:12:56 - Grant chats with Ruth Wilson, Australia's first female commercial hot air balloon pilot who has been flying balloons for over 40 years and also has a fixed wing license. She was also the first Australian hot air balloon champion and...
