Episode 243 – Talking with Igor Sikorsky III

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Igor and his Skyhawk

We talk with the grandson of aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky about his grandfather and the annual Sikorsky Weekend that Igor holds at his sporting camp in the North Maine Woods. Igor flies a Skyhawk float plane to ferry visitors to his camp and to fishing spots in Maine.

You’ll hear stories about his grandfather – how he viewed life and those around him, his visions for the helicopter, and his interests in religion and astronomy, among others. Igor holds a great collection of historical records and memorabilia from the life of his grandfather, and he brings that out for Sikorsky Weekend. Other Sikorsky memorabilia can be found at:

Igor Sikorsky

The week’s aviation news:

The Aircraft of the Week:

David continues his series on the Skyhawk with the international versions.

In this week’s Australia Desk:

Recorded on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne near Princess Bridge (sheltering from the rain). We speak to Doug Worrall, an airline pilot and iPad/Android app developer, about his new game, LEO – Low Earth Orbit, available in iTunes and Google Play. Doug explains his motivation to create a challenging game that makes the user think and consider the laws of physics. The impetus for the game was his son’s school not offering physics as a subject any more, due to lack of interest.

In the news:

  • The Australian Government, after gifting 4 ex-RAAF C130-H aircraft to Indonesia, announce the sale of five additional airframes to that country.
  • Air Samoa announces a Pay For What You Weight scheme for air fares…Steve is horrified!
  • A routine go-around by a Qantas aircraft at Sydney during the week is cause for an appalling, ill-informed article on ABC News during the week. Doug explains the realities of a go-around and why they’re reasonably routine and very safe practice.

Find more from Grant and Steve at the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, and follow the show on Twitter at @pcdu. Steve’s at @stevevisscher and Grant at @falcon124. Australia Desk archives can be found at www.australiadesk.net.

In this week’s Across the Pond segment:

This week we travel to Italy to talk to Federico Bossi, Air Traffic Controller in the Milan Tower. He shares his experiences as well as telling us about his passion for flight simulation. Federico is @AeroFede on Twitter.

Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast.

Mentioned:

Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at www.brotherloverocks.com.

One thought on “Episode 243 – Talking with Igor Sikorsky III”

  1. Jamie

    Geeks!

    Another fantastic podcast, guys.

    Great hear Igor Sikorsky’s voice again. He’s an amazing guest and great pilot. My wife and I had a wonderful time at Bradford Camps last summer during the Igor Sikorsky Weekend. As you know I have an affinity for seaplanes – some would say it’s an addition. Last summer, Igor gave me my first seaplane flight. He flew my wife and me to a beautiful secluded lake that you either had to either hike in or fly-in. His C-172 goes form mush to the step nicely. If your listeners get a chance, I recommend a week –or weekend at Bradford Camps.

    David: Go for broke on the A-4. I’d like your take on the Falkland Islands.

    Steve and Grant, Oz Desk: Great PCDU. It was great to hear Doug Worrell! His take on the QANTA got around flap was right on. ABC was looking for ratings not the real story. Give me the go around every time. I never want the PIC/Captain to rush anything. I have had the LEO (Low Earth Orbit) game for about a month. It’s a fun app for iPad, iPhone or Android thing. Did I hear Doug correctly? It’s a physics trainer?

    I enjoyed Carl’s story about his Tu-134A flight to Dubrovnik. I flew into Dubrovnik also but in 1996 and in a C-130 flown the Greek Air Force. It was one of the most terrifying flights I have ever survived.

    Keep the bloopers coming!
    Jamie

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