Airplane Geeks - Episode 112 - Airline Security [99:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1456)

Our guest this episode is Fred Gevalt, founder of The Air Charter Guide and a bit of a political activist, having successfully sued the FAA in 1998 on behalf of his air charter constituency. Fred’s a pilot, he’s built airplanes himself, and he flies aircraft for business and recreation. Fred is also the executive producer of a new documentary film titled “Please Remove Your Shoes” which takes a critical look at airport and airline security, both pre and post September 11.

The week’s aviation news:

• 787 first delivery delayed to mid-Q1 2011
• Boeing May Risk More Penalties After Sixth Delay on Dreamliner
• U.S. Approves Merger of United and Continental
• Mexicana to Suspend All Flights by Tomorrow After Last Week’s Acquisition
• Aeromexico offers discounts for Mexicana customers
• Future of Aviation Advisory Committee

Mentions:

• Bruce Schneier – Schneier on Security, a blog covering security and security technology.
• Desert Pilot Podcast

Thanks to special guest Steve Frischling from http://www.flyingwithfish.com/.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Airplane Geeks - Episode 99 - Bits and Pieces [92:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3443)

In this episode, Rob, Max, and David discuss aviation news, with a focus on odd stories. Then Dan brings in Tom from The Airline Blog to talk about some additional stories. David has six interviews from the 2010 Joint Service Open House, as well as his usual This Week in Aviation segment. Finally, Steve and Grant have this week’s Australia Desk report.

The news:

• The Future of Airliners?
• Boeing apologizes for curt rejection letter sent to young boy
• SkyWest Airlines Flight Diverted after Alien Claim
• A viewing deck built right into your private jet
• New Lufthansa Bathrooms Made for Banging?
• Get Angry and TSA May Tag You
• More pilots needed, AOPA president tells Aero Club
• “Continited” Announces First 787 Route
• The end of Virgin Atlantic’s ’splendid isolation’?
• Report: Air France-KLM to restart talks for big plane order
• Ryanair Announces 42nd Base at Barcelona El Prat

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Australia Desk Report music is Journey of the Sorcerer by The Eagles, used in the British TV version of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Post photo courtesy listener Seb Spencer.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Airplane Geeks - Episode 97 - Darryl Jenkins on Airlines [101:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3548)

This week airline analyst Darryl Jenkins joins the guys to add his considerable industry knowledge to the conversation. Darryl is Managing Director at Aviation Consulting Group and author of the Handbook of Airline Economics. He’s worked for many of the world’s airlines, he’s consulted for the FAA, DOT, NTSB and other government agencies as well as many foreign countries. Among other places, you can find Darryl at The Airline Zone (http://www.theairlinezone.com/) which contains a series on the future of the airline industry.

David’s got a short interview with Sean D. Tucker, the Australia Desk sent an interview with Owen Zupp during his arould Australia flight, this time in person at the RAAF Museum at the RAAF Point Cook airbase, and we have This Week in Aviation.

• International Learn to Fly Day
• DOT Secretary LaHood names aviation future panel
• Ben Baldanza, Spirit Airlines
• Flight cancellations come in light of new tarmac rules
• New Union-Friendly Rules Could Affect Delta
• Boeing Unveils Unmanned Phantom Ray Demonstrator

See also the 1940 Air Terminal Museum Airplane site at http://www.1940airterminal.org/ for their fundraising raffle of a vintage 1958 Cessna 172.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Airplane Geeks - Episode 96 - Karlene's Flight to Success [112:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3790)

Our guest this week is Karlene Petitt, a long time airline pilot, currently flying with Delta. She blogs at Flight to Success and she’s also an emerging author. Karlene describes her training to fly the A330, what it’s like to pilot for a major U.S. airline, and how pilots like to be in control but sometimes are not. Karlene also brings a lot of good insight into current airline news. We had such an interesting conversation with Karlene that we had to skip a lot of the news.

Benet Wilson from AviationWeek helps out with the co-hosting. By the way, she’s got a new blog going called The TRAVEL World According to Benet. Also, Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast joined us live for the news:

• 2010 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition
• Airline merger’s route leads to federal regulators
• United/Continental Unions Could Battle
• Safety recommendations made on engines, life vests in plane that ditched into Hudson River
• US Airways CEO: NextGen benefits don’t justify equipage investment

David returns to provide his This Week in Aviation history segment.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Thanks to Mark Hsiung for permission to use his Delta A330 photograph above.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Airplane Geeks - Episode 95 - Alaskan Bush Pilots [91:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3879)

Jim Oltersdorf joins us to talk about bush flying in Alaska. Jim is a pilot and an accomplished aviation and outdoor photographer and writer. He thrives in extreme and high-risk areas, and he’s produced a high def documentary film called Alaska’s Bush Pilots, The Real Deal , A true story about the pilots, their aircraft, nature and the wilderness of Alaska. You can find Jim’s personal page at http://www.joltersdorf.com/ and his site for the film at http://www.alaskasbushpilots.com/.

We also have with us this episode Bob Poole, the founder of the Reason Foundation, a free market think tank. Bob has some interesting things to say about the NextGen ATC system that’s been in the works for over a decade. Bob was among the first to propose the commercialization of the U.S. air traffic control system, and his work has helped shape proposals for a U.S. air traffic control corporation.

We favored our guests over the news this time, but we did mention:

• United, Continental deal approaches reality
• General Aviation Industry Prepares For An Unleaded Fuel

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Find more BroLo at his site: http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Airplane Geeks - Episode 93 - Tottler Returns [93:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3865)

Guest Martin Rottler makes a return appearance. Martin is an airline junkie, a licensed commercial pilot for single and multi-engine aircraft with an Instrument Rating, and a CFI. He’s also a graduate student at the University of North Dakota. This summer Martin will be participating in a project to bring aviation to tribal school students in North Dakota. Download the program overview here.  Find Martin’s blog at http://martinrottler.com/.

The news:

• ‘The future of GA is up to each of us,’ Fuller tells pilots
• Airline Carry-on Bag Fees Rile Cardin, Schumer
• Iceland volcano: Airlines face ‘logistical nightmare’
• Ash cloud costing airlines £130m a day
• Frontier And Midwest Airlines Merge
• UAL-Continental Merger Would Lead on High-Fare Overseas Routes
• Non-Stealth Teamed With Stealth Air Wing
• DARPA chief sounds the alarm: We need more nerds!!

We also have the This Week in Aviation history segment from David, and the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk report.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

F-15 Strike Eagle courtesy Photography by Hank Plumley.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Episode 79 - Aviation Photos by Skippyscage [95:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3477)

Guest Paul Filmer joins the Airplane Geeks to talk about current aviation news. Paul is Stateside Editor and Database Administrator for Global Aviation Resource, he contributes to Combat Aircraft Magazine, and you can find his personal page at skippyscage.com/. Paul is an accomplished aviation photographer and you can find his work at those sites.

• Flight terror suspect Abdulmutallab charged with trying to blow up jet
• Ryanair threatens to stop local flights in Italy
• United, Continental and ANA apply for antitrust immunity
• New DOT Consumer Rule Limits Airline Tarmac Delays, Provides Other Passenger Protections
• Airbus fears delay to Boeing report
• European Union expects civil unmanned air vehicles to use general aviation equipment
• Skycatcher Joins Light Sport Aircraft Fray

David Vanderhoof gives us This Week in Aviation, and Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast have their Australia Desk report.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Episode 61 - Misunderstood, but the Best [90:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3215)

Dick Knapinski, Media and Public Relations Director for the EAA joins Max, Dan and Rob to talk about AirVenture and new media. We also have a report from the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk, and Court has another great Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot segment. We’re joined by David Vanderhoof, our Airplane Geeks Historian, and we don’t mean just his words. This time you get to hear it straight from David!

The news:

• Continental offers apologies, vouchers and refunds to airline passengers on ‘flight from hell’

• Frontier Execs: Pilot deal may not have mattered

• JetBlue offers all-you-can-fly plan for $599

• Airlines swap assets in New York, Washington, D.C.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/airplanegeeks, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

 

 Episode 57 - Air Racing and TSA Blogging [82:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2846)

Dan, Rob, and Max are joined this episode by two guests:  Chris Webb, who directed and co-produced the documentary film, Air Racer: Chasing the Dream, and Blogger Bob from The TSA Blog, a very active site.

This week’s news:

• American Airlines parent AMR posts 2Q loss
• Discount air carrier JetAmerica folds
• Continental’s Smisek to Be CEO as Kellner Plans Exit

As always, we have a report from the boys down under at the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk.  Steve and Grant, by the way, now have their own podcast, Plane Crazy Down Under. We also have a This Week in Aviation segment.

Don’t forget to send us your ideas for Airplane Geeks T-Shirts and we’re still collecting good United stories so send them in by email, voice mail, or mp3.

Follow the Airplane Geeks on Twitter as @AirplaneGeeks, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love. You can visit his site at brotherloverocks.com.

 

 Episode 55 - Flying With Fish [85:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2766)

Featuring Steven Frischling, the founder of The Travel Strategist site as well as the popular travel blog Flying With Fish.

• Inquiry Finds French Flight Struck Ocean Intact
• What if airplanes could transmit info from flight data recorder?
• France claims crashed A310 failed 2007 inspection; teenaged passenger survives
• Alterative fuels specifications pass first certifying hurdle
• Boeing Shopping In South Carolina?
• ANA adds five 787s to order, to issue nearly $2 billion in new stock
• Justice Department opposes antitrust immunity for Continental to join United Airlines team

We also have a report from the boys down under at the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk, a This Week in Aviation segment, a bit by Courtney (remember him?), and listener mail.

Dan selected Flightlevel350.com as this week’s aviation website pick of the week, a great source for aviation videos.

Don’t forget to send us your ideas for Airplane Geeks T-Shirts!

Follow the Airplane Geeks on Twitter as @AirplaneGeeks, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love. You can visit his site at brotherloverocks.com.